‘The Wheels of Justice Grind Slowly but They do Grind’ - The Case of Nuro Dedefo

Blogger's notes: The following piece was sent by a member of the Asmara Group of the OLF. S/He writes, "The Oromo public's right to be informed about the conduct of public figures far outweighs any concern you may have about Obbo Nuuroo's privacy. Also, the evidences are all there for everyone to check them out. Please post." The blogger agrees with the sender in this case. Except for replacing "OLF" with "[the Asmara Group of] OLF" to distingush this group from other OLF factions, the piece is posted as is. Obbo Nuro Dedefo is encouraged to respond in the interset of the Oromo public's right to balanced information.

Here you go.
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‘The Wheels of Justice Grind Slowly but They do Grind’ - The Case of Nuro Dedefo

By Observer, July 2008

The wheels of justice turn slowly but they do turn surely and have finally caught up with Nuro Dedefo. On July 17, 2008, the indefinite suspension of his license to practice law in the state of MN was upheld by the Supreme Court of the State of Minnesota. A couple of days later, he was suspended from his position as head of the USA chapter of the Oromo Liberation front (OLF).

What is going on? How can a lawyer, a one-time community leader and a political activist – a public person by any measure - run afoul of the law so much so that he is slapped by two separate and independent suspensions in one month by no less authority than the supreme court of Minnesota and [the Asmara group of] OLF?

Four factors make Nuro Dedefo a public person, at least in the Oromo context, and therefore public scrutiny of his behavior a public interest.

First, he had served as chairman of the board of directors of Oromo community of MN - the largest in its kind the Diaspora – for many years. Second, he has served (incompetently, some would argue) the [the Asmara Group of] OLF - the largest and oldest of Oromo political organizations – in various capacities for many years. Thirdly, and most recently, he chaired the USA chapter of the [the Asmara Group of] OLF - the largest and most influential chapter of all [the Asmara Group of] OLF chapters – for the last two years. Fourthly, he has been practicing law in the state of MN since 2002 during which he represented many Oromo individuals including himself (incompetently, according to the supreme court of Mn) and has dragged many more through the court system on frivolous [lawsuits].

As a former community leader, a former [the Asmara Group of] OLF officer and a former practicing lawyer, Nuro Dedefo is as public a person as one can be in the Oromo Diaspora which justifies this public scrutiny of his behavior.

When a man of his stature runs afoul of the law to that degree, he drags in the mud the name of the community of which he was once the face; it reflects badly on the political organization in which he held various positions of authority and the law profession itself, reaching well beyond the confines of the Oromo Diaspora.

Nuro Dedefo has broken almost every rule in Lawyers’ professional conduct book.

From abusing his wife, to incompetent representation, to “knowingly offering false evidence”, to misappropriating client funds, to obstructing justice, to engaging in harassing and frivolous litigations – you name it, Nuro Dedefo has broken it.

After hearing and considering Nuro’s appeal of a referee decision [to suspend his license indefinitely], the supreme court of MN decided that:

“Clear and convincing evidence supports the referee’s conclusions that respondent [Nuro Dedefo] failed to provide competent representation of himself, filed a false affidavit, and obstructed an opposing party’s access to relevant evidence.

Indefinite suspension is appropriate when a respondent fails to maintain required trust account books and records, commingles personal and client funds, improperly disburses client trust funds, knowingly files a false affidavit, obstructs an opposing party’s access to relevant evidence, and engages in conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice.” (Supreme Court of Minnesota, July 17, 2008)

In this time of political turmoil in the Oromo Diaspora, you may suspect that I am slandering him for political or other reasons. Absolutely NOT! I am only communicating to you the decisions of the Supreme Court of Minnesota; a body far removed from Oromo politics. Full text of the court’s decision can be found HERE. Another good reference on Nuro’s accomplishments as a lawyer can be found HERE .

Traditional virtues like trustworthiness, honesty and personal integrity are the hallmarks of the lawyer. These are professional obligations of those granted the privilege to practice law everywhere. Persons lacking such attributes are disgrace to any profession and even more so to the profession of law.

On July 19, 2008, as the chairman of the USA chapter of the [the Asmara Group of] OLF, Nuro Dedefo was slapped with a separate and unrelated suspension from the [the Asmara Group of] OLF for refusing to comply with organizational policies and working diligently to “spread anarchism” among members of the chapter. According to the suspension letter signed by Dr. Fido Ebba, Head of Foreign Affairs of the [the Asmara Group of] OLF, Nuro Dedefo and the committee of five he led committed a plethora of violations of [the Asmara Group of] OLF rules and regulations, including insubordination.

Among the eleven (11) points listed in that letter are,

1. Refusing to implement recommendations of an investigative body composed of members of the [the Asmara Group of] OLF National Council and instituted by the [the Asmara Group of] OLF Executive Committee;
2. Obstructing the organization’s Cadre training program in the USA;
3. Refusing to report list of [the Asmara Group of] OLF members in the USA to the organization’s higher authorities;
4. Refusing to work with a new sub-chapter organized in Philadelphia, PA, as a result of which the sub-chapter disbanded and its members dispersed;
5. Failure to communicate to members and implement policies of the [the Asmara Group of] OLF with which Nuro and his group disagreed but other chapters of the organization communicated to their members and implemented without reservation;
6. Refusing to recognize and work with two other sub-chapters formed in MPLS despite direct orders from the Foreign affairs department, the Executive Committee and the Rules and Regulations Monitoring Committee of the [the Asmara Group of] OLF;
7. Licking confidential documents of the organization to the media; and many more violations ….

In other words, over the last two years, Nuro and his team engaged in repeated outright insubordination and hindering the organization’s work in the USA.

What is more concerning is that many around him are not surprised by these turn of events. Asked to comment on the issue, an [the Asmara Group of] OLF member in MPLS, Mn said, “I have known Nuro for the last six years. I wish I could say I am surprised or even shocked. The truth of the matter is, I am not. Sadly, Nuro has always considered himself the ultimate authority on rules and regulations of the organization and an infallible one at that. In his eyes, the rest of us are imbeciles when it comes to interpreting them. Some of us who questioned his actions have been given many disparaging labels by him and his group. I don’t know how he lasted this long in the law profession but I know he was able remain in and cause so much damage to the [the Asmara Group of] OLF because the organization is very lax at enforcing its rules and regulations.”

Two different systems of justice whose wheels turn at different speeds, arrived at Nuro Dedefo’s door steps in two days interval. They do grind slowly alright, but grind, they do.

Observer

Qubee as an instrument of Oromo struggle for self-determination

The historicity of the development of Qubee

By Leenjiso Horoo

First and foremost, it is fair to sketch the long journey in its historical development. In its development, it has gone through numerous transformations in time. To properly understand its journey, its development has to be narrated backwards in time. For this reason, its development, its context, its use and its political implications should be historicized.

The development of Oromiffaa had been hindered by Abyssinian occupation of Oromiyaa. Hence for a long time, Oromiffaa had remained as a spoken language. Because of colonial occupation, the Abyssinians made it illegal and forbidden to write in Oromiffaa in any script, including in Sabean script. The early writing in the Oromo language began almost two centuries ago. It is the conquest of Oromiyaa by Abyssinia that interrupted its development into full-fledged writing instrument. Of the earliest writing was vocabulary of Oromo language in 1842 in Latin script by J. Ludwig Krapf, a German national. In 1899, Abba Onesimos Nasib (aka Abbaa Gammachiis) translated the Holy Bible into the Oromo language using Sabean script. In 1935, M. Mario Moreno, an Italian national wrote dictionary of Oromo language using the Latin script. In 1939, P. Gaetino da Thiene, a Catholic priest also wrote a dictionary of Oromo language in the Latin script. Between 1948 and 1953, Sheikh Bakeri developed a new script. All of these significantly contributed to the search for Qubee.

The final breakthrough in the search for script for the Oromo language came towards the middle of 1960s and the beginning of 1970s, with a phonetic study of the Oromo language made by Dr. Haile Fida, a brilliant Oromo scholar. Out of this study was produced an Oromo grammar book in Latin alphabet entitled, “Hirmaatadubbii Afaan Oromoo” in 1973. with Qubee and Oromo language grammatical rules such as long and short vowels - a single consonant for soft or double consonants for emphasis or stress of word – and more rules were published in Qubee and Afaan Oromoo. “Hirmaatadubbii Afaan Oromoo” was republished in 1979. This is the first systematically presented grammar book in Afaan Oromoo or Oromiffaa, written by an Oromo individual using Qubee.

