Being from the Ethiopian side of the border, travelling and getting to know my people on the Kenyan side has brought me back down to earth regarding the way I have previously viewed the Borana Oromo.

By Soreti Kadir

I left Oromia just before turning two years old and I grew up among the first Oromo people to call Melbourne home. I vividly remember the days when we were so few that, in Clayton South, the suburb in which I spent 16 years of my life, there was an Oromo family on almost every block. Being such a small community, we didn’t scatter across the breadth of the city but huddled together in a small enclave for safety, support, and the comfort of familiarity. In those days, weddings, birthday parties, funerals, and other community events were attended by people from all the regions of Oromia who made up our little community.

But as our community grew in number, and as the number of people from every region of Oromia grew, I started to see a divide in how we congregated. By my mid-teens, I was almost completely disconnected from the spaces and networks that included Oromo people from outside the Arsi region, where I come from. Naturally, as I reached adulthood, I attended cultural and community events on my own initiative rather than at the invitation of my family.

I started to learn about my community all over again. And in the course of this experience, I was never directly and deliberately taught who the Oromo are, who I was as an Oromo, and how and why other Oromo people were different, or the same, to my family.  Whereas this learning is experiential for one growing up in Oromia, there are gaps when this way of learning is transferred to the diaspora, or even to urban areas in Oromia, and so more recent generations are developing different tools and spaces for learning Oromo identity, culture, and history. What I did learn experientially though, were the nuances that make one a person from Wallaga, another from Haararge, Shewa, Arsi, etc.

Still, l had little knowledge regarding the Borana Oromo. As one who developed Oromomumma (Oromo identity) in the diaspora, and as someone who has spent over a year and a half living in the homes of Borana and Orma Oromo in Kenya, my relationship with this part of my community has developed in an intriguing and adventurous way, and it holds a special place in my heart.

I met Addee Jiloo, a Borana woman, in my early twenties. Each time I had attended Irreechaa (an Oromo thanksgiving festival), it was Addee Jiloo that led the procession to the water. If a woman needed her Gutino (Borana cultural dress) tied at an event, we would frantically search for Addee Jiloo. If we had public events, she would be the one conducting the coffee ceremonies. In many ways, she was collectively identified as a keeper of cultural knowledge, a leader of cultural practice, and an advisor on cultural affairs.

Over the years, I remember repeatedly hearing that “Borannii Hangafaa Oromo”, that the Borana are the oldest of the Oromo. This refers to the position Borana and Bareentu, as the first sons of Oromo, hold as the moieties of the Oromo nation. I had also come to learn that the Borana were among the few Oromo to still practice the Gadaa system, one of the greatest cultural assets of the Oromo nation.  To me, the Borana felt almost like a thing of legend, a mystery to be revered and respected. They seemed to know things about being an Oromo that others didn’t. They seemed to have succeeded in preserving practices that the rest of us were no longer connected to. They seemed to be Oromo with the kind of defiance, resilience, and resistance that I wanted to embody. Although, from what I could see, it seemed like the Borana did so without the existential effort I sometimes felt it took to embody Oromummaa.

Language

I stayed with a Borana family for a few months when I first moved to Nairobi, but for the first few weeks of my stay, I had almost no idea what anybody was saying. I was used to most Afaan Oromoo dialects and Addee Jiloo’s dialect never sounded very different from anybody else’s, so my Kenyan experience sent me into a state of severe culture shock. With time, however, I became used to the difference in dialect and was able to improve my communication and now you can probably detect the influence of the Borana dialect in my spoken Afaan Oromoo.

In many ways, she was collectively identified as a keeper of cultural knowledge, a leader of cultural practice, and an advisor on cultural affairs.

Almost simultaneously with this sense of shock came a sense of overwhelming awe and admiration. Afaan Oromoo is a language that you feel. It is poetry in motion. Intimate, alive, revealing.  I found this exemplified in the Borana dialect.

When I first heard my host answer the phone and greet the person on the other line with, “Qileensii urgooftuu?” Is the air fragrant? I almost wept. Welcoming a guest, the Orma of Tana River along the northern Kenyan coast, say “Diyaadhaa”, come closer, be close. This is a common saying among the Borana and Orma people, and I experienced it frequently during my stay in Tana River. If language is supposed to connect us, I think that the breadth of the Oromo language does so profoundly, and the dialect spoken amongst the Borana and Orma achieves this objective to grand effect.

