The Next Chapter of Struggle Jawar Mohammed

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THE NEXT
CHAPTER OF THE STRUGGLE
Jawahar Mohammed
February 2023
ChapterTheNextStruggle
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION. .................................................. ..........................2 1) CHAPTERS OF
THE STRUGGLE. .................................................. ...........3 1.1. Revival
Chapter .................... 3 1.2. Reconstruction Phase ………………………………… 3
1.3 . . . . Chapter on State Formation ....... 5 1.4. Chapter Ascending
Power……………………………………. .... 13
2) CHAPTERS OF THE OROMO STRUGGLE AND THE RESPONSE OF THE

GOVERNMENTS OF ETHIOPIA. .................................................. ...................15 3) QUESTIONS
AND RESULTS OF THE FOUR CHAPTER. .................................................. .............................................
21 4) STRUGGLE AFTER THE YEAR OF POWER
22
5) FAILED TRANSITION - WHY ARE THE PROBLEMS IN CHAPTER

4 ? .................................................. .................................................. ............ 25 5.1. Problems
Caused by Failure to Consolidate Power
5.1.1. Power is seized by socialmovement .............................. 26
5.1.2. Lackofpsychologicalpreparedness ......................... 28
5.1.3. Lackofmeritocracy&inexperience............ 30 Contradictory views and plans
5.1.4. of the incumbent leadership and expectations of the Oromo struggle
camp .................................................. .................................................. .................................................
5.2. Shift Of Power From North to South
32
5.2.1.
Problems that impair legitimization……………………………………. ............33 Power
5.2.2. preservation. .................................................. .....33 5.3. What Needs to Be Fixed?. .......................................34
Narrativeadjustment .................................................. ............................35 6) CHAPTER 5 THE STRUGGLE .......................................44
5.3.1. 6.1. Peacemaking .................................................. ...47 6.2. Managing Internal Diversity...................... 49 6.3.
Improving Our Relations With Nations. ............... 51 6.4. Strengthening Foreign Relations ...............58 Relations with neighboring
countries .................................................. .....................60 Relations with the West .................................................. ..........................
63 Relations with China………………. .................................................. .......................................64 Relations of countries vying for
dominance in the East African region 65
6.4.1.
6.4.2.
6.4.3.
6.4.4.
existing
6.5. StrengtheningSecurityForces .............................. 66 6.6.
EconomicStablishment ............................................ 68 6.7
KnowledgeProductionandDissemination
.................................................. .................................................. ....................................72
7. CONCLUSION. .................................................. ........................................... 74
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INTRODUCTION
The struggle of the Oromo people has gone through many different stages
and situations from time to time. And right now we are in a new chapter of
struggle. Especially since 2018, it is necessary to analyze the chapter of the
struggle in depth to protect the victories achieved and overcome the dangers
we face.
What is the difference between this chapter of the struggle after 2018 and
the previous ones? What’s okay, what’s wrong? What have we moved on to
as a nation and country, and where are we going? it is very important to look
at it carefully. This paper, based on points made during recent public
consultations in the United States and Europe, focuses on analyzing these
issues and pointing out measures that could be beneficial if implemented.
What is the current state of the Oromo people and their struggle?
What has this struggle achieved so far? Where might she go for the future?
What is the best way to minimize the risk? She aimed to find answers to the
questions.
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1) CHAPTERS OF THE STRUGGLE
The Oromo struggle, like any national struggle, has passed through four
phases and is entering the fifth.
The chapters of the national struggle are:
1. Revival Chapter, 2. Reconstruction
Chapter, 3. State Formation Chapter
and 4. Ascendancy to Power Chapter 5.
Democratization Chapter )
Let us look at the first four chapters of the struggle one by one and return to
the next chapter (5th) later.
1.1. The Revival Chapter
A people must first of all create a collective consciousness to overcome

collective oppression. This means that the People must believe together that
they have a common identity (culture, history, language), common friends
and enemies as well as common oppressed and liberated.
When an oppressive regime forcibly occupies a people, it is a well-known

strategy to destroy the collective identity of the people so that the people do not
rebel and resist the occupation. The same situation had happened to the Oromo
people. When he started his struggle, the first thing he did was to awaken each other.
Since the 1960's, there has been a strong campaign to strengthen the
people's culture, history and language, and to make them aware of the same
oppression and the same destiny.
The Afran Qalloo movement, the Maccaa Tuulamaa movement, the Baalee
movement and the Western Protestant movement as well as the opening of
Radio Mogadishu are the beginning of the awakening. The work done by the
various bands and the radio is the most important part of this revival. The
awakening work paved the way for the next chapter, which was constructive.
1.2. Reconstruction Phase
Once the oppressive regime has subjugated a people, it takes steps to

prevent collective action by destroying the common things it has so that it
does not rebel against it. Its common symbols and emblems, culture and language
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and dismantles its social and administrative structures. Therefore, the second
phase in the national struggle is to move on to build the people they have
started to awaken. This is to make a common logo, symbol, stand and structure.
The intention of the oppressive regime is to destroy the culture, language,
history, symbols and common structures of the oppressed people so that the
people will lose the status of nationhood. Therefore, the reconstruction work is
to counter the measures of the oppressive regime and enable the people to
acquire national status.
Since the aim of the national struggle is to make the people and its territory
congruent and liberate them from foreign oppression, one of the successful
tasks of the nationalist project is to rebuild (establish) the identity of the people
and land of the country. the people as having one nation and one country
(imagined community).
The reconstruction work in the Oromo struggle began in the late 1960's and
early 1970's. To re-make the Odaa the national emblem, to proclaim the Gada
as a common system, to establish a common political organization (ABO), to
formulate an alphabet to write his language, to start media (newspapers and
magazines, as well as radio). giving and boasting the name of Oromia are
other reconstruction efforts.
Despite the harsh conditions of the oppressive regime, the reconstruction work
took place in the 1970's and 1980's in a rapid form and with great sacrifices.
The name of Oromummaa, which had been stripped away and replaced by a
name of hatred and the nation did not call itself, became the legal name of the
nation. In the late 1980's, it was also understood by foreign intellectuals that
the so-called Oromo nation was being rebuilt and the country of Oromia was
being hatched in the minds of the nation. Since then, it has become clear even
to those who despise the Oromo struggle that it is impossible to continue
Ethiopia by denying and dispersing the identity of this nation. The 1974 cultural
exhibition in Finfinnee took this construction of people's minds and hearts to
the next level.
After they awakened the people and created a common culture, language, history,
emblem and country in their minds, the next chapter was the one that was made in their minds
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actualizing the imagined. The revival and construction work was somewhat
successful and paved the way for the next chapter.
1.3. Chapter on State Formation
The aim of the national struggle is to build a state with a nation and its
boundaries. The reason why a country needs to be established is because a
people needs to coordinate structures and organizations to advance their
common interests. Of all structures, the state is the highest form of social
organization that organizes collective action and promotes common interests.
In addition, it is the government system that violates the rights and interests of
a people.
Therefore, the aim of a nation's struggle is to occupy the system that harms its
interests and change it to its advantage or to destroy or break away from the
existing system of government and build a new system.
It is for this reason that the conflict of whether to build an independent country
or occupy the existing one and protect the interests of the Oromo was born
early in the morning. Although the founders of the Oromo struggle early
understood the importance of the state system, the debate arose early on
whether to occupy the existing system and use it for our own interests or to
break away from it and build our own alone. Although these differences created
divisions among the leadership and led to the abandonment of the struggle,
work continued on the idea of 'self-determination' This meant that both sides
agreed on the establishment of a structure called Oromia for the joint
advancement of the interests of the Oromo people.
Just as the Oromo govern for tomorrow by saying “let the matter govern” when they are in
trouble in resolving a serious conflict, the method of governing this demand played an
incalculable role in saving the struggle from spreading the idea that would have exposed it to great destruction.
After these achievements, in 1991, Oromia, which was being built on the minds of
the people and books, appeared on the ground and the goal of building a nation and
making it a system of government succeeded. The alphabet was researched and
selected by scholars and taught in secret became the language of work and education.
The formation of Oromia brought about three major transformations that paved
the way for the nation's struggle in the coming years. They are; Mother tongue
literacy, Bureaucracy and
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It is urbanization. These three factors quickly strengthened the nationalism

and strengthened the struggle to move to the fourth chapter. Nationalism is
said to have been born in Europe in the 19th century as a result of economic,
political, and socio-cultural transformations that brought about literacy,
urbanization and the rapid spread of bureaucracy.
To elaborate on these three major changes;
a) Mother tongue literacy - One of the requirements for a people to reach

the level of a nation is to have a common language.
The use of the language for communication, learning and working by the
nation plays an important role in the development of the nationalism of the nation.
A people can only develop solidarity if they are dependent on each other by
blood relationship and land settlement. This means that an incoming threat
may directly harm the members of the group and they attack together to fight
it off (direct risk to members of the group). This form of nature, however,
works for a population group of a limited number and geographical settlement.
A large number of people living in a vast area can be shocked and cooperate
with each other if the relationships and bonds are psychological rather than
physical.
Learning and reading in one's own language is one of the greatest ways for
a large number of people to get to know each other and help each other for
common interests. In Europe in the 19th century, during the industrial
revolution, the invention of the printing press and the expansion of
manufacturing led to the migration of people from the countryside to the
cities, paving the way for the spread of literacy and nationalism . . . . Empires
that were being built by suppressing many nations in one place collapsed
and many independent countries were born.
After 1991, the Oromo had a great opportunity in this regard. The introduction
of self-language learning and the expansion of education suddenly created a
new generation of self-language nationalism. Data from the World Bank
indicate that after 1991, the Primary School Enrollment Rate increased rapidly.
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Figure 1: Percentage of children in the country who are enrolled in primary school
( Gross primary school enrollment ratio)
In addition, the literacy rate of the total population increased rapidly after 1991, as shown in the next
figure. Data from the World Bank at the time showed that the literacy rate was only 12% in 1974 when
Haile Selassie fell and it was estimated to reach 44.5% in 2012 when the Qeerroo struggle was planned
and 50% when the struggle continued.
Figure 2: Expansion of Education from 1997 to 2012
As can be seen from the figure above, during the previous regime, especially in the year
in the empire, Oromo were largely out of school. Even the educated few rejected that nationalism (which
the rulers wanted to accept) and developed their own Oromo nationalism. After 1991, because the work
of awakening and building Oromo nationalism had strengthened it to some extent, it was difficult to
suppress it and it was necessary to allow Oromo and other ethnic groups to study and work in their own
language. In addition, the system
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worked to expand education coverage (although poor quality) with Western aid.
In 1974, education coverage in Ethiopia is estimated to be 12.0 percent, 22.4
percent in 1994, 29.5 percent in 2001 and over 40 percent by Estimates show a
first-class Gross Enrollment Ratio of 91% and a Net Enrollment Ratio of 71%.
Although these figures are doubtful because they are high enough, if supported
by other social indicators, literacy rates increased rapidly during the 1990s and
2000s
it is not to be denied.
The opportunity for widespread public literacy is the use of Oromo and Oromo
language professionals and teachers. Before Oromo became the language of
education, most of the teachers in Oromia were foreigners. The change in the
language of instruction forced many teachers to become Oromo. This led to a
common identity for both teachers and students. In the rapid training to address
the shortage of teachers who can teach in Oromo, teachers from several districts
gathered at the training institute and helped to be further sharpened in nationalism
was.
This mass literacy was implemented at a time when the three phases of the
struggle, namely awakening, building and nation building, were being carried out
and Oromo nationalism had reached all corners of the country.
How can this spread of self-language learning have a transformative and

irreversible impact on the Oromo community and its future destiny?
As mentioned above, identity in illiterate communities is shaped by environmental

and relational events such as family, community and geographic ties. The
exposure of Oromo children in all parts of Oromia to the same educational policy
(curriculum) led to the development of a strong collective national identity and
ideology.
Literacy, meanwhile, facilitated the rapid spread of nationalist ideals, making face/
physical contact unnecessary for awareness work. It also dramatically enhanced
the ability of society to record and transmit history, literature and mythology. The
history and collective memory of the nation was passed down through folklore,
literature and the media
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registration is acceptable for storage and distribution. Education therefore

increased the ability of society to transmit and perpetuate nationalist ideals
and strengthened social contacts between people who were not related by
blood and did not know each other physically.
This means that after twenty years, the alphabet became literate many times
over among the literate Oromo. For the first time, millions of Oromo people
living hundreds of kilometers apart learned the same story from the same
book and began to grow up mentally connected. In addition, they all grew up
with the same anthem every morning, affirming their love and allegiance to
the common country of Oromia. After this, the generation of the alphabet that
revived the Qeerroo movement is the generation that was sharpened and
raised in this way. Without the coincidence of self-language learning and the
spread of education, it would not have been in vain to ignite and succeed the
Qeerroo movement.
b) Bureaucratization - Following the legal recognition of Oromia on the

