In my country of residence, the United States, when a large building project is launched, there is a ceremony held to start the process. This is known as groundbreaking. It occurs when the place selected for building has been cleared and prepared for what is to come. The event is attended by officials of the major groups and companies who will be participating in the construction. They each take a shovel in hand and dig up a small amount of soil to indicate their commitment to the undertaking. This initial act also proves that any obstacles that might have prevented the project from proceeding have been removed. Usually a few speeches are made. There is a bit offanfare, sometimes music. Then later the big equipment and the labor crew are brought in, and the real construction begins.
The joint meeting of the IFLO (Islamic Front for the Liberation of Oromiya), UOPLF (United Oromo People’s Liberation Front), OLF (Oromo Liberation Front), and OLC (Oromo Liberation Council) held this past July reminds me of a groundbreaking process.
Last May, in great frustration, I wrote in The Turning Point #2: “Unfortunately, the Oromo have not yet realized that we have to build Oromia as a shared enterprise, recognizing that Oromia, like any large society, is made up of diverse peoples. The political groups who say they seek self-determination have not yet declared an intent or taken steps to adopt a joint vision or a joint venture.”
Thanks be to Waqa that this statement I made is no longer true. The major Oromo political groups who seek Oromo self determination have met, reconciled where necessary, negotiated with each other and have now officially declared an intent and have taken steps to adopt a joint vision and a joint venture.
The first products of that joint effort were a Memorandum of Understanding, reached on July 25, 2000 which was issued with a Statement of Understanding among Oromo Liberation Fronts and a Declaration of Peace and Reconciliation. Granted, these documents do not announce Oromo independence. Think about it, no persons sitting anywhere in the world could do that for the Oromo in one stroke. The Oromo population must be included in the process. But what these organizations did was quite important. They announced their commitment to pursue liberation together. I personally think that these agreements reached among Oromo groups sitting together have the markings of a real breakthrough in the Oromo national movement. It might we I be seen as a groundbreaking for the building of Oromia.
I, like most Oromo nationalists I presume, was skeptical when I first heard the news that the heads of the independent Oromo groups had met to form an agreement. Meetings among Oromo political groups and fronts have happened many times in the past. I was afraid to have too much hope that this coming to ether was the answer I had been seeking, because that much hope can lead to crushing disappointment. I had been disappointed before, and I was afraid that it would happen again.
This one looks different. Not only does it have all the major players signing together, it also has a call for all the minor players to join in the next round (a founding congress). It looks like the real thing. Of course, our information about the process is not yet complete. This model has to be tested. It is not clear how the different parts of the society are supposed to relate to the Coordinating Body of the umbrella organization or how we are supposed to fit into the final scenario in order to participate and to contribute. Do we have to be members of the member organizations to relate to or to take part in its activities? Will it have activities, apart from what the member organizations do? What is its relation to non-political groups that exist or that might be formed, such as Oromo churches, mosques, scholarly or professional associations, pressure groups or communities? It is known to all of us that neither this nor any effort can succeed unless all the interest groups in the nation are part of the designing and construction process.
I have read these papers very closely and as far as I am concerned, the actions taken by this meetin~ and the outcome of this meeting are a cause for celebration. It provides a chance for us to put the past history of inactivity behind us and to mark a new beginning. If Oromia is to be free, it has to begin somewhere, sometime. We can decide to make this the point when we turn around as a people, putting all of our excuses behind us. When I began writing The Turning Point in January, it was clear that the situation of the Oromo needed to turn around and was ready to turn around. Perhaps this event can be made into a true “turning point.” Whether it is or not cannot be determined by the leaders who met. That is now up to the rest of us.
