A rejoinder to Shiferaw Abebe’s article on OLF
By Dumessaa Diimmaa
I am astounded and disturbed by a gratuitous vilification, denunciation and resentment of Ato Shiferaw Abebe towards OLF. One can feel the fury of his pen and his unmitigated rants and bristling just to rebut a simple resolution by OLF inviting all stakeholders in the Empire for united front against the Wayannee controlled regime.
Unnecessary and pointless demagoguery is not a panacea to the Empire’s complex, intractable, social and political dilemmas. Ato Abebe inveighed against OLF with predictable rants of a grieved nefetegna instead of a sober analysis of the crisis confronting the region. Surely, OLF has its own foibles and shortcomings; however, it is the only credible entity in that wretched region who can act as an intermediary with good faith and authenticity among the contentious and quarrelsome organizations in the Empire. It is very difficult to put forward an idea for consideration in the present dysfunctional political culture that is prevailing in Ethiopia. The shrillness and savagery of the attack that was lobbed at OLF when it organized the AFD by the cacophonous bunch from EPRP was deafening. Ato Abebe’s canards have a familiar tone and genre spewed out by those who do not have a scintilla of civility nor intellectual integrity to offer a viable dialogue to remediate the exasperating ethnic and political chasms in the country.
If one scrutinize the totality of OLF’s contribution to the generic social and political struggle in Ethiopia for the past few decades, some minor setbacks notwithstanding, I have no doubt that history will absolve OLF as one of the major contributor to the struggle of all Ethiopians for freedom and dignity.
On the issues of national unity and the role of Oromo nation in general and that of the OLF in particular, there is a need to sketch a brief history of the Empire. Ethiopia was forged as an Empire in the last half of the 19th century by successive Abyssinian Emperors and warlords from the north. Emperor Menelik the II, as the most notable and in the case of the Oromo and other southern polities, he and his generals conquered and annexed a large stretch of land and population in the territories what is now regarded as southern Ethiopia. The grossly cruel atrocities that were committed against the Oromo nation and other nationalities in the course of empire building were very appalling. For the Abyssinians, these Imperial marches of conquest and annexation may be viewed as nation building of glory and gallantry. For the polities in the south, it was rivers of blood and tears. Menelik’s campaign against the Oromo and others in the south is well documented and even dubbed by some historians as the Southern Marches of Imperial Ethiopia, (books by Harold Marcus, Mohammad Hassan, Wendy James, and several other scholars on Ethiopia could be consulted). Even the vilest European subjugation of African peoples did not parallel the pillaging and desolation committed by Menelik’s raiding army in the conquered South. Through an extended and forceful subjugation/colonization from garrison towns that were established by the Imperial Army, the fate of the south in general and that of the Oromo nation was doomed and sealed to be part of the grand Imperial design of Emperor Menelik’s. “Greater Ethiopia”
It is against these historical contexts that we must embark when we engage in dialogue to sort out the complexities of “national /Oromo question”. Oromo Nation predates the onslaught of Abyssinian and European conquest and colonialism. It was not a modern nation with all the entrapments of a structured nation state. However, it existed like most African polities of the period, including that of many Abyssinia regions (i.e. Gonder Gojjem, Tgray, etc.) independent and self reliant of its resources, governed by republican legislative governance called Gadda democracy. Democracy permeated every aspects of Oromo culture. Gadda is a system that has an organizing structure of thoughts, concepts, doctrine and tenets which provided the basis for and –upon which identities constructed by the Oromo people.
At abebe’s comparison of OLF with TPLF and other Abyssinian organizations and their politics unmasks the convoluted and often arrogant political disposition of the Abyssinian elites. The notion that OLF is a failed and rudderless organization is risible. OLF, with all its shortcomings, is a major political organization that represents at minimum, forty percent of the Empires citizens. All things considered, OLF may not even need to coalesce with any group to be a contender in the Empire’s politics. However, to mitigate the chronic conflict of the whole region in general and the dysfunctional political culture of the Empire in particular, it behooves any adroit organization to embark up on some sort of rapprochement among all the stakeholders in the Empire. OLF’s call for a united front is a genuine and honest gesture. I know for a fact that OLF has a long and enduring cooperation with the stakeholder of the Southern polities, (i.e. Sidama, Somali, Afar, and Benenshagul.etc.). Hopefully, in the future the polities from the north will be comprised in as part of this pan-Ethiopian canopy to unify the Empire on the equal footing to all.