ground, an administrative structure was established. From the region to the
village, this structure had to be filled with workers. Bureaucracy is this
administrative structure and staff. How is the structure that Oromia started
governing different from the previous one? Isn't the administrative structure
filled with employees from top to bottom? Questions need to be raised.
During the pre-Dargii regime, the existing structure did not work in Oromo. It
was not talied by the Oromo. Since there is no such thing as a structure in
Oromia, all the districts inhabited by the Oromo are directly referred to as
central Ethiopia. With the creation of Oromia, the regions inhabited by the
Oromo were formed alone and began to be called directly to the Oromo center.
For the first time, the Oromo leadership began to be called upon for each
other. His calling became for the state. However, although the regime is
indirectly controlled by the TPLF and the Oromia Regional State does not
have full power, together the work started among the Oromo leadership and
an interconnected Oromo bureaucracy was invented whose calling was for
Oromia. The practice of bureaucracy in the name of Oromia administration
laid the foundation for the next true and strong administration.
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The Oromia bureaucracy grew in numbers and reached nearly half a million
by the end of the Wayane regime. This means that 500,000 Oromo rulers
were not only created but also hired. This created a new class for the nation.
This class further strengthened the strength of the Oromo nation and gave us
a strong internal ally in the struggle that erupted in In those early days, the
Oromo struggle was mostly carried out outside the regime because the
number of Oromo in the regime was very small and that was low awareness.
During the Qeerroo struggle, however, external uprisings were also used by
those within the regime. This external and internal cooperation played a major
role in accelerating the victory.
On the other hand, the increase in the number of employed Oromo created
a new social class. It means that the class and its future are intertwined with
the Oromo and Oromia. This class is ripped off by those who dominate the
country. In other words, the strategy of indirect rule
Although the TPLF uses it creates confusion among the peasants, it is directly
visible to the bureaucracy. Hence, ethnic discrimination directly harms this
class.
For example, if an Oromo and a Tigrean graduate from the same university
together and start working in the government, they will be at different levels
of life within a few years. This made the damage being done as a nation felt
at the individual level and facilitated people to join the struggle not only with
their nationalism but also with personal enthusiasm and jealousy. Overall,
the formation of the Oromia bureaucracy facilitated the Oromo elite to practice
collective work, and the people in the regime were motivated not only by
nationalism but also by personal jealousy and envy to weaken the oppressive
regime not only from the outside but also from the inside.
c) Urbanization - It is very important to look at the form in which the city was
created in Oromo. The former is for commercial reasons. Cities like Jimma
and Dirre Dhawaa were created in this way.
The settlements of the Oromo kings, for example, such as Jimma, Naqamtee,
etc., rapidly developed into cities. The second is the cities built in connection
with the invasion of Minilik. After Minilik, the camps of the Haylasilase army
developed into cities. The Oromo sell these cities to them and buy from them
and not live in them
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we chose. Even the district governors, who were Oromo, would provide government services in
the city during the day and return to their homes in the countryside in the evening.
This was because it had a push factor and not a pull factor.
Entering the city was seen as a diminution of one's identity and dignity. Instead, it was also a
place where he was perceived as 'Amharic' or renouncing his own religion. The cities were not
attractive to our people except to oppress them because they were the seat of the Oromo army
of oppression, killing and looting, and because they had a culture and language that he did not
speak. If a person worked in the countryside and acquired wealth, he would go to the city and
leave the farm and go into business. The Oromo, however, were pushed by the urban conditions
and the rich raised their houses in the countryside and increased their cattle and very few entered
the city except for the western kill.
Due to these historical influences, the number of Oromo living in the cities of Oromia was very
small. There were very few Oromo residents in the city. As shown in Figure two (2) below, this
situation changed rapidly after 1991, with the percentage of the population living in urban areas
of Oromia showing a significant change.
Why? Because the things that previously pushed the Oromo out of the city are less and less
attractive.
Table 1: 2018 to 2015 Urban Population

1984 1994 2007 2015
% urban population 1.7 4.6 9.2 21
Cities with more than 7 17 32 46
20,000 inhabitants
The population of medium-sized cities in Oromia and the percentage of urban population increased
rapidly between 1994 and For example, it is estimated that the population of the city of Adair grew
by 87% during this period, while that of the city of Dirre Dhawaa increased by 84%.
Urban Population can grow for two reasons. One by children born in the city. The second is by
people who have migrated from rural areas to cities. During the above years, Ethiopia's population
increased by an average of less than 3% while the urban population increased by 5.4%. In
addition, the number of children born to an urban mother is lower than that of a rural mother,
PAGE _
children born in cities cannot be a sufficient reason for the huge population
increase in cities.
Therefore, the main contributor to the increase in urban population is migration

from rural to urban areas. The majority of the rural population in Oromia is Oromo,
so it can be said that the majority of rural to urban migrants are Oromo.
The administrative structures were occupied by the Oromo, and the Oromo
language was taught and practiced, which attracted the Oromo to the city. With
the increasing shortage of rural agricultural land, young people were forced to
enter the cities to trade or be employed instead of waiting to inherit their father's
land. The fact that cities are becoming places to look for work is another reason
for the increasing number of Oromo in the city. These circumstances led to a rapid
increase in the number of Oromo who migrated to the cities.
During the Dargu and Nugusa periods, the Oromo struggle relied on the
countryside as there were few Oromo living in the cities. As the number of Oromo
living in the city increased, the conditions became more favorable for the struggle
in the city. This increase in the number of Oromo in the city played a major role in
the later struggle of Qeerroo. When the number of Oromo living in the cities was
small, these cities were anti-Oromo struggle and anti-struggle bases. The
increasing number of Oromo living in the cities facilitated the transformation of the
cities from enemies to friends of the struggle. The proof of this is that the struggle
of the youth has been successfully conducted in the cities.
After twenty years of struggle, the struggle reached the stage of paralysis and
took power out of foreign hands. The three factors listed above, the realization of
self-language learning, the expansion of bureaucracy and urbanization played a
major role in this pace.
The movement that overthrew the TPLF regime was led by the cooperation of the
youth, bureaucracy and urban residents. The strategy was developed with these
three variables in mind. It is the youth sharpened by the current nationalism who
has acquired the same understanding without being limited by geographical
distance, that the bureaucracy of the Oromia structure has occupied power and leverage
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denial in excitement and jealousy gathered in the city and rebelled together.
Our rural residents and farmers also played an important role.

However, the TPLF regime was afraid of a peasant uprising based on
communist analysis and paid close attention to it and concocted a one-five
and gox structure. Therefore, the struggle was conducted to attack the regime
through its achilles heels rather than their strengths, and to identify the
demography where the Oromo had a strategic advantage.
Overall, as we have seen above, the Oromo struggle has rapidly gained
strength in the above three chapters. Once you have reached the stage of
state formation, the logical next step is to take power over the system they
are building.
1.4. Chapter on Ascending Power
“Political power is the totality of means, influences, and pressures—including

authority, rewards, and sanctions—available to achieve the objectives of the
powerholder, especially those of government and his state,” Gene Sharp
Power is simply the means by which a body exercises its interests. Lack of
power exposes one to oppression, robbery and abuse at the hands of a
person or group in power. Holding power helps to avoid these harms and
fulfill social and economic interests. Therefore, the Oromo nation was
awakened, built up, built Oromia, learned its own language, established a
bureaucracy and became a city. That is power. Although he built Oromia, his
administration did not have full powers and could not achieve the political
and economic interests of the nation. Although he could learn his own
language and reflect his culture, he did not have the mastery of the language
and culture to develop it.
Although millions of Oromo entered the city, it was the Oromo who urbanized it,
not the city who became Oromo. For a city to resemble that nation, the nation
must be able to resemble itself by influencing the culture, beauty (art), life and
lifestyle of that city. Therefore, it is necessary to hold a leachalloo in hand. After
1991, power was in the hands of foreigners and the lectures were on the side of those in power
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the Oromo did not have the livestock to Oromoize the city.
Therefore, the 'Oromo question' was not fully answered and the struggle continued.
Hence, the fighters and organizations of the Oromo struggle for more than fifty
years awakened, built, created Oromia, and later in 2018 they were able to
overthrow the foreigner and raise 'their own' Therefore, we consider the past
four years as the 4th and new chapter in the amna of the Oromo struggle. We
might call it a power break.
In this chapter, the Oromo faced new opportunities and dangers. He has his
advantages and disadvantages in this.
In this new chapter, the characteristics that come with having power will be
carefully analyzed and a balanced strategy will be developed to benefit the
people. Failure to understand this chapter and following yesterday's tactics
and strategies will have serious consequences. Before analyzing the
characteristics of this phase of power, let us start by looking at the relationship
between the Oromo people and the regimes of the Ethiopian government
during the four phases of the Oromo struggle.
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2) CHAPTERS OF THE OROMO STRUGGLE AND THE RESPONSE OF THE GOVERNMENTS

ETHIOPIA
During the four chapters of the Oromo struggle described above, Four Governments
were in power. The struggle began during the reign of Haylasillase.
A chapter of revival as well as reconstruction of a gamisni (half) began under that
regime. During the Dargu era, construction continued vigorously. The overthrow of the
regime was carried out during the Wayane era. The break in power came during the
Bilxiginna era.
What was the relationship between the Oromo and the Sunni kingdoms during these Four regimes
did it look like? What strategies were these governments trying to extinguish the
struggle of the Oromo people? What has happened to the relationship between the
Ethiopian government and the Oromo during this period of power?
Table 2: Ethiopian State Vs Oromo Relations

Change & Continuity)
Regime Extraction Nominal Repressive Aspects State vs. the Oromo
Strategy Concessions relationship
Imperial Direct Rule Elite Cooptation - Cultural Securitized

(by others) marginalization/
forced
assimilation
- Economic
exploitation
Dergue Semi-direct Land - Cultural Securitized

repression
- Leadership
elimination
EPRDF Indirect - Self-governance - Political Securitized

- Culture and domination
Linguistic rights - Economic
exploitation
PP Directly - Position and Securitized
- Mass repression
(own) wealth for portion of the
elite
As you can see in the figure above, the strategy of the government during the reign of
Haile Selassie was direct rule. Direct rule is when the core ruling elite and the lower
structures that implement their policies come from the same social group (for example,
a nation). Accordingly, during the reign of Haylasilase
PAGE _
they were from the Amharas who held the central power and occupied the structures
up to the villages and implemented the policies
we call it directional management.
There was little change during the Dargu era. Following the revolution that overthrew
the Nugus, the landlord system and the Nafxanya regime were destroyed, and the
lower structure began to involve the natives. Therefore, we can call this system a semi-
direct rule. During the Wayane era, we moved to indirect rule. This is not done by a
group that has seized power at the center and that implements government policies on
the ground from a social group. The Mallas regime developed this strategy for a reason
it has gurguddddoo. The former has become stronger in the consciousness of the
nations and it is difficult to govern directly from top to bottom as in previous regimes.
In other words, the Unitary state was overthrown by the people and should have
adopted even a sham federalism. Secondly, the Wayyaanee is a dictatorial nation that
originated from the coast of the country and it will be difficult to occupy the government
structure from top to bottom. Hence, it adapted the indirect rule system that the British
used to run their own colonial system.
In this system, the monopolization of crucial power and the economy, allowing other
peoples to reflect their own culture, is the establishment of a system of nominal self-rule
by people born into them, who are not acceptable to the people. The third reason is
that the TPLF is an ethnically organized party that fights against Amhara supremacy.
I shared the same ideology with the oppressed peoples who were leading the national
struggle. They wanted those who wanted a nationalist political structure to have a
strategic relationship with him as long as they did not come to him in the interest of
power. The BJP regime is trying to restore direct rule. The difference is that when Haile
Selassie held the central and lower powers, Amharas held them and oppressed Oromo.
All these governments to overcome the opposition they face from the Oromo
they were trying to extinguish the people's struggle by mixing tactics of seduction and
repression. Haylasillase, the tactic of forced assimilation to cut the awakening Oromo
nationalism to the roots
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he was using it. By suppressing and destroying Oromo culture and language,
Oromo were pressured in many ways to adopt Amharic culture and language
which was considered as the national culture and language.
This strategy was especially intensified after the Italian occupation of the country
and the Oromo in the West and East began to organize themselves according to
their identity. On the other hand, there was a great effort to prevent the emerging
awakening from gaining leadership and to incorporate Oromo children whose
fathers had a reputation and respect in the community (clergy, rich, prominent
elders, landowners) into the regime (elite cooptation) in terms of education and
military training.
The intention of this strategy is to facilitate the subordinate leadership to

