The TPLF/EPRDF illegitimacy in Oromia and the Oromo struggle

By Leenjiso Horo

January 4, 2018

Since 2014, the Oromo popular peaceful method of resistance has been building momentum against the fascist Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) regime in the guise of Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). The Oromo are taking collective actions of mass revolutionary struggle against the illegal occupation. Unable to stop this, the TPLF has engaged in mobilization of its army, security, police force, and death squad in order to crush this popular resistance. These mobilized forces have been killing, imprisonment, and torturing men, women, children, elders and intellectuals in Oromia. The TPLF/EPRDF believes that its killing, imprisonment and torture as a sign of its strength. On the contrary, it is not a sign of strength; it is a sign of weakness, frustration and despair. In fact, these are the evidence that TPLF/EPRDF is in a deep crisis, a crisis that it cannot recovery from.

Another point to take note of is this: the Tigrean regime of TPLF/EPRDF has no right to be in Oromia. The reason is simple. It has no consent of the Oromo people. It is an occupying illegal force. Being an occupying force, it does not possess political legitimacy in Oromia. And for this the Oromo people do not owe it respect, obligation and loyalty. Since it does not possess political legitimacy, it does not have legitimate authority to govern. It is only a democratic government, a government of the people, for the people, being elected by the people in free and fair election is a legitimate government. Simply put, a democratic government drives its political authority from the will of the people in a fair and free election. Such government has political power to exercise. TPLF/EPRDF has neither political legitimacy nor legitimate political authority to be in Oromia. Its existence in Oromia is not based by the consent of the Oromo people but by its willing and ability to viciously and violently subjugating our people, and by its means to imprison, torture and kill anyone who questions its legitimacy. Hence, it has no political power to make and enforce laws in Oromia. Its laws are illegal, null and void. It is only in the power by brute use of force, coercion, fascistic authoritarian cruel rule, killings, and intimidation.

Now the determination of the Oromo people to fight for liberation, freedom, liberty, justice and equality of the people in Oromia and in addition the despair and hopelessness of the fascist TPLF/EPRDF, have created a revolutionary situation, as Vladimir Lenin described it a century ago. In Lenin’s words, “for a revolution to take place it is not enough for the exploited and oppressed masses to realize the impossibility of living in the old way, and demand changes; for a revolution to take place it is essential that the exploiters should not be able to live and rule in the old way.” Yes, it was long ago that the Oromo people realized the impossibility of living in the old way and demanded change. The TPLF/EPRDF understanding that it cannot live and rule in the old way, then it resorted to rule Oromia by military command posts. The purpose of command posts was to make Oromia a free shooting and killing field for the TPLF army and Liyyu police. Along with this, it has been trying to organize and sponsor ethnic conflict within Oromia and adjacent regions of Oromia against the Oromo people. Its policy is and always has been to turn these ethnic groups who have been living among the Oromo people for centuries as brotherhoods and sisterhoods against the Oromo people. The purpose is to create war of every ethnic group against every ethnic group not just only in Oromia, but in the whole of Ethiopia. This is the TPLF’s choice as the last resort to extend its life. On the contrary, the Oromo people as well as whole peoples in Ethiopian empire have rejected this dangerous policy of TPLF. With this rejection, the revolution to dismantle and send TPLF into the dustbin of history has just begun.

Furthermore, Lenin goes on “It is only when the ‘lower classes’ do not want to live in the old way and the ‘upper classes’ cannot carry on in the old way that the revolution can triumph.” Today, the Oromo struggle is at this stage. This means the Oromo people resolutely expressed in action and in words that they do not want to be ruled in the old way and demanding the TPLF to leave Oromia and leave it now. This has already brought psychological death upon the TPLF and its puppet collaborators. TPLF is now standing only on one leg. Its final collapse depends upon armed struggle. Hence, it is time for the Oromo nationalists and patriots to carryout armed struggle across Oromia, encircling TPLF’s armies in cities, towns, and villages. This should be accompanied with cutting TPLF off access to Oromia’s natural resources, cash crops and food crops and among others. These actions should be followed, by boycotts of paying taxes. Such are the action that will bring victory over the enemy to be realized faster.

In the end, what is clear is this, TPLF/EPRDF came to power with aggressive violence to conquer Oromia and plunder its resources. In order to achieve these twin goals, it has been committing genocide, crime against humanity and ethnic cleansing against the Oromo people. Hence, we are politically and morally justified to use violent force, in our self-defense. And it is incumbent on us to use offensive violence—to defeat this fascist TPLF led regime that has been using violence or the threat of violence against our people. Use of violence against enemy’s violence is self-defense and legitimate. In contrast, we strongly condemn the use of violence against un-armed civilians, no matter what the context. At the same time, we assert the political and moral right of forceful resistance to dismantle colonial occupation of Oromia-the TPLF and its police, military, and security forces and its institutions. It is immoral for us not to defend our people and our country from this enemy’s attack. History has shown time and again that no national liberation struggle in history has ever succeeded without forcefully defeating the enemy and neither will ours. With this understanding, it is a duty incumbent on all Oromo political organizations to unite and take up arms with resolve and determination to fight against the illegal TPLF/EPDRF occupation, aggression, colonialism, plunder, and hegemony. This means the Tigrean occupation force must be swept away from Oromia with the system that promote it, to be replaced by free and independent Oromia.

Oromia shall be free!