The ‘Qeerroo’ (Oromo Youth) movement is widely recognized for playing a central role in propelling Ethiopia’s prime minister to power five years ago. However, prior to his appointment, Abiy Ahmed was a relatively obscure figure, virtually unknown to the majority of Ethiopians and a least favourite among those in power circles.
Jawar Mohammed, who secretly met with Abiy Ahmed in 2017 as Ethiopia braced for change, found him to be an inexperienced and self-centred individual ill-suited for power. Instead, he picked Gedu Andargachew from the Amhara region to be given the deputy prime minister’s position, with Abiy to work as his chief of staff.
In addition to Jawar’s accurate assessment of the PM’s personal shortcomings and lack of competence, other early warning signs were present, such as the PM’s infamous speech where he spoke about his mother’s prophecy that he will become “The seventh king of Ethiopia” and his consistent belittling and minimising of Oromo demands, among other things. We must remind ourselves that Abiy is a former director of a spy agency that helped in the imprisonment and disappearance of thousands of Oromos.
As part of the reforms, the PM invited all opposition political parties operating outside of Ethiopia to return to the country. Among those were the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) and its military wing the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA). In August 2018, and to a warm welcome, the OLF and the OLA returned to Finfinne (Addis Ababa).
Indeed, the return of the OLF, after three decades in exile was euphoric and people forgot to ask about the details of the peace deal that was signed between OLF and the federal government in Asmara. This collective dementia was made worse when the OLF opened offices across Oromia’s major cities and towns, registered as a legal party with the federal electoral board and started recruiting and attracting eager youth who aspired to change the status quo in Oromia and bring about a just resolution to the Oromo question once and for all.
However, the euphoria soon faded as the PM and his regime launched an all out offensive on opposition political parties. Using the tension in the aftermath of the assassination of Hachalu Hundessa, PP closed down offices of the two major parties in Oromia, the OLF and OFC, and levied what turned out to be politically motivated charges against their senior members; locking some behind bars and putting others, including the chairman of the OLF under house arrest for the better part of two years.
In the course of his 5 years tenure, the PM and his party, the Prosperity Party, have failed to deliver on economic, political and social justice demands that ignited the Oromo protests 10 years ago.
Oromia’s trials stretch from being a host to the highest number of Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in the country due to an ongoing war in Western and Southern Oromia that induced famine in Western Oromia and exacerbated drought in Southern Oromia. As well as a looming threat of drought in Central, and Eastern Oromia, a rigid and policed political space, an absence of individual and group security and a failed economy that is driving hundreds of youth out of the country on a daily basis.
Whatever anyone might argue, these trials did not come out of thin air and for those who paid attention, were expected. They began, five years ago, with a Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) process that lacked transparency as much as the peace deal in Asmara. The failure of the DDR led to a split between OLF and its armed wing the OLA and the outbreak of civil war in Western Oromia. Experts who at the time called it a minor insurgency, acknowledge, now, that it was a civil war after its protraction, with no end in sight, into a five year conflict with theatres across different parts of Oromia.
The war broke the Oromo economy, destroyed educational and health care systems in war torn areas and diverted much needed resources to combat disasters such as drought and the outbreak of viral diseases from other areas. This has cost Oromia dearly in terms of infrastructure, grassroots economy but most importantly human lives. Granted, that estimates about Oromia’s loss due to the civil war and the ensuing instability the region witnessed in the last five years are yet to be determined by experts, however, there remains a genuine fear that it is beyond imagination.
On April 24, 2023, an end to war seemed in sight. Both parties, the Ethiopian Federal Government (FDRE) and the OLA sat down in Zanzibar, Tanzania for peace talks.
Stakeholders sighed in relief and Oromos everywhere held their breaths and crossed their fingers in the hope of peace. However, despite initial expressions of optimism from both parties, the talks ultimately failed to produce a formal agreement. A key sticking point was the OLA’s proposal for the formation of a joint transitional government, which the FDRE rejected.
Again, on November 07, 2023 and after six months of intense fighting and further loss in lives and property, the parties reconvened in the city of peace, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. This time, the commander of the OLA, Jaal Marroo, and his deputy, Jaal Gemechu Aboye, were flown out of their bases to take part in the negotiations. Many saw that as a good sign and a readiness by both parties to reach an agreement; however, the talks ended without an agreement, with each party blaming its counterpart for the failure.
The OLA claimed that the talks failed because the FDRE was only interested in the “co-optation” of its leaders, adding “a historical opportunity” has once again been lost. The federal government on its part accused the OLA of proposing unrealistic demands.
Whatever the case may be, it is crucial that we, the collective Oromo, say: No.
No to being slaughtered for seeking answers to the age-old Oromo question in Ethiopia. No to being the only people in the world who demand basic rights in a country where we are the majority. No to the filling of prisons in Oromia. No to being chased off and dying in foreign lands as refugees. No to factionalism at the expense of Oromia and its people. No to the politics of conspiracy that poisons the well. No to the politics of self-interest and elitism. And above all, No to a one-party system in Oromia!
The Oromo culture encompasses mechanisms for how reconciliation and justice are delivered. None of these mechanisms work without truth as a foundation. Therefore, the curtains on the peace talks cannot be closed with each side blaming the other for conspiring against it. Oromia and the Oromo people are in dire need of a remedy. This is to say that we must demand accountability and require transparency from those who claim to represent us.
As mediators, the governments of Kenya, Norway, the US, and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), as well as Oromo elites close to the matter, the FDRE, and the OLA are under a moral obligation to inform us about the facts of these talks. It is essential that they disclose to the public what unfolded behind closed doors. This will allow the Oromo public to hold to account those responsible for the failure of the talks, but also free the Oromo imagination from the politics of conspiracy, factionalism, and elitism, paving the way for a public participation that is informed by facts.