It is true that I have not read the allegation against Ayantu Tibeso, but I am certain many stories that upset us the most are mostly based on rumor, the he says she says thing.
I think it is time we stop accusing each other over baseless allegations that keep popping up from time to time for far too long (it seems like). We are accustomed to the culture of quick thinking and acting to tear each other, but far too slow to build each other or support each other. I don’t know why but I feel like we are always ready to tear apart someone or something that seems to be a shining light. We know very well tearing each other will not help us. Pointing fingers and baseless accusations bring more damage to the Oromo cause and for those who fights for the Oromo people.
It is not my goal to defend on the current issues on Facebook but rather I am dead tired of hearing Oromo people accusing each other over something that may or may not be true. As an Oromo activist, perhaps any Oromo, we know these accusations only make us weaker, divide us and stonewall the unity we are building slowly. Only the narrow minded individuals that can put the short term personal gain ahead of community interest to spread rumors that divide us. As Qube generation we have gone through one of the most humiliating accounts over the recent Oromo fallout. We saw with our own eyes the effects the political fallout brought to our community, our friends. We are yet to recover from that. Most of us are still fighting to build trust, respect and fairness in our community.
Just recently less than two weeks ago the Oromia Tiyya New Year concert almost got canceled. Almost everyone including the main promoter learned the news the night before the event. However, within a few hours some people already began pointing fingers. Unfortunately, some of the fingers that were being pointed were toward an Oromo person(s). I don’t see how the cancelation of this highly anticipated event will help any Oromo. What is he or she gaining from it? Or does the person who starts the rumor simply want some types of revenge? I don’t know the answer to either case. However, I do know very well when we accuse an individual or group of people they retaliate back. Retaliation creates rivalry, anger, mistrust and long lasting revenge personality.
Personally if you ask me, I do not think any Oromo with the right state of mind will commit such an act of stupidity or selfishness. It is not in an Oromo people characters to go behind. In fact, the Oromo people characters are known to be hoy hoy. In other words, we make lots of noise at the beginning. As days and weeks pass by we go back to our normal routine. We eat, sleep and worship God with Habashas, one of our known enemies; an enemy that has always wanted to destroy us more than anything. Also, rather than talking about the possibility of habashas committing such an act in the first place, we internalize our doubt as the enemy being within. Rather than questioning the perfect community that we are clearly capable of and have the motive to be behind anything that promotes Oromo cause, we create mistrust between people.
Let us be very clear, habashas know very well they cannot defeat us on their own. So what do they do? They go back to the old game, divide and rule. They make us fight each other. You can go back and look in history, ask around, read or talk to your parents. Menelik when he couldn’t defeat Oromo Shawa, he decided to support the weaker trip. He helped Abechu defeat Galen. Once the strongest trip was destroyed it was time for Menelik to ask for favors (more like require). The trips he supported were obligated to support Menelik by conquering other Oromos. Of course the trips that were defeated have no other option but to fight for survival or perhaps to gain different leadership roles. Whether its land or name Menelik took what belongs to Oromo and give back to Oromos as a gift. It was the mechanism he used to defeat us.
To me it seems like we are facing what our great grand fathers and mothers faced. We are accusing each other, we don’t trust each other. It is these kinds of characters that will lead us to failure. It is these very characters that put us in this predicament and it’s these characters that will keep us in the position, the position we have been for the past 130+ years.
I say to all Oromos, even if you heard something but had doubts on what is being said by an Oromo individual please refrain yourself from publically starting accusations. When we accuse each other we both lose. I am not in any way saying or in favor of wrongdoers going unpunished. No I am not. I am 100% in favor of making sure everyone pays for that they did. I believe in (Chubu) or karma which says everything you do bad or good, will somehow come back to you or to your loved ones. I believe in accountability and transparency. However, knowing where we have been and where we are at, I think we should think twice before we start any accusations. Let us think twice before opening our mouths. Let us say how will my statement affect someone other than myself. Let us ask ourselves if our act will strength Oromommua and bring Oromos together. Lastly, let’s ask ourselves what is the effective method to handle the situation before it gets out of hand.
As for the current situation, perhaps when it comes to Ms. Tibeso we know very well who she is. She is one brave Oromo woman that has contributed so much to the Oromo cause. Even if she was to accuse Mr. Jawar of any allegation (which I don’t think she did) she is entitled to explanation. We ought to ask her first before we start calling her any names. Both Jawar and Ayantu are young Oromo figure that work tirelessly for Oromumma. They are reasonable and responsible individuals that can explain their own two cents. Let us focus on our enemy, the enemy that brought us to foreign land.
By Seenaa Jimjimoo, January, 2014
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