This phase of Qubee in its context and use drew upon political implication. This is the Qubee known to us today. Later in 1970s, the OLF adopted it as Oromo alphabet. It was this Qubee that fundamentally changed the way the Oromo look at their own language. For the first time, Oromiffaa was transformed from a spoken language to a written language. Ever since, it has become as an instrument of struggle in the Oromo’s quest for independence. As the OLF entered Finfinee in 1991 and Obboo Ibsaa Guutamaa became Minister of Education for Transitional Government from 1991 to 1992, the implementation and its practical application officially began. Obboo Ibsaa Guutamaa single-handedly, as Minister of Education, made Qubee to reach every Oromo schools in every corners of Oromiyaa as official alphabet of teaching and work. That is, millions of teaching books were published and millions of Oromo children were taught in it. Indeed, Qubee brought the irreversible conflict between Ethiopia and Oromiyaa. It may sound clichéd, but the plain truth is Qubee would not have been possible as a living Qubee today without the work of Dr. Haile Fida and its adaptation by the OLF and without Obboo Ibsaa Guutama becoming Minister of education to implement it in that shortest period of time.

In the development of Qubee, in 1982, Gene B. Gragg and Tarfa Kumsa, published Oromo Dictionary. Dr. Tilahun Gamta published Oromo-English Dictionary (1989) and Comprehensive Oromo-English Dictionary (2004), among many of his previous others writings. Dr. Tilahun Gamta is the most recognized prominent Oromo scholar and educator who pushed Qubee to its height not only as instrument of instruction, but also as instrument of political struggle. When the Oromos talk about Qubee, Dr. Tilahun Gamta comes to every Oromo’s mind. He stands the tallest among his peers. Because of his commitment and persistent and tireless work and campaign, Qubee is now what it is today. And Obboo Ahimad Muudee published English-Oromo Dictionary (1995). Obboo Abiyyuu Galataa published Galma Afaan Oromoo (1996). Obboo Ibsaa Guutamaa published Special Oromo Dictionary (2004). For this, the Oromo are grateful and indebted to the late Dr. Haile Fida, Obboo Ibsaa Guutamaa, Dr. Tilahun Gamta and Obboo Ahimad Muddee and Obboo Abiyyuu Galataa for their uniquely special contribution to the growth and development of Qubee and its practical implementation in making it a living Qubee. They are rightly the founding fathers of Qubee Oromo. Their works enabled the birth of the “Qubee generation” as we know it today. It is from the above historical development of Qubee that the Qubee Generation was born.

The Qubee Generation

Understanding what is meant by the “Qubee generation” is not complex. Simply, the “Qubee Generation” is a new generation in the Oromo struggle that has came into being since 1991 with the adaptation of Qubee, a Latin alphabet, as Oromo’s writing script and thereafter. By Qubee Generation we mean the Oromo youth generation that have been born and grew since 1991 with the idea of struggle for the liberation, independence and sovereignty of Oromiyaa and a generation that has been taught in Qubee, in the Oromo school system. It is a generation that is not adulterated with Ethiopian political outlook. It is a generation that is not hostage to Ethiopian colonial empire’s policy of Oromo divide and rule. In that sense, it is a new generation that refused to accept Ethiopia, Ethiopianism, and Ethiopia’s institutions, its laws and constitution. The Qubee Generation is a new generation that sees Oromiyaa and its people with Oromo eyes; a generation that believes in truth and justice of the Oromo cause. It is a generation that has unbounded faith in the independence of Oromiyaa as those Oromo nationalists who had paid the ultimate price in lives in the struggle for the liberation of Oromiyaa and as those who are still in this struggle despite the obstacles posed by the alliance of internal and external enemy forces.

First and foremost, this generation is different from its predecessor generation, the generation of the Darg era. Their difference is fundamentally profound. The Darg era generation was raised as Ethiopians; taught as Ethiopians in Abyssinian political outlook and prepared for Ethiopia. In this way, to make them loyal to the empire, Darg had imprinted a political servitude on the characters of its era generation. It is for this reason, the Darg era Oromo generation has irretrievably failed to distinguish and understand the difference between democratization of Ethiopia and the independence of Oromiyaa.

As political difference sprouted within the OLF between pro independence of Oromiyaa and pro Ethiopian democratization faction, the Darg era generation overwhelmingly took side in favor of pro Ethiopian democratization. And so the Darg era generation supported Shanee [the Asmara Group], the pro Ethiopian democratization faction and went along with it and its political platform against the platform of the independence of Oromiyaa. Oromo nationalism or patriotism has not deeply ingrained in this Darg era Oromo generation; whereas it has irrevocably penetrated and instilled in the minds of the Qubee generation. This Qubee generation is raised as Oromo, taught as Oromo and prepared for Oromiyaa. This generation is raised in the spirit of struggle for independence of Oromiyaa and of its ‘bilisummaa’ whereas the Darg era generation were raised in the spirit of Ethiopian unity. It is for this the Qubee generation has been called the future of Oromiyaa and its people.

To reiterate what have been said above, despite the loyalty of capitulationists to Ethiopia, the Oromo are not loyal to Ethiopia; they have never been; they will never be. Their sacred loyalty is to Oromiyaa, their own country. The Abyssinians perfectly know this. It is by knowing this truth the successive Ethiopian empire rulers and their supporters coined a phrase that says, “Gaallaan maaman kamootee bichaa naw” which literally means to trust Oromo is only after his/her death. Later on, as time went by, they realized the political implication of this phrase and so they rephrased it as “sawuun maaman kamootee bichaa naw”, which means to trust a man is onlyafter his death. Since the last century to date, this has been Abyssinians’ long-standing policy towards Oromo. The Abyssinians believe that the Oromo are the threat to Ethiopian empire, the empire they build. That is rightly so.

In Abyssinian political view, even the most loyalist Oromo, as loyalist as Goobana Daacee and Habte Giorgis Qusees Dinagdee were considered as an eventual threat. For this, the Abyssinians see Oromo with skepticism and suspicion. It was because of this, Goobana Daacee, the man who helped Abyssinia to colonize his own country and Fit Habte Giorgis Dinagdee, the man who skillfully helped Menelik to rule the newly created empire were eventually poisoned to death. Throughout the history of this empire, all Oromo nationals who had made alliance with Abyssinians and served them and their empire with distinction and in good faith were dishonored, and discarded, and finally murdered. And if history is any guide, the new collaborators too will face the same destiny, the same fate that their predecessors like Gobanaa Daaccee and the rest had faced.

Leenjiso

Have your say.

The Diaspora Based New Collaborators

By Leenjisoo Horoo

In a national struggle, real nationalists clearly understand that the journey in the national struggle is as important as the destination itself. The journey ends when it reaches its destination. In the life of the journey, the nationalists understand that the struggle can run into bumps, curves, turning and twisting points and into mountaintops and valleys. In the process there are bruises and wounds. The Diaspora new collaborators are these bumps; their goals are to cause bruises, and wounds to the Oromo struggle in this journey of national struggle. It is with understanding of these; nationalists equally focus both on the journey and the destination itself.

Now, it is proper to examine the actions of the Diaspora based opportunists. And it is time to show their danger to the Oromo struggle. For years, we talked about the purpose of “Agenda for Peace”, about “Democratization of Ethiopian Empire”, and about “Regional Government of Oromiyaa”, -- a “government” formed by the colonial authorities as its subordinate in controlling Oromiyaa , as a dangerous scheme created to impede the struggle for independence of Oromiyaa. We now know their purposes have been to embattle and siege the Oromo struggle. Here the purpose is not to talk about them. The purpose is to say few things about the new collaborators that came into existence in 2006. In the year 2006, the colonial regime and its agent cleverly devised a new system to lure some Oromo nationals in the Diaspora into collaboration. The system goes by the name of “Developing Oromiyaa” or by the name of creating “Little Minnesota in Oromiyaa”. The participants in this schemed plan are the Oromo nationals, who were known for years, as the “honorary” bystanders or “honorary” nationalists, only in good times. In bad times, when they perceive that the national struggle is weak or in stagnation, or when the struggle faces a setback, they turn into monster and begin biting their own country, and their own people. These are individuals who are always ready, always willing and able to betray their country and people to advance their own financial and political craves. This is what is taking place in Oromiyaa today.

Today in the name of “developing Oromiyaa” and in the name of creating “Little Minnesota in Oromiyaa”, some Oromo Diaspora turncoats (gantuus) are also in alliance with the occupation army and its agents of Oromo descent, the OPDO. They are helping the colonizer in expunging our people from their lands and their homes. Then they turn around and buy those lands and homes. In this way, these national traitors are fattening the coffer of the colonizer and its local agents of Oromo descent. They are a newly created army of Abyssinia within Oromo nationals in the Diaspora. This means the Abyssinians and its agents of Oromo descent have been luring these individuals and groups with the promised of lands, business investments, and political positions if they avoid joining or supporting the Oromo struggle. Throughout the occupation of Oromiyaa to date, successive Abyssinian regimes have been using Oromo opportunists and collaborators to help Abyssinia to seize Oromo lands, to decimate Oromo institutions, to humiliate the Oromo, to cause the Oromo pain, to torment the Oromo, and to torture and kill Oromo and the rest of the colonized peoples in the empire. These opportunists are collaborating with their people’s enemies in order to accelerate their personal gains.