Traveling up north

When I travelled to northern Kenya, I was bubbling with expectation. I remember sitting at a small shop trying to recover from the long journey, and striking up a conversation in Afaan Oromoo with the shop owner. He responded in a mix of Swahili and Afaan Oromoo. We continued talking and I told him that I was an Oromo from the other side of the border. This meant, well, not much at all to him.

I had expected a dramatic reunion. What I got was a shopkeeper who was not surprised or touched in any way by my presence. The cultural and linguistic relationship that we shared, despite the borders, was not profound for him. The reason that this surprised me was that, when I visited Tana River, there was a palpable sense of connection with everyone I met, for the very reason that we had a shared identity across borders.

Given that I was closer to the border of Oromia and I was in a place that was, in many ways, more engaged with the Oromo cultural and political identity, I think I expected this sense of connection to be amplified. What I experienced after leaving this shop showed me that it was actually because of the consequence of this proximity to Oromia’s border and the political landscape of the area at large, that meant that Oromos connecting and sharing experiences across borders was no special occurrence.

I sat for lunch in the compound of an ordinary looking house. As we ate, a friend, someone who had grown up in the town we were in, began to tell me stories about where we were. In 2002, the house we were in was the target of a bombing by Ethiopian government forces. Luckily, nobody was home. Chief Ibrahim Abdi Dido and his family lived in the house at the time. In the same year, Chief Buke Liban, Chief Taro Sora, Chief Denge Okotu, Chief Huqa Guled, Boru Jiloo, Sheikh Hassan (Moyale), Qasim Abdi and many others were similarly targeted by Ethiopian government forces and in most cases, these community leaders, and oftentimes, their families, did not survive.  Although I knew a little about how the Ethiopian government targeted Oromo people across the border in Kenya, including the kidnapping and assassination of political refugees in urban centres, the arrest and extrajudicial killing of young people, and the displacement of communities, in the months that followed, I learned that the extent and severity of this persecution was far greater than I had first understood.

When I first heard my host answer the phone and greet the person on the other line with, “Qileensii urgooftuu?” Is the air fragrant? I almost wept.

Through listening to the stories of the many people I met on my travels, I also learned that local cultural leaders played and continue to play a role in this persecution by collaborating with the Ethiopian security forces. This was sobering to understand because it resembled the dynamic that’s been at play across Oromia since the onset of Abyssinian colonisation, whereby Oromo people, including local leaders, have opted to participate in the violence perpetrated against their own people.

My experience in northern Kenya brought me back down to earth regarding the way I viewed the Borana Oromo. I was in a place where the people were living with the challenges and consequences of choosing to live their Oromoness every day. Just as it would be incredibly weird for me to go to Wallaga or somewhere in Eastern Haragee or Balee and start wandering around asking people if they thought it was wonderful that we share a language, culture, and political reality (which I have never done), it was weird for me to do so in northern Kenya too.

The Oromo of Ethiopia and the Oromo of Kenya are, in many ways, fighting the same fight. Both make huge sacrifices for the political struggle, and suffer the consequences of this, along with enduring the consequences of simply being an Oromo in relation to the Ethiopian state, political activity or not. The indifference of the shopkeeper I met at the beginning of my travels makes sense. He experienced the same, if not more, breadth and depth of Oromummaa as I did; there was nothing novel I offered him in being an Oromo from the other side of the border.

The Borana-Gabra conflict 

When I arrived in northern Kenya, I remember getting off the bus from Nairobi and wondering why on earth it had dropped me so far away from the town I was going to, only to learn that it was an Orma-owned bus company, and they were careful about infringing on the territory of the Borana. The same person who told me the story about the house in which we ate lunch has lost family to protracted conflict between the Borana and Gabra people. When I asked him what the root cause of the conflict was, he said, “It just started a long time ago. We speak the same language, we are the same people, but a feud that started between a few, a long time ago, has continued on.” I didn’t know if the origins of the conflict were as vague as my friend described them to be, or if his description is just how the existence of the conflict feels to someone who has suffered because of it, but I did come to learn that access to resources like water and land between nomadic pastoralists (Borana) and settled subsistence farmers (Gabra) and ongoing political power struggles play a huge role in the enduring and deadly conflict.

Lamu

Many years ago I spent some time in Lamu and I met two Orma people on the Island. At the time I thought that it was just a bizarre coincidence that they were there but I now know that the Orma have been living in the northern coastal region of Kenya since the late 1800s.

