Hundreds of people have been forced from their land as a result of the scheme, while there have also been reports of torture, rape and beatings.

British support for Ethiopia scheme withdrawn amid abuse allegations

Department for International Development will no longer back $4.9bn project that critics claim has funded a brutal resettlement programme.

An Anuak woman at work in Abobo, a village in Ethiopia’s Gambella region. It has been claimed that UK money has funded abuses against Anuak people in the area. Photograph: Alamy

February 27, 2015 (The Guardian) — The UK has ended its financial support for a controversial development project alleged to have helped the Ethiopian government fund a brutal resettlement programme. Hundreds of people have been forced from their land as a result of the scheme, while there have also been reports of torture, rape and beatings.
Until last month, Britain’s Department for International Development (DfID) was the primary funder of the promotion of basic services (PBS) programme, a $4.9bn (£3.2bn) project run by the World Bank and designed to boost education, health and water services in Ethiopia.
On Thursday, DfID said it had ended its PBS contributions because of Ethiopia’s “growing success”, adding that financial decisions of this nature were routinely made after considering a recipient country’s “commitment to partnership principles”.
It has been alleged that programme funds have been used to bankroll the Ethiopian government’s push to move 1.5 million rural families from their land to new “model” villages across the country.
Opponents of the commune development programme (CDP) say it has been characterised by violence. One Ethiopian farmer is taking legal action against the British government, claiming UK money has funded abuses against Anuak peoplein the Gambella region. The man, an Anuak known as Mr O, says he was beaten and witnessed rapes and assaults as government soldiers cleared people off their land. DfID has always insisted it does not fund Ethiopia’s commune development programme.
A scathing draft report from the World Bank’s internal watchdog recently concluded that inadequate oversight, bad audit practices, and a failure to follow the bank’s own rules had allowed operational links to form between the PBS programme and the Ethiopian government’s resettlement scheme.
Although the bank’s inspection panel found that funds could have been diverted to implement villagisation, it did not look into whether the resettlement programme had involved human rights abuses, claiming such questions were outside its remit.
DfID, which has contributed nearly £745m of UK taxpayer money to the PBS programme, said the decision to withdraw financial support was prompted in part by Ethiopia’s “impressive progress” towards the millennium development goals.
“The UK will now evolve its approach by transitioning support towards economic development to help generate jobs, income and growth that will enable self-sufficiency and ultimately end poverty,” it said.
“This will go alongside additional funding for specific health, education and water programmes – where impressive results are already being delivered – resourced by ending support for the promotion of basic Services programme.”
A DfID spokesman said the move had nothing to do with Mr O’s ongoing legal action or the World Bank’s internal report, but added: “Changes to programmes are based on a number of factors including, but not limited to, country context, progress to date and commitment to partnership principles.”
The department said its overall financial commitment to Ethiopia, one of the largest recipients of UK aid, would remain unchanged, with almost £256m due to be spent between 2015 and 2016.
The Ethiopian government said DfID’s decision was not a matter of concern.
“They have been discussing it with pertinent government bodies,” said the communications minister, Redwan Hussien.
“What they said is that the aid that they’re giving will not be refused or stopped, it will be reorganised.”
The World Bank’s executive board met on Thursday to discuss the internal report on the PBS programme and the management response.
In a statement released on Friday, the bank said that although its inspection panel had concluded that the seizing of land and use of violence and intimidation were not consequences of PBS, it had determined that the programme “did not fully assess and mitigate the risks arising from the government’s implementation of CDP, particularly in the delivery of agricultural services to the Anuaks”.
The World Bank Group president, Jim Yong Kim, said that one of the institution’s core principles was to do no harm to the poor, adding: “In this case, while the inspection panel found no violations, it did point out areas where we could have done more to help the Anuak people. We draw important lessons from this case to better anticipate ways to protect the poor and be more effective in fighting poverty.”
Opponents of the villagisation process have been vocal in their criticisms of the bank’s role. Jessica Evans, senior international financial institutions researcher atHuman Rights Watch, said the inspection panel’s report showed the bank had “largely ignored human rights risks evident in its projects in Ethiopia” and highlighted “the perils of unaccountable budget support” in the country.
Source: The Guardian