In their collaboration, they sanctify barbarism, cruelty, repression, and violence that Wayyaanee has been inflicting on the Oromo people and on their resources. By using the colonial regime and its agents, the Diaspora based collaborators are snatching, robbing, and looting the Oromo lands by expunging the Oromo people from their lands. These actions are very rampant in and around Finfinnee, Haqaaqii, Bushooftuu, Adaamaa, and Shaashamannee and in and around all major cities of Oromiyaa. Oromo are losing their lands, their homes, and their possessions to the Diaspora Oromo, those Oromo who are collaborating with the colonial regime and its agents of the Oromo descent. These Oromo individuals are untroubled and unconcerned by the torture, the brutality, the cruelty inflicted upon the Oromo people by the colonial Wayyaanee regime and its Oromo collaborators, the OPDO. They are untroubled when the colonizer razed the Oromo villages; when it turned Oromiyaa into concentration camps and torture centers and when hundreds of thousands of the Oromo nationals are confined and tortured in these torture centers. These collaborators are not bothered when Oromo nationals are ganged into prison cells. These opportunists are not bothered when their countrymen, women and children are displaced, disappeared, tortured, maimed, and killed. They are not concerned, not troubled, and not bothered when they take Oromo lands and homes for themselves. They are not bothered when they sell these lands and make profit on them. And yet they happily chase the lands to snatch from the Oromo people with the help of the prisoners of war, the OPDO. For their harmful action against their people, they do not show human concern. The capitulationists are harming our people. They have no feelings, no emotions, and no remorse for the harm they caused to our people. This is a sink to barbarity, a moral abdication. They failed to learn from what had happened to Goobanaa Daaccee. Goobanaa Daaccee was an Oromo, as these new collaborators. He sold out his country and allowed the colonizer to massacre his countrymen, women, and children for political power and for financial benefits, and yet despite this he too was finally consumed by the same Abyssinians that he helped. This will be the fate and the destiny that all collaborators including the Diaspora ones eventually will face.

Again there are other groups in the waiting in the closet. These groups’ have been taking back seat or have been sitting on the sidelines gleefully watching which argument wins the day. They give blind eyes to the Oromo struggle. And as the political debate between pro-independence of Oromiyaa and pro-Ethiopian democratization gets heated, this group looks the other way in waiting to where the political winds below. They seek to ride a political wind that benefits them. These groups, talk about liberation and about independence of Oromiyaa only in private, but they avoid public; they avoid being in organization and they avoid to help financially and politically. And they avoid commitment to the national cause, their people’s cause. These group not only afraid of Amaaraas, or Tigress, or Oromo, but they are also afraid of their own shadows.

Opportunists in their mirrors

The opportunist’s mirrors are surrender, betrayal, and unprincipled compromise. Their mirrors are betrayal of the ideals of national liberation struggle and the aspiration of the Oromo people for self-determination. Opportunists seize opportunities given to them by the enemy of their people’s struggle and then hope for gains of their opportunistic positioning to outweigh the costs of their betrayal. The opportunists are obscurantist. Their work is to obscure, to twist, pervert, distort and retard the national struggle for independence. To do this, they wear different masks. Some wear the masks of religion. And others wear the masks of region. And others wear both. Opportunists are those who are trapped within the confines of localism and unable to see the big picture, the whole nation and the whole country. Politically, socially, and ideologically, they are disconnected from their fellow countrymen and women. Their particular characters are, they appeal to provincialism, localism, and one’s own clan so as to divide their own fellow countrymen and women. They plunge members into chaos of conflicts in an attempt to factionalize the Oromo nationals. They eclectically select a few facts in Oromiyaa regional and local diversities, and then treat these diversities as irreconcilable difference so as to dismiss the historical, political, cultural, and the national unity of our people that made the Oromo people proud and glorious in history. In this way, they poison civic and political discourses and political debates. In essence, their attacks are directed at the very core of the struggle for the independence of Oromiya and on the Oromo national characteristics.

The opportunists discard, abandon and impede the struggle for the independence of Oromiyaa and yet to hide their true color from the public, they dress up as nationalists, talk as nationalists and as patriots. Their purpose is to serve the colonizer in order to be rewarded with material benefit in return. As their predecessors, these groups too are participating in the rape, blunder, and pillaging of Oromiyaa with aide of the colonial regime and its local agent of Oromo descent, the OPDO. They are fortune seeking opportunist Oromo nationals in the Diaspora running back and forth between Ethiopian empire and Diaspora areas. They are groups and individuals bought off by the colonial regime with the promise of giving them the Oromo land. Today, many Oromo nationals in the Diaspora are flooding Oromiyaa to buy the lands that the colonial regime confiscated from the Oromo people. In their ambitious quest for Oromo lands, they allied with the occupier of Oromiyaa.

They go to the colonial authorities and tell them that their hands are clean from Oromo political and armed struggle. They swear in the name of Ethiopia, telling the colonial authorities that they do not support the independence of Oromiyaa. Hence to convince the colonial regime, these pacifists sanctify the rape, the murder, the torture, the repression, the persecution, the blunder and pillaging of Oromiyaa and the Oromo people by the colonial regime. Some of them dressed up in the phrase “Little Minnesota in Oromiya” as a passport to the resources of Oromiyaa or as a means to exploit the Oromo people and take their land. And others are dressed up in the language, “Gadaan Gadaa Bilisummaa ti”. Literally it means the decade is a decade of liberation. And yet, they fight “bilisummaa” or liberation in the name of liberation, the “liberation” they coined in their platform, the Ethiopian democratization. For them, liberation means Ethiopian empire democratization. It is a twisted logic to claim to democratize a colonial state. These groups are captives of irrationality. They do not have confidence in the ability, and wisdom of their people. They trust the colonizer and its agent within Oromo ranks and other external forces. Oromo nationalism has left them; patriotism has departed them, and they are replaced with pacifism and surrender. They are politically incoherent and ideologically fragmented groups. Opportunists love to shake the hands of colonizer, in the name of business, the hands that soaked with the blood of innocent Oromo nationals that it murdered. They love to shake for their personal benefit the hands of those Oromo nationals who have been aiding and abetting in the crimes against Oromiyaa and its people. Opportunists’ motivational driving force is a pursuit of their personal greed and self-interest at the great cost and harm to their people and their cause.

These are the identifying characters of the opportunists and so those of the Oromo opportunists.

Oromo Students Shine at the 7th ACN Event

By Maaruu Alakuu
University of Washington – Seattle

This is a follow up to my last article about discrimination against Oromo Students at the University of Washington (UW), Seattle (Read here). As a result of that exemplary bravery by Oromo students at UW, they participated in the 7th Edition of the Afro-Caribbean Night (ACN) on April 19, 2008 for the second year running.

The night kicked off with a poem followed by a performance by West African dance group and Egyptian belly-dancers. A dance group form Zambia, the Caribbean and poems and fashion show took their turns before the Oromo dance group came to the stage. The event was quite sensational from the start to end, but wait, the end has some weird incidence to it. Besides our group, I personally enjoyed the Egyptian belly dancers show and the Caribbean dance group. The fashion show also gave the audience a glimpse of the variety of traditional costumes prevailing in Africa.

The schedule of events was arranged so that the Ethiopian group would perform at the end immediately following the Oromo group. In my opinion the organizers, dominantly Ethiopians, made such an arrangement so as to out do whatever the Oromo supporters have done during the Oromo students show. But that is such a low thinking on their behalf. Even this arrangement was a source of fun for some Oromos in the audience. I heard one guy jokingly saying, “We are on the top of Ethiopia”.


The time finally arrived and the Oromo performers came to stage to a raucous-applause from an appreciative audience, Oromos and others alike except you know whom. The group presented traditional dances from Wollo, Harar, Arsi/Bale, Jimma and Shoa. It was such a great show which the students who devoted their time despite the hectic nature of life at UW, deserve a lot of appreciation for. The Oromo residents of Seattle should also be commended for their support by coming to the event en masse. The Hall almost exploded following the appearance of the Oromo group on stage. It seems as if everybody in the audience is Oromo. It is an event, in addition to the entertainment part of it, which brought together Oromo of every religion, region or political outlook. We need such binding events to solidify our unity against the tyranny our people back home are facing day-in-day-out. Those not familiar with Oromos were particularly mesmerized by the young female performers swirling their heads during the Arsi/Bale dance. I am sure they were expecting the girls’ heads to roll off their shoulders any minute. It was such a unique style that even the Ethiopian dance group was repeating the same dance during their own Oromo dance event while the Oromo song they were playing was totally different. Without any exaggeration, the Oromo students' performance was the highlight of a very spectacular show.

