Officials said last month that five people and an undisclosed number of security personnel had died in the protests
By Tirthankar Chanda
(rfi Afrique – translated from French) — For two months, there was a daily demonstration in Ethiopia following the announcement of an urban development plan of Addis Abeba, which threatens by extending itself on to the environment that belongs to the Oromo community. A brutal repression by the authority against the demonstrators has resulted in the killing of 140 people and wounding a number of others. The ins and outs of the explanation about this serious crisis that runs across the second largest populated country in Africa is given in five points that follows.
Who are the Oromos?
Oromos are one of the linguistic and cultural nationalities recognised by the Ethiopian federal system established by the Constitution of 1990. Officially the “Oromo nationality” comprises around 30 million dwellers, being one third of the Ethiopian population; they live on a territory as big as France. The regional State of Oromia which surrounds the federal capital Addis Abeba is a main political and demographic entity of the federation of Ethiopia. Oromos have their own language called Afan Oromo, unique from Amharic, the administrative language of the country.
Why do the Oromos demonstrate?
Oromos demonstrate since last November against a grand project to enlarge the capital Addis Abeba which they fear and suspect that it expropriates their ancestral lands. These demonstrations, generally peaceful, has touched all main villages, towns and cities in Oromia like Haramaya, Jarso, Waliso, Chiro, Hadama, Ambo, Ginchi, Naqamte, Robe etc. The demonstrators fear that the program of enlarging the capital will force the Oromo farmers evict from their lands. This is precisely what was happening since many years, as the federal capital is exposed to uncontrolled population explosion it progressively engulfs the surrounding Oromo farms and villages. In the course of the past decade, 150,000 Oromo farmers have been obliged to leave their lands and villages without receiving reasonable financial compensations. For the Oromo movement militants, it is about a naked monopoly of their ancestral lands, the aim being to radically modify the cultural and demographic configuration of the whole Oromia region. However, this is not the first time that Oromos demonstrated. They have already done in 2014 when similar version of expansion of the capital was to be implemented. The police have opened fire and dozens of demonstrators were killed. According to an American NGO, Human Rights Watch (HRW), the menace of eviction from their ancestral lands has added a long list of grievances of Oromo’s against the federal government.
What are other grievances of the Oromos?
Economic grievances are mixed with the cultural and political ones in regard to Oromos. Historically, the Oromos feel that they are marginalised by the central authority dominated by the Tigreans and the Amharas. Inspite of the federalist principle adopted in 1990s, the devolution of power of the regions really hasn’t taken place and in consequent the regional entities never had their say, regarding, for example, even sharing of water from a river, or long term rent of cultivable lands to the foreign capitalists or the urbanisation of the capital city which touches closely Oromo interests. The official recognition of linguistic and cultural diversity is not according to its promises, this is what resulted enormous frustrations among the 80 ethnicities living in the country.
What is the balance sheet of demonstrators touched by violence?
According to the number reported by the HRW, minimum of 140 people have been killed in Oromia during the anti government demonstration which was being violently controlled by the authority since November. In addition the government has arrested Oromo intellectuals who they accused of manipulating the population. This is a very serious crisis which reached across the whole Ethiopia since the killings connected with the election of 2005 this country had ever known.
How does it explain itself that the international community haven’t had vigorously condemned the terrible repression until now, while it is crashing peaceful demonstrators in Ethiopia?
Ethiopia is considered by the West as a key ally in the fight against Islamic extremism in the Horn of Africa. Addis Abeba maintains more than 4000 contingent of soldiers in the force of African Union in Somalia, Amisom? On the other hand Ethiopia receives from the Americans a substantial aid, up to 3.3 billion dollars per year. Worried by the event appearing on the ground, the United Stats had called “the Ethiopian government allow peaceful demonstration to take place and open a constructive dialogue to cope with legitimate grievances”. The Ethiopian regime however knows that these types of calls will be followed by a minimum risk to worry about. Even the African Union whose seat is in Addis Abeba, irresponsibly and strangely kept silent up to now about the Oromo massacre taking place almost under its own windows.
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