Being from the Ethiopian side of the border, a landlocked country, it is very interesting for me to think that I share a language, history and, even if only in small ways, a culture with a people that have lived along the coast for over a century. The Oromo worldview places great emphasis on our relationship with and duty towards land. As one develops the essence of Oromummaa, I believe that a person intuitively connects with this worldview. From this perspective, learning that we are connected to a people whose relationship to land is connected to the ocean — there is just something about that that stirs something in me.

I was in a place where the people were living with the challenges and consequences of choosing to live their Oromoness every day.

Who we are as a people is infinitely complex. I am talking about the Oromo, of course, but I think I’m also talking about us all. If I have learned anything over the past year and seven months, it is that I will only ever keep living and reliving this one truth: people, their stories, and their lived realities are not linear, rigid, or made to be easily and simply comprehended. Life exists on a continuum of relationships and storytelling. I want to remain willing to relate to who people are, as they are, rather than clinging onto what I have constructed of a people through imagination, hearsay, and the effects of groupthink. I want my analysis of the world to shift and change as I learn and grow, and I want my posture of service to people to also shift and change as I learn anew. Getting to know my people on the other side of the border has taught me that state violence is pervasive, unconfined by borders, and resistances adapt accordingly. I also learned that I can do little to effect real and lasting change if I do not cultivate my ability to meet the complexity in individuals and in communities with a willingness to learn and an openness of heart and mind.

Read more at: https://www.theelephant.info/op-eds/2022/04/22/a-diasporan-oromo-visits-kenya-a-reflection/?fbclid=IwAR1b_0cRJRYE3niprfAoV_nuwBv7BYauY6bEAwVeIdezs0IaK_Cc8rpu7rw#.YmM2ZklBDSg.facebook
The Elephant – Speaking truth to power.

(17 February 2022, A4O) Author Peri Klemm has published new book titled ‘Dressing Modern Like Our Mothers: Dress, Identity, and Cultural Praxis in Oromia’.

Oromo women live as traders, wood carriers, shepherds, and farmers in and around the ancient trade center of Harar, Ethiopia. They have lived with the uncertainties of drought, famine, war, and political unrest for several generations and experienced poverty, disease, and severe restrictions in personal freedom.

These same women, both young and old, adorn themselves with an array of body modifications and supplements.

What is it about the objects and practices themselves that appear to hold such significance? This rich ethnography illustrates why Oromo women decorate their bodies in particular ways and why they invest so much timeand effort in doing so.

By tracing the development of dress within the Oromo social system from the mid-nineteenth century to today, and through a close examination of dress activated on the body in particular contexts like lifecycle rituals, spirit possession practice, and nationalist movements, the reader will uncover how truly valuable a woman’s decorated body is as an aesthetic and symbolic system.

The cover features a painting of an Afran Qallo Oromo woman by the talented Yadesa Bojia.

You can order the book online from the following links.

Africa world press books: https://africaworldpressbooks.com/dressing-modern-like-our-mothers-dress-identity-and-cultural-praxis-in-oromia-by-peri-m-klemm-hb/

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Dressing-Modern-Like-Our-Mothers/dp/1569027803

(A4O, Gabaasa Addaa, Finfinnee, 14/02/2022) Tarkaanfii lagannaa nyaataa Hooganooti fi Qondaaloti ABO hidhaa keessa jiran gaggeessanii fi haala isaan keessa jiran irratti gabaasa addaa qindeeffame.

Hoogganootni fi qondaalotni ABO kanneen akka :

Jaal Mikaa’el Booran,

Jaal Kennesaa Ayyaanaa,

Jaal Lammii Beenyaa,

Jaal Dawwit Abdataa,

Jaal Battee Urgessaa fi

Jaal Gadaa Gabbisaa kan jedhaman miseensota fi hoggantoota ABO biroo waliin yeroo turtii waggaa lamaaf hidhaa Keessa turuun ni yaadatama.

Waggaa lamaan kana kessatti garii isaanii manni murtii bilisa isaan gadhiisee, garii isaanii abbaa Alangaa <<himata irraa hin qabu, >> jedhee, kaan ammoo himatni homaatuu osoo itti hin dhihaatiin haala ulfaataa ilmaan namaaf hin malle keesaatti bakka tokkorraa bakka biraatti adaraa kennamaa dabarsan.

Manni murtii adeemsa seeraan bilisa isaan godhus Koomishiniin Poolisii Oromiyaa itti cichee isaan gadhiisuu dide.