The Western countries have been looking the other way when tens of thousands of Oromos are languishing in Ethiopian jails, hundreds of school children, as young as nine years old, were massacred by the TPLF soldiers for the crime of demonstrating peacefully in protest of government policy and millions of Oromo farmers are being evicted of their lands. All this crime is being committed against Oromos just because they are Oromos , a people constituting the single largest majority in Ethiopia and occupying a good chunk of it

Turning the Table on Abaye Tsehaye and the TPLF Gangsters: The Oromo Master Plan for National Survival

By Akaaku Qerro | February 27, 2015
At stake in that God- forsaken land known as Ethiopia today is the survival of Oromos as a national entity. The clique at the helm of the Tigrean People’s Liberation Front, TPLF, has declared an all-out war on Oromos and is hell bent to commit physical as well cultural genocide against us. The so-called Addis Ababa Master Plan—better designated as the Master Plan for Oromo Genocide— is the grand TPLF scheme intended to evict Oromo farmers, seize Oromo land, loot Oromo resources, all with ultimate goal of establishing a permanent Tigrean domination and hegemony in rural Oromia.
This thinly-veiled attempt at neo-colonization and carried out in the 21 st century no less has been characterized as an act springing out of naivety and ignorance by some. But there is no doubt it is an act arrogance of arrogance bordering on insanity.
Naive and ignorant because, having been numbed and blinded by the amount of loot and comfort they have come to wallow in during the last quarter century of their reign, Abaye Tsehaye and his TPLF cohorts have become oblivious of the existence of other peoples around them. The TPLF fat cats are apparently incapable of rational thought and are unable to see, or do not care less, about the long term consequences of the crimes they are committing against the Oromo people on a daily basis. And insane and arrogant because, having most entirely relied on coercive power to keep the “peace” and to perpetuate their tyranny over the millions in the country, those TPLF gangsters have lulled themselves into believing their own hype that there is no force in the universe that can move, let alone remove them. In their own small minds they are good to extend their tyranny ad infinitum.
Hence Abaye Tesahaye’s stupid bravado and superciliousness in declaring that TPLF would proceed with their Master Plan for Oromo Genocide come what may and the accompanying threat directed at Oromos that they would be dealt with harshly if they dare stand in TPLF’s way. This is most outrageous but not surprising coming from one of the leaders of the Ethiopian a fascist state.
The Oromo answer must be unequivocal and clear: the table will be turned and the TPLF strategy to literally eliminate us from the face of our land will only add fuel to the fire of the Oromo war for liberation. While Abaye Tsehaye’s contemptuous utterances to push ahead with their Master Plan will represent a watershed in the Oromo struggle in so far as it galvanizes the Oromo nation, the same blunder will come back to haunt the TPLF and will forever be a source of regret.
That Oromos have the legal as well as the moral right to wage a war of resistance against TPLF aggression is beyond dispute. It’s a fact  that no one can deny, not even the Western countries who have chosen friendship and cooperation with a government led by the TPLF gangsters over the observance of human rights, the rule of law and the fundamental principle of self-determination for a people facing the danger of mass extermination.
The Western countries have been looking the other way when tens of thousands of Oromos are languishing in Ethiopian jails, hundreds of school children, as young as nine years old, were massacred by the TPLF soldiers for the crime of demonstrating peacefully in protest of government policy and millions of Oromo farmers are being evicted of their lands. All this crime is being committed against Oromos just because they are Oromos , a people constituting the single largest majority in Ethiopia and occupying a good chunk of it.  It’s a sad footnote in the history of the Oromo struggle that Western countries are continuing to bankroll the TPLF junta in Ethiopia despite the fact they are fully aware that hundreds of Oromos have already perished as a result of eviction and displacement caused by the government’s land grabbing and urban expansion. Partly duped by the cunning posture of the Ethiopian governments posing as the champion of the fight against terrorism and undoubtedly driven by short sighted self interest, Western governments are overlooking the fact that the very policies of the Ethiopian government that they are bankrolling—repression, political murders, looting, detention without due process …etc is fast turning Ethiopia into failed state and a breeding ground for terrorism. Another Somalia is right round the corner. And the story of the so-called opposition operating legally in Ethiopia makes for no better reading. For in all their protestations and noise they are making against the TPLF junta, the Habasha have elected to be mute when it comes to the plight of Oromos. It’s almost  as though the mere mention of the name “Oromo” was going to cause the instant break-up of what is left of the rump state.