participate in the governance of the Ethiopian regime and not to participate in the
anti-regime Oromo nationalist awakening and not to become leaders.
There was hope that if the incoming land leadership took a share of power and
wealth and grew up deprived of Oromo culture and identity, it would gain loyalty
to the Ethiopian government rather than to the Oromo struggle.
Hence, the identification of young men whose families were important in the
community from all the districts of Oromia and their involvement in the education
and training of military officers was intensified from the late 1940's.
But this strategy soon became the antithesis rather than the solution to the
intentions sought by the Haylasilase regime. All the intellectuals and military
officers who came to lead the Oromo struggle in the 1960s and 1970s were
almost at all levels those whom the regime would have attracted to the education
and military leadership to prevent the emergence of Oromo nationalism. But
although those men initially accepted the regime's views and identity, as they
grew in power and education, they began to clash with the Amhara ruling class.
No matter how much they served the government, they could not escape
suspicion and neglect.
The emergence of rivals for power by Amhara officials exacerbated suspicions

on both sides. The oppression of these adapted Oromo officials was quickly led
by their personal fate and their collective exit from the people
they came to realize that it was interconnected. Hence interest and respect
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they realized the need to gain personality and strengthen their nation.
This understanding led them to focus on building and organizing their own nation.
Most of the founders of the Oromo struggle were trained to serve the Ethiopian
regime in this way and came to lead the struggle of their nation.
The elite cooptation tactic used by the Haylasilase regime to deprive the nascent
Oromo nationalism of leadership, instead contributed strong leaders to the
struggle. In summary, the Haylasillase regime failed in its attempts to deprive
Oromo nationalism of leadership by suppressing and impoverishing Oromo
identity on the one hand and holding Oromo leadership on the other.
The Dargu dictatorship, on the other hand, gained support by dismantling the
landlord system and distributing land to the people. This declaration was
especially important for the Oromo and the Southern nations who were being
taken away most of their land and dug it by force on their own land and imported
it for the Nafxanya regime.
Another question that overthrew the Haylasilase regime was the question of the
rights of the peoples. After seizing power, the Dargu initially gave some space to
ethnic identities, but used it as a major strategy to prevent ethnic groups,
especially Oromo, from gaining leadership. He devised a strategy of leadership
elimination, not only of political leadership, but also of culture, religion and
economy above now below through a campaign of red terror and later in the
name of destroying Wanbadee.
He killed religious leaders, the rich, and elders, including political leaders in
various organizations. The assassination is a leadership elimination tactic to
prevent the Oromo struggle from resurfacing. They were almost successful in this
regard. Between 1975-1985, many key political leaders were assassinated.
The Wayanad regime developed a different strategy than its predecessors. This
used indirect rule instead of direct rule like the previous ones. The reason for this
is the growing awareness and nationalism mixed with the tactics of seduction and
repression
stayed in power by implementing. On the one hand, the regime's strategy was to
implement the major demands of the Oromo in a nominal form, but to push the
Oromo from the actual power.
PAGE _
Accordingly, Oromia was established and the Oromo were made to breathe
by making their own language taught. However, although the federalism
system gave the structure of Oromia to the Oromo, the political, economic
and security powers were held by the central government led by the
Wayyaanee. To implement this, he pressured the leadership and institutions
representing the public interest, and recruited those who were not acceptable
to the people and stuck to the regime. In general, under the Wayyaanee
regime, the Oromo were symbolically seized their cultural rights and
government structures and denied the right to realize their agenda in practice.
The BJP regime restored directional governance. But the direct governance
system of the BJP is different from the previous regimes.
The biggest difference between the previous and the present systems is that
the former system of direct rule was led by foreigners from top to bottom while
the current one is directly ruled by natives. But he chose to stay in power
under a dictatorship rather than a democratic one because he thought that
the institution and agency in power was elected and built by a foreign regime
and would not be accepted by the people. This means that although the
system of foreign structures and members was displaced and the native took
power, the rights and interests of the people could not be protected.
That is why looting, murder and various forms of oppression continue.
Although these four regimes have different ruling class strategies, their
relationship with Oromo is similar in one respect. This means that the
relationship between the four regimes and the Oromo is a securitized
relationship. All the regimes did not fully respect the rights of the Oromo. As
a result, all four regimes view Oromo with suspicion and hostility. The Oromo
view all four Ethiopian governments with hostility.
For example, if we replace the broader Oromo nation with the name
Gammada, Gammada will be hated by the name of Shiftaa during
Haylasillassee, Wanbadee during Darqii, Ashabbaarii during the Wayyaanee
and Shanee during the Bilxiginnaa. Shiftaa, Wanbadee, Ashabbaari and
Shane are the stigmas attached to them to eliminate the Oromo who oppose
the regime. Agari Tullu and Hamido Ibroo were called shifts because they rebelled against Hay
Shifting is also attached to their rank of purposeful rebels
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not to have the truth but to reduce them to robbers who torture the people.
When the ABO fought against the Dargu regime, it was defamed as a vicious
group that went into the forest to destroy the country and not fighting for the
freedom of its people. In addition to Wanbadee, he gave them the name Sargoo
and tried to pretend that the group had taken a foreign mission and entered the
country. When the Wayyaanee regime, thousands were imprisoned and many
were killed as Ashabbaaris to pretend that everyone who opposed the regime
was a terrorist who killed civilians. During the Bilxiginnaa regime, the name
they used to waste the struggle and the fighters of Oromo was Shane.
The Oromo people, for their part, refused to accept these governments as their
own and regarded them as oppressors who harmed them to advance foreign
interests. For the past four years since the OPDO/ PP came to power, the
debate on whether this Government is an Oromo Government or not has been
going on because the killings, looting and arrests common in the old regimes
continue. To the extent that the relationship is hostile to the system
Unless this changes between the Ethiopian government and the Oromo people,
Ethiopia will not be stable and the Oromo will not be able to protect their
interests.
Especially after 2018, when the foreign ruling class was displaced and replaced
by a group that sprouted from within the Oromo, this relationship has not
changed and those in power have not consolidated their power, and the people
have not escaped the government's harm.
Since this situation has caused loose losses, it is necessary to change the
hostile relations between the government and the people in the next struggle.
Governments that have been hostile to Oromo in the past have been able to
stay in power to some extent because they have another base constituency.
The current one, however, has the same social base. As we have seen in the
past four years, the attempts to alienate Oromo and make foreigners friends
have failed.
The Oromo people are tactical with the current regime as well as the previous regimes
trying to counter it by using alienation (othering) is not going to do much.

Strategies and tactics of the struggle against the colonial regime
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may not work against an inherently oppressive system.

The process of struggle needs to be adjusted based on the realities on the ground.
Overall, in the past four chapters of the struggle, the Oromo struggle has come to this
point by fighting against four regimes that have used different oppressive strategies
and tactics. The Oromo struggle has been delayed by the failure to change its tactics
with the change of tactics when the old government is changed and the new
government takes power. Since the current system of government is different from
the previous ones, it is necessary to understand the realities and strategies of the new
system and develop a corresponding narrative and strategy. So far, this has not
happened and has created a lot of unnecessary confusion. It also required great
sacrifice.
Under these special circumstances, it is a matter of time to renew the strategy,
tactics and charges of the struggle to fight for the rights of the people.
3) QUESTIONS AND RESULTS OF THE FOUR CHAPTER

FOUND IN THE
Has the Oromo question been answered in the four chapters above? If so, how much
did it return? How much is left? Why couldn't it be fully restored? It is crucial to raise
the questions. The Oromo question is generally a question of sovereignty. This
sovereignty right involves three main interdependent elements.
They are; Identity, Wealth and Power.
When a foreign oppressive regime breaks a nation, it violates these three things. By
eliminating or subjugating the leadership of the nation, he seizes power, uses this
power to plunder resources, and works on oppressing, destroying and destroying the
culture, language and history of the nation to destroy the common identity so that the
common people do not rebel against him. When a national struggle is born, it moves
in the opposite direction. As we have seen above, awakening and rebuilding re-
establishes a collective identity, focuses on reducing the plunder of the leccallo
through various uprisings, and mobilizes with the people with the rebuilt identity to
seize power. This approach, however, is not as fast and slow as we write. It is filling
up quickly.
PAGE _
For example, after the 1974 revolution, Oromo gained recognition as a nation
through revival and reconstruction work. But he could not further enforce the
identity they built and his interests. He did not get out of poverty by following the
policies he regained. Because power was in foreign hands.
Similarly, in 1991, the people of Oromia could not stop the looting and develop.
Although he started learning and working in his own language, he could not
develop and improve it. Despite building a bureaucracy, the ruling political party
had neither the power nor the capacity to develop the region because it was not
elected and deployed by popular loyalty and meritocracy but by external loyalty.
4) THE POST-TERM STRUGGLE
The Oromo people have been able to take power out of foreign hands through
the recent round of struggle. But today, oppression and poverty continue.
Why? The short answer is that we have taken power out of the hands of
foreigners and put it in the hands of an Oromo person/group. How is it overcome?
It is crucial to look at what it says carefully.
In this article I will try to answer this question.
The figure below is oversimplified to indicate the extent to which the three Oromo
questions have been answered.
PAGE _
Figure 3: Level of Response
Based on the current reality, we can say that half of the question of identity has been
answered. Why? The question of rights has two directions. One is negative and the other
is positive. A negative question is a right that you object to a government system not
touching/ diminishing from you. A positive question is one that you ask the government
to fulfill for you. For example, if we take the question of language rights, stopping the
restrictions and oppression on the part of the government on a language is to protect
negative rights. It is a positive right to demand that the language be developed and that
enough lectures be allocated and developed. It is also a negative right to stop the looting
of land and taxes. Once the looting has stopped, it is a positive right that a proper
development policy is formulated and a budget is allocated to develop farmers' land.
Thus, if we take the question of identity, today it has been 30 years since the government
ban on speaking and learning Oromo was lifted.
But the Oromo language and culture did not develop. Because even though the negative
rights were restored, the positive rights that the government should have allocated
lecturers to promote the language were not fulfilled.
In terms of property rights, although the plundering of Oromo by foreigners stopped, the
plundering continued in new forms by the same people born of the nation.
In other words, the negative right was only half returned. Positive rights were returned in
very small form as the imams and lectures were allocated to develop farmland and the
nation was not getting out of poverty. In terms of power, the overthrow of the foreign
ruling class shows that some of the negative rights have returned. However, the harm
done to the nation by the government did not stop until the rise of the foreign regime.
The nationality of the people and the group in power has changed but the actions of the
old regimes are the same. Therefore, although a few negative rights have been restored
with the rise of foreign rule, the oppression by the government continues, indicating that
only a few negative rights have been restored.
In general, negative rights are those rights that the government does not violate, while
positive rights are those that require the government to assign leverage and policy for
the whole. The stronger the struggle, the better the negative rights. The positive right,
however
PAGE _
not much improved. The reason is that a government must be a system that relies
on the people to develop its culture, language, economy and society through
lectures and policies, whose source of power is the people.
The government elected by the people will respect the negative rights so that it
does not lose power by another election, while it will strive to fulfill the positive
rights in terms of lectures and policies. This means that in order to stop the
oppression on the part of the government (negative rights), to use the leccallllo
and policy, it is necessary to have a government elected by the people. For the
Oromo, the two rights mentioned above, identity and economy, will be fulfilled
when the third right, which is to establish a government elected by the people
and installed by the people, is realized.
Above we have said that the Oromo struggle has passed through four chapters.
They are, Awakening, reconstruction, state formation and removal of power from
foreign hands. We have also seen that even if power goes out of foreign hands
and into the hands of an Oromo person/group, the people's elected government
will not be formed and the demands of Oromo will not be fully answered. Instead,
we have seen that the positive rights are not being fulfilled but the negative ones
are decreasing even though they were improving under the previous regime. For
example, the Oromo are losing their right to life more than ever. Therefore, the
Oromo struggle must and has moved into the fifth chapter.
We can call this fifth chapter, 'democratization' That is, we will hand over the one
we have taken out of foreign hands instead of the government we have finger-
picked and finger-dropped. We are now moving from chapter 4 to chapter
The current stage of Oromo is similar to that experienced by many African, Latin
American and Asian countries in the 1960s as they emerged from foreign rule
(colonial rule). As these countries overthrew foreign regimes, they aspired to full
independence with a government that would protect the rights and interests of
the people. They overthrew the colonial ruling class and either came under their
own dictatorship or went into civil war. Much of what has happened to the Oromo
over the past five years is the same. We will come back to this problem and its
solution in more detail later.
PAGE _
5) FAILED TRANSITION - WHY ARE THE PROBLEMS IN CHAPTER 4 ?
As we have seen above, the Oromo struggle, has grown in three phases in the
past sixty (60) years and in 2018 it was able to seize power from the hands of
the foreign ruling class. However, this seized power has not achieved the
interests and rights for which it was fought as desired.
In fact, both those in power and the people are in serious trouble.
Why did the oppression of Oromo not stop after the overthrow of the foreign
regime? Why did power in the hands of Oromo people and groups expose
Oromia and Ethiopia to chaos? In this section, we address these issues.
After a national struggle overthrows a foreign oppressive regime, it goes through