Then comes the Ethiopians' turn. They presented their dances as every group only to spoil it at the end. The Ethiopian audiences were enraged not only by the Oromos but also by the Eritrean group. The Eritreans used the event very efficiently. They mixed every dance with the brief history about the people, their tradition, and percentage of the total population a given group constitute and so on. I heard one Ethiopian behind me saying why the Eritreans are being allowed to tell their history to the audience as if the event was a private property of Eritreans. I saw a lot of Ethiopians’ faces redden by the Eritreans' and Oromos' acts alike. But they have to learn to live with it for their own health. Well, coming back to the Ethiopians mess at the end of their show; the last music they brought on was music about the Ethiopian Millennium which wasn’t a problem by itself. The problem was to outdo the support the Oromo audience gave to the Oromo dance group, the Ethiopian audience run over to the stage to the extent that the event looked not an Afro-Caribbean Night held at the University of Washington rather a concert at some Ethiopian Restaurant.

It is common to witness an Ethiopian boasting about the uniqueness and originality of Ethiopian Calendar. First of all the Ethiopian calendar also known as the Julian Calendar was formulated by Julius Caesar in 46BC (Read here). Thus it isn't an invention by an Ethiopian expert. The funny thing about it is though; hearing Ethiopians boasting about a calendar invented by a person from a country considered an historical enemy of Ethiopia, Italy. This calendar was a remarkable formulation given the knowledge of the time, however, due to the problem it had in computation of days, a better and more up-to-date calendar called Gregorian was formulated and decreed by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom it was named, on 24 February 1582 (Read here). While both calendars are inventions by Europeans, particularly Italians, and there is nothing which relates them to Ethiopia, yet most Ethiopians delude themselves as if Julian calendar is of their ancestors' creation.

If one has to copy a technology from abroad why should he/she has to copy an older version? Ethiopians pride in the Julian calendar is like somebody being proud of buying a computer with 486 processor while the world is using Pentium IV. If fact is to be told, it is actually the Egyptians who didn't want to accept the Gregorian calendar and forced Ethiopian Orthodox church to continue using the old Julian calendar (Read here). It is known that the head priest (Pope) for Ethiopian Orthodox church was being appointed from Alexandria (Egypt) till as recent as the 1950s.

At the end though, it isn't really surprising for those of us who know the nature of Abyssinians. We know that they were deceiving us and themselves by portraying Ethiopia as a country of great civilization, great resources, proud people, and so on while the fact on the ground tells us otherwise. So, the fuss about unique Calendar and Millennium is just another empty bravado as usual.

Coming back to the main topic, ACN, the Ethiopians made a spectacle of themselves on the stage. The good thing though, it was the final show of the event and everybody else left the Hall as soon as the Ethiopian audience became a performer on stage. Thus, although the Oromo show was arranged before the Ethiopian one to try and outperform Oromos, it turned out to be advantageous for us. Had it been scheduled after the Ethiopian show, the Hall would have been empty due to the outrageous act of the Ethiopian audience.

In conclusion, it was a great night for Oromos and that is what we mainly care about. Oromo performers put on a spectacular show and the Oromo audience showed its admiration in a cultured way without offending others and tarnishing the image of the event.

Please visit Mana Bunaa for a great video of the Oromo show at UW.

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Former Kinijjit Officials Hint at Armed Struggle to Defeat TPLF

In a four page press release they dispatched recently, five members of the now defunct Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) party supreme council ”resigned” from their positions in CUDP over what they termed “fundamental differences” between their recently adopted political position and CUDP’s chosen method of struggle.

After preaching “non-violence” as THE WAY since the inception of CUDP (a.k.a. Kinijjit), Berhanu Nega, Andargachew Tsige, Daniel Asefa, Mesfin Aman and Chekol Getahun seem to have finally come to their senses and realized that it is a futile and useless method against a tyrannical force like TPLF/EPRDF.

In their press release, (Read here in Afaan Amaaraa) they lament the deplorable repressive and stifling political environment in the country and TPLF/EPRDF’s “true nature” which they now say is devoid of understanding “civilized politics.”

“This stifling environment which" they wrote, "is imposed on our country [by TPLF/EPRDF] and in which citizens, political parties and civic organizations are unable to perform their activities freely, has forced, not only CUD members, supporters and the general [Ethiopian] society, but also a few of us within the Kinijit leadership to raise questions around TPLF/EPRDF’s true nature and the method of struggle CUDP should utilize in the struggle against such an absolutely tyrannical force.”

“ … Given TPLF’s absolute tyrannical nature, we have come to give up on the belief that the repression imposed on the Ethiopian people by the TPLF/EPRDF can be eliminated by struggling within the confines of ‘peaceful and legal’ methods which the TPLF allows [or takes away] at its whim. Consequently, we have decided to struggle against the TPLF/EPRDF at a time of our choosing in a manner organized heedless of TPLF/EPRDF benevolence and free to employ any means necessary. “

“We have no doubt” they wrote, “that we will create a situation in which TPLF/EPRDF will present itself for negotiations [with Ethiopian opposition forces] not as a result of pleading with it but being forced to do so …” (translation mine)

The notion that one can struggle in a “peaceful and legal” manner to defeat TPLF when TPLF is in control of the legislative, the judiciary and the executive branches of government, election commissions, law enforcement, the army, etc … was preposterous from the start.

Congrats to Dr. Berhanu & Co. for finally getting it.

It is equally preposterous to give credence to the notion that there is democracy in Ethiopia or that the incumbent government is moving in that direction by joining or remaining in its parliament. It is hoped that Bulcha Demeksa, Beyen Petros and Merera Gudina will see the light in a not so distant future.

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Three Million Suffer from IDD in Western Oromia Alone

"I have never seen any other country like this. If this problem continues, a generation will suffer." (Dr. Iqbal Kabir, UNICEF Head of Nutrition and Food Security in Ethiopia)

Dr. Kabir was referring to what he and his colleagues at UNICEF called in their report “A silent epidemic” - Iodine deficiency Disorder (IDD) – in Oromia. He had led a team of UNICEF staff on its second field trip to Western Oromia between April 22nd and 24th, 2007 to investigate the prevalence of IDD in that region and returned “absolutely convinced [that] the situation needs to be intervened without further delay”. His team consisted of a communication expert and a nutrition consultant, both from UNICEF. The epidemic had been officially reported to UNICEF by Obbo Mesfin Namrraa – a WAFIDO MP from Najjoo - with a request to assess the situation and provide support. Obbo Mesfin accompanied the UNICEF team on the trip. Having visited some waradas in Illu Abbaa Booraa the previous year and Ghimbi, Gullisoo, Boojji Birmajii and other waradas in Wallaga this time around, and having met the affected population and local Health Department officials, the team compiled its trip report titled “A silent Epidemic” in which it categorized the problem as “severe public health problem according to World Health Organization’s (WHO) cut-off point.”

According to this report, “young children, adolescent boys and girls, pregnant and lactating women and elderly women” are the most affected segment of the population. In one house hold of six, the team observes, the mother (age 28) and all of her children ranging in age from five to twelve all suffered from goiter. The report goes on to say: “the situation in Gullisso Primary School was even more alarming – in that particular shift of 400 – 500 children attending classes, a very significant number has visible goiter.” The team also tested salt samples sold in the area and found that “the samples tested absolutely negative for iodine content.”

Statistics from Oromia Regional Health Department dwarfs even the gloomy picture painted by Dr. Kabir’s team report. According to this statistic, almost 3 million people suffer from IDD just in Wallaga and Illu Abbaa Booraa regions alone.

Estimate of population Affected by IDD in 4 Zones of oromia

Illubabor

Woreda	Affected Population
Metu	63,360
Bere	55,573
Metu town	20,517
Nopa	27,081
Chewaka	82,716
Darimu	138,857
Sub Total	388,104

East Wollega

Saasigga	81,667
Guto Gidda	93,667
Haroo Limmu	55,842
Leeka Kelecha	77,462
Wayo Tuka	64,212
Lemu	64,360
Gidda Kiramu	162,427
Ebantu	34,500
Sibu Sire	99,184
Waama Bonayya	47,012
Waama Hagalo	46,860
Jimma Arjo	93,390
Nunnu Kumba	66,885
Gebuseyu	41,159
Gudeya Bila	51,412
Sub Total	1,080,039

West Wollega

Boji Birmaji	59,496
Boji Chokorsa	55,798
Kiltu Karra	54,117
Hooma	28,113
Manasibu	131,925
Najjoo (rural)	13,770
Gullisso	75,492
Nole Kabba	60,013
Lalo Assabi	89,403
Sub Total	568,127

Kelem Wollega

Anfillo	79,678
Dale Sedi	89,069
Dale Wabara	99,615
Hawa Galan	111,273
Lato Like	53,433
Seyo	131,484
Denbi Dollo	28,562
Gidami	84,452
Gawo Kebe	71,720
Yaama Logi Walal	43,799
Jimma Haro	44,556
Seyo Noole	80,250
Sub Total	917,891

Total

2,954,161

While it is difficult to estimate the number of population affected across all Oromia zones, Global Scorecard 2008 puts the prevalence of goiter in the Ethiopian Empire at 53.3%. (Read here) Some have attributed the recent upsurge of IDD in the country to the war between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Assab, Eritrea, which supplied Ethiopia with iodized salt, has ceased to do so since the war between the two countries begu -(Read here.) This theory is consistent with what the head of one of the Zone Health Departments had to say about the timing of the upsurge. Asked when the problem was first observed, he said “the problem started to show up over the last 7 – 9 years period. The peripheral Kelem woredas were affected first … and gradually moved to more central areas over the last 2 – 3 years.” He goes on to say he, and others have reported the situation to Oromia Regional Health Bureau but “no intervention measures have been taken.”

