The Struggle for the Soul of the Oromo Revolution: Continuity and Change Call for Consultations and Consensus
The Oromo Movement has been trailing the tumultuous events taking place in Oromia during the past 12 months and efforts now to overtake the revolution and assume a commanding position thereof is threatening to cause further dislocations within the movement.
The Oromo Movement, taken here as the entire collective of political organizations — fronts, parties and groups — all entities that profess to seeking and working for the liberation of the Oromo people in one way or the other, peaceful or otherwise. It’s the broad spectrum encompassing all views, outlooks and trends obtaining in Oromia today. Qerroo, having been in the vanguard of the recent uprising commonly referred to as FXG, can be seen as the exception.
Oromos are not rudderless, as the enemy would’ve you believe, but would certainly benefit more from a unified body as a people fighting for liberation. The widely held recognition among Oromos that the lack of a more cohesive and all- inclusive structure… if that were possible at all, has remained to be the Achilles Heel of the Oromo revolution .
Hence Atlanta recently (and London before that). The hurried convening of both meetings are a manifestation of the Oromo desperation and clamour to reach for each other and hold hands in search of means and ways of saving Oromos living under the terror of the TPLF fascist state from genocide.
Atlanta was billed as a conference of Oromo leaders but I’m not sure those notable absentees would agree (more below). Be that as it may, whether you call it conference of Oromo leadership or just an all-party Oromo conference, the need for such a gathering is not a moot point.
At this juncture in their history, Oromos are probably facing the worst kind of persecution, dehumanization and humiliation under the Ethiopian state, as day to day arbitrary killings, the raping of their women, and the looting of their property, have become the rule rather than the exception today under the occupation of the fascist TPLF clique. So in as much as it was intended to chart out ways and means of advancing the ongoing Oromo revolution for liberation and self-determination, Atlanta was a welcome development.
Except, important elements of the Oromo body politic were missing in Atlanta. As a matter of fact, the anomalies of Atlanta, as far as representation of leadership was concerned, was two- fold: Just as some veterans of the Oromo struggle were conspicuous for their absence, there were others whose presence left a lot of Oromos incredulous. Or at least there was one.
This unwelcome participant, according to reports, was of course the former so-called president of the Oromia region who, in the eyes of many Oromos, is responsible for crimes committed against our people as a top agent of the TPLF, notably the killing, expulsion and persecution of Oromo college students.
Yes, Junedin Saddo deserves due process of law, at the appropriate time and place, but he shouldn’t have been allowed anywhere within a hundred miles of that conclave in Atlanta, let alone participate in it. That was a travesty of justice as well as an insult to the Oromo struggle our people are dying for every single day.
I do not know the individual personally but considering the interviews this man has given on Oromo media and his mea culpa on this very website, none has shown that he was forced to commit crimes against our people with the TPLF pointing a gun to his head; all his efforts being a concerted attempt at exonerating himself. In any case, suffice it to mention here that him and scores like him, still in the service of the TPLF in positions of influence, will sooner or later, face justice in front of the Oromo people. Until such an eventuality, it’s within no Oromo individual or group’s authority to try to sanction their rehabilitation on any ground whatsoever, if indeed, as some suspect that was the idea behind his attendance.
On the other hand, this convention of Oromo leaders was remarkable for the non-inclusion of notable veterans and widely acknowledged leaders of the Oromo revolution like Galaasaa Dilbo, Daud Ibssa, Mulugeta Mosissa … to mention just a few. These individuals may have differences but no Oromo of my generation would dispute the immense sacrifices they’ve made by committing their entire lives to the promotion of the Oromo struggle. I would submit these gentlemen can claim to have made more contribution to the Oromo struggle than a majority of the participants of the Atlanta convention. But it is understandable if they were not willing to be under the same roof as Junedin Saddo.
So, little surprise when a tsunami of rebuke started coming the way of the organizers of the convention before the ink has dried on the documents, which themselves were leaking like water from a broken faucet. Allegations and charges were made against the organizers of regionalism, friendship and so on, as criteria for the selection of delegates. Some of those appear sensible while others were clearly non sequiturs. But none were pleasant to read for an Oromo.
The most serious allegation indeed was that of harboring sinister motives aligned with the enemy, which may well be over the top. But Atlanta can be viewed as one manifestation of the struggle for the soul of the Oromo revolution, of its leadership, of the direction it should take and eventually its very destination. And in the confusion that surrounds this struggle anyone who is not wary of the enemy’s meddling would only be the politically naïve. The TPLF are sophisticated as well as experience in the art of infiltration and espionage and would do everything and anything to hijack the Oromo struggle at this very crucial stage; they haven’t been able to defeat our people on the battlefield, so they would penetrate and sabotage.