four stages to seize power and protect its own interests.
These are the.
It includes 1. Ascendance, 2.
Consolidation, 3. Legitimization
and 4. Preservation.
Below I will look at the problems and mistakes that occurred after the Oromo struggle
overthrew foreigners and elevated their own factions.
PAGE _
The Oromo struggle came to power in 2018 after many years of struggle. After coming
to power, she moved to consolidation. It has been in the process of consolidating power
for the past five years. The internal and external unrest that is rocking Oromia and
Ethiopia is also due to the mistakes made in order to consolidate this gained power. The
attempt, however, failed five years later. Today, the bed of power is still shaking. Why?
What mistakes were made? How do we get out of it? It is important to look at what they
say.
5.1. Problems Caused by the Failure to Consolidate Power
Many reasons can be listed for the failure to strengthen it after the seizure of power. The
main ones are:
5.1.1. Power is seized by a socialmovement
The struggle in this phase is to overthrow the Wayane regime and the Oromo person/
political group as a politician
they winthroughmade
thethe social
snow
power movement. The role of
parties was minimal. Popular movements have great benefits in destroying regimes but
have great drawbacks in building new ones. The popular movement weakens the pillars
of power, such as political organization, economy, military, media, etc. and overthrows
the ruling group. But it will tear down the pillars of the dictatorship but not build its own.
PAGE _
Figure 5 – Pillars of Power
During the Qeerroo struggle, this was understood and power was handed over to
the OPDO, which was considered the most ready to take power among the
existing organizations at the time. The OPDO was a political organization created
to advance the interests of another group and therefore did not have the pillars of
power of the regime. But it had better than other organizations.
Because you are in the pillars of power even if you have not seized it, I am more
than happy for them to seize it when change comes. They also had the experience
of leading these pillars.
A group that has come to power must either use the pillars of power it has already
built to consolidate power, or inherit the existing pillars and make them support it.
The Oromo struggle did not rise up on pillars. Even if the inherited pillars were
built in a way that served the interests of the previously in power group, they were
not suitable for consolidating but hindering the new group in power.
To change these pillars, either agreement must be forced. The group that came
out of power chose to seize power by force. This led to confrontation with the
previously in power political body. The ousted group began using deep state
structures to thwart attempts to forcibly take control of the pillars.
PAGE _
The yeast of the Tigray war began there. The ruling party did not only oppress
its predecessors. He also pushed the coalition of forces that brought him to
power by seizing power alone and masquerading as a new patriarchal regime.
This increased the number of enemies and weakened the forces. The reason is as
the same is true of the shaking that began after he came to power and got
worse from time to time.
5.1.2. Lackofpsychological preparedness
The Oromo leadership and fighters have been in resistance politics for a long
time. Their minds were sharpened on how to challenge and undermine a
system. The foreign regime fell in 2018 before the hearts of the Oromo
leadership and fighters moved out of the idea of resistance and into that of
governance. A mind sharpened for resistance requires psychological
transformation to be used for governance. I didn’t have time to do this at the
time. I was suspicious of this earlier and in my speech at the Millennium Hall
when I arrived home, I said that Oromo politics needed to be changed quickly
from resistance to administration. This problem became even more apparent to
me one day when I met with Oromo leaders in power, opposition leaders and
veterans of the struggle at the palace and talked over lunch.
It shows that the power of Ethiopia is in our hands and that the solution to the
problems of our nation is not foreign but us and not internalized. Such problems
are not only faced by us but also by countries that were under colonial rule
when they became independent. The leadership of the oppressed people
spends its time and knowledge on overthrowing the foreign regime and does
not ask itself how it will rule the country after the fall of the regime. Therefore,
when a foreign regime comes down and power comes into their hands, they
come to power without any plan and strategy. They take power and the next
day they face the problems of the country's socio-economic community without
the experience and preparation to govern the country.
The people who have suffered from foreign regimes for many years and paid
great sacrifices to overthrow them have high expectations from the administration
of their sons. Leadership lacks plans and strategies and cannot meet
expectations quickly. Like in the days of the struggle
PAGE _
it cannot externalize all problems. He is in power, not a foreigner! If there had

been the willingness and ability to solve the economic and social problems of
the people, it would have been possible to strengthen power by pleasing the
people.
The lack of pre-arranged preparation and capacity leads to forced repression

or war by creating internal and external enemies instead of providing practical
solutions to the people's demands. This situation would lead to either a native
dictatorship or civil war in the newly independent country. With the exception
of a handful of countries, many of the remaining countries either emerged
from colonialism or entered their own dictatorships or violent conflicts. There
are no more than a handful of those who can move directly from colonialism
to a stable, developed and democratic system. The same thing happened to
the Oromo.
PAGE _
5.1.3. Lackofmeritocracy &inexperience
When we came to power, there were two types of political elite. He was
holding on to those who served the Wayanad regime and those who were
outside the regime. As mentioned above, the TPLF gathered people with
incompetent knowledge and experience as well as those who lacked credibility
in their communities to form the OPDO and gave it the newly formed Oromia
administration in order to suit the indirect administration strategy.
The Oromo with the knowledge, experience and nature of their nation either
fought against it by distancing themselves from the regime or the regime was
pushing them away. For this reason, when we come to power in 2018, the
majority of the Oromo leadership with administrative experience is not mature
in education and training. Those who should have been educated have no
administrative experience because they were outside the system. During the
Qeerroo struggle, one of the propaganda of the TPLF Government and
outsiders was that the Oromo are not qualified to rule the country. When we
planned the transition, we understood this problem and said that we would
solve the injustice on both sides through leadership integration. Except it
wasn’t what we thought.
The lack of cooperation between the two groups caused the problems we feared.
Those in power were experienced but lack of skills and knowledge
(meritocracy) was denied. In addition to the lack of natural and educational
talent, like the British, the Wayyaanee selects people from other ethnic groups
to become policy implementers, but does not train them to lead at the strategic
level. Instead of sending the strong minded to get desirable academic
competence, she deceived them by distributing fake degrees in the name of
'distance learning'
In addition, it would not involve the OPDO leadership in strategic formulation.

This means that the incumbent leadership has experience in policy
implementation rather than strategic policy making
he didn’t have it. So even though they came to power, they could not come
up with a new strategy to build a new system but to return to the default
position of their predecessors. A prime example of this is problems
PAGE _
it is to seek a securitized solution for political problems.
The Wayyaanee has been responding to political demands by force because

it was an oppressive faction of the nation. The current faction in power,
however, is incompetent and could have consolidated power if they could
have come up with effective policies and strategies as a faction that came out
of the Wayane nation. If they were strategically planned and effective and
moved to a democratic system, they would have a greater chance of staying
in power in the elections.
In general, what needs to be understood is that when we came to power, the

Oromo leadership inside and outside the regime had not acquired the skills
and experience to govern the country. To avoid addressing this shortcoming
quickly, it was not possible to develop collective capacity. This lack of
experience and ability to govern the country is also a major reason for our
inability to consolidate power
5.1.4. What the Oromo and the freedom fighters wished for was that
after the fall of the foreign regime, a
democratic system would be built that would protect the interests and rights
of the Oromo and other ethnic groups . The system was also expected to be
built through discussion and agreement. However, it became clear that the
incumbent leadership wanted to strengthen its ambitions for personal power
and build a new dictatorship.
In addition, the establishment of a federal system in which ethnic groups govern their own
regions and share federal powers and responsibilities was a strong position of the Oromo
struggle camp.
The leadership that came to power, however, began early in the morning to indicate
that it wanted to destroy nationalism and destroy federalism. This difference in the
aspirations of the incumbent leadership and the Oromo fighters created suspicion.
Suspecting that the one in power would overthrow him, he went on to rely on
foreigners rather than Oromo. The Oromo fighters began to return to the politics of
protest saying that they were going to fall under the new dictatorship that wanted to
destroy whatever the nation had achieved so far. This situation is the leadership of power
PAGE _
held it to hang on to lack of support from its own social base. The Oromo struggle
did not use the power it had seized to solve the problem, but that power became
a source of new harm.
5.2. Shift Of Power From North To South

to South)
Since the establishment of the Ethiopian regime, power has been in the hands of
groups of ethnic groups from the north. The transitions of 1974 and 1991 brought
about regime changes but failed to bring about a fundamental transformation in
socio-economic and psychological relations as power was transferred from one
group to another in the North. The 2018 one, however, made it seem that power
had shifted from the North to the South for the first time as the change was also
brought about by the Oromo movement and the group in power openly claimed
Oromummaa.
There were fears that the transfer of power from the North to the South would
fundamentally change the socio-economic relations in the country. The transition
of power to the south also threatened the long-dominant groups and they moved
to thwart it in various ways. The incumbent leadership used the gaps created by
conflict with the Oromo camp to hinder the transition and prevent the consolidation
of power.
For the reasons mentioned above, other circumstances combined to weaken the
power gained at great sacrifice and hamper the transition to democracy. It was a
loss for those in power and for the Oromo struggle camp. Those in power have
failed to strengthen and are running a weak state and dysfunctional government.
It plunged the country into a serious conflict that led to a severe economic collapse
and huge diplomatic losses. On the part of the Oromo people, the last fierce conflict
into something he had never experienced before.
The number of Oromo children killed in the past five years is more than those
killed during the Haylasilase, Dargu and Wayyaanee regimes combined. Overall,
the crisis of power consolidation has devastated both Oromo and Ethiopia.
Although the fighting in the north has recently cooled down, the fighting in Oromia
continues. Instead, the fighting towards Tigray stopped and a new alliance was
formed
PAGE _
it is feared that it could expose the country to a new war. That's not all. The
Ethiopians, who had made their own shape and character, are moving into
another war to regain power they have lost for more than 30 years.
As we said it burns, a struggle must move from seizing power to strengthening

and accepting that power. Strengthening power can be done in two ways. Neither
coercion nor consensus. A newly incumbent group must have at least three major
pillars of power, the economy, the military, and society, in order to consolidate
power by force. When the Oromo struggle came to power, it did not have its own
army and the economy was in the hands of others. The only pillar was the social
one in the form of Oromo nationalism. The leadership that came to power went
against Oromo nationalism and deprived itself of this pillar. Where these pillars
are not in hand, it is the attempt to consolidate power by force that has ruined the
people, the government and the country.
5.2.1. Problems that undermine legitimization
The work of consolidating power was hampered and the transition was derailed
and Oromo and the country became chaotic, making it impossible to move to the
next chapters, namely acceptance and protection. Acceptance of power means
convincing your base constituency, other ethnic groups in the country and the
outside world that you have the will and support of the people.
To do this, we need to move towards credible dialogue and elections. The unrest
in the Oromo camp and the opportunities opened up for others prevented the
country from entering into a serious war and peaceful dialogue and fair elections.
Therefore, it was impossible to gain legitimacy among one's own people, let alone
among external parties.
5.2.2. Power preservation
Once they had taken power, they would move on to preservation. If they
strengthen their power and gain acceptance among their own communities and
others, prevention will be weakened. Because in the process of consolidating
power, you properly occupy the pillars of power. In the process of gaining
acceptance of that power, those who gain that power rebel against you for
reasons of negotiation and election
PAGE _
you lose it. This reduces the chances of losing power through violence and
rebellion. Pillar power is not protected by military force alone. Political, economic,
social, media, diplomatic and ideological pillars need to be used.
If the task of consolidating power and gaining acceptance is not successfully