The old political elites, who go to make up the leadership of those parties, find themselves on the Ethiopian political scene in a new democratic garb. But without exception, Andinet, ENTC, Semayawi… and son on have similarly turned a blind eye to the plight of the Oromo and some are in fact mocking us as the perennial victims. They seem to be content with their wait and see disposition ready to jump in to fill any power vacuum that may follow the demise of the TPLF. They cannot stand either antagonist but seem to harbour a lot more fear of Oromos in strategic terms than the Tigreans. They continue to go on whining about TPLF’s sinister design to destroy Ethiopia’s unity, and that merely because the Oromo language has become a working medium, by and large, in Oromo regions. But not only are they incapable or unwilling of putting forward a viable alternative to the Oromo question, the very issue on which the survival of the Ethiopian polity is predicated. The old elites are blissfully unaware or are in pathological denial that the future of their ”beloved motherland” will be determined only by the young militant Oromo generation whether they or the TPLF likes it or not. Henceforth, the settlement of the Oromo issue will be determined by Oromos regardless of the manner of its disposition. Whether Ethiopia will break up into multiple states, or it will evolve into a genuine multi-national federation, or it will develop into a unitary democracy with Oromos as the political pivot; the accomplishment of anyone of these options or others will require, unlike in the past, Oromos playing a central role as warranted by the dynamics of geopolitics and demography.
We see even Oromos, idly theorizing and quibbling on forums like this one what the goal of the Oromo revolution must be. Some, like Fayyis Oromia, have tried to delve  into formulating various theoretical models that a future Oromo state could assume. While the likes of Fayyis Oromia are commendable for their fertile imagination, hair splitting debate on the shape of a future Oromo nation could be counter-productive. We have enough contentious and more urgent issues on which to focus at this moment in our struggle. The mission and of the Oromo revolution should be to enable the masses of our people to decide their destiny. It will be their sovereign right thenceforth to choose whether they want to establish their own state or live in a mutually agreed federation with the peoples within and around them. It was the failure to recognize this simple fact, albeit a cardinal principle, that has led to internecine war between compatriots resulting in costly loss of life and putting the struggle years back. In recent years, there is no doubt the rapid rise of a revolutionary Oromo generation, the Qerro, has sent terror down the spine of the members of the TPLF kleptocracy in Ethiopia. With Qerro fuelling the Oromo struggle, the TPLF junta knows full well that the Oromo revolution is attaining a new and dynamic dimension. They know the days of TPLF terror unleashed on Oromos are numbered. And they know that they got to stop this inexorable force if they have to continue their looting, killing and political repression in Oromia. But alas what the TPLF do not know, or chose to ignore to their own ultimate detriment, is that they cannot stop the march of history, not even the might of TPLF can.
Since they cannot stop the march of history, the TPLF thought it best to resort to attacking Oromos through delegitimizing their cause and thereby their quest for freedom and self-determination. And the TPLF reckon the way to attain their criminal goal is by evicting Oromos from their ancestral land.
Oromos are now pinned against the wall and the only way is out and up. They are left with no choice but to strengthen their resistance against TPLF’s expansionist policy and onslaught and ascertain their existence as a community. Or do nothing and gradually perish from the face of Ethiopia. That is the stark choice staring us in the eye today.
Hence, Oromos are rising up ever stronger and more determined to kill in the bud the TPLF Master Plan intended for their genocide. This Master Plan will never be allowed to succeed. It can only succeed over our dead bodies, all 40 million of us.
It should be clear to all Oromos that this war of resistance is going to require a greater level of sacrifice from us all, at home and abroad. While waging an all-encompassing resistance to oust the TPLF out of our lands, at this stage we are primarily looking to ourselves in terms of support. We can be sure of the Habasha parties falling over each other making a belated rally of support at the eleventh hour, when the Oromo struggle becomes a fait accompli. Victors are not short of friends and Oromos have always been brothers after all, the TPLF taking the blame for having planted discord and conflict among the two peoples. As for the West, the excuse will be convenient ignorance of the gravity of the crimes committed by the TPLF against Oromos in broad daylight, apologies being not atypical.  But for now Oromos will have to slog it all alone toward freedom and nationhood. They need to rely on themselves to consummate the struggle, and they possess ample resources to do so.
Above all, the Oromo resistance demands a greater level of commitment and performance from its leaders, without naming any organization in particular. The objective situation—to borrow a phrase from a bygone revolutionary era—calls for the leaders to lead by example. They need to shift their operational base from the capitals of America and Western Europe to Oromia where our youth are being murdered and jailed by TPLF every single day. No war of liberation that I know of has consummated successfully directed from abroad. Oromos won’t be an exception. The Tigreans mock our leaders as managing the Oromo revolution by remote control and sadly there is a lot of truth in that.
To reiterate, at this moment in history, geopolitics is not in our favour but this is no sudden revelation; we have known it for as long as we have been conscious. And unfortunately there are no signs that the status quo is changing anytime soon. Oromos are surrounded by peoples and nations with axes to grind (casting covetous eyes on our lands) and we cannot expect them to do us any favours. So Oromia remains to be the rear as well as the center for our leaders, not Oslo, not Asmara, not Washington DC, not London.
Ambo comes with immense physical danger but that is where a glorious chapter of the Oromo revolution is being written. So are Borana, Naqamte, Bale, Jimma, Arsi and so on. When the chips are down, we know that Oromos can count on their leaders and one can’t think of a time more critical in the Oromo struggle when the leaders need to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Oromo people and lead them to victory.

