“That is what prosperity looks like,” boasts a Prosperity Party (PP) regime loyalist in his Facebook repost, proudly sharing a photo announcing a $7.8 billion agreement between Ethiopian Airlines and the African Development Bank to build Africa’s largest airport in Abuu Seeraa, near Bishoftu town in Oromia. A gleaming model aircraft in the hands of smiling dignitaries, a digital rendering of a futuristic airport, and a caption celebrating national pride—what could be wrong with that?
Everything—if you are one of the over 15,000 Tuulama Oromos who call Abuu Seeraa home and destined to be dispossessed.
This is not just an airport. It marks the latest chapter in a century-old pattern of dispossession. This is a continuation of the historical assault that began with the massacres and evictions of native residents, and the annexation of Finfinnee and the Oromo territory. This later escalated with the recent imposition of Shaggar City. The net result has been the systematic displacement and dispossession of the Tuulamaa Oromo—a process now aptly described as Calii Tuulamaa.
For the Tuulama Oromos, Abuu Seeraa is not just land—it is heritage, memory, and identity. Now, that cradle of ancestral legacy faces literal demolition in the name of development. This is what Abiy Ahmed’s PP regime is doing to the Tuulama Oromos with brazen impunity—a direct continuation of the EPRDF’s policies of the 1990s, and what started with the annexation of Oromo lands that began in the late 19th century.
Behind the smiles of Ethiopia’s finance minister and the African Development Bank representative lies a far grimmer reality: families being harassed, homes being marked for removal, and livelihoods being uprooted. The people are given no roadmap for relocation, no plan for restoration—only an ultimatum to vacate, delivered by undisciplined militias with no regard for human dignity.
The president of Oromia, Shimalis Abdissa, offers no resistance. He is an active partner in this injustice, complicit in a system that continues the EPRDF-era policies of uprooting native Oromos in the name of so-called developmental programs for progress. The PP regime’s development model is one of erasure, not inclusion. The Tuulama are not just being displaced—they are being made invisible.
Let us be clear: the Oromo people are not anti-development. We welcome infrastructure, innovation, and investment. But development must be just. It must enrich rather than uproot. It must empower communities, not erase them. It must protect heritage while embracing modernity. And it must honor the environment—not pave it over in the name of profit, with utter disregard for biodiversity, environmental stewardship, and the escalating crisis of climate change.
What is happening in Abuu Seeraa is not prosperity—it is plunder dressed up as progress.
The African Development Bank, too, must be held accountable. How can a bank that claims to uplift African communities turn a blind eye to the destruction of one? Profit must never come at the cost of people. Development must never mean dehumanization.
Justice must come for the Tuulama Oromos. The destruction of our heritage must stop. The impunity of the PP regime must end. The world must see past the model aircraft and concrete visions and listen to the voices being silenced underneath.
We, the Oromo people, are not against the future. But we will not trade our past and present to buy into a vision of that future built on our graves.
Our Demands
- We demand an immediate and thorough re-evaluation of this rushed airport project. Such a massive undertaking must not proceed without full and transparent consideration of its impact on the local population, ancestral heritage, biodiversity, and the environment. This evaluation must be guided by internationally accepted standards of modern construction planning, environmental protection, and community rights.
- We demand that the pursuit of modernity does not come at the expense of our heritage or natural ecosystems. Any development in Abuu Seeraa must embody a thoughtful integration—where the historical and environmental significance of the area is respected and preserved, not erased. It must be recognized that the Abbuu Oromo clan possess a rich body of indigenous knowledge and cultural heritage. This legacy must not be endangered by forced eviction; instead, its preservation should be treated as a matter of highest priority in any development plan. True progress means building with, not over, what is sacred and irreplaceable.
- We demand just and fair compensation for those forcibly evicted—not merely through inadequate one-time payments, but through a long-term, sustainable model that treats the displaced as stakeholders in the airport’s future. The people of Abuu Seeraa must receive not only financial restitution but also equity—an enduring share in the economic benefits of the airport that reflects the value of the farmland and ancestral lands they are being separated from. Dispossession must never be final; it must be transformed into meaningful and lasting inclusion.
Abuu Seeraa is not an isolated case. It represents just one piece of a broader pattern of aggressive, top-down development projects that continue to displace and disenfranchise Tuulama Oromo communities. Similar injustices are unfolding through the planned Adama-Mojo Super City Project, where evictions are already underway; the Shaggar City expansion, which has pushed families from their homes over the past four years; and the mass displacements during the EPRDF era tied to the unchecked expansion of Finfinnee, aka Master Plan project—displacements that ultimately sparked the historic Oromo Resistance of 2014–2018.
Our demands extend beyond Abuu Seeraa to all communities affected by these unjust evictions. We categorically condemn the actions of the PP regime, which, under the banner of developmental progress, is perpetuating the same dispossession and repression once carried out by Menelik II and Haile Selassie—only now with bureaucratic signatures instead of bullets (though this, too, cannot be ruled out!), and bulldozers instead of rifles.
Related References
- Dirree Xiyyaaraa Aabbuu Seeraa fi Badii Projektii Bilxiginnaa Abiyyi, Courtesy of Horn Conversation (YouTube Channel), 19 April 2025.