done, however, without occupying or strengthening any of the pillars, without
gaining acceptance, those who enter that power will be given the opportunity to
find reasons for rebellion. That is what we have seen over the past five years.
The ruling party has now moved to protect power as the chapters of power
consolidation and acceptance have failed.
Where power is not consolidated and accepted, that is, where the pillars of power
are not fully occupied, no force will work to protect power. Work done without
strengthening power and acceptance will not go far. The chaos and paralysis of
the government we have seen in recent years is the result of this. If power is to
remain and the country is to emerge from chaos, it is necessary to learn from the
mistakes of the past and make strategic changes as a nation and as a group in
power.
5.3. What Needs to Be Fixed?
A national struggle seeks to hold power to fulfill the negative and positive rights
mentioned above. That is, to stop the evils that the government is doing to the
nation and to fulfill the good expectations of the government. On the other hand,
a struggle must seize political power to achieve its goals. It must use that power
properly to fulfill common rights and interests. Despite gaining political power in
2018, Oromo have not been able to fulfill their positive and negative rights.
Due to the mistakes made to consolidate power, the group in power has not
been able to protect the interests and rights of Oromo. Because of this, he did
not receive the support or acceptance he needed to consolidate power from the Oromo.
Therefore, like previous governments, the relationship between Oromo and the
current government has become securitized. The youth who ousted them in 2018
have taken action to stay in power by force and have entered the forest to fight
them by force. This form of relationship is harming both sides, the people and
the government. If this continues, the government has little chance of retaining
power and prolonging its life.
PAGE _
For the people, the power that came after a long struggle may be reversed.
The war between the ruling faction and the Oromo struggle camp is dividing
the nation, killing thousands of lives and destroying the economy left over
from foreign plunder. For the ruling party and the Oromo struggle, correcting
the mistakes made so far will ensure common interest. The following are
some of the bold changes that need to be made to save the nation and the
country from the devastation. These are narrative adjustment, diversity
management and equalization of external relations. Let us consider these
points one by one.
5.3.1. Narrativeadjustment
As mentioned at the outset, the Oromo struggle began to fight against the
Ethiopian regime that tried to destroy the collective identity of the nation and
plundered its resources. So part of this struggle was the narrative of
deconstructing the Ethiopian regime, and the opposite of the narrative of
reconstruction. In other words, the claims of the Oromo and the Ethiopian
state narrative were antitheses. The Ethiopian regime presents the civilizing
mission of forcibly subjugating the Oromo and other ethnic groups. For the
Oromo, this act is considered as slavery. The Ethiopian regime tried to destroy
Oromo culture and traditions including Gada by cursing them as backwardness.
The Oromo struggle presented these cultural heritage as the source of the
nation's civilization.
In the process, the Oromo struggle became hostile to Ethiopia as the source
of everything. The Ethiopian regime, as we have seen above, tried to break
the struggle of the Oromo by giving them various names. This situation led to
a securitized relationship between the Ethiopian regime and the Oromo. Until
the time when political power in Ethiopia was in the hands of a foreign
dictatorship, this accusation of alienating and hostile Ethiopians would work.
What about after the faction carried by the Oromo struggle comes to power?
The charges made when the foreign group in power goes and when the
oppressive group itself comes to power need to be changed.
To illustrate this further, let us use the following example of the ideological
spectrum. The list of ideologies is divided into left, middle and right. In
Dimshash, the political power group and the country’s leverage
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dominated in once is on the far right of the political column.

They are considered to be divided into two categories. One group is called conservative. They want
the status quo to be protected and perpetuated because it benefits them. Those on the far right are
ultra-conservative (reactionary) and say let's go back because the situation is worse than yesterday.
Those on the left of the political ranks are generally victims of the status quo and want change.
There are national, class, gender, etc. struggles on the left. The leftists are divided into two groups.
Those who say that there will be no solution unless the existing system is completely destroyed
(revolutionary change) are called radicals. Those who believe that reforming policies, leadership
and structures without completely destroying the existing regime are called liberal reformists.
The Oromo struggle was on the left political line. Which of the two rows on the left is useful for the
Oromo struggle is a debate that has been going on since generations of struggle. On the one hand,
the slogan 'Destroy the Ethiopian Empire and build an independent Oromia' falls under the radical
category.
On the other hand, the view that it is possible to democratize Ethiopia and live in equality with other
ethnic groups through federalism without destroying it can be classified as liberal.
Although there is a difference in the extent of whether we destroy the system or improve the system
look at the view

/Ideology/ means that the Oromo struggle was generally on the left political line.
Figure 4: Levels of Political Ideology
The direction of the Oromo struggle after 2020 can be illustrated in the following figure.
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We need to move on to the following to consolidate what we have gained and

win ahead of us.
After the Oromo struggle ousted the foreign faction and set up its own faction, a
rhetoric of political ranks was created. As mentioned above, the group that has
seized political and economic power moves to the right in order to maintain that
power. Those who claim abuse from the government are on the left. After 2018,
some Oromo factions held power in Ethiopia and became the beneficiaries, while
others became the victims of that power. So after 2018, Oromo was divided into
left and right political lines at all. The group in power turned to the right, and the
oppressed to the left.
Figure 5: The Post-2020 Political Outlook
The operation caused a clash between the Oromo forces and both sides pushed
each other to the edge. While the Oromo struggle returned to the default position
of radical militancy, the ruling faction turned right and entered reactionary
nationalism to replace the support it had lost from the Oromo. This situation
divided the Oromo political forces and plunged them into conflict. Instead of
attacking each other, he made alliances with foreigners to attack each other. The
situation
If this continues, it will increase the losses for the ruling party and the Oromo
people. To change this, it is necessary to correct the charges on both sides and
come to the middle.
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Figure 6: Political Views
5.3.1.1. On the other hand, when a

political force from an oppressed nation/group comes to power, it is in its
interest to gradually bring the grievances of its community to the fore. He
cannot stay on the left because he has to maintain the power he has taken
over, he must move to the right. But it is also harmful to further right. The
community wants to continue the change until the newly in power party
answers the demands it has been carrying or until it can get enough benefits
from the regime. Therefore, the force in power must on the one hand protect
the power and order of the country from danger and restore the interests and
rights of the society in a balanced manner.
Over the past five years, however, we have seen the ruling party move far to
the right. Instead of moving the nation and the country forward, he went on to
praise the old regimes and destroy the changes that have come over the past
50 years and advocate the reactionary nationalism that he adopted.
Such a political process /Ideology/ attracts the social groups that benefit from
the old regimes but disappoints those who are affected by those regimes.
On the other hand, the ruling party cannot provide sustainable support to the
community that has benefited from the old regime. That is what we have seen
in practice over the past three years. For the past three years, he has been
trying to win the support of a group for the war between the North and the
South. Although that process is useful for war, it cannot go very far because
there is a fundamental difference between the group of society that holds that
view and the one in power. Instead, the force that advocates reactionary
nationalism, which the 2018 rulers made friends with, is now openly declaring
itself an enemy because the rulers cannot meet its needs. As a result, the
force in power is on the couch and has no horse under it.
Therefore, the only solution is for the ruling party to come back to the middle
and adapt to the roots of its community. That is, on the one hand, ensuring the
continuity of the regime as the ruling group and on the other hand, accepting
the need for change by recognizing the oppression of yesterday. Therefore,
the ideology of the government required should be progressive patriotism .
Progressive
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Patriotism requires two ideas to go hand in hand. Progressivism is the belief

that social, economic problems and rights violations need to be solved and
improved through political action. Patriotism means having love for the country,
devoting oneself to preserving the country and protecting it from external
attacks. When we bring the two ideas together, progressive patriotism means
loving a country, standing for its unity and continuity, but believing that the
harms and discriminations against the peoples of the country must be resolved
without denying them. In other words, progressive patriotism means standing
side by side in a balanced way for the country and social justice.
The incumbent Oromo leadership is suspect on both sides; by their own people
and by those who benefited from the old system. The people suspect that the
current leadership will continue the same regime that harmed us yesterday. I
suspect that the regime will destroy me if it holds the Oromo demand.
Progressive patriotism is therefore useful to reconcile these two doubts. During
the Wayyaanee era, the idea of party and country organization was democratic centralism .
This idea is not useful for building a country by harmonizing pluralism but for
building a dictatorship in an ethnic country. We saw the same from the EPRDF.
For an ethnic country, the idea of organization is better if it is democratic
plularism . The idea of Democratic Pluralism involves three things. Not only
the supremacy of one leader or group but also the interests and aspirations of
many groups in the country play a role in political decisions. Power is held by
the will and choice of the people, not by force or top-down imposition. Thirdly,
the irni of governance and authority will not be controlled only by one person/
group and at the top level, but will be decentralized in the form of power and
administration. In a country like Ethiopia that has been hit by a history of
dictatorship and group discrimination where grief and migration have not been
healed to date, where there is heightened nationalist consciousness, power is
held at the top and judgment is ruled by one person/group contributions cannot
be sustained let alone built a country. Therefore, further strengthening the
above ideas and protecting individual and collective rights in a democratic
manner will help prevent ethnicity from becoming a problem of conflict.
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5.3.1.2. By the struggle of the Oromo