The Nazi TPLF leadership, which is now and then, supported by the USA and UK, in particular, pledged to establish a democratic government whereby those ethnically so diverse peoples in the Empire would be governed on the basis of federal arrangement. Accordingly, sham regional governments were established following the communist era of the Soviet style. Based on the Soviet model, a Tigre man is routinely posted in every regional office and controls the activities of regions and local administrations. Without the final approval of the assigned Tigre man, the surrogate OPDO officials cannot issue even a single letter of their own independent mind nor can they take their independent decision to be implemented.

ABBAY TSEHAYE: 21st CENTURY NAZI TPLF’S CHIEF OF GENOCIDE AND A DIABOLIC MAN

Bulbulaa Tufaa | February 26, 2015

Finfinnee Master Plan is in reality designed to mass exterminate Oromo farmers and partition Oromia Region into two segments.

In the first half of the 20^th century on the continent of Europe, Fascism in Italy and Nazism (national Sozialismus) in Germany had erupted and claimed to lead socialist governments. The leaders of Nazism and Fascism pretended to dictate themselves to their peoples’ national interest, national cause, national wellbeing, national purpose and all in all to   their peoples national goal.
In the first half of the 21^st century, Ethiopian Nazi-Fascism under the leadership of TPLF-Tigray of Ethiopia emerged and gripped on power, by overthrowing the “Itiyophiya tikidem” regime of Col. Mengistu Hailemariam, The Nazi TPLF leadership, which is now and then, supported by the USA and UK, in particular, pledged to establish a democratic government whereby those ethnically so diverse peoples in the Empire would be governed on the basis of federal arrangement. Accordingly, sham regional governments were established following the communist era of the Soviet style. Based on the Soviet model, a Tigre man is routinely posted in every regional office and controls the activities of regions and local administrations. Without the final approval of the assigned Tigre man, the surrogate OPDO officials cannot issue even a single letter of their own independent mind nor can they take their independent decision to be implemented.

The giving away of Oromo land in the name of investment also includes Addis Ababa, the capital city situated at the center of Oromia Regional State. 30,000 Oromos were evicted by the TPLF/EPRDF Government from their lands and livelihoods in the areas around the Capital City and suburbs, and their lands were given to the TPLF officials, members and loyal cadres over the past 24 years. In order to grab more lands around Addis Abba, the TPLF government prepared a plan called “the Addis Ababa Integrated Master Plan”, a plan that aimed at annexing about 36 towns and surrounding villages into Addis Ababa was first challenged by the Oromo People’s Democracy Organization/OPDO in March 2014.

Ethiopia: TPLF’s Leaders Arrogance and Contempt: Inviting Further Bloodshed and Loss of Lives