OLF is a product of contemporary Ethiopian history. Unlike multiple Ethiopian organizations that were formed by the political left of the 1970s or the innumerable Ethiopian political parties formed by the Diaspora leisure class, the OLF was given birth as a reaction to the abusive and opprobrious treatments Oromo nation was subjected to by successive Abyssinian rulers including the present Meles regime. It was and is the manifestation and aspiration of the Oromo to a long history of betrayal, treachery and unimaginable cultural and political oppression by the Abyssinian state and its apparatus. The OLF, for an ordinary political observer, may look just another liberation organization, for the Oromo, it represents our indomitable virtues and unyielding spirit to rectify century old degradation by the Abyssinian rulers, and hence we even jokingly say every Oromo is an OLF!
Further more, OLF never gave false claims or hopes to its rank and file. Successive leadership of the organization warned us, due to the level of development of our nation, the struggle will be a long and arduous one; there will be ups and downs, conflicts and betrayals within the organization itself and in the political milieus of the Horn of Africa. It really does not matter how many Abyssinia rulers usurps the state power in the Empire, for us, the focus should be to organize, win the hearts and minds of the Oromo people throughout Oromia and strength the unity of conquered peoples in the Empire. Comparing OLF with TPLF is a bogus proposition! TPLF was the creation of EPLF, it trained, indoctrinated and ushered it to Tigray so that it alone would not bear the brunt of Ethiopian army in Eritrea! One should not look into the growth of TPLF in isolation from that of EPLF’s objectives. At its inception, as well as it matured to level of a credible fighting force, TPLF had the backing of Eritrea rebels. OLF, on other hand, never benefited from any outside assistance, or have had a benefactor to mentor or motivate in the art of guerrilla warfare. Whatever achievement it had, it was home grown and reflected the meager resources and improvised resistance against the powerful Ethiopian state apparatus.
When most Guerrilla movements in the Empire were massacring each other in the name of revolutionary justice, (TPLF is a poster child of these vile and sordid acts) the OLF never engaged in any sort of “self cleansing” to advance any political views or disagreements among its members or leadership. Those who felt that the life of a guerrilla is an intolerable task and could not endure the discipline and the sacrifices were allowed to withdraw from the organization and were bade farewell with out any consequences. The OLF and its history bear no comparison to all the indictments hurled against it by ato Abebe. His gloomy prognostication that “ it will remain an exile secessionist organization forever giving false claims and hopes to its ever fractured membership” is yet a familiar derision and abusive invectives only ato Abebe and his ilk conjure-up to malign OLF about its visions and conviction of liberating the Oromo nation. He is hardly qualified to assess the present status of OLF and its activities. We, in the Oromo resistance look at the Ethiopian history and culture as that of colonizing structure that did hold-down our societies’ potentials and our nation-hood. Unlike Ato Abebe who views the Oromo quest for freedom and dignity as “secessionist”, we spent the bulk of our adolescent and adulthood years in the jungles of Oromia and some of us in exile struggling and hoping one day our people will be free to govern themselves. The struggle continues!
If on the other hand, his characterization of the organization had been true, I have no qualm to add my criticism of the OLF to his, but it is not true and his is just a craven canards!
The entire hullabaloo by ato Abebe about OLF is perhaps a result of social and political alienation of Abyssinia intellectuals from what is transpiring within non-Abyssinian communities. This hatred enhanced intellectual commentary and stance vis-à-vis OLF and other colonized peoples in the Empire is a craven screed and will not elevate the debate or the unity of the Empire. The social forces that kept Ethiopia as an empire crumbled and if we continue to advance and maintain bankrupted views, there will be many mini Ethiopias, not one! A serious debate should have not been marred by virulent distortions and ridicule by ato Abebe and other characters. The inability of these “elites” to understand the rising tide of resistance in the Empire in general and that of Oromo nationalism in particular illustrates the primitive stage of their creativity and an underdeveloped democratic culture. For all their erudition, these “elites” will not save the Empire as it is politically arranged now. They write vacuously with content less platitudes about the glories and indivisibility of the Empire. The shrillness and mordancy of their tone in their commentary is quintessentially feudal Abyssinian intolerance for other people’s choices and views. If ato Abebe’s attempt is to persuade Oromo nation to abandon the struggle for Oromo rights, dignity and identity, and feel more Ethiopian solely on the basis of the present structure and political arrangements, his arguments fails miserably. The travesty of his writing about OLF illustrates the hypocrisy and ultimately the intellectual bankruptcy of his range of vision.
Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) is the link between Oromo masses and defiant resistance against the Meles’ regime. Correctly perceiving this historical role, OLF members continue to risk their lives to organize, mobilize, agitate and educate Oromos everywhere.
Indeed, it is necessary that we make a profound reassessment of both the military and political concepts of the national struggle and the call for unity against the entrenched Wayannee regime undoubtedly constitutes one of the essential processes of this solidarity.
From our perspective, in our struggle, there must emerge a tested and visionary leadership supremely confident of its ability to shape the destiny of the Empire and its people. And from it, too, there must spring a tolerant, creative, modern and democratic Ethiopian state endowed with rich experiences and convinced of the rights of its citizens.
Finally, the Oromo nation’s resistance is a momentous process that cannot be stopped by Meles and his thugs. The quest for freedom and the willingness to pay any price will continue to shape the political environment of the empire, either through ballot or bullet, the self-determination of our people will come. It is an historical inevitability that the struggle of the Oromo and all peoples of the Empire will succeed. The courage, the vigilance and the commitment of our people will determine the distance. For sure, we will go to any length to free our people.
(Dumeessa Q. Diimmaa is an Oromo activist. He could be reached at [email protected])
22 thoughts on “A legitimate criticism or just a chauvinist’s tirade?”
Thanks Obbo Dumessaa.
ITTU ABBA FARDA enjoy the response.
Dear Diimmaa, I applaud you for the critics you posted. I wont’t say much but just to be honest when you were able to criticize every aspect of Ethiopian politics, I feel that you left out the most important issue. Isn’t it true that OLF was fighting along side TPLF? Isn’t true that TPLF entered Addis with the help from OLF. You and I remember that both TPLF and OLF entered Addis as brothers and winning together slaughtering innocent citizens. Most scholars believe believe today that all the mess we are in today is partly the creation of OLF and OLF shares a chunke of the troubles and blames facing the region today. Would you fairly comment on this part of the politics? Thanks
the problem is not the OROMO,AMARE,TIGRE or any BEHERSEB all of them right know paying the price for what? cos people like u and WOYANE are keeping Ethiopia divide playing this tribal card. even in the article u wort never addressed Ethiopia as Ethiopia u keep on saying abyssinian empire as if the place wherever u were born as colony… as far as i know for the last 1600 hundred years Ethiopia never colonized any any nation or any country.
stop telling people lay after lays this is not minneapolis, minnesota
Comparing OLF with TPLF is a bogus proposition! TPLF was the creation of EPLF. OLF, on other hand, never benefited from any outside assistance, or have had a benefactor to mentor or motivate in the art of guerrilla warfare. Whatever achievement it had, it was home grown and reflected the meager resources and improvised resistance against the powerful Ethiopian state apparatus.
Did this author rite this article from the head office of OLF in Asmara????
Fantastic article.
Wow …Wow…at last an outstanding rebuttal towards all those bitter Neftegna OLF haters.
Obo Dumessa .. I am simply impressed by the clarity of your message vi a vis the smoke screen and hate spewed by the likes of “Shiferaw Abebe”. People like Shiferaw measure their patriotism by how much they can ridicule OLF. Needless to say their dislike for OLF is by extension imply their contempt against the Oromo people. VIVA OLF – Oromos and all other people struggling for justice and freedom support OLF!
that is right OLF and TPLF have similar program. OLF is no different than TPLF. Oromo people and OLF have different believes. Oromo people are smart,and they are true ethiopian. OLF members are stupid.
OLF is part and parcel of the problem right from the start. It is now braying because its leaders were uncermoniously thrown out by TPLF.
OLF is a dead horse politically at this time. Its latest resolution with the phrase “Oromos and the rest of Ethiopians” scattered here and there is insulting to me as an Ethiopian of Oromo parentage. I wish to add that the overwhelming majority of Ethiopians are of mixed ethnicity.
I thank Ato Shiferaw Abebe for his brilliant article.
By Dumessaa Diimmaa
Ato Drumessaa has made a grave historical misrepresentation as many others Oromo racists make, which is the claim that “Ethiopia was forged as an Empire in the last half of the 19th century by successive Abyssinian Emperors and warlords from the north”.