As repeatedly mentioned above, although the Oromo question will not be fully
answered, fighting against the current regime with the same accusations, tactics
and strategies used against the regimes of yesterday will not achieve the desired
results at the desired pace. Therefore, a change in claims, tactics and strategies
is needed. To bring about this adjustment, it is necessary to accept that the foreign
regime we used to fight for has been removed and replaced by an oppressive
regime that came out of the Oromo faction.
Even if both a foreign dictatorship and one that came out of you harm you, you
cannot fight against it in the same way. If a stranger steals a rabbit from you, your
whole family will attack it with you in every necessary way
answers the question. But what if your brother steals? Although they agree that
your justice will be restored, there is a division of opinion on how to restore it. Not
everyone is equally stubborn about hurting their own flesh. The struggle against a
group outside your community has similar problems. On the other hand, when
foreigners took over the government, we were completely hostile to the regime.
That strategy didn’t work much after the TPLF came to power and the Oromo
joined the regime.
Understanding this, we selectively targeted the regime during the youth struggle.
It doesn't do much good to be completely hostile to the regime when the Oromo
faction is in power.
Repeated questions from diplomats from various countries also show this. “Why
did the Oromo continue to struggle since the Oromo faction came to power? What
do I want?” over and over again. The answer often given by the leadership of the
struggle is the default answer.
This means we want autonomy, we want a referendum and so on. Their response
was, “Do you want to break away from an Oromo group?” the slightest. It’s not
convincing. Therefore, at the stage this struggle has reached, it is better for the
Oromo to focus on the act of commission and omission of the regime rather than
condemning the regime as a whole. Therefore, it is better to identify the social,
economic and political issues that the government should abandon and fill. That
being said, it is not unnecessary to oppose the current faction. Distinguish between
the ruling faction and the regime, focusing on factional actions to identify the evil
faction as
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it means focusing on correcting or replacing it with other leadership.
If a national struggle overthrows a foreign group and the group that originated from
it takes power and establishes a dictatorship, it is necessary to continue the struggle
to achieve full rights but the charges must be corrected. When fighting against
foreign dictatorships, the liberation narrative was used, but when fighting against
one's own dictatorship, it is useful to move towards democratization narrative.
Liberation narrative is used to take power out of foreign hands. Take power away
from the dictatorial group that originated in your community and put it in the hands of the people
democratization narrative needs to be used to import. You will not be free from your
wickedness but from the foreigner.
There is something that the Oromo leadership and people must decide clearly in
this change of charges. This was, as we should have said, from the very beginning
a controversial issue as to whether we would protect the rights and interests of the
Oromo and build a country alone or occupy the existing one and make it for us and
others. Although the idea that controlling the power of the Ethiopian regime is
beneficial to protect our interests and those of other ethnic groups is rapidly gaining
ground, the idea that Oromo wants to secede has created rhetoric, suspicion and
fear among other ethnic groups. They are especially afraid that the nations will
scatter us in the south and east. They have the truth. They are also exposed to
serious harm. The idea that Oromo want to secede has not stopped since the
Oromo faction came to power. This is hurting the legitimacy of the Oromo power.
To overcome this, it is necessary to change the charges of the Oromo struggle
tactically. It was being done.
In the 1990s, these charge settlement discussions began within the ABO and
sparked a fierce debate. The taboo of occupying Ethiopia was broken and opened
for widespread discussion. During the struggle of the youth, we brought the Oromo
narrative to the center without being awakened from outside or inside. This changed
the Oromo struggle from being anti-Ethiopian (antithesis) to the will of Ethiopian
naan malti. This narrative transformation matured and was publicly proclaimed in
Hachalu's song 'You succeeded Arat Kilo' at Barkume Hall .
Even after coming to power, work began on narrative reconciliation and integration
of the charges of the Oromo struggle and the Ethiopian regime. The role of the
Oromo in building and protecting the country
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to show the focus on common things like the Victory of Addis Ababa and what Hachalu
and other artists were doing is part of this. But attempts to reconcile the two sentences
have been hampered by fighting in the Oromo camp. The ruling faction went
reactionary and the Oromo struggle returned to the politics of struggle and began to
boast of the default narrative, which hampered attempts to reconcile the two charges.
The ruling faction went on to belittle the views of the Oromo struggle by boasting of
the old Ethiopian views, while the Oromo struggle movement rejected the accusation
of occupying Ethiopia and turned to condemnation.
If there is agreement on the idea that it is better for Oromo to build a federal and
democratic system and live in the same country with other ethnic groups while
protecting their own interests than to secede, it is necessary to reconcile the claims of
Oromo struggle and the Ethiopian regime. To do this, it is necessary to bring both to the middleU.
We need to correct the mistakes made in the attempts made so far. For example, the
person and group in power at the Ethiopian level often distances themselves from the
charges of the Oromo struggle and advocates only the Ethiopian one. This is a
mistake.
On the other hand, the leadership of the Oromo struggle uses cursing and destroying
Ethiopia as a populist tactic.
The best thing for the incumbent to do is to modify the Oromo charges without
abandoning them and use them to include other ethnic groups, and to pull the
Ethiopian one in the middle and use it to attract Oromo. To reconcile these two
charges, it is necessary to resolve the contradiction that has separated the ruling
faction and the Oromo fighters and bring both sides to the middle ground. There
needs to be a consensus that it is not necessary to destroy Ethiopia to build Oromia
and to belittle Oromo to build Ethiopia. In addition, it is necessary to narrow the
differences of views and conflicts with Amhara political parties (we will return to this
issue of Oromo-Amhara relations in more detail later).
A political narrative is based on the way a political force presents the events of
yesterday, today and tomorrow. For example, oppressed nations and groups boast of
the glorious past of yesterday when they were free. They present the years since they
came under foreign oppression as a degraded present.
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They run away with great desire for a utopian future.
If we look at the claims of the Oromo struggle, the period before the invasion of
Minilik is considered to be a period of freedom and prosperity. Gada is presented
as a symbol of the proud history of the past. The period after the Minilik invasion is
one of defeat, humiliation and oppression. The day the foreign oppressive regime
rises is dreamed of in the era of freedom and development. This Oromo claim
contradicts the claims on which the Ethiopian regime has come to be based.
The eras that presented prosperity and prosperity to Oromo were presented
as stupidity and backwardness in Ethiopian charges. Look at the era of
oppression and humiliation for the Oromo, and the Ethiopian regime presents
it as the era when Ethiopia was built and sent for growth and development.
Once the Oromo movement comes to power, the conflict of claims between
the Oromo struggle and the Ethiopian regime needs to be tactically reconciled.
One of these tactics, as Hachalu was doing, includes raising issues that are
positively viewed by both charges. If we do this, however, we must be very
careful not to contradict the claims that the Oromo were making yesterday.
Over the past five years, we have seen the ruling party repeatedly make such
mistakes. The charge we had yesterday is different from the opposite when
we say adjust. Yesterday's lawsuit is the foundation
To go to contradict and defame yesterday's claims is to destroy the foundation
of today's claims. To go about minimizing and denying the oppression of
yesterday would be to deprive the power of today of justification. The extreme
contradiction of the two claims may be overlooked; but trying to erase and
deny it completely will be problematic.
In general, once the Oromo have seized power in the Ethiopian regime, they
must make a claim that will enable them to rule the country and gain
legitimacy. Such a claim is made not by throwing away and denying the claim
of the struggle that has brought it here but by amending it and bringing it to
the middle; and the claims of the Ethiopian regime by either condemning the
Oromo struggle as it has been doing or by fully adapting what the previous
regimes have driven, but by modifying it and bringing it to the fore.
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6) CHAPTER 5 OF THE STRUGGLE
As mentioned above, the three questions of Oromo have not yet been fully
answered. To answer those questions, it is necessary to hold the third of them,
namely government power. Although it is a change to take power out of foreign
hands and put it in the hands of one's own faction, neither negative nor positive
rights can be fulfilled until a people's elected government is formed. Therefore,
the Oromo struggle must move into the fifth chapter. This chapter is about
establishing a people's elected government, in other words, building a democratic
system of government. This means that this struggle has passed through a
phase of awakening, construction, state formation and seizure of power and is
now moving towards democratization.
Although these chapters are overlapping, it is necessary to reinforce the work of
previous chapters but focus more on new ones.
The first task in the fifth chapter of the struggle for democratization is to correct
attitudes. Two views are offered when we say that the transition to democracy
will benefit us. One is that it is impossible to bring democracy in that country and
the second is that democracy is not needed in this country by the ruling party
and its supporters. Let us consider these two views one by one.
a) a Democracy is impossible
Those who say that democracy is impossible list many reasons to reinforce their
view. The biggest of these is that democracy cannot be born or develop in
Africa, especially in Ethiopia led by Abyssinian ideology. There is no denying
that the attitudes and practices in Africa as well as the political culture in Ethiopia
are anti-democratic. But no culture of any people or nation has been created
conducive to democracy. There was no skyrocketing democracy. Peoples and
countries that succeeded in building democracies faced it after a long struggle
and great sacrifice.
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We see that many African countries are recently moving towards democracy
after prolonged dictatorships and conflicts. Look at our neighbors Kenya and
Somalia. For us, once we agree that the problems of our nation and country
cannot be solved by a dictatorship, there is no better solution than to work on
the transition to democracy, long or difficult.
Another idea that democracy is impossible stems from the fact that the current
party knows nothing but force and does not want democracy.
Of course, neither the person nor the party in power wants to relinquish power
voluntarily, so it wants to do everything it can to hinder the transition to
democracy. Even the democratically elected wishes to stay in power by force if
he can. Donald Trump's attempt in the United States last year is proof of this.
There is no democracy that comes and is protected by the will of the people
and the group in power. It is the struggle of the people that brings and protects democracy.
As we touched on above, the struggle of a nation can only be fully achieved not
only by overthrowing the foreign dictatorship, but also by building a government
elected by the people and controlled by the people. Replacing one ruling party
with another is useless in itself, unless it is represented by the will and election
of the people. So for a democratic system
struggling is tedious and time consuming but it is better than other available
solutions.
b) Democracy is not necessary
The ruling leadership and faction says democracy is not necessary.

One of these reasons is that it is enough after the foreign regime is removed
and replaced by 'our' people. The events of the past five years alone prove that
this is not true. Even though the foreign administration has replaced 'our', the
killings, looting and hatred have not stopped.
Instead, it got worse. Another idea is that when democracy comes, we will lose
power. It is true that the realization of democracy may deprive people and
groups of power. As a nation, however, Oromo have nothing to lose in
democracy. Instead, a group has built a dictatorship in its name and makes it
hostile to neighboring nations.
Over the past five years, it has put us at war with the nations we live with.
Therefore, the guarantee for Oromo is to protect our rights and prevent power
from going to foreigners, to establish a democratic system. The fatherly system
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if it were a dictatorship, it would inevitably fall. When it falls, however, the danger is
that it will cost not only the officials but also those who leave the nation. An example of
this can be looked at without going too far.
Like our guys now, they were saying that democracy is not necessary and it is in the
interest of our party and nation to stay by force. When they fell, however, what they
had built in 27 years was destroyed in less than five years. Therefore, the attempts of
the current ruling party to establish a dictatorship may cause damage during the ruling
period and create additional grief with neighboring nations.
In the same dimension, we are entering the 5th chapter of the Oromo struggle in which
we are trying to build a system of government elected by the people that protects the
rights and interests of the people. One thing we need to remind each other is that just
because we are fighting to build a democracy may not mean that our generation will
benefit from it. When our fathers and grandfathers started the struggle to overthrow
the foreign regime, they did not say that they would survive and enjoy the fruits of that
freedom. As Waqo Guutu said, they could not eradicate it and decided to raise their
children. He knew that many of them had been sacrificed and could not see the change
they wanted. But even though they are sacrifices, their wishes are for their children
he was able to succeed in developing.
The sacrifices paid for the first chapter of the struggle paved the way for the second
chapter. The latter facilitated the third. The third facilitated the fourth and took power
out of foreign hands. The fourth is to pave the way for the fifth and fight as much as
you can to get power out of the hands of the dictators and into the hands of the people.
Therefore, it is the duty of the fighters under this chapter 5 to use the power they have
received so that they do not lose their power and do not harm the people.
As mentioned above, the chapters of the struggle overlap. That is, even if you move
from one chapter to the next, the previous one does not stop, it continues. Consecutive
chapters become interdependent and feed into each other. We are in Chapter 4 of
holding, strengthening, affirming and protecting power. The successful completion of
chapter 4 paves the way for chapter five. Stumbling
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it drags it back and weakens it even more. That’s what happened to us.
The mistakes and mistakes made in chapter 4 have delayed the fifth chapter.
Yet now moving on to chapter five is useful to accomplish that purpose of
chapter In other words, striving to move the country towards democracy will
help to consolidate, authenticate and protect power. A strong, authenticated
and protected power is useful for creating a sustainable democracy. During the
transition from chapter four to chapter five , it is necessary to work together and
strengthen each other.
In other words, we will solve the mistakes made in chapter 4 and lay the
foundation for the fifth chapter. Below are some of the main tasks that need to
be done.
6.1. Peacemaking
As we have seen above, after the Oromo struggle took power out of foreign
hands and handed it over to its own faction, it has entered into internal and
external conflict in the process of consolidating power. Over the past four years,
Oromo political forces have been in a two-way war. Internally, it was the self-
fighting in Oromia, while externally, it was the Tigray and occasionally Amhara
factions. These battles are pillars
undermining power and preventing the ruling party from consolidating it. The cost of war and
the destruction of property weakened the pillars of the economy.
The conflict in Oromia tore apart and weakened the social base. External wars
worsened ethnic relations.
The massacres and crimes committed in the war led to diplomatic failure. All of
this combined to make it impossible to consolidate power.
Therefore, it is necessary to stop the war and establish lasting peace in order
to consolidate power and move towards democracy. If the war continues, the
above mentioned problems will worsen and lead not only to the fall of those in
power but also to the destruction of the people and the country.
Peace is not only crucial to the political health of a country. One of the factors
that hinder the transition to democracy is the existence of conflict.
In a war-torn country, securitized politics is created. This will narrow the political
field for the parties that want to hold power and create a dictatorship. Especially
those who think they will be better in the political game
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use to bring to the country. The political arena will be crowded and it will be
difficult to negotiate and work towards democracy. Therefore, ceasing fighting
and establishing stability is crucial to strengthen power for those in power
and for the people to reduce the losses associated with war and move
towards democracy. Hence, peacekeeping should be given priority attention.
As Oromo, we should focus on establishing peace both internally and

externally. The starting point for internal peace is to pressure and cooperate
with all sides to bring the armed forces to reconciliation talks.
The ruling party must recognize the dangers of the 'eat alone' culture inherited
from its predecessors and prepare itself to share power and responsibility.
On the other hand, the forces in the armed struggle should prepare
themselves for peace knowing that continued fighting will cause serious
losses to this nation even if they have convincing reasons to take up arms.
Once the warring factions on the battlefield have reached a ceasefire
agreement, a strong political settlement that benefits and convinces all sides
needs to be reached with the participation of the remaining political parties
and intellectuals.
Establishing peace between the Oromo forces will also help to stop the
fighting with the forces of other ethnic groups. The strength of the ititu is
useful for talking to others in a position of strength. It also avoids war by
scaring off those who might push it violently by saying that there is a system
of understanding with its grassroots community (deterrent effect).
We must also work to stop the conflict with other ethnic groups. The Northern
War is ending in a positive way. The mountaineering with Amhara should
also be handled tactfully and maturely. We also need to adjust our relations
with neighboring countries to avoid getting into internal conflict (we will come
back to our relations with neighboring nations and neighboring countries later).
In general, the main task that the Oromo should focus on at the moment is to
establish peace. Establishing peace is crucial to consolidate power and move
towards democracy and fully answer the demands of our people.
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6.2. Managing Internal Diversity
The Oromo are the most populous and vastly settled nation.
It is also divided into many tribes and follows different religions. This means
that the Oromo are a nation with various forms of internal pluralism. It is a
very difficult task to awaken such a nation, rebuild its common identity and
empower it to free it from foreign oppression. The struggle has succeeded.
This success has been achieved by overcoming these many challenges.
From the very beginning of the struggle, plurality has been a source of
factionalism and has been causing problems for the struggle. From time to
time, it created divisions in the organization and leadership and prevented
the struggle from moving at the desired pace. These problems known as
regionalism or tribalism in the Oromo struggle have two sources. Natural and
man-made. Naturally, this nation has tribes and clans by nature. It was
constructed from many types. It settles in huts/ settlements in deserts and
valleys, ravines and mountains.
The artificial one is the division invented by the power of the foreign ruling
class and political organizations. As the Gada system weakened due to
population growth and movement, it was broken by the foreigners.
The foreigner knew that if the nation united, it would overthrow the oppressive
regime. This was to prevent the Oromo from having a collective governance
structure and engaging in collective action.
Because of this, it made man self-identify with the region created by foreigners
rather than with a common identity based on ethnicity. As soon as the Oromo
struggle began, much work was done to overcome these problems. Especially
in the Waldaya Maccaa Tuulama, it was a great goal to overcome religious
and regional divisions including the natural clan and settlement. He soon
became successful.
The Oromo struggle lost many visionary leaders in the 1970s and early 1980s
and the Oromo struggle organizations became a source of racism and
regionalism. The demise of visionary and talented leadership has left
responsibility in the hands of those who lack vision and talent. A leader of
vision and talent
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one that has a result. An effective leader is supported and loved for that result.
To further enhance those results, it attracts talented people (merit-based
recruitment and promotion).
Leadership that fails to produce results is criticized and enjoys its power. He
prefers to hire loyalty rather than talented people to maintain that power and
hide his own weaknesses (loyalty over merit).
In a society already exposed to natural poverty and alien divisions, loyalty

