Save the Tuulamaas and Their Ancestral Lands

by

The Global Oda Nabe Association (GLONA)

Tuulamaa on the Brink: A Century and a Half of Systematic Erasure

For more than a century and a half, the Tuulamaa of central Oromia have faced a relentless pattern of dispossession carried out in the name of “development.” What emerges from the latest research and advocacy materials is not a series of isolated incidents, but a continuous historical process that now amounts to an existential threat.

Beginning with the founding of Finfinnee in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Abichu, Eekkaa, Galaan, and Gullallee Tuulamaas were forcibly evicted and killed under Menelik’s expansion.

This pattern repeated itself across generations:

• Jiillee & Oboo Tuulamaas erased by the Wonji Sugar Project (1951);
• Jiillee (mainly Siiba) Tuulamaa decimated by the Qooqaa Hydro Dam (1960);
• Eekkaa (Boolee) Tuulamaa disappearing as a community following the construction of Bole Airport (1962); and
• Karrayyuu pastoralists pushed toward extinction by the Matahara Sugar plantation (1965).
• More recently, the Finfinnee Master Plan (2014) triggered mass urban dispossession on an unprecedented scale.

The current Mega Airport project on the Abbuu Seeraa ancestral land represents the latest chapter in this long trajectory. This is not “development gone wrong,” but a structural trend spanning 15 decades—one that has brought the Tuulamaa people to the brink of extinction unless urgently challenged and reversed.

Reading, Sharing, and Organizing to Halt an Irreversible Loss

To avert yet another irreversible loss, readers are urged not only to read the attached research, but to share it widely, discuss it openly, and prepare themselves for a concerted, peaceful civic campaign. Silence and fragmentation have been the allies of erasure. In contrast, informed public engagement—rooted in evidence, history, and moral clarity—is the only path capable of halting the final disappearance of the Aabbuu clan of the Galaan Tuulamaa. Their voice must be heard now, while there is still a people left to speak.

Readers should also pause and ask a difficult but necessary question: where are the Eekkaa Tuulamaa today, whose ancestral lands have been transformed into the concrete expanse of Bole Airport runways and office complexes? Why did “development” not allow communities and infrastructure to coexist side by side, preserving people, heritage, and ecosystem together? The answer is uncomfortable but consistent across generations: the Ethiopian state did not care for the native communities yesterday—and it shows no care today for the Aabbuu Seeraa communities facing imminent erasure. Recognizing this continuity is the first step toward breaking it.

Thank you GLONA!

Finally, OROMIA TODAY commends GLONA for their remarkable contribution—both for documenting this historic pattern with clarity and for standing up, with courage and discipline, to defend communities whose rights are too often ignored. Their advocacy is a vital public service, and it deserves wide support. You will find their 17-page research document in PDF format titled: "The New Mega Airport Project in Aabbuu, Oromia, Ethiopia: The Project Implications on Aabbuu Communities" as reference [1] below.

References

1. The New Mega Airport Project in Aabbuu, Oromia, Ethiopia: The Project Implications on Aabbuu Communities (a 17-page PDF document), November 2025, GLONA.
2. Kumaa Daadhii, How Will Medemer Be Remembered?, 7 January 2026, OROMIA TODAY.
3. OT Editorial, Development Draped in Dispossession: The Tragedy Behind the Abuu Seeraa Airport Deal, 23 April 2025, OROMIA TODAY.
4. OT Editorial, The Oromo People Demand a Prerequisite for the Abbuu Seeraa Airport Project, 27 April 2025, OROMIA TODAY.
5. Shaggar, Bishooftuu, Gadaafi Adaamaa — Pilaanii Mummee Haaraan, 5 January 2026, President Shimelis Abdissa's Facebook Page.