By Baro K. Deressa, MD
Ignorance breeds fear
The passing of our hero’s, an icon of the struggle against the colonization of our country Oromia, creates a great hope to fill. Their death also reminds us of their life. A life unparalleled for their bravery, conviction, and devotion to a just cause, and to the liberation of their fellow men and women in Oromia and particularly their own people Oromo those who mostly affected. A life in which they struggled against the might of the Ethiopian empire and sacrificed their own liberty so that all Oromo’s and other nationalities in Oromia could enjoy dignity, prosperity, and freedom. This paper discusses the complexity of our struggle, Oromumma factor and way out. Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.
All human beings are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, equality and the Pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these Rights, governments are instituted, whenever any Form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government in order to keep in place a concrete foundation for democratic governance and rule of law.
For many countries, the presence of malicious leaders forms a notable impediment to the development of their economy as well as their living conditions. This makes one wonder how these leaders can be removed, and how their rise to power can be prevented. When it comes to the question of how to punish malevolent rulers, the international community has increased its commitment to prosecute malevolent dictators by establishing the International Criminal Court. This deters dictators from committing atrocities. For example on May 30 2012, the Special Court for Sierra Leone sentenced Charles Taylor, former president of Liberia, to 50 years imprisonment for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Successive Ethiopian regimes have never displayed humanity or respect for Oromo’s and denied opportunities to build their social, economic, political, cultural and organizational infrastructures. In all spheres of life, discrimination, subjugation, repression and exploitation of all forms were applied. Everything possible was done to destroy Oromo identity – culture, language, custom, tradition, name and origin. In short the leaders of Ethiopian regimes maintained the general policy of genocide against the Oromo people. But there is no former or current leader of Ethiopian government has been imprisoned or charged for the war crimes and crimes against Oromo’s. Is it factor of our weakness? Is it failure of the international community? In my opinion we as an Oromo we have a lot to do in order to liberate our country Oromia and bring those criminals to justice or bring justice to them.
Typically the colonizers exploit the land, the raw materials, the labor, and other resources of the colonized nation in order to enrich the mother country (republic of Tigray); in addition a formal recognition is given to the difference in power, autonomy, and political status, and various agencies are set up to maintain this subordination. There are many Oromo’s sided with this criminal and barbaric colonial state instead of fighting in order to eliminate them. There is no simple, single explanation for the passivity of the Oromo’s sided with colonial state, killers of their nations and destroyer of their identity. Their motives are complex and changing and it is best to examine them in some detail.
One explanation for passivity is that precisely the power and pervasiveness of the colonial state has created deep fear, especially among people with family obligations, vulnerable employment and with moderate commitments to democratic freedoms. This group of citizens is aware of cases where colonial powers (TPLF) have affected other citizens who were involved in critical activities, causing job loss and broad suffering and are not willing to sacrifice their security and the welfare of their families.
The second possible motive for accepting of the colonial state is ignorance: those peoples or groups who are not aware of the size, scope and activities of the colonial state. Their practical behavior speaks to the notion that ‘since I am not directly affected it must not exist’. Embedded in everyday life, making a living, enjoying leisure time, entertainment, sports, family and concerned only about household budgets. This mass is so embedded in their personal ‘micro-world’ that it considers the macro-economic and political issues raised by the colonial state as ‘distant’, outside of their experience or interest: ‘I don’t have time’, ‘I don’t know enough’, ‘It’s all ‘politics’. The widespread apoliticism of the public plays into its ignoring the monster that has grown in its midst. Ethiopian peasants, regardless of their ethnicity, do not have a clue about what we are talking about. They would die happy if only they got enough “bidena on their gabattee” (in Afaan Oromo) every evening and see their children well fed before they went to bed.
Complexity of our struggle: Our colonizers (previous one→elite Amhara’s ruling class, current one→eliteTigre ruling class, future one→mixture Ama-Tigo) and Oromumma factor →sided with enemy.
All those groups have their own history to tell us under their camouflage in order to confuse us:
Our answer to all those destructive forces are one and concrete. We Oromo’s have to be the master of our destination and boss of our resources. After that we can talk about unity, about emerging democracy, about economical power and hope. Until that destination the only solution is Fight! Fight! Fight! To eradicate you, the master of disaster.
Master of disasters in detail:
The elite Amhara’s, still don’ t want to understand the feeling and the pain of the Oromo people. CUD Coalition for Unity and Democracy? Intentionally I would have preferred to name it CDU Coalition for Democracy and Unity. It is not semantics but this name itself reflects the true nature of the Abyssinian elites where Unity at all cost is the driving force behind their movement instead of Democracy at all cost . For me, unless a society is democratic, there is no way you can achieve unity. But if they don’t understand the problem, how do they expect the problem to be solved? I am sure they have heard a million times that identification of a problem is already 50% of the solution.
Millions of Oromo’s under Tigrean People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) rule face imprisonment, humiliation, torture and death if they complain about the injustices on the daily bases and atrocities by government security forces. While Ethiopia’s commitment to economic development is laudable, communities affected by certain programs such as the villagization and industrialization program in Gambella, Oromia and the development of irrigated sugar plantations in the lower Omo Valley have experienced serious abuses such as forced relocations, inadequate consultation and lack of services in resettlement sites. There has been little or no apparent effort to investigate or ensure accountability for these abuses or for past serious crimes by security forces in Oromia, gambella and somali region.