Dhimma isaanii yeroo gaafataniis, Poolisiis ta’e qoratan, << Dhimmi keessan nu bira miti, furmaata isiniif kennuu hin dandeenyuu! >> deebii jedhu argataa turan.

Baatii jahan darbe ammoo bakka maatii, abukaatoo fi ummatni isaan hin arginetti geessanii dhoksaatti hidhan. Gaaffii mirgaa isaan deddeebisanii kaasaa turaniif afaaniin sobuu malee falli hin argamne.

Kanaaf isaaniis dhumarratti hidhaa seeraan alaa, roorroo fi daba kana jalatti roorrifamaa jiraachuurra du’a nuuf wayya jedhanii takkaahuu hiikamuu ykn kabajaan falmataa du’uuf murteessanii waliif kakachuun gaafa Guraandhala 1, 2022 lagannaa nyaataa eegalan.

Yeroo kanatti qondaalotni Koomishiniin Poolisii Oromiyaa itti deddeebi’an, << Dhimmi keessan guyyaa muraasa keessatti furamaa nyaata nyaadhaa!>> jedhanii kadhatan. Isaanis, << takkaahuu ammuma nu furaa, ykn nutu of fura!>> jechuun ejjennoo isaaniitti cichan.

Kana gidduutti gaafa 05/02/2022 Jaal Kennesaa Ayyaanaa waan laaffataniif hospitaala geeffamanii yaalii xiqqoo booda deebifamanii lagannaa eegalanii guyyaa saddeet booda lubbuu isaaniif waan sodaataniif bakka dhoksaatii isaan baasuun Q/P/B/Magaalaa Buraayyuutti isaan darbatan.

Achitti lagannaa waan itti fufaniif gaafa guyyaa kurnaffaa manguddoonni Waldaa Maccaa fi Tuulamaa, Abbootiin Gadaa fi Haadholii Siiqqee marga qabatanii jilbeenfatanii itti booyan.

Obbo Dirribii Damisee fi Pirooeser Asaffaa Tafarraa isaan keessatti argamu. Isaanis haala suukanneessaa keessatti dararaman ibsaniifi , << hidhaan seeraan alaa fi roorroo hamtuu kana keessa hiikamuu ykn murtii keenyan of furuu qabna!>> ejjennoo jedhu ibsaniif.

Yeroo kanatti manguddoonni jilbeenfatanii, << Nuti gama keenyaan dirqama ofitti fudhannee dhiibbaa kamuu ni goona, isin hanga tole nuuf jettanitti hin deemnu!>> jechuun imimmaan buusanii isaan kadhatan. Hoogganooti fi qondaaltonni ABOs kabaja manguddootaaf jecha mana yaalaa deemuuf waliigalan.

Haala Kanan gaafa guyyaa kurnaffaa galgala hospitaala seenanii gaafa guyyaa kudha tokkoffaa hospitaala Poolisii fi Beetezaataatti yaalaman.

Qormaata hospitaalatti taasifamaniin Jaal Battee Urgessaa dhibee tiruuf saaxilamuun hubatame. Hundi isaaniituu miidhaa qaamaaf waan saaxilamaniif hanga qaamni isaanii deebisee of danda’utti guyyaa Shanan itti aanan nyaata sasalphaa ogeessi fayyaa tartiibaan akka fayyadaman gorse fudhatu. Amma nyaata sasalphaa eegalaniiru.

Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, the independent organization funded by the Government of Ethiopia, today exposed the assassination of 14 civilians in Oromia Region by the Oromia Special Force at the end of last November.

The traditional leader of Kereyu – Abba Geda Kedir Hassen, is among the 14 civilians killed (described as ‘extra judicial killing’ in the report) by the Oromia special force, according to the report of the Commission released today. The report stated that the revenge killing by the Oromia special forces has occurred around Fentale – Metehara area in Oromia region of Ethiopia a day after 11 Oromia special force members are killed by unknown armed group.

The 8 pages report of the Commission has interviewed 46 witnesses. The report released in Amharic language stated that before killing the civilians the Oromia Special force members has taken the 30 civilians and made 14 of them to lie on the ground and assassinated them.

It is stated that before taking them to the bush for assassination, the members of the special forces of Oromia have asked the dead to tell them who killed their 11 colleges (members of Oromia Special forces) the previous day.

After the brutal revenge killings of the 14 civilians who are members of the Kereyu Michle Geda Jilla tribe, the relatives of the dead are forbidden by the killers (members of Oromia Special forces) from taking and burying their family members, according to the report. So far neither Oromia Police nor the attorney general of the region or that of Ethiopia has responded for the investigation of the Commission.