HRLHA Statement
February 23, 2015
Since the downfall of the military government of Ethiopia in 1991, the political and socioeconomic lives of the country have totally been controlled by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front/TPLF leaders and business institutions. As soon as the TPLF controlled Addis Ababa, the capital city, in 1991, the first step it took was to create People’s Democratic Organizations (PDOs) in the name of different nations and nationalities   in the country.   With the help of these PDOs, the TPLF managed to control the whole country in a short period of time from corner to corner. The next step that the TPLF took was to weaken and/or eliminate all independent opposition political organizations existing in the country, including those with whom it formed the Ethiopian Transitional Government in 1991. Just to pretend that it was democratizing the country, the TPLF signed seven international human rights documents from 1991 to 2014. These include the “Convention against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment”. Despite this, it is known that the TPLF has tortured many of its own citizens ever since it assumed power, and has continued to the present day.
The TPLF Government adopted a new constitution in 1995; and, based on this constitution, formed new federal states. The new Ethiopian constitution is full of spurious democratic sentiments and human rights terms meant to inspire the people of Ethiopia and the world community. The TPLF’s pretentious promise to march towards democracy enabled it to receive praise from people inside and outside including donor countries and organizations. The TPLF government managed somehow to maintain a façade of credibility with western governments including those of the USA and the UK. In reality, the TPLF security forces were engaged in intensive killings, abductions, disappearances of a large number of Oromo, Ogaden, Sidama peoples; and others whom the TPLF suspected of being members, supporters or sympathizers of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), Ogadenian National Libration Front (ONLF), and Sidama Peoples Libiration Front (SPLF). The TPLF high officials to ordinary level cadres in the various regional states engaged in enriching themselves and their family members by looting and embezzling public wealth and properties, raping young women in the occupied areas of the nations and nationalities in Ethiopia, and committing many other forms of corruptions.
After securing enough wealth for themselves, the TPLF government officials, cadres and members declared, in 2004, an investment policy that resulted in the eviction of indigenous peoples from their lands and all types of livelihoods. Since 2006, thousands of Oromo, Gambela, and Benshangul nationals and others have been forcefully evicted from their lands without consultation or compensation. Those who attempted to oppose or resist were murdered and/or jailed by the TPLF[1]. The TPLF government then cheaply leased their lands, for terms as long as 50 years, to international investors and wealthy Middle East and Asian countries including Saudi Arabia[2] .  The TPLF government has done all this against its own constitution, particularly article 40 (3)[3] , which states that “ The right to ownership of rural and urban land, as well as of all natural resources, is exclusively vested in the State and in the peoples of Ethiopia. Land is a common property of the Nations, Nationalities and Peoples of Ethiopia and shall not be subject to sale or to other means of exchange”.  These acts were also against the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 17 (1 &2)[4] , which says, “1. Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others. 2. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property”
In order to facilitate further corruption and embezzlement, the money paid for the leases as long as 50 years were received in cash. For example, the Indian agro investor Karaturi explained to a Guardian Magazine reporter that the TPLF government officials asked him to pay in cash in order to get the land, which he called “green gold”[5]. These gross human rights violations by the TPLF leaders against the Oromos, Gambelas, and Benshanguls have been condemned by many civic organizations, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa, Oakland Institute and others.