comes through kinship and closeness of land settlement. Leadership that has
failed to produce results uses gifts to surround itself with people who are trusted
rather than talented. This creates factionalism and further weakens the
organization. Thus, the end of a visionary and capable leadership paved the
way for the exploitation of the Oromo plurality for factionalism. This pluralistic
factionalism not only harmed the struggle but also gave birth to an illa (disease)
that is still a threat to Oromo politics.
The problem of pluralism may be worse since he came to power than during the
struggle. The reason is that during the struggle, factions are formed from
differences between the leadership on the process and strategy of the struggle.
The existence of an external common enemy would have been useful to
overcome the gaps of the struggle era. Since power has been transferred from
foreign hands to the Oromo faction, however, there is no common enemy
outside. Moreover, seizing state power is the seizure of leverage and other
powers, so factional divisions pave the way for mutual harm.
A person or group in power has the power to harm those who oppose him and
their supporters in terms of wealth and other oppression.
In a nation with internal pluralism, this conflict takes on regional and religious
forms. This attitude of using power to benefit and harm each other means
destroying the foundation of the nation that was built with great sacrifice and
brought to power. We have seen in the experience of the past five years that
power exacerbates the capacity problem. The way the ruling party discriminated
to protect itself could have led to a worse disaster. However, the unity of the
nation has survived due to the hard work done for more than fifty years to build
Oromummaa.
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Therefore, they must be very careful about the issue of capacity during their tenure.
The solution to mitigate the potential problems of capacity is to start from the
beginning and ensure a fair and equitable distribution of power and resources among
all sections of society. To achieve this, the leadership of Oromia and Oromo
organizations must be made to reflect the potential of the nation. Both the ruling
party and the opposition should act with caution and understanding.
Another way to taligan capacity is to encourage social integration. This includes

encouraging young people to marry across tribal, religious and regional boundaries.
While it is good to encourage cultural and language integration, it is necessary to
work to ensure that the common traditions and dialects produced are inclusive rather
than dominated by one region.
Since it is integration rather than assimilation that brings about good social unity and
integration, it is necessary to go so that Oromum becomes a reflection of all its tribes
and tribes.
While it is important to protect the justice of all sections of society, it is also good to
avoid measures that further divide the people.
For example, the way administrative structures such as districts and districts are
formed and named after tribes raises ownership disputes.
Since many tribes are settled together, this issue of ownership divides the people.
Accordingly, changing the administrative names that the foreigners used to divide
Oromo will help to erase the legacy and eliminate the barriers created in those days
that are still the source of regionalism. Therefore, it is better for the district and district
administrations to name mountains and rivers after each tribe.
6.3. Making Relations With Nations
Since the establishment of the Ethiopian government, the Oromo have had two
types of relations with neighboring ethnic groups. It had confrontational relations
with the Northern Nations because their descendants were oppressing the
Oromo. There are wounds and sorrows between us. Those on the South and East sides
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he has been oppressed with the country and should have a relationship of compassion and
cooperation. It means we have common wounds and common aspirations.
It is necessary to hold a formal dialogue with the peoples of the North on how
to heal the tragedy and migration of yesterday and how to live in peace and
dignity in the future. Especially with the Amharas, there are huge differences
not only on yesterday's history but also on the future of this country.
Despite having conflicting understandings of history and future, Amhara and

Oromo are widely settled and are vulnerable to conflict. This intersettlement
complicates the problems that cannot be solved by floods.
Therefore, no matter how boring it may be, we must find a peaceful way to
understand each other with Amhara.
There are six ( 6) major issues that differ between Amhara and Oromo during
the 2019- 2020 discussions between the Oromo and Amhara leadership.
These are:
1. The politics of historical memory

2. The issue of Finland
3. The issue of the borders of the two
states 4. The issue of the natives of the two ethnic groups living in the two
states 5. The constitution
6. Language Issues
To prevent these issues from leading to conflict, it will be necessary to
strengthen our internal strength on the one hand (as a deterrence tactic) and
on the other hand to have a systematic dialogue with their leadership. As
Amhara political forces are abandoning the Ethiopian charges they used to
use and moving towards Amhara nationalism, such a transition is turmoil and
requires great maturity, tactics and strategies on the part of Oromo to avoid
going to war.
Nationalism may flourish in both forms. One is when an oppressed group

acts in excitement and anger because of the victimization. The second is
when the dominant group is angry that it has lost that dominance. Here is the
difference between the two. The former struggles with optimism that my
future is bright
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as driving incentive). The worse the oppression and the farther away from
freedom, the more I move with hope that I will go to the freedom I wished for
day by day.
The second form of nationalism acts with feelings of regret, anger and
frustration as an incentive as the political, social and economic supremacy is
declining day by day. On the other hand, the nationalism of the oppressed
group is driven by the feeling of hope that the sun will rise tomorrow, while
that of the dominant group is driven by the feeling of despair that the sun is
going to set.
Accordingly, Amhara dominates the federal bureaucratic structure and the

economy due to the discrimination in which the country was built. This
supremacy, however, is declining as other nations awaken and the system of
equality comes. Nationalism is known to cause many feelings of status loss.
The nationalism of the Serbs is an example of this. It is this form of nationalism
that is currently rocking the United States and Europe and is steaming with
the claim that white refugees of other races are taking over our supremacy.
It is good to look at the diagram above and take the old, present and future
political charges and see how it contradicts the Amhara and Oromo political
charges.
Figure7:Difference between Amharic and Oromo historical claims
The Amhara political claim presents the regime as a glorious past until the
overthrow of Haylasillase (1974). Since then, he has viewed it as a fall era of
trouble and misery. As a solution, they advocate a return to the pre-1974
system. Therefore, on the ideological spectrum we have considered above,
Amhara nationalism is reactionary nationalism. The decline worsened after
1991, he claims. Yet the ruling party in the oppressed nation because
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out and they had traditional ties and they hoped that he would never stay in power
and return to us, or that he would be fixed in a way that suited us.
After 2018, the Oromo faction in power had fled the Oromo political forces and allied
themselves with the Amhara ones, adapting the Amhara political charges and giving
them hope. The cessation of the Tigray war has exacerbated their desperation as
the ruling party has reduced its dependence on them. This anger and frustration
may intensify in the coming years. Therefore, the dangers of this form of nationalism
should be understood in advance and strategized
it is necessary to prepare a controlled.
The strategy must balance two things. On the one hand, it must convince the
Amhara political forces that there is no chance of regaining yesterday's supremacy
and on the other hand, it must guarantee that they will get their due share in the
equal system and not be harmed by discrimination.
As for Tigray, there is no major plaintiff difference with Oromo. There are differences
on two issues. One is that there is still migration due to the damage caused during
their tenure. The second is the desire to regain the supremacy of the past. Because
we knew these issues in advance, we presented three things during the Qeerroo
struggle and we were able to get them to resign before a serious fighting occurred.
This is one we will not avenge the crimes you committed when you were in power.
Secondly, we will not return the wealth you accumulated during your tenure. The
third was that we will not stab you ourselves and we will not keep silent as others
stab you.
The failure to implement this agreement and the failure of the Tigrean forces to fully
accept the lack of supremacy on one side led to the Oromo faction in power and the
Tigrean forces being put at war.
The negotiated settlement of the war has opened the way for new forms of relations.
It seems that both sides are becoming increasingly aware that they are important to
each other. Security is the biggest issue for Tigers right now. It is power for the
Oromo faction in power. The Tigreans have learned that they need the cooperation
of the Oromo to save themselves from the enemies around them. The Oromo faction
will also benefit from the cooperation of the Tigreans to consolidate power. At least
not for his power
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we suspect he wants to be guaranteed. If the Oromo faction gives security

guarantees to the Tigres and the Tigres give the Oromo faction guarantees of not
being in power, there is a chance of cooperation.
Along with the peoples of the South and East of the country, the Oromo have no historical tragedy.
There is no big difference between the plaintiffs. Even if it is a conflict, the tribes
on the border will occasionally fight each other but there is no injury at the national
level. Whenever the struggle of the Oromo brought victory, these nations benefited.
When Haylasillase fell and the Dargu returned the land to the farmers, not only
the Oromo but also other oppressed nations benefited. Although the Oromo
struggle gave birth to federalism, other ethnic groups also gained the right to
create their own regions and use their own languages. Even when the Oromo
faction came to power, other nations benefited, although the Oromo nation did not
stop suffering.
For ethnic groups like Sidama, the long-standing regional demands were resolved.
Other regions have gained much better autonomy than before.
Although these nations of the South and East are benefiting from the Oromo
struggle, there is fear and suspicion of Oromo from the propaganda of the enemies
of Oromo and what they have seen in practice. Their suspicions take two forms.
One is that perhaps the Oromo faction in power will oppress us by building the
supremacy of its own nation like the previous Amhara and Tigrean factions. The
second is whether he will be able to rule the country together or whether he will
disrupt each other and put us in chaos. For that first suspicion, they have seen
over the past five years that the Oromo faction, even if it wants to be a dictator,
has no desire to harm these nations. The attempts to forcibly suppress the demand
for self-government of ethnic groups such as Sidama and the suppression of
Walayta and Guraagee reinforce the suspicion.
But it takes a lot of work to find a solution to the second doubt.

The conflict among the Oromo and the unrest that has been rocking the country
for five years reinforces the propaganda of suspicion that 'Oromo cannot rule the
country' It is crucial for Oromo to strengthen power and stabilize the country to
resolve these suspicions of the peoples of the South and East. The leadership and
intellectuals of these nations are currently asking themselves whether the Oromo
in power are a source of liability or a reliable ally to help regain their long-violated
rights and interests
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it is important to know that they are asking and to provide a convincing answer.
The answer is this
If we demonstrate in practice that Oromo can consolidate power, that Oromo

will not oppress other nations and that the country will not go to chaos and
destruction, these nations will be our strong supporters. If we fail to ensure this
and the internal and external chaos continues, they may turn against us in
order to save themselves. Only a mother loves Yaraa!
Recently, while talking to a native of the Southern nations, he asked me a

serious question. His question is “when the Amharas were in power, the state
was established. When the Tigreans came to power, we started to govern
ourselves to some extent under federalism. What did you add to us when the
Oromo took power?” it was a slow motion. I asked him what he thought and
asked me, 'What do you expect from the Oromo regime?' I asked the scientist.
His answer was short. Democracy is the answer. He said it was right.
The work of state building goes through three main stages.