It is recalled that about a week ago, at the outskirt of Addis Ababa around Burayu area 3 civilians (followers of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church) are killed by the Oromia special force members during the celebration of Ethiopia’s Timkat (Epiphany). The three civilians are allegedly killed for weaving Ethiopia’s old smooth green, yellow and red colored flag.

Following the killing Ethiopia Government Communication Service head Legesse Tulu has indicated that the issue is being investigated. Meanwhile so far neither the Oromia Region nor the federal Government of Ethiopia has issued public statement about who from the Oromia special force have assassinated the three individuals and what action has been taken against them.

The Commission in its report urged the Government of Ethiopia to compensate the relatives of the people who lost their lives and those who are sustaining severe injuries due to the attack by the Oromia special forces.

Before the investigation of the Commission, the Government media at the time reported that the 14 civilians are killed by the armed group designated as a terrorist group in Ethiopia – Oromia Liberation Front (OLF-Shene).

የኢትዮጵያ ሰብአዊ መብቶች ኮሚሽን (ኢሰመኮ) በኦሮሚያ ክልል ምሥራቅ ሸዋ ዞን ፈንታሌ ወረዳ በኅዳር 22 ቀን 2014 ዓ.ም. የከረዩ የሚችሌ ገዳ አባላት አርዳ ጅላ ላይ በተፈጸመ ጥቃት የሕይወትና የአካል ጉዳት ስለመፈጸሙ በደረሰው ጥቆማ መሰረት፣ ከታኅሣሥ 7 እስከ ታኅሣሥ 12 ቀን 2014 ዓ.ም. በቦታው በመገኘት ምርመራ አካሂዷል።

Finfinnee, Amajjii 21/2022-Dhaabbileen hawaasaa Oromoo jaatamaa ol ta’an hundeeffamuu Komishiini Marii Biyyalessaa Itoophiyaa ilaalchisuun ibsa kennan. Yeroo jalqabaaf dhaabbilee Sivikii, Falmattoota Mirga Dhala Namaa fi Waldaalee Hawaaasaa Oromoo idil-addunyaa walitti dhufanii marii biyyaalessaa adeemsifamuuf jiru irratti yaaddoo qaban ibsan.

Sadaasa darbe manni maree bakka bu’oota uummaataa labsii hundeeffama Komishiini Marii Biyyaalessaa raggaasisuun isaa ni yaadatama. Manni  maree bakka bu’oota uummaataa labsiin kun beekumsa biyyaa keessaa fayyadamuun furmaata waaraa ni fida, akkasumas duudhaalee hawaasaa walitti ni hidha jedhe. Manni marichaa hoggansa Komishiini Marii biyyaalessaa uummataan akka kadhimamuu fi mana maree bakka bu’oota uummaataatiin akka ragga’u eere.

Dhaabbileen kunneen adeemsa fi tarkaanfileen marii biyyaalessaa keessatti  fudhatamanii amanamuummaa uumuun marii dhugaatiif haala ni mijeessuu danda’an lafa kaa’an. Ibsi kun marii biyyaalessaan dura tarkaanfilee fudhatamuu qaban tarreessa. Isaanis Lammilee waraanan miidhaman hundaaf haal duree tokko malee deeggarsa namooma adda hin cinne taasisuu, hidhamtoota siyaasaa hunda haalduree tokko malee hiikuu fi Humnootni alaa hunduu,  keessumaa humni nageenyaa, loltootni fi basaastotni Ertiraa, Itoophiyaa keessaa akka ba’an  dabalata. Dhaabbileen Oromoo kunneen  mootummaa Itoophiyaa fi qooda fudhattoota hundaaf tarkaanfii waraana dhaabsisuu fi marii walabaa, hunda haammate fi hunda hirmaachise akka taasifamuuf qooda isaanii akka ba’atan waamicha dhiyeessan. 

“Marii  biyyaalessaa keessatti adeemsii fi tarkaanfileen fudhataman amanamuummaa uumuun marii dhugaatiif haala mijeessa. Kunis Oromiyaa keessattii  fi naannoollee hundatti alatti dirree siyaasaa jiru bal’isuun miidiyaaleen walabaa akka jiraatan, mariiwwaan bu’uraa fi lammilee hundaa hirmaachisu taasisutu barbaachisa. Haaluma kanaan marii bal’aani fi hirmaachisaan qamoolee dhimmi ilaallatu waliin,yeroo, turtii, raawwii, iddoo, qabiyyee, saffisa, adeemsa, fi hojiirra oolmaa marichaa irratti akka taasifamu irra deebi’uun waamicha dhiyeessina.” jedha ibsichi. 