TPLF is characterized by three unfulfilled promises and fear (fear of real democracy, absence of free political space and fear of media)
Fear of real Democracy: Democratization is not simply a matter of multi-partyism or elections; it also encompasses freedom of expression and association, the rule of law, press freedom, and independent civil society. On all fronts, Ethiopia went backwards and democratization system of TPLF government represent an actual reduction in free political space.
Some foreign diplomats and observers assumed that the TPLF would liberalize his policy towards true democratic system. That optimism underestimated several factors influencing the TPLF elite: their ideological commitment to democratic centralism, their fear of majoritarian democracy in a country where Oromo’s constitute an overwhelming majority (45%), and their intolerance of any criticism. So it is naïve to think they would open up progressively step by step.
Absence of free political space: The closing off of all political space, the maintenance of a climate of fear, the intimidations and disappearances of potentially critical voices, the banning of the sole opposition party with some possible popular grounding like OLF, the attacks on key civil society organizations and the further muzzling of the press – all point to the undeniable fact that there is no free choice in Ethiopia.
Fear of media power: The Ethiopian TPLF Government will continue to restrict press freedom as long as it continues to treat media primarily as a means of mobilization: The media will communicate to the population on four core programmes which feature prominently in Government’s policy – good governance, justice, economy, and social welfare.
Ama-Tigo (mixture of future one): Colonization refers to both the formal and informal methods (behaviors, ideologies, institutions, policies, and economies) that maintain the subjugation or exploitation of Indigenous Peoples, lands and resources. So, our colonizers elite Amhara’s and elite Tigre, every day they engage in activities that continue to justify the theft of Oromo lands, the killing and subjugation of Oromo Peoples, and the ruthless exploitation of Oromia resources. From birth, they begin teaching their children myths regarding the righteousness of the existing social order (their superiority). That message is reinforced throughout their lives. It is hard work maintaining such lies, so whenever the colonized threaten to disrupt their myth-making, they are quickly silenced, suppressed, and further subjugated. The actions of the colonialist are predictable and consistent. The eviction of Oromo people from their ancestral land in Finfinne is one example of their coalition against Oromo people.
Oromumma factor: Civilians are killed by dictators (TPLF-leaders), ears and hands may be chopped by special forces of TPLF like agazi forces in Ambo, or properties will burned down by the police and military forces purely with the aim of forcing Oromo people to scare and dismantle struggle for freedom. True Oromo’s are continue to fight back this criminal government by all means available despite millions of obstacles and deaths.
Now days there are Oromo’s who sided with the enemies because of many motives like fear, need of money and afraid of suffering. Those peoples are living in the dark and afraid to see the light (freedom). We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. Those people are telling us many stories about their masters kindness through their organized institution (Oromo diaspora, OPDO members, Ambassadors…). They are telling us: (we are free to govern Oromia region, freedom of expression is improving in Ethiopia, my one room apartment is safe in mekele, innocent Oromo prisoners are criminals……..) Are they crazy? ignorant? Moral less?
The development of real freedom always and everywhere means the restriction of the freedom of others to oppress and do wrong. Freedom for the vast majority necessarily means restriction of the freedom of a small minority to exploit the labour of others, monopolise the social means of production and communication. TPLF leaders are officially denies any types of freedom. In Ambo they kill more than hundred innocent people those who demand justice, Abbay Thayye (TPLF-dictator) intimidating 45 million of Oromo people by implementing the eviction of Oromo’s from their ancestral land Finfinne. So what is those surrogates of TPLF are talking about? are they really Oromo’s? It is not what you do for your people, but what you have taught them to do for themselves, that will make them successful and respected human beings. Stop to praise our enemies, feel shame to tell us wrong stories, dare to speak against TPLF atrocities on Oromo people’s, support Oromo movement for freedom and democracy and use your mind for principal and moral responsibility.
What is to be done?
Historical experience teaches us that a successful struggle against a colonial state depends on thelinking of the socio-economic struggles that engage the attention of the masses with the pro-democracy, freedom fighters, intellectuals with diverse professionalism. The deepening of economic crisis of our people, the big differences of living standards and working conditions and the fight to survive in order to fulfill basic necessities is the basis of power for revolution. Freedom is essential to the struggle for social justice and the mass struggle for social justice will fight back colonial state. The mass economic pain will ignite mass activity, which, in turn, will make people aware of the dangerous growth of the colonial state. A mass understanding of this link will be essential to any advance in the movement for democracy, freedom and people’s welfare.
TPLF members are the owners of the huge corporations that dominate the economy, and their servants among governments and institutions who maintain the political and economic system in their interests. These are the same people who continue harass the Oromo people on the daily basis in one hand and in another hand export the false propaganda of emerging democracy with well-financed manner. So as long as the political and economic system of TPLF dominated government in place no matter how many Oromo elected officials, or even an Oromo prime minster, can bring about the liberation of Oromia and Oromo people. The oppression of the Oromo people continue.
So we say that we Oromo’s are not only fight for our freedom, but we need to end all types of oppression against other nationalities like (Ogden, sidama’s, Benishangul….). To win this struggle for freedom we have to fight and simultaneously organized with responsibility. Organized with responsibility means “struggle to bring impact in order to faster our goal but not income to enrich individuals”.
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