OLF-OLA Archives – OROMIA TODAY

History & Memory | Oromo Struggle | Remembrance | Tribute
Oromo Martyrs Day—April 15, 2026: Memory, Sacrifice, and the Unfinished Future of Oromia
By Yadessa Guma (PhD, Anthropology) Posted on2026-04-122026-04-11
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?
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Editorial | Politics | ⏭
To Shimelis Abdissa and Caffee Oromia: History Will Judge You for a Shameful Failure of Duty
By OT Editorial Posted on2026-03-172026-03-17
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.
Read More To Shimelis Abdissa and Caffee Oromia: History Will Judge You for a Shameful Failure of Duty
Article | Commentary | ⏭
Wallaga and the Politics of FaçadeEight Years of Rhetoric, War, and Recalibration
By Yadessa Guma (PhD, Anthropology) Posted on2026-02-222026-02-21
1 Comment
Eight years after branding Wallaga as too dangerous to visit, Ethiopia’s leadership now stages high-profile tours through a region devastated by war, displacement, and militarization. This article examines how early political rhetoric securitized Wallaga, normalized extraordinary violence, and reshaped policy under the guise of reform. By tracing the arc from fabricated fear to choreographed presence, it asks a hard question: does visibility signal stabilization—or merely a recalibrated façade masking unresolved brutality?
Read More Wallaga and the Politics of FaçadeEight Years of Rhetoric, War, and Recalibration
Op-Ed | Politics | ⏭
The Forgotten War in Wallaga: Why Atrocities in Western Oromia Remain Uncounted
By Yadessa Guma (PhD, Anthropology) Posted on2026-01-032026-01-02
1 Comment
While the world associates Ethiopia’s mass violence with the Tigray war, a longer and largely uncounted war has devastated western Oromia—especially Wallaga—since 2018. Displacement, repeated massacres, school closures, and the collapse of health services have become a grim norm, yet the true civilian death toll remains unknown. This article explains what we know, what we still do not know, why the suffering has been under-reported, and why an independent investigation by credible human rights bodies is now urgent.
Read More The Forgotten War in Wallaga: Why Atrocities in Western Oromia Remain Uncounted
Op-Ed | Opinion | ⏭
Why Oromia’s Future Demands Clarity: Independence vs. “Democritizing Ethiopia”
By Yadessa Guma (PhD, Anthropology) Posted on2025-11-242025-11-24
This article examines the evolving debate over Oromo self-determination any time soon, contrasting the independence path with the argument for democratizing Ethiopia’s federation. Grounded in constitutional analysis, human rights reporting, security trends, and long-term governance patterns, it evaluates which option aligns with the lived realities in Oromia today. The evidence increasingly challenges assumptions about a reformable Ethiopian state, raising critical questions about whether a monitored Article 39 referendum is now the most credible way to resolve the Oromo self-determination question.
Read More Why Oromia’s Future Demands Clarity: Independence vs. “Democritizing Ethiopia”
Article | Opinion | Politics | ⏭
The Politics of Spite—How Oromia’s Foundations Expose the Empty Ambitions of a Troubled Region
By Elemoo Qilxuu (MA, Political Science), Kumaa Daadhii (PhD, Political History) and Olii Boran (PhD, Sociology) Posted on2025-11-122025-11-09
Oromia now faces a widening expansionist push—driven by local opportunists, reinforced by external actors, and carried along by a region long caught up in the politics of spite that has defined the Horn. These forces promote territorial fantasies that collapse under scrutiny. The article argues that only a free, self-determined Oromia can break this cycle, restoring stability to the Horn and creating the conditions for a genuine synergy of prosperity with its neighbors.
Read More The Politics of Spite—How Oromia’s Foundations Expose the Empty Ambitions of a Troubled Region
Editorial | Human Rights | Politics | ⏭
The Happy Tears of One, the Anguished Tears of Thousands
By OT Editorial Posted on2025-09-092025-09-09
Ethiopia today elevates the happy tears of an autocratic ruler above the anguished tears of thousands. As Oromia bleeds from years of massacres, displacement, and proxy wars, state media buries the truth — while in grotesque contrast, the ruler’s tears of joy receive wall-to-wall coverage. History warns us: ignored anguish always erupts into tragedy. The world must act now, before Oromia’s tears ignite into an irreversible fire.
Read More The Happy Tears of One, the Anguished Tears of Thousands
Editorial | ⏭
The Sinister Dirty Game of the PP Regime with Moyale
By OT Editorial Posted on2025-08-052025-08-04
The Moyale annexation saga is no accident — it is the latest chapter in the OPDO/PP regime’s betrayal of Oromia. While the Somali parliament claims Oromo land, Abiy Ahmed and Shimelis Abdissa remain shamefully silent. From orchestrated ethnic tension to psychological fear-mongering, the regime is using Moyale as a pawn not only to manage narratives but also to cling to power ahead of the 2026 elections. But the Oromo people are no longer fooled. The betrayal is exposed. And Oromia is no longer silent.