This is not to cast aspersions on the organizers of the Atlanta conference per se, but just to raise awareness to the enemy’s preparedness to go to any length to infiltrate and subvert. And they come in the shape of Oromo nationalists speaking and writing fluent Oromo.
We have to be on the guard that Atlanta will not end up creating a virtual universe, non-existent in reality of course, with regard to the vanguard of the Oromo liberation movement thereby opening a chasm that the TPLF is only waiting and willing to jump into to exploit.
It is wrong to assume that only because the OLF is divided, the Oromo leadership is up for grabs. It’s a perception reinforced by the enemy of course. We know full well that OLF fighters are laying down their lives every single day in Oromia for the dignity of all of us and the liberation of our people. So we cannot deny them. The OLF is not perfect but it’s the main, if not only, shield Oromos have against their enemy at the moment.
Atlanta would be a huge success if only it served as a wake- up call, a kind of prompt to the various factions to expedite the reunification of the OLF. It should be taken as a development partially posing a challenge, but a positive challenge, to their very raison d’etre. Events are fast rendering them irrelevant.
So it’s not entirely without justification that a series of warnings and admonitions were directed at the organizers to beware of the pitfalls around us, even branding some as OPDO surrogates. As an independent, I was taken aback by the harshness of the tone of those criticisms. I am unaware of the cause for the angst but I know for sure that the last thing that the Oromo intelligentsia needs at this moment are rancor and upheaval within its ranks. It’s indeed unfortunate and regrettable.
We should treat one another with camaraderie, respect and love that we all deserve; in the final analysis we all want the same thing for our people, their freedom and prosperity. Those Oromos are decent and well-meaning people who are trying to do what is best for their suffering people.
Having said that, however, there are no doubt some wolves among us in sheep’s clothing, whose mission seems to be creating doubt and division particularly via subtle comments on Oromo media, which serves the broad spectrum of views, outlooks.
People are entitled to their opinions. Without naming names, such individuals who from time to time use their opportunity on the OMN to insert TPLF/OPDO interests will no doubt eventually be exposed for what they truly are. So while there should be no question regarding the freedom of the Oromo media and the excellent work they are doing, particularly OMN, the bar should always be the liberation of the Oromo people and the promotion of their interests.
Meandering back to Atlanta though, the conference would’ve been more productive, if only it was aimed at addressing the emergency facing our people today on priority basis. First priority should be raising the financial assistance our people so badly need at the moment. It looks from the outside looking in, Atlanta is so over ambitious, trying to accomplish today what should be done tomorrow, that it could suffer its own weight. Secondly, we need to rally international support for the struggle of our people via intensifying the diplomatic campaign. The regime currently is literally being sustained through the assistance and loans it receives from America and EU, which is dwindling by the day but it’s still coming in. Let’s do first things first. Our people need food, as TPLF is using hunger as a weapon against Oromos. Let’s focus on the basics. Our people need vital supplies to survive and defend themselves against TPLF onslaught. So focusing on the essentials for now as a matter of priority would provide the most effective support that our people need.
That would hence help us to avoid getting entangled in elaborate details of law, governance, and constitution, at this moment. Yes we do need those too but not now. Besides, these issues are really for a duly elected Oromo constituent assembly to be considered in all their elaborate detail.
Atlanta has neither the legitimacy nor the mandate to address these supreme issues of a future Oromo state. Trying to bite more than we can chew would only get us bogged down in unnecessary matters, relatively speaking, and make us lose focus. Above all, it would invite unnecessary divisions and disharmony within this amorphous coalition, as seen already.
Any future Oromo project can be accomplished via committees or task forces without even the need of a conference like Atlanta; it can even be done by think tanks.
Nevertheless, Atlanta may be seen as a projection of Oromo unity. And a colossal undertaking of this nature needs enormous planning. Since the outcome would have deep repercussions for the Oromo struggle, its planning and execution should’ve been underpinned by patience, consultations and consensus.
Atlanta, despite all its inadequacies, may have accomplished the founding of a pan-Oromo body but it needs to be all inclusive going forward by addressing the very fundamental problems mentioned above, if it’s to attain the legitimacy such an august body deserves. There is still a chance to work on differences and the first thing to do on both sides is to bring hostile propaganda to a halt and show remorse for things each side has uttered or done which have obviously caused offence and grievance to the other.
There are always issues that arise out of sheer generational differences in a struggle like ours that has dragged on for too long. As the old gives way to the new, in accordance with the law of nature, change takes effect while the struggle continues. But all should be done in an atmosphere of brotherhood, respect, consultation and consensus.
The older generation has the responsibility to mentor the young without being so domineering. And the young on their part should learn, without being so cavalier cocky, to listen to, respect and cherish the wealth of wisdom bequeathed to them by the elders as they carry the struggle forward.
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