The giving away of Oromo land in the name of investment also includes Addis Ababa, the capital city situated at the center of Oromia Regional State. 30,000 Oromos were evicted by the TPLF/EPRDF Government from their lands and livelihoods in the areas around the Capital City and suburbs, and their lands were given to the TPLF officials, members and loyal cadres over the past 24 years. In order to grab more lands around Addis Abba, the TPLF government prepared a plan called “the Addis Ababa Integrated Master Plan”, a plan that aimed at annexing about 36 towns and surrounding villages into Addis Ababa was first challenged by the Oromo People’s Democracy Organization/OPDO in March 2014. The challenge was first supported by Oromo students in different universities, colleges and high schools in Oromia, and then spread to Oromo farmers, Oromo intellectuals in all corners of Oromia Regional State and to Oromo nationals living in different parts of the world. The Oromo nationals staged peaceful protests all over Oromia Regional State. In connection with this Addis Ababa integrated master plan, which had the risk of evicting more than two million farmers from around the capital city, about seventy Oromo students from among the peaceful protestors were brutalized by the special TPLF Agiazi snipers and more than five thousand Oromos from all walks of life were taken to prisons in different parts of Oromia Regional State. The inhuman military actions and crackdowns by the TPLF government against peaceful protestors were condemned by different international media such as the BBC[6], human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and the HRLHA[7]. The government admitted that it killed nine of them[8].  The unrest that started in central Oromia suddenly escalated to such a high level that the TPLF leaders suspended the expansion plan for a while. However, recently, without the slightest regret and sense of remorse over the massacres committed against peaceful protestors of Oromo Nationals by his government in May and April 2014, the TPLF’s co-founder, top official and the current Prime Minister, Hailemariam Dessalegn’s  special advisor, Mr. Abay Tsehaye, vowed in public that anyone who attempts to oppose the implementation of the so-called Addis Ababa Master Plan would be dealt with harshly. In his speech he confirmed that the TPLF government is determined to continue with the master plan, no matter what happened in the past or what may come in the future.   In a manner that Abay Tsehaye was reiterating that the annexations of towns and cities in central Oromia into the capital Addis Ababa will go ahead as planned regardless of the absence of consultations and consent of the local people and/or the officials of the targeted towns and cities. Besides displaying his extreme arrogance and contempt for the Oromo Nation, Mr. Abay Tsehaye’s speech was in direct breach of constitutional provisions of both federal and regional states.
The Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (HRLHA) would like to express its deep concern that this TPLFs leader’s speech not only encourages violence against the country’s own citizens, but also invites further bloodshed and loss of lives; it leaves no room at all for dialogue, consultation and consent – norms which are at the core of a genuine democracy. This is still happening despite the killing of more than seventy Oromo youth and the arrest and incarceration of thousands of others as a result of violent and deadly responses by armed forces of the TPLF and the government to peaceful demonstrators in May and April, 2014.
Conclusion: The HRLHA believes that the gross human rights violations committed by the TPLF government in the past 24 years against Oromo, Ogaden, Gambela, Sidama and others were pre-planned and intentional all the times that they have happened. The TPLF killed, tortured, and kidnapped and disappeared thousands of Oromo nationals, Ogaden and other nationals simply because of their resources and ethnic backgrounds. The recent research conducted by Amnesty International under the title “Because I am Oromo”: SWEEPING REPRESSION IN THE OROMIA REGION OF ETHIOPIA’ [9] confirms that peoples in Ethiopia who belong to other ethnic groups have been the victims of the TPLF.  The TPLF inhuman actions against the citizens are clearly a genocide, a crime against humanity[10] and an ethnic cleansing, which breach domestic and international laws, and all international treaties the government of Ethiopia signed and ratified.    The Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa wants to hold the TPLF government accountable as a group and as individuals for the crimes they have committed and are committing against Oromos and others.
The HRLHA calls on all human rights families, non-governmental civic organizations, HRLHA members, supporters and sympathizers to stand beside the HRLHA and provide moral, professional and financial help to bring the dictatorial TPLF government and officials to international justice.
The HRLHA is a non-political organization which attempts to challenge abuses of human rights of the people of various nations and nationalities in the Horn of Africa. It works to defend fundamental human rights including freedoms of thought, expression, movement and association. It also works on raising the awareness of individuals about their own basic human rights and those of others. It encourages respect for laws and due process. It promotes the growth and development of free and vigorous civil societies.

