The US exclusion of Oromo political organisations from the
Congressional Hearing on Ethiopia after Meles: The Future of
Democracy and Human Right - held on June 20, 2013 has offended Oromos
and stirred up Oromos' inconsolable rage. While such a hearing is a
positive step worthy of recognition, the absence of Oromo
representatives renders it meaningless and less productive. We do not
know and we may never know the criteria on which only two panellists
were invited to testify on Ethiopia's human right situations. It is
extremely annoying to see such infuriating indifference of the US to
the plight of our people.
I was exasperated to witness US discrimination against us Oromos
while showing concern about the human right abuses in Ethiopia.
Ordinarily, I would have thought that Oromo factor should have been
the centrepiece of any discourse or hearing on the future of
Ethiopia. The world knows that the Oromos are the largest Ethnic
group in Ethiopia constituting at least 40 percent of the population
in the Ethiopian empire. Consequently, they are the main targets of
ongoing TPLF political witch hunt and repression. Similarly, I am
enraged by the eerie silence of the Oromos not taking immediate
action to express our outrage at the exclusion. Personally, it came
as something of a shock to me. For reasons best known to him,
Congressman Chris Smith had either deliberately excluded the Oromo
organisations or had known little or nothing about the severity of
genocidal repressions against Oromos.
On the other hand, there should be no excuse by the US, as worsening
human right violations against the Oromos have been regularly
reported by the Amnesty International, the Human Right Watch and the
US State Department itself. To be fair to the Congressman, he might
have been misled by the likes of Birhanu Nega or Oromo leader's
incompetence in failing to bring our issues to his attention. The
OLF, in particular, owes us an explanation as it has an office in
Washington DC, whose real purpose should be to undertake diplomatic
works. If the OLF thinks that it can escape responsibility for
mishandling this whole affair, such an act will be treated as
juvenile and stupid. Where are those other Oromo organisations that
are good at casting aspersions and heaping maledictions upon one
another?
While it is a well known fact that the OLF is the oldest and the most
popular Oromo opposition group in Ethiopia, it is the young unionist
neo-Amhara Ginbot 7 that was represented by its leader Birhanu Nega
instead. Derided by the Oromos for his anti-Oromo remarks and also
accused of conspiring in the breakup of the OLF, his presence as a
lead testifier with no one present to speak for the Oromos made us
felt inadequate and unrepresented. So we were convinced right from
the beginning that such exclusionist hearing built upon Mr Birhanu's
monologue will do nothing in easing our suffering.
Yet again, to appear balanced and alley Oromos' fear of his anti-
Oromo stance, he could have at least mentioned the plight of our
people more than 20,000 of whom are languishing in TPLF prisons. He
was aware of the famous description of Ethiopian prisons as speaking
Afaan Oromo by none other than Siye Abraha who himself found it
morally repugnant to target only Oromos in such a huge number.
Instead, Mr Birhanu chose only to focus on the already resolved issue
of the Amharas displaced from the Benishangul-Gumuz Region, once
again confirming his disregard and hatred for the Oromos. It was
laughable to witness him imploring the Congressman to take heed and
work on saving Ethiopia from impending civil war brushing aside the
critical elements that might contribute to his prognosis.
Though it was a calculated and deliberate decision taken by Mr
Birhanu to deny Oromos having bearing on one of the most important
discussions on the future of Ethiopia, it has also exposed the man as
short-sighted and incapable of pragmatic, inclusive and prudent
policy decisions. Furthermore, Nega's neglect of Oromo plight has
made it crystal clear that General Kemal Gelchu's alliance with
Ginbot 7 is nothing less than treasonous act that doesn't serve
Oromos' interest. In the past, despite the overwhelming mistrust of
Ginbot 7, some Oromos seemed to have been snookered by its empty talk
of "justice, freedom and democracy." Ginbot 7 groomed Kemal's
splinter group known as "Jijirama Group" to be its mascot and jointly
toured around the world to amuse their audience largely of Amhara and
some misguided Oromos.