What is IDD?

IDD is caused by lack of enough iodine in the diet - Iodine being a kind of mineral needed by the thyroid gland for healthy functioning. A visible sign of IDD in a person is goiter, a swollen neck caused by a swollen thyroid gland. Goiter due to iodine deficiency is a worldwide problem; in particular communities in developing countries are at risk. Consumption of salt not fortified with iodine may be partly to blame for iodine deficiencies. Various governments around the world are being urged to step up efforts to promote the consumption of iodine-enriched salt to combat iodine deficiency in populations of their respective countries. Another proven method of prevention of iodine deficiency is to introduce iodine into the public waters supply, an option which is not available to Oromia. However, provision of iodine fortified salt for public consumption is cheap and affordable method of prevention of IDD.

Once considered a minor problem causing goiter, according to International Council for the Control of IDD (ICCIDD), IDD is “the single most common cause of preventable mental retardation and brain damage in the world.” Among its devastating effects on social and economic development of the affected population are impaired growth and development in children as children with IDD can grow up “stunted, apathetic, mentally retarded, and incapable of normal movements, speech, or hearing”; causing miscarriages, stillbirths, and other complications in pregnant women and many others - (Read here.)

According to UNICEF, IDD “takes its greatest toll in impaired mental growth and development, which contributes to poor school performance, reduced intellectual ability, and impaired work performance.” - (Read here)

Many have written urging the world community to intervene without delay. The Diaspora Oromo Community should take part in this large scale advocacy work, including raising awareness, educating the public and fund raising activities. Doing nothing would be tantamount to condemning millions of Oromo people, particularly children, to a life of few prospects and continued underdevelopment.

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Mediation Failed to Settle Dispute Over OLF "Trade" Name

The OLF legal drama in Minneapolis, Minnesota turned another chapter on April 8, 2008 when mediation failed to bridge the gap which brought the two parties to MN justice system in July 2007.


You may recall that Oromo Affairs reported that [The Asmara Group of] OLF had taken [TA-] OLF to court over the use of OLF name, logo and emblem in July 2007. You will also recall that the plaintiff had obtained a temporary injunction order against the defendant which was over turned a couple of days later. The case was eventually dismissed “without prejudice” a month later. (Read HERE)


One would have thought this retarded drama would have ended at that point but The [Asmara Group of] OLF re-filed the same lawsuit in September 2007. (Read HERE)

According to this blogger’s informants in both parties, an attempt to mediate the dispute by an independent mediator through MN court systems failed to settle the issues as both sides would not compromise on the use of the OLF name, logo and emblem. One informant summed up the exercise by saying "At the urging of the judge, we jointly hired a mediator — he spent a lot of time trying to figure out this case and it got nowhere."

By both accounts, the [Asmara Group of] OLF persisted in its claim to the sole use of the OLF “business” name without offering any middle ground for a compromise. It continued to insist that [TA-] OLF violated “Uniform deceptive trade practices act,” that it interfered with [the Asmara group-] OLF’s “prospective economic advantage” and that [TA-] OLF should cough up $50,000.00 in compensation for loses suffered so far by [The Asmara group of-] OLF.

[TA-] OLF, on the other hand, continued to insist that OLF is not a business organization formed for trading nor to collect funds for “economic advantage”, that the solution to the dispute is to be found in Oromo public court and not in a foreign court and that [the Asmara Group of] OLF is not an Oromo liberation front but an Ethiopian opposition party. They point to the fact that Dr. Taddasaa Eebbaa, the man who initiated the legal battle (Read HERE) was the same man who in 1998 signed agreement to accept the Ethiopian constitution and to renounce armed struggle as a precondition to mediation by Lutheran World Federation between the OLF and the Meles Zenawi regime.

Both sides are preparing for depositions to learn all of the facts before the trial. This is a process whereby attorneys on both side will ask the witness (may include both plaintiff and defendant) a series of questions about facts related to the lawsuit. It is expected that some big name OLF personalities will go through deposition. The case is scheduled to be heard in court mid-summer of 2008.

While our people are suffering under a brutal regime, our refugees are going hungry and without shelter all over the Horn of Africa, why are we lining up the pockets of American lawyers and mediators?

Truly retarded.

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Another Goal for Team Oromia

Blogger's note: A former university student writes "Thank you for posting Maaruu's story. As promised in my comment on that story, I have attached my experience from a dacade ago. Please share it with your readers."

Here you go.

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Team Oromia 6 – Team Ethiopia 0

By Bay'isaa Nagoo

Reading Maaru’s narration of what transpired between Oromo and Ethiopian students at UW brought back bitter memories of a similar situation I found myself in as an Oromo university student a decade ago here in the USA. As a university student and a member of the African Students Association (ASA) at that university, I was ridiculed and laughed at for identifying myself as Oromian and Not Ethiopian. It was a constant struggle to assert my Oromo identity in the presence of Ethiopian students.

Three such occasions come to my mind. But, I will start with an incident which was, to use Maaruu’s analogy, decidedly a goal for Team Oromia.

Graduation day

After four years at the university, I was about to graduate. I was very excited and had even invited my parents all the way from Oromia to join in my celebration. As former prisoners of the DERG (my mother for 6 months, my father for four and a half years) for no other reason than being Oromo nationalists (Xabbaab, OLF, etc … as they were called at the time), I was mindful of the attachment we have as a family to our identity. So, I thought it would make my parents, myself and my nation happy to use my graduation as an occasion to do some thing that would introduce our nation to graduation attendees even if it meant just as a symbolic thing. To do this, I decided to use the university’s tradition of displaying the flags of nations of graduating class in the graduation hall.

So, I asked the University to allow me to bring Oromo/OLF flag that I would be honored to see displayed on the stage to represent my nation Oromia like that of other students. Since my adviser knew the political problem in the empire state Ethiopia very well and knew more about the Oromos than many non-Oromos from that empire, it was not difficult to get his blessing. He discussed this with the university and asked me to submit my flag to the department concerned with preparation for the ceremony. A few days after I had handed the flag which I borrowed from the Oromo Community Association in the city (because mine was not big enough for such occassions) to the department, I received a call from this lady informing me that there were enough flags that the University uses every graduation season and mine should be found in there. I called back and informed her that this was not the case and that I had the right to have my flag displayed just like that of other students. Because seeing our flag missing from among those of other nations would cause pain and disappointment to me, I told the lady that I would rather miss my graduation than attend with my flag missing. The lady was adamant that I should find my flag among the ones traditionally displayed. I was determined to take the dispute to any level but time was not on my side as the graduation was only a few days away. I visited my advisor who was very supportive of my position asked for his help. He visited the concerned department with me and argued with the lady on my part. At that point we learned that this was opposed by Ethiopian students. That made me even angrier and determined to take this issue to the highest level possible. I argued that I decide for myself which flag represented me and that Ethiopian students have no right to decide for me. With some help from my advisor, she finally relented and assured me that when I walk in to that hall, I would see my flag displayed.

The day of the graduation, as we were marching in to the graduation hall the first place I looked was at the stage - searching with my eyes for the Oromo/OLF flag. There it was, a symbol of our resistance against extermination! True to its words, the university had hang it there among flags of other nations a bit removed form that of Ethiopia. I was speechless! Words cannot capture the pride I felt not to mention that of my family members which they tried to express to no avail once we got home. It was bitter sweet victory but a small one.

I guess you could now say Team Oromia 6 – Team Ethiopia 0.

But I was known to Ethiopian students from our African Students Association (ASA) meetings well before this incident.