Ibsa Guutuu

Ibsa hundeeffama Komishinii Marii Biyyalessaa (KMB) Itoophiyaa ilaalchisuun Dhaabbilee Sivikii, Falmattoota Mirga Dhala Namaa fi Waldaalee Hawaaasaa Oromoo idil-addunyaa irraa kenname.

Nuti dhabbileen asii gaditti maqaan keenya dhahame, qophii mootummaan Itoophiyaa dhimmoota bu’uraa biyyaalessaa irratti waliigaltee umuuf, marii biyyaalessaa  jalqabuuf taasisu itti dhiyeenyan hordofaa jirra.

Mootummaan labsii hundeeffama KMB ulaagaa ifa hin taaneen kophaa isaa raggaasiseera. Yeroo  ammaa kana, hojimaata ifa hin taanee fi abbootii dhimmaa ijoofi deeggartoota waliin marii ga’aan utuu hin taasifamiin namoonni  Komishiini Marii Biyyaalessaa gaggeessan filatamaa jira. 

Hidhamtootni siyaasaa muraasni hiikamuu isaanii agarree jirra; garuu hidhamtootni  kuma hedduu  ta’an ammayyuu mana hidhaa jiru. Tarkaanfiin dura  kun  mootummaan biyya bulchaa jiru hidhamtoota siyaasaa hafanillee hiikuuf akka yaade fi  qalbii guutuun  maricha irratti hirmaachuuf fedhii qabaachu agarsiisa jennee abdanna.

Haa ta’u malee, mootummaan Itoophiyaa qaama walaba, Komishiinii loogii  siyaasa irraa bilisa ta’e hundeessuu danda’u miti.  Kuni ammoo marii biyyaalessaa hunda hammate godhuuf ulaagaa ijoofi barbaachisaadha  .

Kanaafuu, ibsa Hagayya 18, 2021 basneen waraanii akka  dhaabatuu fi mariin hunda hirmaachise akka taasifamu  gaafatu irra deebi’uun, gaaga’amni  siyaasaa walxaxaan biyyattiin keessa jirtu  furamee  nageenni  waaraan akka dhufu  gorsa armaan gadii dhiyeessuu barbanna.

1.Waraanni hatattamaan akka dhaabbatu taasisuun, humnoota federaalaa fi garee hidhattootaa naannoo Oromiyaa, Tigraay, Beenishaangul Gumuz, Amhaara fi Affaar keessa jiran giddutti walii galteen dhukaasa dhaabuu taasifamee, mariin siyaasaa hunda hirmaachise akka godhamuuf haala miijessuu.

2.Lammilee waraanan miidhaman hundaaf dhiyeessii nyaataa fi qorichaa dabalatee deeggarsa namooma adda hin cinne haal duree tokko malee akka  taasifamu; kanneen amma sababa hongeetiin beelaaf saaxilaman deeggaruu  fi tajaajiloota bu’uura akka baankii, telekoomi, geejjibaa fi tajaajila ibsaa, lammilee miliyoonan lakkaa’aman naannolee Oromiyaa, Tigraayi, Beenishaangul Gumuuz, Affaar, Amaaraa fi Somaalee keessatti argamaniif akka deebi’u.

3.Hoggantoota Adda Bilisummaa Oromoo (ABO) dabalatee, hidhamtootni siyaasaa hundi haalduree tokko malee akka hiikaman. Caamsaa 2021 irraa eegalee hidhaa mana keessaarra kan jiran hayyu dureen dhabichaafi, dargaggootni Oromoo kumatamootan  mana hidhaa adda addaa keessa jiranii fi hidhamtootni biroo haalaa sabummaa irratti xiyyeffateen erga  labsiin yeroo muddamaa bahe hidhaman hundi akka hiikaman.

4.Humnootni biyya alaa hunduu,  keessumaa humni nageenyaa, loltootni fi basaastotni Ertiraa, Itoophiyaa keessaa akka ba’an taasisuun  biyyootni naannoo gaanfa Afrikaa  fi biyyootni Itoophiyaa wajjiin walitti dhufeenya qaban deeggarsa akka godhaanii fi haala dhiittaan mirgaa akkasumas wal waraansi waliinii itti  dhaabbatu haala miijessuu. 

