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A legitimate criticism or just a chauvinist’s tirade?

A rejoinder to shiferaw Abebe’s article on OLF

I am astounded and disturbed by a gratuitous vilification, denunciation and resentment of Ato Shiferaw Abebe towards OLF. One can feel the fury of his pen and his unmitigated rants and bristling just to rebut a simple resolution by OLF inviting all stakeholders in the Empire for united front against the Wayannee controlled regime.

 

Unnecessary and pointless demagoguery is not a panacea to the Empire’s complex, intractable, social and political dilemmas. Ato Abebe inveighed against OLF with predictable rants of a grieved nefetegna instead of a sober analysis of the crisis confronting the region. Surely, OLF has its own foibles and shortcomings; however, it is the only credible entity in that wretched region who can act as an intermediary with good faith and authenticity among the contentious and quarrelsome organizations in the Empire. It is very difficult to put forward an idea for consideration in the present dysfunctional political culture that is prevailing in Ethiopia. The shrillness and savagery of the attack that was lobbed at OLF when it organized the AFD by the cacophonous bunch from EPRP was deafening. Ato Abebe’s canards have a familiar tone and genre spewed out by those who do not have a scintilla of civility nor intellectual integrity to offer a viable dialogue to remediate the exasperating ethnic and political chasms in the country.

If one scrutinizes the totality of OLF’s contribution to the generic social and political struggle in Ethiopia for the past few decades, some minor setbacks notwithstanding, I have no doubt that history will absolve OLF as one of the major contributor to the struggle of all Ethiopians for freedom and dignity.

On the issues of national unity and the role of Oromo nation in general and that of the OLF in particular, there is a need to sketch a brief history of the Empire. Ethiopia was forged as an Empire in the last half of the 19th century by successive Abyssinian Emperors and warlords from the north. Emperor Menelik the II, as the most notable and in the case of the Oromo and other southern polities, he and his generals conquered and annexed a large stretch of land and population in the territories what is now regarded as southern Ethiopia. The grossly cruel atrocities that were committed against the Oromo nation and other nationalities in the course of empire building were very appalling. For the Abyssinians, these Imperial marches of conquest and annexation may be viewed as nation building of glory and gallantry. For the polities in the south, it was rivers of blood and tears. Menelik’s campaign against the Oromo and others in the south is well documented and even dubbed by some historians as the Southern Marches of Imperial Ethiopia, (books by Harold Marcus, Mohammad Hassan, Wendy James, and several other scholars on Ethiopia could be consulted). Even the vilest European subjugation of African peoples did not parallel the pillaging and desolation committed by Menelik’s raiding army in the conquered South. Through an extended and forceful subjugation/colonization from garrison towns that were established by the Imperial Army, the fate of the south in general and that of the Oromo nation was doomed and sealed to be part of the grand Imperial design of Emperor Menelik’s. “Greater Ethiopia”

It is against these historical contexts that we must embark when we engage in dialogue to sort out the complexities of “national /Oromo question”. Oromo Nation predates the onslaught of Abyssinian and European conquest and colonialism. It was not a modern nation with all the entrapments of a structured nation state. However, it existed like most African polities of the period, including that of many Abyssinia regions (i.e. Gonder Gojjem, Tgray, etc.) independent and self reliant of its resources, governed by republican legislative governance called Gadda democracy. Democracy permeated every aspects of Oromo culture. Gadda is a system that has an organizing structure of thoughts, concepts, doctrine and tenets which provided the basis for and –upon which identities constructed by the Oromo people.

Ato Aabebe’s comparison of OLF with TPLF and other Abyssinian organizations and their politics unmasks the convoluted and often arrogant political disposition of the Abyssinian elites. The notion that OLF is a failed and rudderless organization is risible. OLF, with all its shortcomings, is a major political organization that represents at minimum, forty percent of the Empires citizens. All things considered, OLF may not even need to coalesce with any group to be a contender in the Empire’s politics. However, to mitigate the chronic conflict of the whole region in general and the dysfunctional political culture of the Empire in particular, it behooves any adroit organization to embark up on some sort of rapprochement among all the stakeholders in the Empire. OLF’s call for a united front is a genuine and honest gesture. I know for a fact that OLF has a long and enduring cooperation with the stakeholder of the Southern polities, (i.e. Sidama, Somali, Afar, and Benenshagul.etc.). Hopefully, in the future the polities from the north will be comprised in as part of this pan-Ethiopian canopy to unify the Empire on the equal footing to all.

OLF is a product of contemporary Ethiopian history. Unlike multiple Ethiopian organizations that were formed by the political left of the 1970s or the innumerable Ethiopian political parties formed by the Diaspora leisure class, the OLF was given birth as a reaction to the abusive and opprobrious treatments Oromo nation was subjected to by successive Abyssinian rulers including the present Meles regime. It was and is the manifestation and aspiration of the Oromo to a long history of betrayal, treachery and unimaginable cultural and political oppression by the Abyssinian state and its apparatus. The OLF, for an ordinary political observer, may look just another liberation organization, for the Oromo, it represents our indomitable virtues and unyielding spirit to rectify century old degradation by the Abyssinian rulers, and hence we even jokingly say every Oromo is an OLF!

