By Gamachu Dembali

In a forceful political statement marking what he calls an unbroken history of conquest, Oromo activist Gamachu Dembali has declared that Abyssinian colonialism in Oromia “has never ended and must end” — calling for full decolonization, the restoration of Oromo identity, and the right to self-determination.

Dembali’s statement, dated 20 September 2026, draws on the words of British writer Evelyn Waugh to frame what he describes as the systematic destruction of Oromo culture and society.

“Nothing to Give, Nothing to Teach”

Quoting Waugh’s account of Abyssinian rule, Dembali cites the writer’s observation that the Abyssinians “had nothing to give their subject peoples, nothing to teach them” — no crafts or knowledge, no new systems of agriculture or road-making, no medicine or hygiene, no higher political organization, “no superiority except in their magazine rifles and belts of cartridges.”

Waugh wrote that they “built nothing,” squatting in the villages of conquered peoples, “dirty, idle and domineering, burning the timber, devouring the crops, taxing the meager stream of commerce.”

“Waugh was absolutely right,” Dembali writes. “This is the exact history of the destruction of Oromo culture and Oromo society.”

The Second Weapon: Forced Religious Colonization

But Dembali argues that Waugh did not fully tell the story. Alongside the rifle, he contends, came another weapon — one that “has poisoned the minds of the Oromo and other colonized peoples.”

“They brought forced religious colonization,” he writes. “They imposed their Orthodox religion and beliefs upon the Oromo, a system completely contrary to Oromo religion, Waaqeffannaa, and to Oromo values embodied in the Gadaa system.”

Religion, he argues, was used as an effective tool of conquest. “While their guns killed millions of Oromos physically, their imposed religion was used to destroy the minds, identity and values of millions more.”

“Colonialism in Its Purest Form”

Dembali rejects any framing of this history as a civilizing mission. “It was colonialism in its purest form: to exploit, to enslave, to erase, and to replace,” he writes.

And, he warns, “the game is not over.” In the 21st century, he argues, the Oromo people remain under the same Abyssinian colonial system, “operating with the same mindset, only under different names and different regimes.” The structures of domination, cultural erasure, and political subjugation, he says, continue.

A Demand for Decolonization

The statement closes with a declaration and a set of demands: that Abyssinian colonialism in Oromia has never ended and must end; full decolonization; the restoration of Oromo identity, culture and values; and the right of the Oromo people to self-determination and freedom in their own land.

The statement is signed by Gamachu Dembali and carries the hashtag #FreeOromiya.

The views expressed in this feature are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of this publication.