5.Komishiinii marii biyyaalessaa walaba ta’e, qooda fudhattoota hundaa biratti fudhatamummaa qabu fi  marii biyyaalessaa ifaa fi hunda haammataa  ta’eef haalaa miijessu danda’u hundeessuu.   KMB mootummaan deeggaramu itti gafatamummaa barbaachisaa fi seena qabeessa kana amanamummaan ba’uu danda’a jennee hin amannuu;  komishiiniin qaama kamirrayyuu walaba ta’e akka hundeeffamuuf hawaasni idil-addunyaa deeggarsa barbaachisa akka taasisu waamicha dhiyeessina.

6. Marii  biyyaalessaa keessatti adeemsii fi tarkaanfileen fudhataman amanamuummaa uumuun marii dhugaatiif haala mijeessa. Kunis Oromiyaa  fi naannoollee hundatti  dirree siyaasaa bal’isuun miidiyaaleen walabaa akka jiraatan, mariiwwaan bu’uraa fi lammilee hundaa hirmaachisu taasisutu barbaachisa. Haaluma kanaan marii bal’aani fi hirmaachisaan qamoolee dhimmi ilaallatu waliin,yeroo, turtii, raawwii, iddoo, qabiyyee, saffisa, adeemsa, fi hojiirra oolmaa marichaa irratti akka taasifamu irra deebi’uun waamicha dhiyeessina.

Nuti dhabbileen asii gaditti maqaan keenna eeramee,  waldaaleen hawaaasaa, dhaabbileen Ogeeyyii, falmattoonni mirgoota namoomaa fi hawaasni waligalaa Oromoo, mootummaa Itoophiyaa fi qooda fudhattootni biyyattii hundaa akkasumas Hawaasa idil addunyaa,  Dhabbatni Motummoota Gamtoomanii, Yunaayitid Isteets, Chaayinaa, Gamtaan Awurooppaa fi biyyootni miseensa gamtichaa, Gamtaan Afrikaa fi  biyyootni miseensa gamtichaa, Gamtaan Emireetota Arabaa, Turkii fi Iraan, naannolee Itoophiyaa hunda keessatti walitti bu’iinsi akka dhaabbatuu fi  adeemsi marii biyyalessaa haqa qabessaa fi hirmaachisaa ta’e akka itti fufuf tarkaanfii barbaachisu akka fudhattan gaafanna.

On the evening of December 1, 2021, 14 respected, experienced and culturally venerated leaders
in the Karrayyuu Oromo community of 100,000 in central Ethiopia were killed in minutes by
Oromia Special Police and Federal forces operating on orders by ruling party officials sitting a
hundred kilometers away in Adama city. The murdered men were located at Fantalle district,
East Shewa Zone of the Oromia regional state in Ethiopia. They were killed execution-style at
7:00 PM far from the village where they were abducted when Prosperity Party bosses gave the
go-ahead signal via cell phone message to awaiting members of the special forces. The murdered
men had just finished conducting Waaqa Kadhaa, a sacred indigenous prayer ceremony held on
special ground designated for that purpose. In the close-knit iconic livestock-rearing culture of
the Karrayyuu people, this was an unthinkable atrocity.

We, a coalition of Oromo advocacy and human rights groups operating internationally consider
that this horrifying series of events indicate the intentionality and destructiveness of Abiy
Ahmed’s government against Oromo and other Southern and marginalized peoples who do not
support his direction for the country. We urge the international community, in particular those
concerned with justice, peace, stability and human rights, to take note of what has happened in
Karrayyuu. Those who were deeply committed to spirituality and to democratic principles above
all, were brutally massacred with lightning speed: an act that sends a menacing warning to the
populace that no one is safe right now in Ethiopia.

Historic, Political and Economic Contexts

The shocking massacre was carried out amid ongoing brutal wars between Ethiopian Defence
Forces and the Tigray Defence Forces in the north of the country and with the Oromo Liberation
Army in the south. The site of the killing is the Karrayyuu camel-rearing, pastoral grazing and
watering lands located near coveted trade routes for lucrative commodities in a cash-strapped
economy. This valued territory has become a target of territorial expansionism by Amhara
militias emboldened by Abiy Ahmed’s government’s failure to protect vulnerable peoples like
the Karrayyuu. In the days leading to the event, the Karrayyuu Oromo’s community leaders had
resisted releasing young people to be conscripted to leave their homeland to fight as part of the
Ethiopian Defense Forces in the north. Among Oromo communities throughout Ethiopia, the
Karrayyuu are well-known and esteemed for their consistent practice of the principles of the
time-honored Gadaa system of socio-political organization that encompassed all Oromo prior to
incorporation into Ethiopia at the turn of the 20th century. These and other factors make the
tragedy of December 1 resonate throughout the population and account for an ongoing sense of
threat and foreboding among other vulnerable groups in the country.