I would like to remind Ato Drumessa that Oromos are not indigenous people in Ethiopia. They have invaded savagely, and conquered their present home only 400 years ago, the same time the Europeans were colonizing the Red Indian land here in America. Almost all of the other ethnic groups of Ethiopia have lived in this land for thousands of years except the Oromos. Oromos are the invaders and the colonizers of our land, not the other way round. So please be reminded that there is no ‘Oromo Tribal Land’ in Ethiopia. Indigenous Ethiopians have not asked the Oromos to go back to their ancestral homes in present day Kenya and Somalia. Oromos can continue to share the land they make a living on along with other ethnic groups in Ethiopia, but have no historical rights to the land which they occupied much less a territory they could claim to have been colonized by Northerners.
It is this realization and the need to reverse the breakdown of central authority in Ethiopia, successively caused by the devastation of Gragne Mohammed jihadists and Oromo invaders, that motivated Menelik to reassert power in the southern part of Ethiopia. Drumessa, who said we have to start counting from the 1880’s and not the 1560’s and earlier? Please make an honest instead of a convenient historical analysis. Yes, Ato Drumessa since I sense you ask, both of my parents are of Amara decent.
Traditional extremist “neo nazi”corner patriots foaming for the ownership of Oromia like always by blocking reconciliations, dialogues, alliances and or oromo self empowerment and healthy state building. Their profitable business and prosperity lies in conflict generation and oppression as always. The hand work of Wayane cadre’s propaganda can also be seen!
Cunning corner patriot barbarian foxes dressed in sheep skins LOUDLY and vulgarly blaming the victims just like the Neo Nazis blaming the Jews for their own unparalleled barbaric criminality against humanity.
Dereje Habtemariam – your ignorance is a testimony for why OLF was/is and will be a relevant organization. The fate of the empire state of Ethiopia will be decided when the majority Ethiopians, Oromos in particular come to the table. As an Oromo, I am inspired more by OLF when I read the likes of you and Shiferaw Abebe’s nightmarish ranting!
Long Live OLF!
some of your are just support the idea because the writers name is Oromo or Amhara.This is totally stupidity. Deep in side we know who is right but forget about it, the main thing is let us unit and get rid of the woyanee cancer form our country. Do not wast your and our people time.
Forget belaming ecah other,right now what our people want is to get rid of the cancer woyanee, the only way we can do this is by unit. OO people do not waste your time and our people time.
Well, OLF reached out with an olive branch, but then that was slapped away by Ato Shiferaw. But then Obbo Dumessaa seems to have even a stronger fervor and passion about the issue and the Ethiopian people, which led him to hit back. And rightly so!
Ato Dummesa,
You talked about Oromo lands confsicated and absorbed into what you called “Ethiopian Empire.” The author you quoted, Mohammed Hassen, in his The Oromo of Ethiopia, does not deny the migration of various Oromo tribes from the Southern tip of Ethiopia all the way north. You only lamented the worn out and milked the old OLF cow of Menelik’s empire building that started in the late 19th century. Long before Menelik came to the scene there were Oromo dynasty in Northern Ethiopia that were part and parcel of the “Ethiopian Empire.” Menelik’s army that you characterized as Neftegna for the majority part were Oromo Ethiopians. Not only you failed to read history correctly but attempted to lecture us about Democracy. Your and OLF’s theory of group right over individaul rihts are against the democratic principles. Should Ethiopians are pushed to the limit by OLF activists for the dismantling of the country, God forbid, Ethiopians once again will join hands to fight and get rid off OLF and its merecenaries. Dialogue for the establishment of a just government that treats all citizens equally yes, group rights demanded by OLF absolutely NO. Please stop pushing us to act in a way that will bear unintended consequences to all stake holders. You cannot morally justify the crimes OLF committed against innocent civilians in Arba Gugu, Bedno, Water and elsewhere as a payback for alleged crimes committed by Emperor Menelik. All of the alleged crimes attributed to Emeperor Menelik are unwritten stories fabricated by OLF and its activists. You have no monopoly on Ethiopian history for we also know the facts that took place during the regin of Emperor Menelik. Shame on OLF and its propaganda machines for helping TPLF/EPLF for the destruction and mayhem taking place in Ethiopia today.