ASA and African Night

As was customary at the beginning of every academic year and the first meeting of ASA for the year, members would get up and introduce themselves and where they came from. Some were from Ghana, some from Nigeria, some from Ethiopia, etc … and naturally, I am from Oromia! I was really happy to be in the company of so many Africans under the same roof in North America. Then came my turn to introduce myself. I got up and introduced myself and told the meeting that I come from Oromia and that Oromia has been occupied by Abyssinians for over a century. This offended Ethiopian students in the meeting who started laughing at what I had just said to try and ridicule me. I paid no attention and continued to introduce Oromia. A few days later, I was approached by a female Ethiopian student who was in the meeting and was asked to run for the post of the president of ASA to represent Ethiopia and that they would support me in my campaign. I felt I was partly being ridiculed and partly being cajoled to sale my identity. I told the girl that I would leave that to Ethiopians and would actually consider running to represent Oromia.

Then came what was known as African Night. African Night was for my Alma mater what Afro-Caribbean Night (CAN) is for the UW. I was one of the organizers for the occasion and it was a busy night for me. We had invited a key note speaker (an African-American professor) from a neighboring college. The key note speaker read a poem about Africa in which he mentioned some African countries (mainly Ghana, Egypt and others) and their ancient civilization. Along the way he said a few words about Axum and Lalibela as well.

Some half hour or so later I saw an Ethiopian man (not a student of the university) intercepting the speaker while he was passing by one of the tables occupied by group of Oromians. He approached the professor and said to him “your speech was okay but you missed one major point, Minilik and the battle of Aduwa. I am disappointed that you missed that.” Incidentally, I was in the area chatting with the Oromo folks at the table and could not help over hearing the conversation. I felt like a Jew standing idle while Hitler was being praised or a Palestinian listening to Ariel Sharon’s adulation. I tuned around, and said to the professor, “Well, I’m glad you did not mention that black colonizer’s name, Minillik. Do you know that he himself was a colonizer and doesn’t deserve to be mentioned along with the other great African leaders such as Kwame Nkrumah and others you mentioned tonight?” The Abyssinian man almost hit the roof. He turned to me and said “how dare you speak of a great leader of a land with 3000 years history in this manner!” he almost went beserck on me had his wife and others intervened and pulled him away.

I latter approached the professor and explained what I meant. He promised to educate himself about the Oromo.

Why am I sharing this story with you? It is most certainly NOT to ask you to hate anyone but to inform the Oromo reader that Maaruu’s story is not an isolated one. Believe it or not, the effort to bury our identity and impose Ethiopian identity on us is wide spread even in foreign lands. Knowing what is going on is the first step in resisting injustice for those who value their Oromo identity. Sharing experiences like this one will help other victims in how to deal with similar incidents. Please share your stories, if you have one, for the benefit of our younger generation in foreign universities.

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Oromo Students are Subjected to Discrimination Even in the Freest Country on Earth – Seattle-USA

Blogger's note: An Oromo student writes "Dear Editor; I am an Oromo student at the University of Washington , Seattle . The story I attached is the discrimination Oromo students are facing by the same group who are making Oromos life harder back home. I hope you will post it as the Ethiopian websites would never entertain it. So, you are my only plausible outlet."

Following is what he wanted the whole world to hear (read).
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From My Diary: Team Oromia 5 - Team Ethiopia 0

By Maaru Alaku

University of Washington

This is my personal diary and to make it a bit tasty I used football terms quite few times. This isn’t to be offensive to anybody, rather, it is because I am so passionate about football and I want to use this opportunity to test my own reporting skills of my favorite game. May I tell you also this is the first time in my life that I dare to present my idea in written form in any media, so my sincere apologies in advance if you find some grammatical mistakes and wrong usage of words/phrases. In terms of sticking to the facts, everything I wrote below is as accurate as one can be which anyone can ascertain from so many others who are at the same event I am going to tell you.

Every Year at the University of Washington (UW), African Students Association of the UW (ASA) presents Afro-Caribbean Night (ACN) in April. The occasion is usually a very fascinating one even for strangers let alone for nostalgic Diaspora Africans and the event being performed by young African students or Americans of African origin makes even sweeter to the elderly parents and community members coming to the occasion.

As it was customary, last year also the event was carried out successfully. However, to some of the attendees who happen to despise the mere sight Oromo students, the show was deemed tarnished by these "unruly Oromos". The Oromo students participating on the occasion as Oromos not as Ethiopians was the talk of every Ethiopian household in Seattle, even in churches and community centers. May be it went even beyond Seattle as it was negatively reported by SeaEthio web site.

At the time I was really amazed by the negative stance of the websites and individuals involved. I attended the event and I was very satisfied by the shows presented by the Ethiopian (Abyssinian) group and the Oromo group alike. I couldn't see anything offensive being exhibited by Oromo performers unless as I mention earlier, one is being offended by the mere sight of Oromos on stage in which case I can only say hard luck and pray to God to have mercy to this hate-monger-poor-souls.

May be, just may be, it is based on the recommendation of the community members and/or others who took offense by the mere sight of Oromo students having their own show, that last Sunday, 03/09/2008, afternoon, some members of the African Students Association (ASA) made a futile attempt to exclude Oromo students from this year's edition of the ACN.

To begin with, the idea itself is not only unjust, it is evil. It is discriminatory as well as unconstitutional based on the constitution of ASA that these same students and/or their former colleagues wrote. Well, they set a meeting on a Sunday afternoon mainly to the reduce the not-well-informed Oromo students to the minimum possible to amend the constitution so as to pass a law which would prohibit Oromo students from the ACN for good and possibly to expel them from the ASA membership. Had this happened, they would have found themselves in the mother of all troubles.

One cute girl said very loudly, “We should vote on it today as there is need to waste time on this trivial issue. Besides, the final-exam is just round the corner, only one week away”. She is such an ignorant as most of them are that she didn’t even know to vote on constitutional amendment, the proposal should be announced two meetings before. What these bunch of hate-mongers didn't know was how Oromo students were well prepared for this meeting despite the short notice, some of them in fact heard only hours before the meeting, and how determined they are to take the matter as far as needed to make sure that they be part of the ACN event for now and to avoid such a mishap for the future totally.

The president of ASA used her position to come up with a draft constitutional amendment just for the above-mentioned unjust cause. However, the ASA constitution clearly states that "Amendment of the Constitution cane be proposed if only two-third of the general body approved it." But when they realized that Oromo students are a force to reckon with and bound to charge the president of violating the constitution, it was announced that the draft paper written by the president is to be null and void. Goooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaal Numero Uno for Team Oromia. But I wasn’t that happy as it was an own goal. Oromos taught them the first lesson of the day! I personally wondered if Meles Zenawi has registered at UW in the guise of this elegant and seemingly smart lady. Because he is one of those notorious for violating the constitution he himself wrote with his friends to harass and discriminate against his fellow citizens. One wonders if abusing power is a genetically transmitted disease and our ASA officials at UW contacted the disease that way from their Ethiopian (Abyssinian) cousins. The good thing , though, was UW isn't FInfinnee (Addis Ababa) or Mekelle or Bahir Dar University where Oromo students can be harassed at will. We are in the freest country in the entire universe, fortunately. So, Team Oromia knows the playing field is even and all it needs to be victorious is follow their game plan.

These group of students were so determined that they also tried to set a new rule which states that "ASA won't accept new members from now on for this academic year" thinking that the Oromo students who aren't paying members of the ASA will pay their dues and become active members which will sway the balance of votes during the ratification of the constitutional amendment (Only paying members have a voting right). This unwritten law took by surprise even some of the supporters of the constitutional amendment. An Eritrean and a Somalian student mentioned their disapproval of this law stating that new members have been accepted as recent as last week and it is unfair to refuse anybody suddenly. As to how Oromos should feel about this, you can guess. One wanna-be-smart fellow even suggested that the Oromos can pay and be members as the money would help ASA but they shouldn't be given a voting right. I couldn't believe my ears. Oh, Jesus of Nazereth, am I in USA or Ethiopia where Oromos were feeding the government army which is killing them as a payback for their kindness. Minilik II should be turning with pride in his grave wondering how his philosophy of harassing Oromos is thriving more than a century after his death in the far land of America while even the Socialism philosophy of Karl Marx and Viladmir Lenin is practically long dead in their countries of origin. That is why I gave the title above to my Diary. Quite seriously, I can’t tell you how shocked I am to find people with such a backward mentality in the 21st century America.

Remember once again, the meeting was held in Seattle USA not Finfinnee (Addis Ababa) Ethiopia.

Anyway, the new law couldn't get the necessary backing except from those who proposed it and not unexpectedly disappeared into thin air. Goal Number Two for Team Oromia.

As one can imagine under these circumstances, the discussion was so intense and full of emotions that some even feared a fight would breakout any moment. Luckily, it hasn't gone that far. The meeting went with Oromo students scrutinizing every single word said by the facilitator, who was a former student invited with others for this unjust cause mainly to outnumber and intimidate the Oromos to no avail. I really felt bad for him, as he was forced to repeat the same thing sometimes for 10 or 20 times.