I personally think that most Oromo nationalists are willing to come together to take action, but they are actors who have not yet seen an appropriate opening for their input or their contribution. While waiting for that opening, most of us have experienced great frustration, followed by rage and, finally, paralysis. I myself was guilty of this for the past seven years. Meanwhile, we have all become expert in offering excuses for why what needs to be done has not been done. We have developed a culture of national inactivity. It is true that initially political inactivity was forced upon Oromos at a time when we were really eager to take action. Those who did act, even in the most cautious fashion, were stomped on by Ethiopians. The rest took note and did nothing. Such a response is the logical and calculated consequence of terrorism. That is precisely why the Tigray government continues to stomp on any sign of life among Oromo nationalists: to silence the rest of us. But we have now swallowed and extended that fear and concern into an excuse for inertia. And we have also gotten in each other’s way, blocking and criticizing what the other does. We have accepted inaction from each other as a norm. My feeling is that most
The matter of unity among the Oromo is the most urgent that faces us now. I do not make this assertion lightly. Many burning issues have confronted the Oromo people this year:
Each one of these topics deserves a separate piece of its own, just to explore the full extent and implications of the horrors. Even in light of these outrages, I still say that unity is our most pressing matter. Why? Because only through unity can we join together to put a final stop to all the brutalities and indignities we face. The outrageous affronts, both the ones that have struck us this year and those that our adversaries have not yet dreamed up, come to us because of our position in the Ethiopian empire. As long as we are subjugated, these things - and worse - will continue to happen to us. That is why the most important priority for us is not to choose which one of these fires to put out first. Our highest priority is to find a way to act together so that such injuries cannot be inflicted upon us in the first place. We must spend our energy to eliminate the relationship that makes such injuries possible. That is the burning issue for the Oromo.
Now we may finally have a chance to resolve precisely that issue. Now the leaders who me t in July appear to have gone to the heart of the matter and have addressed and solved the matter of Oromo unity. The more I have watched and heard about this development among Oromo leaders, the more hopeful I have become. The heads and delegates of our very contentious Oromo nationalist organizations have found the courage and made the opportunity to establish a vital connection that enables the rest of us to build our nation together. This may turn out to be the best news that Oromo nationa first have heard in this decade, and, if they take advantage of the opening, in our lifetime.
The Declaration of Peace and Reconciliation among IFLO and OLF is a remarkable document. Maybe non-Oromo will not see much in this, but Oromos take reconciliation very seriously and any Oromo can immediately see that the paper grapples with a valued Oromo principle. In all sincerity and humility, feuding parties have reconciled and put the past behind them. It reads, “We are terribly sorry for the lives lost and the properties destroyed and the setback caused to the Oromo struggle during the civil war and ask the Oromo people for forgiveness.”
It is a genuine achievement. We should support it. How? After this kind of step has been made, we should all try to avoid dredging up the past and reviving the bitterness that has shackled our movement for so long. The accomplishment in reaching reconciliation is an example of what I mean by clearing the terrain where construction is to take place, thus giving the rest of us a proper ground to build upon.
It was crucial to have a place to meet. I do not think that Eritrea for a single moment will regret what they have done for the Oromo by giving them accommodation. They have done the right thing. We should welcome their courtesy. It is in their own best interest and it is in our best interest, too. Once the Oromos gain secure access and use of their own population and resources, the Ethiopians will have little to throw against the Eritreans in battle or economically. The Eritreans are wise to realize this.
The Ethiopians will not be happy with this turn of events. They are quite comfortable with the arrangement they have had for 100 years. Oromo self-determination will mean that the Ethiopians have to learn new ways to exist also. They can be expected to resist this prospect quite vigorously, but they must get used to it. We only want or them what we want for ourselves. It will be good for them, like us, to find dignity in self-sufficiency.
The outside world will need to be told that a new player is coming onto the scene. They have known us as Ethiopians, Kenyans, Somalis and others. We are Oromos. Our unity is the best thing that could happen to us and to Northeast Africa. We have been silenced for 100 years. We have been hidden, humiliated, beaten, raped, renamed, reeducated, converted, enslaved, press-ganged for war, slaughtered, abused, harassed, tortured, evacuated, starved, bought, sold , resettled, ridiculed, villagized, mutilated, and exploited. In other words, we have been colonized. If this new development among Oromo forces is what I think it is, that era is over. The Oromo are uniting. We are back.
Looking at where we can go and what we can do as a united people, I can only say that we do not even know the limits to our vast capacity. We do know that the better half of our society, our women, have not yet been politically active. What they have done, culturally and socially, however, has preserved our nationhood by saving our language and passing our values on to our children through instruction and by example. When the women do begin to act in unison, letting the rest of us now what is in their best interest and how they want to see things done, we had all better sit up and take notice, partnering with them in fashioning a future Oromia in which they will take pleasure.