We, the initiators of the idea behind the joint statement by worldwide Oromo Civic, Professional, Advocacy, Human Rights, and Community organizations, would like to express our deepest gratitude for all the co-signers of the joint statement for taking your time, receiving and approving the joint statement. As it stands now the joint statement is co-signed by a total of 64 Oromo civic organizations of various backgrounds and portfolios.

For that purpose it is safe to refer to the joint statement as an ‘A Consensus Oromo Statement on the NDC’ calling for careful sequencing of actions leading to inclusive dialogue in Ethiopia. We are scheduled to release the statement to the public through the media in the late afternoon on Friday 21 January.

To that end, we would like to make the following important points:

1 – The Statement BELONGS to all the co-signers. No single individual or institution lays exclusive claim on its ownership. Each co-signer owns it and is free to make use of it to advance the Oromo civic organizations’ recommendation with regard to inclusive dialogue in Ethiopia.

2 – We encourage all the co-signers to release the statement using respective institutional communication channels of each institution/organization which is the co-signer.

3 – We encourage all the co-signers to consider and promote the statement as ‘Consensus Oromo Statement on the NDC’ for various purposes, including during lobbying, awareness creating campaigns, distribution to the media and the international community including members of Parliaments /House /Senate, among others, in your respective districts. Let the world know what 64 Oromo civic organizations are recommending as a way out of Ethiopia’s crisis.

4 – We encourage all the co-signers to communicate and distribute the statement to their grassroots members and encourage them to use it during campaigns and lobbying works as well as social media engagements to create global awareness on what more than 60 Oromo civic organizations are recommending to be done before the commencement of inclusive dialogue in Ethiopia.

Once again, we thank each and every Oromo institution/organization for co-signing on this important statement. Together, we can be heard loud and clear.

Regards,

21 January 2022

For full statement click below link:

(Advocacy4Oromia, Melbourne, 9 December 2021) Australian Oromo and Tigray communities stage Multicultural Freedom Rally in Melbourne today.

According to the organisers the rally is a part of world-wide action to condemn a recent series of atrocities, mass arrests, and airstrikes against civilians.

Melbourne’s Oromo, Tigray and other communities marched from Victorian Parliament to Federation Square, where community leaders spoke of unity in the face of oppression.

The participant states that the aim of the rally is to express their grave concerns and to demand the international community to pay attention to the development in Ethiopia.

“We’re not afraid to stand together, to be able to stand against violence and repression.  Today, we join the Multicultural Freedom Rally in Melbourne to help raise our voices against a shared experience of brutal repression by Abiy regime.”

Demonstrators denounced the killings and violent repressions being meted out by the Abiy regime.

“We’re here today in the spirit of freedom rally to denounce any forms of violence. Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. Abiy regime must respect the Oromo and Tegaru dignity, peace and freedom.”

Rights groups say Abiy regime has opened wide ranging military campaign in many parts of Oromia; continuously carrying out hostilities and mass arrests on these civilians. Journalist, book author, translator and bookstore owner, Hinsene Mekuria, has been arrested by gov’t security forces from his workplace in Finfinne on 4th Dec 2021 around 1:30 local time. He often writes on social media and speaks for the cause of the Oromo people. His whereabouts is unknown.

Reports by the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and Amnesty International describe widespread arrests of ethnic Tigrayans, including Orthodox priests, older people, and mothers with children.

In many parts of the country individuals are being arrested and detained without charges or a court hearing and are reportedly being held in inhumane conditions.

Demonstrators also appealed to the Government of Australia and the wider international community to put diplomatic, political, economic pressure on the Ethiopian regime.

“We URGE the good people of our international community to avoid the ultimate tragedy of silence over cruelty of the worst genocide in Ethiopia. We specifically urge the Australia and the wider international community, to take action and help stop the heinous crimes of the regime before Ethiopia potentially becomes a historic African tragedy.”

The message of Australian Oromo and Tigray communities is just calling for peace and freedom. “We’re not afraid to stand together, to be able to stand against violence and repression.  We join this Freedom Rally to help raise our voices against a shared experience of brutal repression by the State.”