Among the most debated issues were if the words "country" and "culture" are to be used on the advertisement flyer for this year's ACN event. Oromo students were against the use of the word "country" while the other group was for it. Eventually the idea of not using the word "country” won and a consensus reached. Goal Number Three. Team Oromia is now leading 3-0 and besides, the ball seems never to pass the half-line to be in Oromia–half of the pitch.

Nevertheless, the Team Ethiopia players look hell-bent not only to reverse the three goal disadvantage but also give a final knockout blow. As any team with three nil lead, the Team Oromia players are beaming with confidence with no sign of fatigue. The game is on.

Then, we came back to the most contentious part of who should be allowed to present its own show during the event and how much time to allocate. It was agreed that we should have representative from east, west, north and southern Africa and the Caribbean either by students or hired professionals in the absence of students from a given region. Even this customary practice and straight forward issue took more than half an hour and a lot of bad-mouthing to reach an agreement. The main issue and the core of the meeting, how to allocate time for groups from east Africa and under what name shall they present their show? Remember, it was agreed earlier that even the word “country” should not be mentioned even on the flyer let alone a country name. Some suggested for all the groups to present as one group under the name East African group. But this was rejected outright as it will be difficult to synchronize the schedule of each group with in the east African Group not to mention the not-so-hidden tension among them.

By now, the meeting was raging almost for three hours without significant progress and with no sight of an end to it despite the three goals registered by Team Oromia. The discussion was so frustrating even to the non-Oromos that some of them even started suggesting why don't we do it just like last year? In fact the cheer leader of this noble idea, at least as to me and Team Oromia, is the same cute girl I mentioned above who suggested for a vote today given the urgency of the case. I guessed she has a final exam tomorrow. Really!!!!!! All these fighting just to repeat the way we did last year? Wow, what a concession!!! Obviously this idea was applauded by Oromo students and dismissed outright by the majority of the other group. While those out of these two groups were either indifferent, may be they were enjoying the fight between Oromos and Ethiopians as they are either Eritreans or Somalians, or even support the idea just to get the hell out of this unending and pointless feud.

The group who organized the meeting even invited a representative from the governing body of student organizations at the UW as a witness for Oromos expulsion from the ACN event. The guy came late, fortunately for him, but he was subjected to the later part of the discussion when everybody was so charged that at times one can't know who is talking and who is listening. So, it was quite an experience for him to begin with. He was consulted in the middle of our heated debate that if it would be considered discriminatory to expel a group of students who aren't willing to work within a group with other groups from the same country. Then, the guest responded:" it is unreasonable not to allow student performers while you are hiring professionals from outside". He continued, “besides, priority should be given to the students of the UW". Our dear guest couldn't get the sinister intention of the facilitator. This added another setback to the cause of the meeting organizers while it brought a broad smile to the Oromo students’ faces, with it Goal Number Four. Quite amazing, even the referee scored a goal against the Team Ethiopia, albeit unintentionally.

Next, one of the meeting organizers raised her hand and said: “Quite honestly I am not personally against the Oromo students having their own show, however; the community members were offended last year and that is why we don't want that to happen again". What an honest young lady she is! But her honesty haven’t enabled her to be fair. May be she mean that she is honest for issues raised by her community while quite the contrary when it comes to Oromo brothers and sisters. But should I blame her being raised by such a community who doesn’t seem to know about individual right. If she was a teenager I may not but for her age I have to blame her as much as I blame the community. What! Said an Oromo student raising her hand. She continued “the community members have no right to give or deny permission Oromo students. Rather, you have to teach your community that everybody has the right to define his/her own identity and tell them to try to live with it”. Well, what options do they have after their young warriors are being clinically defeated by the enemy they despise so much and unwisely underestimate rather than swallowing the bitter pillow of witnessing Oromos having another show for the second year running at the Grand Kane Hall of the University of Washington. May I take this opportunity to invite you to this eventful occasion if you are residing in Seattle or its environs. The exact date will be announced by the coordinators soon, but expect it to be in the third week of April.

To be frank, it is almost impossible to describe all the punches and counter punches thrown from both directions and thus I will go to the final conclusion of this bizarre meeting.

Finaly, when there was no way out of this calamitous web of their own making and after five hours of mind boggling arguments, we were back to square one. The event to be presented the same way as last year. Thus, the east African group to be represented by the Ethiopian group, the Oromo group, the Somalia group and the Eritrean group. Remember, we agreed not to use even the word “country”; thus, when we say the Ethiopian group, for instance, it is a “band name” not a “country name” in this context, mocked the facilitator himself. Quite amazing!!! The students who claim to represent Ethiopia organized the meeting, (though the name is ASA, the members are actually almost entirely composed of east Africans which isn’t their fault to be fair,) to expel Oromos from such an event for good if possible or at least give them an identity known as Ethiopia under which they can present their show with other Ethiopian group. The end result, they lost that identity even for themselves and the name Ethiopia is reduced to a “band name”. No offense intended here, but as I mentioned above it was the facilitator of the meeting himself who designated as such. This wrap up a sensational victory for Team Oromia with 5-0 score line.
What a victory for Oromo students (Team Oromia) given the fact the time and the playing field was exclusively chosen by the Team Ethiopia, in fact, it is a victory for right against wrong. So, at the final whistle: Team Oromia 5 – Team Ethiopia 0 reads the score board.

My personal conclusion.

When I think about the meeting and the whole scenario retrospectively, I really feel sad to experience people not accepting and respecting the will of others in this era and of all the places, in the United State of America. Had there been a mutual respect among us, let alone for people who share a lot of values and experiences, despite countless unfortunate incidences, it would have been possible to have a show as one group even with others from much far places. But it isn’t meant to be.

But why Oromos are being despised for being themselves? Why the Seattle Ethiopian Community or any body for that matter is offended by the mere sight of Oromos on stage? Why some Ethiopians feel they have the right to tell Oromos what is good for them? And why of all the people, these smart young guys find themselves deep into this stinky trench? A lot of whys come to my mind with no answer. I am sure some Ethiopians will give me a sound answer sometime. Should Oromos be blamed for not want to be associated with Ethiopia? Not at all, under such circumstances, who in his right mind would want to be associated with someone who despises even his mere existence on this earth?

As an Oromo, 03/09/2008 was one of my happiest days at UW. As to my Ethiopian (Abyssinian) brothers and sisters who are misguided by something I can’t tell, please try to Love others as hate would destruct the hate-monger him/herself eventually. It is because of your hatred you end up “Aterfe baye agudaye” as the Amharic saying goes.

Have your say!

Kosovo Debunks the Myth of Globalization & Single Super-Power as Impediments to Independence

“The United States has today formally recognized Kosovo as a sovereign and independent state. We congratulate the people of Kosovo on this historic occasion.” (U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Washington DC, Feb. 18, 2008)

If there was any credence left to the notion that the era of globalization and a single-super-power has made the aspiration of a national community to an independent state impossible, then Kosovo drove the last nail in its coffin on Feb. 17, 2008.

On that date, in the era of globalization and with the blessing of non other than the “single super power” – the USA – Kosovo declared its sovereignty and independence from Serbia. The same USA, which we are told is twisting the arms of some so-called Oromo leaders to drop the idea of an independent state of Oromia has accepted, supported and justified the formation of the state of Kosovo.

In supporting Kosovo’s independence from Serbia, the US secretary of state goes on to say “In light of the conflicts of the 1990s, independence is the only viable option to promote stability in the region.” There is no mistaking what Dr. Rice is saying here. She is saying that if you are determined to achieve independence and fight for yourselves, and by so doing you disturb regional peace, then USA would have no choice but to accept your will in the interest of regional stability. This much should be clear from her statement even to the careless reader.

What is the lesson for Oromos?

An independent state of Oromia is feasible. If any Oromo reader fails to recognize this right away, it is perhaps because s/he has been demoralized by recent turn of events in the Oromo struggle. Never mind the defeatists’ “globalization and single super-power” mantra. Other nations have gained independence in the era of “globalization” with the blessing of the “single super-power,” Kosovo being a recent example. Why can’t Oromia? Forget the sellouts and the traitors. Kosovars had their share of those as well. Oromos have a choice. The fatalistic view that Oromos have no real choices to make except to remain in Ethiopia with the hope of gaining self-rule has appeared in different forms at times in history. It is rearing its ugly head once again. Oromos have a choice between rejecting this discredited defeatist view and struggling for sovereignty of their people and independence of their land or accept that view and languish in that “prison of nations” called Abyssinia, re-named Ethiopia in 1929.

There is no doubt that the world, including the “single super-power,” will eventually accept and live with an independent state of Oromia just as it accepted and lived with the states Eritrea, Kosovo, East Timor, Montenegro, etc … However, this will not happen until Oromos reject the defeatist view being disseminated by some so-called Oromo leaders and demand forcefully what is rightfully theirs – a sovereign and independent state of Oromia.

