ZEGEYE ASFAW ABDII (1941–2026): The End of an Era
Zegeye Asfaw Abdii (1941-2026): A Life of Principle, Humility, and Service to Humanity
From Trauma to Transformation: Historical Violence and the Possibility of Healing in Oromia
From conquest and slavery to modern conflict and insecurity, this article explores how historical violence continues to shape Oromia across generations socially, psychologically, and potentially biologically. Drawing on trauma studies, epigenetics, post-conflict research, and anti-colonial thought, it argues that lasting peace requires more than political change. Recognition, justice, cultural restoration, reconciliation, and healing are essential to breaking cycles of trauma and building a more stable and humane future.
When Guardians Become Predators: A Cry from an Oromo Elder
In this compelling personal note, an Oromo Elder speaks out on the spread of organized criminal groups and the collapse of moral order in Oromia. From Ambo to Finfinnee, from Adama to Shashamane and beyond, his words capture a painful reality: citizens are left defenseless as those in power enable injustice. The Oromo Elder urges prayer, action, and collective awakening to confront this dark moment before it defines the future.
Ethiopia Forward to the Past: The Politics of Nostalgia and the “Menelik Syndrome”
“Menelik Syndrome” captures a recurring pattern in Ethiopia’s political imagination: the selective revival of an idealized imperial past as a solution to present crises. Framed around the legacy of Menelik II, it elevates symbols of unity, strength, and state consolidation while downplaying the coercive foundations on which that unity was built. In contemporary discourse, this manifests in calls to “restore Ethiopia’s past glory”—a narrative that resonates emotionally but risks reopening unresolved historical contradictions. As a political lens, Menelik Syndrome helps explain how nostalgia, when filtered through power, can shape national identity, influence policy direction, and—paradoxically—intensify fragmentation rather than resolve it.
The Ethiopian Perspective Gap: Why Some Voices Sound Like Truth—and Others Like Rebuttal
This op-ed explores how mono perspective sociopolitical views shape both art and politics, often presenting particular experiences as universal truths and thereby constraining meaningful dialogue. It argues that progress requires moving beyond such narrow vantage points—particularly among politicians, who are uniquely positioned to resolve complex sociopolitical issues. To do so, they must step outside mono perspective, engage competing realities with discipline, and adopt a genuinely multi-perspective approach capable of addressing long-standing tensions with clarity and fairness.
- Article | Commentary | Opinion | Politics
One Song, Five Messages
In just days, one song by Tewodros "Teddy Afro" Kassahun has ignited a firestorm—revealing not unity, but multiple Ethiopias speaking past each other. What appears as controversy is, in truth, a deeper collision of meanings shaped by power, history, identity, and memory. This article unpacks the layered messages behind the moment, exposing how one song became a prism through which a fractured empire sees itself.
- Article | Commentary | Op-Ed | Politics | ⏭
Cui Bono? The Political Economy of Conflict and the Oromo Question
“Cui Bono?”—who benefits? This article applies that question to Ethiopia’s recurring cycles of conflict, arguing that instability is not accidental but structurally embedded. By centering the Oromo experience, it shows how political, military, and economic elites—historically reproduced through entrenched advantage—derive disproportionate benefit, while the broader population bears the cost. Without confronting this imbalance and the unresolved Oromo question, durable peace and equitable development will remain elusive.
- Article | Community | Human Rights | Politics | ⏭
Ambo: Cruelty in Plain Sight — Violence, Impunity, and the Political Crisis in Oromia
In Ambo, a shocking act of violence against young adults exposes more than individual cruelty—it reveals a growing pattern of impunity and normalized abuse across Oromia. What appears as a single incident reflects a deeper crisis, where violence is increasingly visible, accountability is absent, and fear is woven into daily life. As informal actors and unchecked forces shape events on the ground, the question is no longer whether this is isolated, but how far the pattern extends.
Remembering Guyyaa Gootota Oromoo
A Personal Message by Abdi Badhadha Guyyaa Gootota Oromo as a Call for Unity and Collective Progress April 15 holds profound significance for the Oromo people as Guyyaa Gootota Oromoo, or Oromo Martyrs’ Day. It is a day dedicated to honoring the courageous men and women who sacrificed their lives for the freedom and dignity...
Oromo Martyrs Day—April 15, 2026: Memory, Sacrifice, and the Unfinished Future of Oromia
Oromo Martyrs Day, observed on April 15, is not just a moment of remembrance—it is a living testament to sacrifice, resilience, and an unfinished struggle. From the fallen leaders of 1980 to civilians, youth movements, and fighters of today, the cost of dignity remains ongoing. This day binds generations through memory, while raising an urgent question: what becomes of a people’s sacrifice when history is still being written?
- Article | Commentary | Op-Ed | Politics
The Peace Conference Without the Other Side
A peace conference without the other party present is not a peace conference. It is a political performance. The recent speech by Oromia president Shimelis Abdissa and so-called peace gathering reveal a deeper political reality: peace is being used as rhetoric while politics, historical grievances, and negotiations are carefully avoided. The tragedy of the current conflict is not simply war, but the collapse of trust — and without trust, peace cannot exist.
7 Reasons Why There Can Be No Credible Electoral Process in an Empire Disintegrating Before Our Eyes
Even if elections are predetermined, they still require minimum conditions and structures to stage the illusion of democracy. In today’s Ethiopia, those conditions no longer exist. Large parts of Ethiopia are outside regime control, opposition parties participate only to avoid deregistration, insecurity is widespread, and political intimidation is routine. Some regions appear politically detached, actively contemplating a post-Ethiopia political order, and therefore cannot be considered fully participatory in the electoral process. This is no longer an election that can be rigged; it is an election that cannot even be convincingly staged.
History Comes to the UN and Asks for a Vote
A United Nations vote to condemn the enslavement of Africans and the trans-Atlantic slave trade should have been morally straightforward. Instead, the voting pattern revealed something deeper about the modern world: the past is never just the past. It lives in politics, memory, and responsibility, and sometimes history returns and asks the present to respond.
Much Ado About Nothing—The Illusion of Elections in Oromia and Ethiopia
The forthcoming Oromia and Ethiopia elections are being presented as competitive democratic contests, complete with debates, campaigns, and political messaging. Yet beneath the spectacle lies a political reality many already understand: elections that confirm power rather than contest it. But the real story may not lie in the predictable outcome. It lies on the sidelines—in the debates, the personalities, the rhetoric, and the revealing moments that quietly expose the true nature of politics in Oromia and Ethiopia today.
Elite Integration Without Institutional ConsolidationThe Gobana Pattern and the Structural Logic of External Alignment
Elite Integration has repeatedly appeared in Oromo political history as a rational response to fragmentation, weak internal authority, and expanding centralized power. This essay argues that the “Gobana Pattern” is not a story of regional betrayal or personal defect, but a recurring structural dynamic in which elites align externally when institutional consolidation is absent. It concludes a broader series on fragmentation, authority architecture, and the political consequences of mobilization without durable institutional power.
To Shimelis Abdissa and Caffee Oromia: History Will Judge You for a Shameful Failure of Duty
A disturbing video circulating on social media—showing an elderly man brutally beaten during a militia interrogation—captures, in a single frame, the depth of Oromia’s moral collapse since 2018. What should have been unthinkable has become disturbingly routine: dignity discarded, elders humiliated, and violence normalized. This is no longer about isolated abuses—it is about a systemic erosion of values that once defined and anchored Oromo society. History will judge those who enabled, ignored, or presided over this collapse.
