Ten Things the PP Government Has Done—and You Might Not Even Know

1. Land of Mass Incarcerations and Extra-Judicial Executions
Courtesy of the Prosperity Party (PP) government, Ethiopia—particularly the Oromia region—has become a land marked by mass incarcerations and extrajudicial executions. These events have become so routine that they rarely make the news anymore. Leading up to the last election, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed orchestrated a sweeping crackdown on opposition figures, imprisoning and even killing many. This left his Prosperity Party as the sole competitor in Oromia, with formidable challengers like the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) and Oromo Federal Congress (OFC) boycotting the election due to the closure of their offices and mass arrests of their members. Hundreds of thousands even remotely suspected of supporting the OLF and OFC still remain in custody. Experts assert that, the widespread killings by PP security forces and the military have set grim records, with the deaths of Oromos over the past six years surpassing those regime killings from the previous 100 years or so. Adding to this tragedy is the Tigray war (2020–2022), record setting in its own right, which claimed an estimated one million lives, if not more, according to experts. The devastation is ongoing, with new reports suggesting continued targeting of dissenters throughout the region. This alone suffices to expose the illegitimacy of the PP government—but there’s more to uncover, so read on.

2. An Unimaginable Poverty Crisis

The poverty crisis, exacerbated by skyrocketing living costs and fueled by recent macroeconomic policies, defies all comprehension. Families earning low-end wages, say, between 2,000 and 10,000 Birr struggle to survive, let alone afford child’s schooling or other necessities. The price of staple grains has at least doubled, while xaafii has tripled or quadrupled in and near Finfinnee. Hunger has become a devastating reality, with reports of malnourished children dying in regions like Amhara and Tigray. Ironically, Baalee, a regional zone in Oromia known as a grain belt, is facing starvation, a crisis that has also extended to parts of southern Oromia. The crisis is expected to worsen with the dry season setting in. The tragedy is compounded by reports of widespread unemployment, forcing more families into extreme poverty, with no government intervention to cushion the blow.  A PP official’s recent comment to the World Bank encapsulates the government’s approach: “We are recommending destitution to eradicate dependency”. This statement comes as no surprise if you examine item #7 below, which highlights the behavior of PP officials.

3. Robbing Farmers and Overtaxing the Poor

Impoverished farmers are being forced to surrender 70% of their wheat yield at prices set by the government for PP government’s “wheat exportation con job”, effectively robbing farmers. Rather than providing subsidies to alleviate their harsh conditions, farmers are being driven deeper into destitution. Furthermore, farmers and town dwellers are forced to pay exorbitant taxes. Each tax often includes four or five components, such as contributions to sports programs that communities know nothing about. Worse still, some of these taxation components lack official receipts, raising serious questions about where the funds ultimately go. Farmers in particular face an uphill battle, as they are also subjected to constant threats of land confiscation under the guise of development projects, leaving them in a cycle of exploitation and poverty. Equally troubling, it remains unclear whether most of these taxes and their payment levels are even known to the lawmakers of the land as these taxations are inconsistent across different areas and regions.

4.  A Banking System Gone Rogue

The exchange rate woes are only part of the problem—where the PP government finds itself competing with the black market, leading to current devaluation of up to 150% and further harming the masses. The financial institutions, particularly the banks, are equally complicit in this crisis. They have embarked on a profiteering spree, charging fees for every service that banks should traditionally provide for free. ATM usage, mobile banking, interbank transfers—you name it—all come with additional costs. Rather than curbing this exploitative behavior, the PP government has joined in, imposing a 15% VAT on these so-called banking service charges, merely for keeping customers’ money. With interest rates exceeding 15%, banks are effectively out of reach for small and medium-sized businesses. They primarily serve a small percentage of top-tier businesses, such as importers and exporters, who are capable of absorbing the hefty interest rates. “Ethiopian banks”, masquerading as legitimate institutions, seem more like tools of the PP government, which itself operates like anything but a government. Together, they are hurting the people they are meant to serve. Perhaps it’s time for much talked about foreign banks to step in and restore a semblance of order, as the current system is neither transparent nor equitable.