Read More The Sinister Dirty Game of the PP Regime with Moyale
Opinion | Politics
The Idea of Oromia Shall Never Be Extinguished
By Yadessa Guma (PhD, Anthropology) Posted on2025-07-122025-07-12
The idea of Oromia is more than a place—it's a vision of justice, dignity, and identity. Despite repression and new threats cloaked in legality, this enduring ideal lives on in Oromo resistance, culture, and memory. Now more than ever, Oromia must be defended, revived, and reimagined for the future it promises.
Read More The Idea of Oromia Shall Never Be Extinguished
Opinion
Ethiopia's Elites Crisis: Fragmentation, Failure, and the Path to Relevance
By Abba Sooqee Posted on2025-06-302025-06-30
2 Comments
Ethiopia’s elites crisis runs deeper than disunity—it is a collapse of legitimacy. Fragmented, distrusted, and internally divided, no elite figure today commands a unified mandate. Peace will remain a mirage until the elites reconcile with their own constituencies and confront the vertical fractures within. Without grassroots credibility, national dialogue is empty performance—and irrelevance is the best they can hope for.
Read More Ethiopia's Elites Crisis: Fragmentation, Failure, and the Path to Relevance
Editorial | Politics
Amhara Fano's Expansionist Vein Disguised as PeaceA Comparative Reading of Responses to the U.S. Call for Negotiation
By OT Editorial Posted on2025-05-282025-05-27
Amhara Fano’s response to the U.S. call for negotiation reveals an expansionist agenda cloaked in grievance. Their demand to “return” disputed regions like Wolkait and Raya signals territorial revisionism. In contrast, the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) emphasizes accountability and genuine dialogue. As journalist Sajid Nadeem noted in his May 24 podcast, Fano’s maximalist tone risks undermining peace. Negotiation must be rooted in inclusivity—not in reclaiming imperial boundaries through the language of justice.
Read More Amhara Fano's Expansionist Vein Disguised as PeaceA Comparative Reading of Responses to the U.S. Call for Negotiation
Editorial | ⏭
The Abject Poverty of the Indigenous Oromo
By OT Editorial Posted on2025-05-242025-05-24
The Indigenous Oromo remain deeply impoverished despite living on some of the most fertile land in Ethiopia. This article unpacks how systemic exclusion, political betrayal, and false narratives like “Baale Giize” continue to marginalize the Indigenous Oromo while others prosper at their expense.
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Campaign | Editorial | ⏭
A Coward's Policy in Oromia: The Maize Ban That Threatens Food Security
By OT Editorial Posted on2025-05-152025-05-13
When maize becomes a threat and feeding your people a crime, governance has failed not only in courage—but in conscience. The senseless maize ban just imposed across Oromia’s Rift Valley belt is yet another tragic episode of hapless leadership—one that shuns dialogue in favor of desperate, random firefighting, even if it means starving its own population in the months ahead.
Read More A Coward's Policy in Oromia: The Maize Ban That Threatens Food Security
Article | Opinion | Politics | ⏭
A New Abyssinian Alliance in the Making and What it Means for Oromia
By Olii Boran Posted on2025-03-192025-03-19
Excerpt The crisis of Oromia can be summed up in a single, stark sentence: Oromia’s greatest hazard is its own wealth. The sheer abundance of its resources has drawn in competing forces, each vying for control. This relentless scramble has made the realization of Oromia’s self-determination—a cause championed for decades—an even more daunting challenge. Today,...
Read More A New Abyssinian Alliance in the Making and What it Means for Oromia
Editorial | Opinion | Politics | ⏭
Decoding Prosperity Party Regime's Farcical Four-Day Meeting on Oromia
By OT Editorial Posted on2025-02-232025-05-13
DISCLAIMER This editorial opinion of OROMIA TODAY has been formulated in consultation with opinion influencers. What Just Happened? Reportedly, delegates representing a broad spectrum of political, civic, and faith-based organizations—16 in total, as stated—convened to deliberate on the political and security situation in Oromia. While the stated purpose was to discuss these pressing issues,...
Read More Decoding Prosperity Party Regime's Farcical Four-Day Meeting on Oromia
Article | Human Rights | ⏭
Not Poor But Dispossessed
By Olii Boran Posted on2024-12-012025-01-21
Excerpt: She is not poor but dispossessed. The tear-streaked face of an Oromo woman from northern Oromia, captured in a single haunting photograph, tells a story of systemic betrayal. Her sadness is not born of fate but of deliberate cruelty—of a government that abandoned her, of militias that stole her land, and of institutions that...
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