Feature Commentary: The Virtual Hearth – How a Global Oromo Gathering Forged Unity from Adversity

On January 2, 2026, a remarkable convergence took place not in a physical capital, but in the digital ether. The global Oromo community, scattered across continents, logged onto a Zoom call. Their purpose was twofold: to commemorate the 46th anniversary of the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA/WBO) and to celebrate Ayyaana Amajjii 1, the Oromo New Year. This was not merely an online event; it was the lighting of a virtual sacred fire around which a nation-in-exile and its internal vanguard could gather, reflect, and reaffirm a covenant tested by fire.

The gathering’s very format was a testament to resilience. As speakers noted, the OLA’s anniversary and the New Year have always been marked wherever Oromo patriots find themselves—in hidden clearings, in diaspora community halls, and now, in the intimate squares of a video call. This digital assembly, reaching a global stage, was a powerful evolution of that tradition, proving that the spirit of the struggle cannot be quarantined or confined.

The commemoration served as a strategic audit of a challenging year. The year 2025 was framed not as a period of setback, but as one of immense pressure and clandestine endurance. The key revelation was both sobering and defiant: of all the OLF’s offices across Oromia, only the one in Gullalle had managed to reopen after state-led closures. The rest remained shuttered, their assets seized. This single operational office, as described, became a symbol of tenacious survival—a nerve center conducting political “training and mobilization” even under “difficult and oppressive conditions,” preparing for the proverbial “7th round.”

The historical anchor for this resilience was powerfully underscored by participant Jaal Dhugaasaa Bakakkoo, who reminded the assembly of the OLA’s very first commemorated day: January 1, 1980, marking a victory over the Derg (Darg) regime. This was a crucial narrative pivot. It connected the current struggle—of closed offices and digital gatherings—directly to the movement’s foundational moment of armed triumph. It argued that the movement was born from victory in adversity and thus carries that DNA of overcoming long odds.

The most poignant thread was the deliberate passing of the torch. Dr. Daggafaa Abdiisaa’s address cut to the heart of intergenerational duty, telling the youth: “The duty to pursue the goal and objective of the OLF rests upon you, the beloved children of the fallen heroes.” This was more than inspiration; it was a formal transfer of moral obligation, framing the youth not as bystanders but as the sole rightful heirs and executors of an unfinished mission.

The dual nature of the celebration—the martial memory of the OLA with the cultural renewal of Amajjii—fused two core aspects of Oromo identity: the resistance fighter and the cultural citizen. The final message distilled this fusion into a clear directive for 2026: unity (tokkummaa), self-defense against encroachment (daangaa isaa kabachiifatu), and speaking with one unwavering voice (afaan faajjii tokko).

Thus, the Zoom call transcended its pixels. It became a virtual Chaffe (assembly), a space for accountability, historical remembrance, and strategic realignment. From recalling the 1980 battlefield victory to reporting on the solitary open office in Gullalle in 2025, the narrative woven was one of unbroken continuity. The gathering declared that the struggle persists across generations and geographies, adapting its tools—from the gun to the internet, from the forest clearing to the Zoom room—but never altering its ultimate goal: to ensure the Oromo people, united and resolute, finally become the authors of their own destiny in their own land. The virtual hearth may have been extinguished with a click, but the fire it carried burns on.