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Deception: The Oromo tragedy

By Gumaa Guddaa

Tragedy involves the vulnerability of human beings whose suffering is brought on by a combination of human and divine actions, but is generally undeserved with regard to its harshness. In classic Greek tragedy it is said that the actors in were hired and paid by the state and assigned to the tragic poets probably by lot. By the middle of the fifth century three actors were required for the performance of a tragedy. In descending order of importance of the roles they assumed they were called the protagonist 'first actor', (a term also applied in modern literary criticism to the central character of a play), deuteragonist 'second actor' and tritagonist 'third actor'. The protagonist took the role of the most important character in the play while the other two actors played the lesser roles.

The playing of multiple roles, both male and female, was made possible by the use of masks, which prevented the audience from identifying the face of any actor with one specific character in the play and helped eliminate the physical incongruity of men impersonating women. The fact that the chorus remained in the orchestra throughout the play and sang and danced choral songs between the episodes allowed the actors to exit after an episode in order to change mask and costume and assume a new role in the next episode without any illusion-destroying interruption in the play.

You may wonder why on earth I bother you with the description of actors in old the Greek drama from the fifth century. I will attempt to answer this question towards the end of this article. However, I would also like to clarify, at this point, that I am not going to employ the philosophy of tragedy as a model in this article in the classic sense of the drama. For example, in the classic dram it was the actors who suffer from the tragedy but in the Oromo case it is the Oromo public more than the actors who suffers the most. First, let me explain why I think we the Oromo are experiencing a tragedy of an epic proportion at the point in our history. The reason is two folds. Firstly, the Oromo nation is exposed to genocide by the actions of our arch enemy – the Abyssinians. Secondly, our very own liberation front – the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) – which is expected to defend the nation in the face of a naked aggression is in unprecedented great difficulty at the very precise moment when we need it most. In fact, it can be argued that the enemy is punishing our people with the full knowledge that it can get away with it without retribution. The central point of this article is to shade some light on the contribution of the challenges the OLF is facing towards our predicaments.

It is public knowledge that the OLF has been officially divided in to two since the summer of 2001. As a matter of fact the root cause of the 2001 public schism in the organization dates back to the mid 90s which culminated in the conduction of the extra-ordinary congress of the 1998. That congress only delayed the inevitable. It is also the perceived wisdom that the split occurred as the result of ideological differences. To be exact, the independenist camp (a.k.a. TA-OLF) and Ethiopianist camp (a.k.a. Asmara Group). The split was not unexpected per se but what was unprecedented has been the amount of deception that the Ethiopianist camp employed right through until this very day. You may think that this sort of deception is quintessentially Ethiopian. One would not argue against that notion. I will not go into the details of the lies and deception tactics that the Ethiopianist camp had employed over the past 7 painful years, as I think it had been debated elsewhere. To mention but a few, the 1999 coup d’etat, the peace agenda in 2000, the Eritrean sponsored attack on OLA southern command in 2002, Bergen 2004, and AFD in 2006 and the ongoing infamous Asmara Group’s lawsuit are some examples of such deceptive tactics by the Asmara Group.

The Asmara Group claims it is committed to democratization of Ethiopia. The deception amidst the confusion is their covert attempt to reduce the Oromo aspiration for statehood to a movement concerned with regime change in Ethiopia. By so doing, the group endeavors to ride on the back of the Oromo people and gain power and wealth in the state structures of the Ethiopian empire. Never mind the deception in that, but pause just for one moment and ask them what sort of democracy they advocate for, they have no answer. The fact of the matter is the whole purpose of the slogan of democratization of Ethiopia is two folds. First and foremost it was designed to confuse the Oromo public. Second, it was to gain the attention and ultimately assistance from the American neo-conservatives, who have been proselytizing the world with their own version of democracy. The Asmara Group has in truth forgone collective bargain but deceptively still calls itself OLF, which is meant to lead the collective Oromo demand for liberation – collective self-determination as people of a nation known as Oromia. Perhaps the most heinous deception of them all is the molestation of the ‘kaayyoo Oromoo’ by the Asmara Group. The good news is the project of democratization of Ethiopia of the Asmara Group has already failed spectacularly before it even stated.

Having said this, I would like to turn to the expensive lawsuit as a case in point of the innumerable deceptive acts of the Asmara Group. The lawsuit needs to be placed under the microscope not from the legal argument point of view since that remains the domain of the court of law. But, it is in the Oromo public interest to examine the merit and demerit of the legal proceeding, as the case is fought in the name of the Oromo people. Or is it actually in the name of the Oromo people at all? I doubt it. If it was in the best interest of the Oromo nation, I fail to see the point of wasting public money on expensive lawyers. One would have thought the issue would be resolved through our own conflict resolution methods according to Gada principles. The Oromo do not even utilize Abyssinian ‘court’ when it comes to conflicts between Oromo brothers and sisters. We have our own Gada court called ‘jaarsummaa’. To be fair the wider Oromo public had prescribed this solution to the conflict between the two parties in dispute by creating and funding ‘Shanachaa Jaarsumma’, as you may recall. Then again, the deception by the Ethiopianist camp not only astounded the elders but had brought the process to an end without avail.

Now, we need to place the merit of spending astronomical sums of Oromo money on lawyers under the microscope through the prism of the protagonists. On one side, the people who instigated and actively perusing the ongoing court case – the Asmara Group, consist of all the three groups of actors (i.e. protagonist, deuteragonist and tritagonist). The protagonists (first actors) are individuals who had been mentored and trained by the Derg regime and the TPLF. This group has been actively pursuing the goal of eliminating Oromo nationalists since ever. Some of them were actively involved in the imprisoning and torturing of Oromo nationalists and freedom fighters in the 80s. Members of this group are spearheading the court case as the central characters. This group is motivated by the desire to eliminate the Oromo from the global political map. The irony of it is, however, that before they were in the enemy camp but they are now committing all sorts of crime against the Oromo nation in the name of the OLF. These chaps are quite crafty, like the opera actors in the Greek tragedy. They changed mask and costume and assumed a new role in different Oromo institutions and communities. How unlucky could you get to be victimized in the hands of people who claim your name?

The Asmara Group’s deuteragonist actors (‘second actors’) include some Oromos who simply aid and abet the protagonist actors. This group considers the end justifies the means. The end for them is to go back to the Ethiopian empire and share some power with their Abyssinian masters. This group of actors consists of opportunists who have lost their sense of justice and are by and large devoid of humanity. They provide cover for the truly anti-Oromo elements. They, in fact, recruited these dark shadowy elements to positions of influence to simply outnumber true Oromo nationalists within the organization after the split. Now that the protagonist actors of the Asmara Group camp are so entrenched within the rank and files of the camp the deuteragonist actors have no alternative but to comply with whatsoever the protagonists demand.

The third and final set of actors in the saga of the court case is the tritagonist (third actors). This group includes ordinary members and supporters of the Asmara Group who are not aware of the tragedy. They provide the protagonist actors with morale and material support, including shouldering the financial burden that the court process will eventually incur.

On the other hand, it is fair to say I have not heard or known of the indepedenist camp of the OLF being deceptive in their dealing with their dispute with the Asmara Group. It is also fair to say, at this stage, that the TA-OLF group has made it abundantly clear that it does not support the conflict being taken to the court of law but prefers the public court, as the issue is a political disagreement rather than business dealings. Having said that, let us look at the protagonist actors on the side of the TA-OLF. The protagonist actors of the movement of the TA-OLF on the other side of the divide happen to be those Oromo nationalists who had been taken to ‘court’, albeit kangaroo court, by successive Ethiopian regimes. Some of them had been in Emperor Hailesilase’s ‘court’ accused of being involved in Oromo nationalist movement and later also faced the might of the brutality of the Derg regime. This group remains steadfast with steely determination to the original objective of the OLF – formation of independent republic of Oromia. Therefore, one senses that it is actually the just cause of the nation that has been put on trial.

In the final analysis, it is the Oromo nation that is bound to loose the most from this tragedy. It is a tragedy in the true sense of the word that an Oromo is working day and night to victimize an Oromo at the time when others are working day and night in order to exterminate us. It is truly such a senseless act for a liberation front to waste precious resource on lawyers rather than buying medicine for the wounded and boots for the freedom fighters. Alas it is a disaster that we were not able to prevent but it is up to us the Oromo people now to redouble our efforts to remedy the situation. In my view, it is only once you have identified the principal players in the tragedy that you would be able to understand why things have gone so horribly wrong. Therefore, I hope I have shone some light on the actors (‘first actors’, ‘second actors’ and ‘third actors’) in the Asmara Group so that we can begin to think about the solution to the challenge facing us.

Have your say.

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Opinions expressed here are that of the author and not necessarily that of the blogger.

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