The same is true of our youth; their vast capacity is unexplored. There is a big gap in experience among them because of our colonization. The ones in Oromia have suffered disproportionately. They have gone to war, lost their limbs, their comrades, their freedom, their chance to marry, but not their identity. They have labored under extreme conditions but have not been allowed to enjoy the fruits of their own labor. The Oromo youth who have escaped to save their lives in Europe, Australia. and the United States face the other extreme. They have found freedom, but have lost their identity, spending their nights in discos and their days hanging out on the computer, surfing the Internet and searching for a place to fit in. The needs of these sectors of youth are compelling, but very different. Their experiences challenge us. When these young people become a part of what is going on in the Oromo movement, the rest of us must be ready to accommodate them. When they find a formula for Oromia that will enable them to realize both the freedom and the identity that they need, we had better take heed, partnering with them in fashioning a future Oromia in which they, too, will take pleasure. With these young people shaping up the future as they see fit, Oromia will be a vibrant place where Oromos are at home in the global village.
We all must work to make this vision a reality. Everyone has to be a part of that producing force. In my case, for example, I have to prepare my topic and then discipline myself to sit down to write. To be satisfied that I have made myself understood and to produce one piece can take me days. But we all must do what we can to contribute to the fate of Oromia, to communicate, to identif5i what must be done to make it a place where we will be comfortable, to suggest how that is to be accomplished, and then to work toward making it happen.
We have to listen to one another. It looks like the men who reached this Memorandum of understanding, have begun the process of listening to one another. That is an excellent example for the rest of us. Even had that been their only contribution, it would have been a positive one. We already know very well what is wrong with each other. We have spent ten years and longer focused on little else. Now let us focus on what capacities we have amongst ourselves and figure out how to best use them.
What have these Oromo organizations who met actually done for us? They have not solved all of our problems, but they have done enough. They have done what was necessary. They have gone beyond sitting around with different wounds complaining about who was hurt the most, who suffers the most, who was spared. They put resentments behind them and they designed a modest plan that each could sign onto with his own signature. That could not have been easy for any of them. Each one of these groups has a claim on the movement - the first to fight, the most long-running effort, the biggest force, the largest membership, the moral high ground, the most faithful to the people’s wishes, the most likely to gain allies, the most recognition, the most supporters, the most money, the greatest potential, the most grievances - - whatever. They will probably write very different histories about how this meeting came about. .We should welcome all accounts. Whatever strengths and weaknesses these organizations brought to the table are our own strengths and weaknesses as a nation right now. Reading their agreements is like looking in the mirror. This is who we are; this is where we start. The place is prepared. We cannot ask more than that.
I would have loved to listen and observe the proceedings like a fly buzzing around the room unnoticed, going from one participant to another, judging their preparedness, their attitudes, learning their caliber and their determination from their contribution. I have heard stories that came out of Toronto about this process. It is an interesting event in our national history.
The most significant part of the story is yet to be written, however. That is the role that the rest of us wiII play from now on. If we choose to make the cooperation of these groups into an opening for ourselves, we can all make history. If we take responsibility or moving their effort forwa rd, we will succeed in defining our own a airs and managing them. If we do nothing, their effort will fail. We should seize the moment. We have an opportunity to determine our destiny and to set our own course. Building a democratic Oromia is an-act of peace that should gain wide support. For us it is also an act of survival.
As I write this, I have learned that more papers are coming from this meeting, including a Consensus 2000 and a name for the newly-united ULFO, United Liberation Forces of Oromia. I understand that the leaders are still meeting and that other papers will be issued as well. When these papers come, they deserve a careful though~l review from all of us, with an eye toward how we can proceed from here. I will respond to those when they arrive, as everybody else should, too.
This Memorandum of Understanding among the Oromo Liberation Forces gives us a point from which to initiate our work together. Let us accept with gratitude that it is the best that these aging revolutionaries can produce. They have done what they could do. It is not a perfect job, but they have done what they needed to do to make it possible for us to build. They have cleared and broken the ground. So, let the construction of Oromia begin.
By H. Q. Loltu
P.O. Box 10192
Rockville, MD 20849
U.S.A