Further more, OLF never gave false claims or hopes to its rank and file. Successive leadership of the organization warned us, due to the level of development of our nation, the struggle will be a long and arduous one; there will be ups and downs, conflicts and betrayals within the organization itself and in the political milieus of the Horn of Africa. It really does not matter how many Abyssinia rulers usurps the state power in the Empire, for us, the focus should be to organize, win the hearts and minds of the Oromo people throughout Oromia and strength the unity of conquered peoples in the Empire. Comparing OLF with TPLF is a bogus proposition! TPLF was the creation of EPLF, it trained, indoctrinated and ushered it to Tigray so that it alone would not bear the brunt of Ethiopian army in Eritrea! One should not look into the growth of TPLF in isolation from that of EPLF’s objectives. At its inception, as well as it matured to level of a credible fighting force, TPLF had the backing of Eritrea rebels. OLF, on other hand, never benefited from any outside assistance, or have had a benefactor to mentor or motivate in the art of guerrilla warfare. Whatever achievement it had, it was home grown and reflected the meager resources and improvised resistance against the powerful Ethiopian state apparatus.

When most Guerrilla movements in the Empire were massacring each other in the name of revolutionary justice, (TPLF is a poster child of these vile and sordid acts) the OLF never engaged in any sort of “self cleansing” to advance any political views or disagreements among its members or leadership. Those who felt that the life of a guerrilla is an intolerable task and could not endure the discipline and the sacrifices were allowed to withdraw from the organization and were bade farewell with out any consequences. The OLF and its history bear no comparison to all the indictments hurled against it by ato Abebe. His gloomy prognostication that “ it will remain an exile secessionist organization forever giving false claims and hopes to its ever fractured membership” is yet a familiar derision and abusive invectives only ato Abebe and his ilk conjure-up to malign OLF about its visions and conviction of liberating the Oromo nation. He is hardly qualified to assess the present status of OLF and its activities. We, in the Oromo resistance look at the Ethiopian history and culture as that of colonizing structure that did hold-down our societies’ potentials and our nation-hood. Unlike Ato Abebe who views the Oromo quest for freedom and dignity as “secessionist”, we spent the bulk of our adolescent and adulthood years in the jungles of Oromia and some of us in exile struggling and hoping one day our people will be free to govern themselves. The struggle continues!

If on the other hand, his characterization of the organization had been true, I have no qualm to add my criticism of the OLF to his, but it is not true and his is just a craven canards!

The entire hullabaloo by ato Abebe about OLF is perhaps a result of social and political alienation of Abyssinia intellectuals from what is transpiring within non-Abyssinian communities. This hatred enhanced intellectual commentary and stance vis-à-vis OLF and other colonized peoples in the Empire is a craven screed and will not elevate the debate or the unity of the Empire. The social forces that kept Ethiopia as an empire crumbled and if we continue to advance and maintain bankrupted views, there will be many mini Ethiopias, not one! A serious debate should have not been marred by virulent distortions and ridicule by ato Abebe and other characters. The inability of these “elites” to understand the rising tide of resistance in the Empire in general and that of Oromo nationalism in particular illustrates the primitive stage of their creativity and an underdeveloped democratic culture. For all their erudition, these “elites” will not save the Empire as it is politically arranged now. They write vacuously with content less platitudes about the glories and indivisibility of the Empire. The shrillness and mordancy of their tone in their commentary is quintessentially feudal Abyssinian intolerance for other people’s choices and views. If ato Abebe’s attempt is to persuade Oromo nation to abandon the struggle for Oromo rights, dignity and identity, and feel more Ethiopian solely on the basis of the present structure and political arrangements, his arguments fails miserably. The travesty of his writing about OLF illustrates the hypocrisy and ultimately the intellectual bankruptcy of his range of vision.

Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) is the link between Oromo masses and defiant resistance against the Meles’ regime. Correctly perceiving this historical role, OLF members continue to risk their lives to organize, mobilize, agitate and educate Oromos everywhere.

Indeed, it is necessary that we make a profound reassessment of both the military and political concepts of the national struggle and the call for united front in all forms of the struggle against the entrenched Meles’ Wayannee regime undoubtedly constitutes one of the essential processes of this solidarity.

From our perspective, in our struggle, there must emerge a tested and visionary leadership supremely confident of its ability to shape the destiny of the Empire and its people. And from it, too, there must spring a tolerant, creative, modern and democratic Ethiopian state endowed with rich experiences and convinced of the rights of its citizens.

Finally, the Oromo nation’s resistance is a momentous process that cannot be stopped by Meles and his thugs. The quest for freedom and the willingness to pay any price will continue to shape the political environment of the Empire. Either through ballot or bullet, the self-determination of our people will come. It is an historical inevitability that the struggle of the Oromo and all peoples of the Empire will succeed. The courage, the vigilance and the commitment of our people will determine the distance. For sure, we will go to any length to free our people.

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The writer, who is an Oromo activist, can be reached at Diimmaa@hotmail.com.

 

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