We Fight for Human Rights!
HRLHA Head Office

We need to be able to create alternate source of power.

Creation of Oromo National Dialog for Unity

By Kassim Sheimo | February 10, 2015
The last 24 years of Oromo struggle against TPLF regime has been a failure by many aspect due to lack of unity, strong viable leadership, lack of clear vision, proliferation of influence of locality, religion, and regionalism inside Oromo political organizations. The end product of these processes is a devastating failure of Oromo political and social fabric inside and outside of the country. As majority of us recall from 1991 to present day, Oromo people have not yet lost hope on its once was a vibrant organization with tenth of thousands of regular fighters as well as millions of volunteers and all most 90% support from Oromo public. The difference created before the fall of Dergu regime and following the TPLF dominated transitional government has resulted into devastating consequences for our cause. There are so many conspiracy theories that are still hidden from Oromo public as to why, when, who, and in what circumstances the OLF is divided into different factions. Why the Organization once enjoyed massive human and material resources behind it suffered such humiliating failure is a mystery.
The Oromo public rallied behind OLF with high level of energy, devotion, enthusiasm, commitments, and loyalty. Many foreign obverses and even some among us were surprised when the OLF able to attract huge public turned out by hundreds of thousands and able to garner millions of dollars in just few public engagement. It was unimaginable that any able Oromo would be left behind to a call by the organization. Many who live around the world volunteered to go back and fight the enemy under its banner of free Oromia. Enormous donations in terms of money and moral supports were pouring more than what the leaders were be able handle. It is therefore heartbreaking to see such organization suffered splits into many factions, consequently suffered calamitous failure, lost the support, and confidence of the Oromo public at home and in diaspora that it once used enjoy. Tenth of millions of dollars collected from the public are unaccounted for. There were minimal or no oversight. Those public enthusiasms and hopes were gradually vanished. It is very sad to see such diverse homogeneous 2nd largest ethnic population in Africa divided into a loopy localism, religion, and region. It is disgraceful that the leaders of these factions disgruntled the Oromo public. Today we have come to the point where these factions cannot attract more than 10 to 15 people at any location where Oromos are more dominant. The dynamics of political dialog and engagement have been intentionally ignored because these leaders can’t handle the outpouring public anger. They chose to go around, create locally based little pocket of sympathizers to get some pictures and video of sort of meeting and release to tell us that they still out there and alive. They just can’t talk to the public because they are afraid that they would be challenged, embarrassed, and humiliated by the public.
The latest attempt of TPLF government to engage us through its puppet OPDO leaders is the tantamount to our division, weakness, and failure. Otherwise, it would be unimaginable that Ato Abba Duula who is the right hand of cruel TPLF gangsters would appear here among us, especially in diaspora trying to talk to us about investment and development when our people are actually marginalized politically, economically, and socially in the country; when millions of Oromo people are evicted/ faced eviction from their ancestral land; when Oromo young generation are hunted and mercilessly killed for just raising the fundamental human rights. The irony is, some of our faction leaders suppose to be at forefront in protesting Ato Abba Duula’s visit has actually found to be feasting and entertaining with the agent of TPLF. Especially those that are packing their luggage for power sharing journey to Finfinne were more visible with Abba Duula. They are at desperate position to appease the TPLF bosses so they would be welcomed back to cronyism.
The evolving big question is for how long these faction leaders highjack the Oromo cause and stall our destiny to free land? It is safe for me to say that the Oromo struggle has its fare share of devastating political failure because of poor political, organizational, structural, and military judgments; lack of common sense, lack of high Oromo value, inefficiency, lack of accountability, and responsibility. Simply we cannot afford to stand by and allow such impunity to go unchallenged forever. It is our unalienable right to be vocal, opponent, and critic of those who failed us; and in the face of those who are still unflinching to lead us into more disasters after disasters. We all need to come out and discus with no fear of repercussion, no limit what so ever. We need to vent ourselves in constructive and civilized way. Question everything! We need to follow our rational judgment to engage ourselves with discussion, debate, and deliberation by following our egalitarian Gadaa system that anchors our national heritage. We need to be able to create alternate source of power.
Many genuine Oromo children worked hard all their lives to resuscitate and bring this organization back to its fullest factional capacity were vexed with lack of progress and went into hibernation. Many that have tried were anguished by lack of seriousness, lack of genuine interest from faction leaders, many faces of unity that emerged on different occasions that shade some light on the unity of purpose were short-lived and faded away quickly. They left us with bad memories of conspiracy theories. Huge road blocks are erected each step of the way causing one step forward and two steps backward. The liberation movement is almost at standstill or non-existence if we not cheating ourselves. It is smart if we accept our collective failures and sit together and find solution before it is too late. I am not trying to discredit those who genuinely working hard day and night for Oromo cause. At the same time we need to acknowledge, give gratitude, and commemorate the effort of those (General Taddesse Birru, General Waaqo Guutu, Jarra Abba Gadaa, Elemo Qilxuu, Jamal Roobalee, Nadhii Gammada, Gishuu Jarra, etc.) who left us outstanding legacy of knowledge, wisdom, perseverance, hard work, and sacrifices.
Each and every one of us has innate potential to achieve our goal of free country. We need to acknowledge our individual and collective potentials. Recognizing the power that we all possess will help us to gain momentum in our dream of achieving Bilisumma. Because potential is unexposed ability to reach latent power. Getting where we want to be doesn’t require solving transcendental or sophisticated mathematical equation. It rather requires joining each other by expanding our concept, horizon, setting short and long terms goals in the wide ocean full of opportunities. It is not hard to deduce the importance of effective leadership in harvesting those opportunities. Through visionary, determined, and consistent leadership that sends clear message to its friends and foes and armed with discipline, control, and ascendancy will for sure leads not only to victory but also stability and sustainability of peace after victory. Leadership is not a title; it is not forever; it is not a boss; it is rather he who is selfless that leads and follow the interest of his people; it is he who can put positive influence on his followers; it is he who never hesitates to take calculated risks because opportunity only comes through experiment in which risks are unavoidable. It is he who never hesitates to tell the truth because honesty is the best policy. “No legacy is so rich as Honesty” William Shakespeare.
We are equally human and affirm that there is no reason why we cannot solve our differences in Oromo cultural way of “Jaarsumma or manguddumma” and reconcile our differences. Among us, I believe there are hundred thousands of talented Oromo individuals, intellectuals, community leaders, religious leaders, elders, and young Qubee generations that can bring us together. The current TPLF political platform created dangerous clout in the horn of Africa. Conspicuously, albeit our people are increasingly becoming trapped in destitute cycle of poverty, lack of progress, lack of unity, polarized Oromo politics, and increasing religious fundamentalism around the horn of Africa have created potential of vulnerability. This suppressive regime is losing its control in some area of the country due to increasing resisting against injustices in every corner of the country. This development has to be followed by united, strong, and viable, political Organization that would save our people from impending political, military, and social crises. . We need to be able to remove the political uncertainty hovering over our country. Therefore; it is imperative to urgently Create Oromo National Forum for Dialog and deliberation that will lead us to true Reconciliation.

