Oromia Today

Independent Voice of Oromia

A Historic Mass Uprising in Oromia

14. July 2016 Administrator community (1)
By: Itana Gammada

The only viable choice for nations or peoples under colonial occupation is to set forth their goals, become organized and united in their stated objectives, and fight for their freedom, independence, justice, and dignity....Today, our nation Oromia is under siege. The torture chambers and concentration camps in Mekele, Ziwai, Qalitii, Xoola, Dhidheessa, and Qilinxoo, and the hidden Gestapo-style jails in various places, are filled with Oromos who are facing stepped-up brutalization, dehumanizing torture, and murder, which occurs by the thousands every day. [More]

OLF is Oromo, Oromo is OLF

7. June 2016 Ibsaa Guutama (2)
Oromo liberation movement originated from pain oppression caused to Oromo society. At a period when poverty, illiteracy, ignorance and physical and psychological abuse reached an intolerable level in Oromiyaa social movements to ameliorate them started to show up and political grievances started to simmer. Among the social movements the greatest was Maccaa and Tuulamaa Self Help Association (MTA). It brought together many brilliant and experienced minds with vision. More than what its name shows MTA is known for helping the Oromo to start opening their eyes and see the situation in which they find themselves. The colonizer did not feel secured with the movement that it banned and imprisoned the leaders. Two among them, Taaddasa Birruu and Maammoo Mazamir were condemned to death though Taaddasaa’s was commuted later, to be fulfilled only by the succeeding colonial regime. Political consciousness has developed more than those days. Though the degree of oppression did not positively change, preparation and chance of overthrowing it has improved a lot. [More]

From a Student Movement to a National Revolution—A Struggle with an Independent Oromo State Insight

7. May 2016 Mekuria Bulcha research (1)
The Oromo and the other peoples in the southern part of Ethiopia are caught in a vicious circle of tyranny that is deeply rooted in a colonial conquest at the end of the 19th century. The tyranny had stirred popular uprisings in many places at different times. Hitherto, most of the uprisings have been suppressed and the revolutions were hijacked and reversed. As we know, the revolution that overthrew Emperor Haile Selassie in 1974 was hijacked by a military junta, which came in promising democracy but delivered terror in abundance. The response to the military dictatorship was the formation of half a dozen national liberation fronts with the aim of waging a struggle and liberate their respective peoples from an empire which a British political scientist Ernst Gellner called a prison-house of nations. After a decade and a half they defeated the military regime in 1991 and formed a Transitional Government of Ethiopia (TGE). One of the victorious fronts which formed a coalition and built the TGE was the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF). [More]

“Let No External Pressure Force You to Back from Fulfilling Your Responsibilities to Your People”

24. April 2016 Mekuria Bulcha community (1)
Yishaaq was one of the leading members of the Macca Tuulama Association until it was banned in 2004. As a conscious Oromo nationalist, he stood behind the independence of Oromia. OLF’s former Secretary General Galaasaa Dilbo notes that in 1994, Yishaaq sent him a letter with Colonel Alemu Qixxeessaa and Obbo Baqala Nadhii who were sent to Nairobi as members of a committee delegated to mediate between the OLF and the TPLF regime. ......He encouraged them to do what they believe is good and will serve the interest of the Oromo nation. .....This is particularly the case today when our youth are being hunted down, imprisoned and killed by the enemies of our people. It is with this in mind that I have rewritten the previous article for submission to Oromia Today for publication. [More]

Who are the Rulers of Ethiopian Empire?

21. April 2016 Ibsaa Guutama opinion (1)
When we talk of governance in Ethiopia we may not get a clear picture unless we separate the rulers and the ruled. The ruled are hardworking God fearing Africans. Though they were the ones that safeguarded rulers’ pleasure with their sweat and blood; [More]

Call for Oromo Political Organizations to form a Front

16. April 2016 Ibsaa Guutama opinion (0)
Time is creating tension and confusion. Almost twenty six years ago the strongest army in sub-Sahara Africa (except South Africa), the Darg suddenly collapsed. Soldiers started running away from battle fronts carrying their guns as if they were simple canes. Darg was an oppressive, hated authoritarian government. Most peoples felt any devil was better than it and were ready to accept any change to come. [More]

Remembering our Heroes and Heroines

6. April 2016 OT editorial (0)
April is a month when Oromo communities all over the world remember their heroes and heroines (henceforth heroes). Particularly, 15th April has a special place in the Oromo struggle for freedom. It is on this particular day, in 1980, that the Oromo people lost a dozen of their gallant and brilliant heroes who had dedicated their lives to the just cause of their people. For the Oromos, 15th April has since become a de facto remembrance day, not only for the 1980 event, rather as a remembrance for all fallen heroes before and after as well. [More]

News in Pictures - Recent protests in Oromia and worldwide

8. March 2016 OT news, community, human rights, report (0)
Pictures depicting recent protests by the Oromo people in Oromia and worldwide. As widely covered by the international media, the protest was triggered by the so-called "Addis Ababa Masterplan" which has overwhelming been objected to by the Oromo people as this would have a disastrous effect on rural communities around Addis Ababa with forced eviction and loss of livelihood dependent on the land. [More]

Ethiopia is crumbling: Time to redraw the boundaries of the empire

26. January 2016 dmosis opinion (0)
Ethiopia, an ailing empire, like others before it, is crumbling under its own weight. Recent events in Oromia have exposed the vulnerability and frailty of the 130 years old dilapidated empire. The bastions of the empire were totally surprised but the rest of the world seems aware of what was coming. The self-distraction of the empire is assured and what needs attention is what next. [More]

Ethiopia's Invisible Crisis

24. January 2016 dmosis news, human rights, report (0)
By: Felix Horne, Researcher, Horn of Africa

"Badessa" was a third-year engineering student in western Ethiopia in April 2014 when he and most of his classmates joined a protest over the potential displacement of ethnic Oromo farmers like his family because of the government’s plan to expand the capital, Addis Ababa, into the farmland. [More]