5. Collapse of Public Services

Public services are in a state of complete disarray. Education, particularly at the primary level, has been discontinued in many conflict-affected areas, leaving several million children without access to schooling. Higher education is also deteriorating. Even where institutions remain open, their operations have been severely curtailed due to a lack of resources and the inability to meet demands for advanced degree programs or research opportunities. Adding to this crisis, the education minister, Berhanu Nega has gained infamy for failing over 96% of higher education aspirants, with no apparent efforts to address the colossal challenges at hand for at least four years. A dark joke making the rounds sums it up: ‘What Berhanu Nega faileth, Berhanu Jula taketh.’ Could it be that Berhanu Nega’s actions, by design, indirectly benefit Berhanu Jula? The truth may emerge someday. While this discussion focuses on education, other public services—such as healthcare, transportation, crime prevention, and justice—are equally abysmal. Recent reports of military personnel abducting judges near the capital, detaining them in a military camp, and subjecting them to beatings starkly highlight the breakdown of law and order in Ethiopia, even among high-ranking officials who are expected to uphold the law and act as professionals. In rural areas, the long-established Ganda (community-based) system of law and order for resolving disputes is now being disrupted by Shimalis Abdissa’s so-called 7,232-strong government (see ref. 2). Disputes are now adjudicated by individuals unfamiliar to the community, reminiscent of the Imperial era’s imposition of external authority.

6. Militia Unleashed

Militias have become one of the most pressing issues for communities, particularly in Oromia. With the army overstretched and depleted due to widespread conflict, police forces have been forced to take on military roles. In turn, these roles are often handed over to previously unemployed, ragtag groups who are unfit, untrained, and completely devoid of ethical awareness as public servants. These militias act as kings, judges, and juries, wreaking havoc without restraint and often with the explicit approval of their PP regional bosses. Their first instinct is violence, indiscriminately beating anyone they encounter—including the elderly, women, and even children. The frequently reported issue is that they show up unannounced at people’s residences under the pretext of searching for illegal items, such as arms. They then take away any valuables they find, including cash, mobile phones, and jewelry, leaving the victims with no recourse to challenge these acts of robbery carried out in the name of protecting the community. To make matters worse, the PP government has granted these militias the authority to shoot and kill anyone they suspect of being an enemy, such as Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) members and sympathizers. Numerous documented incidents highlight the scale and brutality of this unchecked power.

7. PP Officials: Detached and Indulgent

PP officials, including military leaders, live in a bubble, detached from the struggles of ordinary citizens. Chauffeured in luxury SUVs and residing rent-free in villas, they indulge in excessive lifestyles. Overeating and over-drinking have become common, with many now visibly unfit and are easily recognizable as PP officials. This elite class’s detachment from reality grows daily, with lavish parties and extravagant expenditures becoming the norm. During weekend meetings—or extended stays lasting two to three weeks for party conferences or indoctrination trainings—their daily per-person expenses for hotel and subsistence often equal the monthly wages of four to six low-income workers. These members of the elite governing class defend the PP government not out of loyalty but out of fear that regime change will lead to their downfall with punishments from imprisonment to public hanging.

8. Feeding on Those Below the Breadline

In areas like Oromia, the army and militia have been given tacit approval by the PP government to “feed themselves” by taking from local households, leaving those already impoverished even worse off. This is reminiscent of the unpaid armies of Menelik, who relied on ordinary communities forced to provide provisions for the army. This dire practice highlights the government’s inability to provide for its forces while in contrast prioritizing lavish spending on federal and regional palaces costing billions of Birr. It is a cruel irony that the most vulnerable are made to support the armed forces who are not even there to protect rather harass and kill them.  This brazen exploitation of communities at their breaking point underscores the complete erosion of ethical governance.