Thank you (Galatooma)

According to a new report by Human Rights Watch, at least 60 journalists have fled the country since 2010, including 30 last year, and at least 19 have been imprisoned. Twenty-two faced criminal charges in 2014. The government closed five newspapers and a magazine within the past year, leaving Ethiopia with no independent private media outlets. With the country headed toward elections in May, the pressure on the media has undermined the prospect of a free and fair vote.

Ethiopia’s stifled press

By Editorial Board

January 9, 2015 (Washington Post) — WHILE ENJOYING its status as an international development darling, Ethiopia has been chipping away at its citizens’ freedom of expression. The country now holds the shameful distinction of having the second-most journalists in exile in the world, after Iran. That combination of Western subsidies and political persecution should not be sustainable.

According to a new report by Human Rights Watch, at least 60 journalists have fled the country since 2010, including 30 last year, and at least 19 have been imprisoned. Twenty-two faced criminal charges in 2014. The government closed five newspapers and a magazine within the past year, leaving Ethiopia with no independent private media outlets. With the country headed toward elections in May, the pressure on the media has undermined the prospect of a free and fair vote.

Ethiopia has long been known for its censorship and repression of the media, but the situation has deteriorated in recent years. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, the country has since 2009 “banned or suspended at least one critical independent publication per year.” After the death of prime minister Meles Zenawi in 2012, successor Hailemariam Desalegn has tightened the regime’s stranglehold on the press. Even Ethiopia’s rival Eritrea looks better: It released several imprisoned journalists last month.

As Human Rights Watch documents, journalists and media outlets who dare publish critical articles routinely receive threatening phone calls, texts and e-mails from party officials and security personnel. Journalists’ movements are often restricted outside of the capital, Addis Ababa. Sources who talk to foreign journalists and human rights organizations can face threats and detainment.

The repression extends across the media ecosystem. State agents harass printers and disrupt distribution processes associated with critical publications. Journalists who flee into neighboring countries are tracked and threatened. The government blocks Web sites from the Ethiopian diaspora, and it has jammed signals of foreign broadcasters, including Voice of America.

Much of the persecution has come under the guise of counterterrorism by a regime that has been a player in the fight against the al-Qaeda-allied al-Shabab. At least 38 journalists have been charged under a 2009 “anti-terrorism proclamation” and the criminal code. In 2012, prominent journalist and blogger Eskinder Nega was jailed for 18 years on charges of terrorism after criticizing the government’s repression.

Despite these policies, Ethiopia has retained its status as a U.S. ally and recipient of large amounts of U.S. development assistance — including $373 million for health and humanitarian programs in 2014. By contrast, U.S. spending on democracy and human rights assistance in Ethiopia has fallen dramatically in the past several years, from $3.4 million in 2012 to $162,900 in 2014. The decline in assistance for human rights bows to a 2009 law that prohibits nongovernmental organizations receiving more than 10 percent of their funding from abroad from conducting human rights advocacy.

The State Department recently spoke out against the media crackdown. But more than words should be at stake. The Obama administration should link continued aid to the release of imprisoned journalists and bloggers, and it should enlist other Western aid donors to do the same. The West should not be subsidizing a regime that is one of the world’s leading persecutors of journalists.

Source: Washington Post