The Jijirama Group used the fanfare of its alliance with Ginbot 7 to
trick naive Oromos into thinking that their "paradigm shift" will
endear Oromos to the likes of unionist elites like Birhanu Naga and
Ginbot 7, giving us strong presence in the Ethiopian political
dynamics. So, where is the Jijiram Group now given the non-
representation and complete exclusion of Oromos issues at the said
hearing where its buddy Ginbot 7 was the lead actor? The so-called
Jijirama Group should be ashamed of its betrayal of Oromo cause and
for sleeping with the enemy that wants nothing short of annihilation
of Oromummaa. At this juncture, it should be pointed out that not
only has Ginbot 7 failed to garner significant Oromo support through
its unholy alliance with the Jijirama Group, it has also faced
condemnation from the extremist Amhara groups such as EPRP for dilly
dallying with what they called "anti-Ethiopian OLF"
These extremist Amharas, guided only by their blind hatred of the
Oromos and despite the ex-General pleading with them to accept him as
he had brought the "misguided Oromos to the fold of Ethiopiawinet"
dismissed it as unacceptable unless he had renounced the name Oromo
Liberation Front and that infamous flag. Anyway, one might ponder why
are the Oromos so suspicious of Birhanu Nega from the beginning? The
litanies of accusations against him by the Oromos are many. But
please spare a thought for just two of them: He was known for
publicly confessing that he was forced to join politics to fight
Oromos whom he insinuated as wrongly believing that they were
colonised and were putting Ethiopia's unity in danger. In addition,
his inflammatory remarks during the Ethio-Eritrean boarder war at the
gathering at the Finfinne University, in which he implored the TPLF
military to march on Asmara to destroy the OLF for collaborating with
Ethiopia's arch enemy Shaebia drew fierce Oromo anger. Being such a
charlatan and an imposter, devoid of moral and intellectual value, he
was recently caught while admitting receiving $500,000 from the same
Shaebia he denounced the OLF of having relation with. Dr Birhanu
remains a controversial and divisive figure even in the eyes of the
Amahara elites who dismiss his pretensions of being a champion of
Ethiopian unity as not representing their interest enough since he is
a gurage. On top of that he was accused of turning Gibot 7 into his
dominion acting like a dictator himself by excluding the Amharas from
the top positions.
Finally, you may ask, so what is the fuss all about and may even
accuse me of overreacting; but nothing could be further from the
truth. It is remiss of me or of any responsible Oromo to neglect such
an important issue to be disregarded without proper response. I'm not
good on pep talks but just trying my best to call up on Oromos to
galvanise their collective efforts and put the honourable Congressman
Chris Smith on notice and express our outrage and anger at Oromos
exclusion from the hearing on the Ethiopian human right situation.
We should make abundantly clear to the US policy makers that their
continued disregard of the suffering of our people and in this
particular case avoiding any reference to our people's suffering
will be counterproductive and any discussion on Ethiopia's future
that didn't include the Oromo interest is an exercise in futility.
And equally seek explanation from Dr Birhanu Nega and Obang Meto for
covering up the worsening human right situation of our people and the
fate of an estimated more than 20,000 Oromo prisoners. By this action
we also demand an immediate explanation from the Oromo political
organisations, particularly the OLF both Jijiirama (because of its
affiliation with Ginbot 7) and Shane (since it has a diplomatic
office in Washington) to explain why they had failed to represent the
Oromo issues during the testimony.
In conclusion, I cannot force anybody to do anything on this
important issue but suggest organising a petition protesting the
exclusion of our representatives from the hearing. People can suggest
who could organise and lead such an effort or volunteer themselves.
In the face of what seems to be a total paralysis of Oromo national
liberation struggle and the worsening situation of our people, not
doing small but worthy efforts such as this one will remains as
blight on our collective consciousness. Doing nothing cannot be an
option.
Oromia Shall Be Free!!!
By Dany Gaaraa
Received on Mon Jun 24 2013 - 09:57:38 EDT