OLf is not a successful fighting force in the from. Like its brother the sudanes communst pary, it in alway as successful in the fields. Immagine 13000 well armed agases hand over they armament with woyanes instruction only. There need to be another organizatioon to guide it. When wee were in sudan these agases were instructed to start a gorela movement. Every night they were dancing and drinking. Finally when the shabia and weyane move in they started to move in too. Jatera ante dumb agases you need a neftegna to lead you. OLF did any thing right.
Good article,
But I have one big problem with Ethiopian writers. Why on earth you use such uninteresting, unprofessional vocabulary for god sake. Read scientific articles in journals and simple newsletters. Most of the words you have used are not usable in modern English, are wrongly placed. But we all know that in Ethiopia if you write or say weird vocabulary, ppl think you are smart. Stop this for god sake.
Elias don’t censor this comment please, just let it be read. People should now use childish way of writing to express they are Ethiopian academic elites. I am elite for that reason, but look how the writer tried to twist each simple word with gothic English in embarrassing way.
Taddesse Alemu,
How can you have equal citizinship if you impose your language on unwilling people? Those whose mother tongue is Amharic will have more rights than others. Think if I impose on you to speak Sidama, do you think you will have equal opportunity similar to the people whose mother tongue is Sidama?
But, if you alow people to function and govern themselves in the language of their choice, you have to allow also group rights. A person cannont speak a language by himself, he/she can use it only within a group. This will not destroy Ethiopia. You should have faith that Ethiopia is strong enough to handle this level of change comfortably. Can you handle it?
# 18 Menelik
Way do u speak English? did the English impose there language on u? or did u choose to speak English? u don’t have to speak Amharic unless u choos to speak it.in fact that will make u smart,speaking Amharic and Sidama so body be happy u can speak many language.
the language excuse will not help Ethiopia but UNITY WILL.
Ummmm…I am amazed by this ‘rebuttal’. This one goes as far as biting the fingers that fed him. EPLF and the current Eritrean regime have provided very critical assistance to ‘OLF’ in its time of dire needs. He talks about how ‘OLF’ grew and became an ‘indomitable’ force by its own accord. There isn’t any trace of ‘Thank you’ to our Eritrean brothers and sisters.
His knowledge of what happened beginning around 1875 is based on what was written by passing through sugar carrying missionaries and messengers of colonizers. Those foreigners didn’t tell us what really happened between Menelik forces and others nationalities. How his tiny army from a very small locality of Northern Showa was able to send all other nationalities with able bodied population 100 times more than the population of Menz into submission. How in the hell a small army of Wolde Gabriel Aba Shaitan ragtag fighters passed through an impenetrable defense of my Ittu fighters at Assaboti? There is a still a folk legend inscribed in traditional story-telling songs we all grew up hearing. How this tiny army was finally allowed to pass through Lagaa Arbaa, Kora and Assabot (Asbotii)? Mind you this was after a stalemate that lasted for months. Remember my Ittu fighters were and still are fierce and methodical fighters when their honor is touched. They were also armed not only with spears and swords but thanks to their proximity to trading routes they had acquired rifles available at Tojourah and Zeila. So what happened? Can these cake munchers tell us what happened? In the meantime, if Brothers Elias, Al GM and other Amhara intellectuals get together and purge the word ‘neftegna’ from their Amharic language, OLF is toast, done with no ‘political’ target in sight. See…problem solved.
Oromo blood run in the veins of Menelik who was born in northern Shewa from mixed Oromo-Amhara parentage. He was a Great Leader who bequeathed a legacy of independence to Ethiopia and all black peoples in the Diaspora through his spectacular victory in the famous Battle of Adwa. The 8000-strong ferocious Oromo fighters on horse-back were part of this victory in the Battle over the invading over Italian forces.
Obbo Dumessaa Diimmaa should be reminded that the Oromo aristocrats like Ras Gugssa ruled Ethiopia from their palaces in the North. Obbo Diimmaa stands accussed for distorting true history.
@adefris,
I recently attended a “scientific writing” course. The main emphasis of scientific writing is to express yourself clearly and simply. The writing by Dumessaa Diimmaa is wonderful contextually, but it was not written with the audience in mind. Dumessaa uses a lot of flowery and verbose language as well as clichés, which certainly hampers understanding or might lead to misunderstanding.
Anyway I agree with his points 100 %( though I have to refer to my dictionary now and then). OLF holds the key to the solution to the empires lingering political ailment and no solution is long-lasting without the real involvement of OLF and Oromo people. We are in the 21st century and we cannot keep 30 million Oromo in prison forever.