9. Obsessed with Beautification Over Basics

The PP government’s priorities seem completely detached from the urgent needs of its people. Instead of addressing the poverty ravaging the country, their focus is on resorts, parks, and remodeling high streets, often at the expense of demolishing buildings along main streets as part of the so-called Corridor Project. The Resort Project, the Caakkaa Palace Project, and the Corridor Project are the brainchild of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, whose obsession with aesthetics—beautiful offices, resorts, parks, high streets, and palaces—takes precedence over tangible projects that could lift communities out of poverty. The latest twist in this beautification campaign is an absurd directive requiring town dwellers across the country (under PP control) to turn on night lights for the sake of better aesthetics—needless to say, an avoidable expense for the poor. One might wonder if he’s operating from a completely different planet!

10. Master Plan Redux

What brought the PP government to power in 2018 was the Oromo Protest, sparked by opposition to the Master Plan, which was designed to displace thousands—if not millions—of Oromos in central Oromia (Tulaama) around the capital. Has the Master Plan been halted? Not at all. In fact, it is advancing at an even faster pace, camouflaged under various new names. Just take a look at who now occupies the outskirts around Finfinnee in Oromia, areas that were focal points of the Oromo Protest, such as Koyyee Faccee and its environs. Existing condominiums and newly erected makeshift shelters are now occupied predominantly by non-Oromos, who have been compensated for being relocated out of the capital due to the Corridor Project. Meanwhile, the overwhelming majority of evicted Oromos remain without adequate or any compensation as the capital has expanded more than fivefold over the past half-century. This does not even account for the historical injustices tied to the capital’s establishment on indigenous Oromo land. Non-Oromos often receive relatively better compensation, while the native Oromos are persistently treated as an afterthought. This profound socio-political and economic injustice extends far beyond Finfinnee. It is alive and well in other areas of Oromia, such as the proposed Adama-Mojo Gadaa Super City Project, and the Abbuseeraa International Airport Project near Bishoftu, both developmental projects in the process of evicting the natives with inadequate compensations. These projects serve only Middle Eastern investors and non-Oromo capitalists, with a clear intent to exploit Oromo resources and perpetuate social engineering to marginalize Oromos further. In short, more and more Oromos in central Oromia are being evicted and dispossessed even today under the guise of development. This has been an ongoing process for about a century and a half. The Oromo people are not opposed to planned development and urbanization; rather, they object to projects that neglect their needs and drive them into abject poverty. In any planned development, relocated individuals should, at a minimum, be stakeholders in the investments on their land, ensuring their lives are improved and that they are never left worse off than what they and their dependents could have sustained from their farmland. We will explore this crucial issue more comprehensively soon, but for now, this brief mention suffices. The discussion of mass eviction and destitution, along with the social engineering targeting the Oromos of central Oromia, should not overshadow the broader socio-economic challenges faced by the rest of Oromia; from Walloo to Borana, Dirre Dhawaa to Qeellem. The region, especially its peripheries, remains largely neglected, with limited access to basic infrastructure, healthcare, and other essential services. This neglect persists because, for the PP government in general, and Prime Minister Abiy in particular, the sole focus of development is the capital city, intended as a showcase for international organizations. The capital city consumes nearly 80% of the country’s electric energy and houses almost 90% of business licenses, highlighting the stark imbalance in development compared to other parts of the empire. Despite Oromia’s abundance of natural resources, the developmental imbalance is further exacerbated by the systematic impoverishment of the Oromo people, who remain deprived of control over their own wealth and self-governance—an issue at the very heart of their ongoing struggle for self-determination.


We hope the above enumerated and easily digestible points provide a glimpse of what the PP government has baked an unpalatable reality for its citizens—or rather, its subjects. Bear in mind, this is merely the tip of the iceberg, so to speak.

We have yet to address other pressing matters, such as the longstanding severe impact of urbanization on rural Oromo communities, the destruction of the environment and biodiversity, the risks posed to public health by unregulated and unsecured industrial hazards, the exploitation of Oromia’s precious metals and minerals, and many other issues of critical importance to the Oromo people.

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