The first is the territorialization of the country by war and voluntarily.
This stage is when a king or group enslaves the peoples of the region by force
or by agreement to restore borders, creates a monopoly of the means of
violence and gains recognition among other countries. That is, it was done
during the reign of Minilik. This demarcation process is often carried out by
force and arouses opposition from the occupied peoples within the border. This
protest and rebellion leads to the second stage. This is structuring/restructuring.
Since the 1970's, ethnic protests have intensified and the regime
Haylasillase and Dargu tried to convince the people by changing various

administrative structures. However, those structures refused to satisfy the
demands of the ethnic groups and a federalism based on ethnicity was
established during the Wayyaanee regime. Once the limited structure of the
people in the country is accepted by the wayyaba and established, the next
stage is the development of rule of the political game.
In other words, it means building a democratic system. Ethiopia is moving to

third after completing those two stages
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the Oromo struggle took power out of the hands of foreigners and put it in the
hands of its own faction. This means that in the process of nation building, the
task of establishing a democratic system is primarily the duty of the Oromo
leadership. Unwillingly, the previous parties in power had the opportunity to move
the country towards democracy. And they have a reason for that. They were
afraid because democracy is a system that gives power to the weakest in
numbers. This is not to say that every leader elected will always be an Oromo
because the Oromo are in large numbers. A leader elected from any ethnic
group, as the people with the largest voting block in the country's parliament, will
have veto power over the country's policies and strategies. In a democracy, he
can hold the rightful share of power and respect the rights and interests of other
nations.
Therefore, the peoples of the South and East of the country expect democracy
from the Oromo leadership. A democracy that protects collective and individual
rights. Which respects the right of nations to self-determination. Which all nations
get their due share from the federal level. To build that democracy, they want the
Oromo to stabilize themselves internally and stabilize the country first.
These nations are not only oppressed with us but also have great social and
economic ties. They need to be made economically and socially useful. It is
necessary to ensure that the development works carried out in the regions and
districts bordering these ethnic groups benefit them across the border. It is the
Oromo who must pressure them to get their due representation in the power and
authority of the federal government. It is also good to help maintain stability and
cooperation between these nations. These peoples need to work knowing that
empowering is empowering Oromo.
In general, the Oromo leadership has a great duty to have a peaceful, stable and
rapidly developing country with the ethnic groups in the north and south and east
of the country. Until today, the relationship between the central government and
the ethnic groups has been one of plunder, oppression and marginalization.
Changing this requires a new social contract to create a relationship in which
nations have secured ownership of their homeland and share power and wealth
equally at the middle level.
Finally, the accusation of 'Oromo government' by the post-2018 regime should
also be corrected. The angora faction is making the claim of an Oromo government
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existing to attract the Oromo, while others use it to disgust other nations. It is
the will of this nation to establish a democratically elected Oromo government
at the Oromia level. But it has never been the goal of the Oromo struggle to
impose an 'Oromo government' on all ethnic groups at the national level.
The aspiration of the Oromo is to build a government of the peoples of
Ethiopia at the federal level. Therefore, it is necessary to counter this name
by building a federal government that reflects the ethnic groups of the country
in a visible manner in words and deeds, content and policies, power sharing
and leverage.
6.4. Strengthening Foreign Relations
One of the things we saw during the Tigray war was that the ruling Oromo
faction was completely outnumbered diplomatically. This weakness in
diplomacy has a long history. Minilik was able to defeat and conquer the
Oromo forces by using his foreign relations to acquire modern weapons.
Even since the struggle began, many attempts to gain external cooperation
have not been successful
we were.
The religious relations of the Northern groups with the West gave them the
advantage of priority and dominance in diplomatic relations. They were able
to further strengthen this early diplomatic supremacy by building strong social
and economic relations with the West during their tenure and by pretending
to be their strongest friend in South Africa. They further enhanced their
diplomatic supremacy by educating their children through their power and
economic supremacy and by using their networks with Westerners to recruit
many experts into international organizations.
Holding power is useful for diplomatic relations. But because of the dominance
of the northern groups for more than a century, the Oromo faction that took
power seized the government and was able to outdo it diplomatically. Conflicts
with intellectuals and Oromo living abroad deprived him of some support and
left him alone.
There were three main reasons why the Oromo struggle towards diplomacy
failed. One is that the Oromo parents have strong social ties
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with foreign citizens and institutions. The latter was not the master of power
and economy of his country and could not protect foreign interests. It means
there weren’t many things to hate us for. Third, his struggle has been
presented as a source of chaos and evil in the region and has been seen as
anti-foreign interests. The way the Oromo question was framed reinforced
this suspicion.
The seizure of power is of great benefit to diplomatic strength because it

provides an opportunity to meet or harm foreign interests. So why has the
Oromo faction been outdone diplomatically since it came to power?
Firstly the embedded and pre-existing comparative advantage takes time to
overcome. The second is that the new government has been at war with its
base in the morning and others have been attacked and it has become weak
and its ability to stay in power has become doubtful and it has appeared
powerless to protect foreign interests. The third is that the ruling faction paid
little attention to diplomacy. The State Department has never been as weak
as it has been in the past five years.
As we mentioned at the beginning of this article, diplomacy is one of the

pillars of power. This pillar needs to be changed so that it can be taken to
power or taken over and used for one's own benefit.
The faction that came to power failed to do this. Overall, the Oromo political
forces in power have not been successful diplomatically; as it is exceeded. It
will take us a lot of work to recognize this diplomatic superiority and correct
it. A strategy to strengthen diplomacy requires extensive research,
development and implementation.
For now, though, let’s mention a few points. The basis of diplomatic relations
is the national interest.
These interests may be economic or security. When we think about having

relations with a country, the first thing to do is to identify what interests that
country has in our country or the region. It is also about determining what
benefits we want from that country. Above all, it is crucial to build a stable
system of government to meet the interests of the countries we want to
befriend and to have them meet ours, as well as to counter those who want
to harm us. Accordingly, the countries
PAGE _
Let us mention below some of the things we need to understand to strengthen diplomatic
relations with interests in our region.
6.4.1. Relations with neighboring countries
When it comes to diplomacy, attention is often given to the superpowers, especially the
West. There are large embassies of manpower and wire lectures in those countries. For
near neighboring countries (East Africa and Arab countries)
The butt embassies are allocated very little manpower and leverage.
Our understanding of diplomacy needs to be corrected.
Since diplomatic relations are based on the level of economic and security interests we
have with a country, it should be based on analyzing the current and future economic
and security ties we have/may have rather than looking at the names of the countries.
Hence, neighboring countries have the greatest impact on our internal security.
Neighboring countries were involved in the wars in Ethiopia. Therefore, strong diplomatic
ties with neighboring countries are crucial for internal security. Economically speaking, it
is often not understood how much our business is connected to our neighbours. For
example, Somalia, Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are among
the top five countries with which Ethiopia trades. How strong are the embassies we have
in these countries? It's very weak.
There are great opportunities for these countries to expand these trade relations to other
neighbors. Expanding our agricultural sector, with the nation's proximity to the earth, will
enable our products to dominate the market in the Middle East. Because we have a large
labor force, the money available in Arab countries helps a lot to expand industry and
factories. Our expanded industry means that our products can become more competitive
in price with our neighboring African countries such as Kenya and Sudan.
If we strengthen the quality of our human resource training in terms of technical and
language skills, we will gain priority for the labor demand of Arab countries.
Currently, labor force without sufficient skills go there and engage in manual labor for
very low income. In general
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it is essential to strengthen our diplomatic relations with neighboring countries to

strengthen our economy.
We have special historical and social relations with three of our neighboring
countries and our policy should be based on that. The Ethiopian regime has had
hostile relations with Eritrea. They were friends to the Oromo struggle. Over the
past five years, they have become friends with the ruling Oromo faction.
The security and economies of Eritrea and Ethiopia are highly interdependent.
Understanding this, it is necessary to establish diplomatic relations between the
two countries that will bring stability and development. The attitude so far, 'if one
is disturbed, the other will not find peace' has only caused collective loss and has
not helped. The cold relationship between Finfinnee and Asmara over the past five
years has been based on officials. Going beyond this, it is necessary to upgrade
the relationship to a transparent and legal relationship that relies on the institutions
of both countries.
Eritrea's conflict with Tigray needs to be carefully resolved so as not to disrupt the
security of both countries. The governments of both countries need to convincingly
resolve the suspicion that forces on both sides pose a threat to me.
We should also talk openly about the use of the Asabi port and other economic
issues and reach a long-term agreement that will benefit both sides.
The Oromo leadership has the opportunity to use its historical and contemporary
relationship with the Eritrean leadership to establish peace and strong economic
cooperation between the two countries.
With Somalia, we have a cross-border society that lives in harmony. There is no

African country with which we have economic relations as much as Somalia.
He is also a long-time friend of the Oromo struggle. Somalis are also our strategic
partner in Ethiopian domestic politics. Therefore, it is very useful to strengthen
diplomatic relations with Somali political parties inside and outside the border. This
relationship should be strengthened at both the government and community levels.
For a long time, the Ethiopian government was seen as anti-Somali. This statement
is also true. Past Ethiopian governments have played a major role in uncorking
the country by collaborating with various Somali factions. Over the past five years,
that situation has been changing.
PAGE _
It is in our best interest to cooperate with the efforts to rebuild the Somali
state by being careful about the internal conflict between the Somali forces.
A stable Somalia is also good for us economically and security-wise.
We also have social relations with Kenya. Oromo and Somalis live on both
sides and are good allies. It is necessary to understand this social relationship
and work to draw the two countries closer together.
We must work to make this social bond a solution rather than a concern for
the security of both borders. Economically, relations between the two
countries are weak. There are many opportunities to further develop bilateral
trade. It will further strengthen economic relations by making projects like
LAPSSET (Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia-Transport) a success. Many of
Southern Ethiopia’s exports travel long distances to Djibouti. This is a waste
of time and money.
Going out on the Kenyan side not only saves time and expense but also
benefits the people along the border who often suffer from hunger. In addition,
working with development infrastructure and expanding markets in both
border areas is one solution to the famine problem. Kenya is becoming the
diplomatic and trade hub of East Africa and it will serve to strengthen our
diplomatic and economic ties with them and further improve our relations with
other institutions and countries.
The issue of regional integration of these South African countries is often

discussed. It’s a good idea. Closer ties between these countries are also
necessary for security and development. But if the process of connectivity
does not go fast in sequence, it may not bring these countries closer together
but further apart. The reason is that there is suspicion due to the history of
yesterday's invasions and conflicts. Therefore, this linkage must be based on
economic priorities. Security is next.
Finally, we go to politics.
Politics often takes precedence in this order. Such attempts quickly fail. The
reason is that the political leadership on both sides creates obstacles because
it fears that attempts to merge the politics of two or more countries will lose
power. Moreover, starting with the economy, political leadership makes fear
not an obstacle. In addition, further linkages between the economies of
neighboring countries benefit both sides of society
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that will build strong support in the community. Stability is essential for
economic growth and forces security forces to work with neighboring countries.
The more the security forces get to know each other, the stronger the trust
between the political leadership becomes. The benefits that individuals and
community groups receive from the economy, as well as the closeness and
trust between security forces, influence the political leadership to work closely
with each other. Successful regional integrations such as the European Union
have implemented a series of economic/ security, political orders.
Unions such as ECOWAS (West Africa) and ASEAN (Southwest Asia) are
on the path to success by prioritizing the economy accordingly. In South
Africa, strengthening economic relations and ensuring common security
needs to be given priority and common politics put behind it. Instead, it is
best to avoid internal politics as much as possible in the beginning.
6.4.2. Relations with the West
The West has a peaceful interest in Ethiopia. It is linked to their interests in

South Africa and the Red Sea. They want Ethiopia to be a partner in their
security interests in the region.
Ethiopia needs a strong government and a stable system to meet these
interests. The Ethiopian governments were fulfilling this interest and viewed
the Oromo struggle as hostile. In addition, they believed or had similar views
that if Oromo took power, they would not be able to create a stable system.
During the Qeerroo struggle, when it became clear that the regime in power
could not restore stability and that the Oromo came to power so badly, they
changed their position and started cooperating with us. The Oromo faction
that came to power was receiving strong support from the West in the
morning. But it soon confirmed their suspicions about Oromo. They began to
see the Oromo as unable to be a reliable partner by destabilizing the country
by fighting among themselves and with other groups. The pressure they were
exerting during the Tigray war stems partly from this.
PAGE _
Strong diplomatic cooperation with the West is needed.

Their cooperation is imperative until the economy is strong and we get out of
dependence on aid. The knowledge of Western governments, institutions and
people is also necessary to build a democracy. To achieve this cooperation in
a sustainable manner, we need to build a peaceful and stable country, a
strong military and security sector. It also requires the involvement of many
experts in Western institutions and international organizations. It is also useful
to organize the foreign community to conduct diplomatic activities in the
countries where they live. This requires bringing peace and reconciliation to
the conflict in the Oromo political camp.
6.4.3. Relations with China
China's influence in Africa has grown steadily and it has entered into fierce
competition with the West. While the West prefers aid and political influence,
China goes for trade and investment. The West interferes in the politics of
developing countries and tries to shape it to their liking. China, however, has
little interest in national politics. It exerts influence through trade and investment
relations with everyone in power. We need to understand these differences in
strategies and policies between the West and China in Africa and develop
strategies that benefit both sides.
China has had strong relations with the TPLF government. Since then,
however, relations have weakened due to instability. This needs to be
improved. We need a lot, especially for infrastructure construction. If we invite
these infrastructures, however, we must avoid the problems that many African
countries have fallen into. China will attract many countries because it does
not link political conditionalities when it gives loans. But it gives the loan at a
high interest rate.
The debt went beyond the capacity of countries to pay and forced them to
hand over large national infrastructures. Thus, many countries were forced to
give their major infrastructure to China. This will also jeopardize the sovereignty
of the country and undermine the economy and the debt should be welcomed
with great caution.
PAGE _
6.4.4. Relations between countries vying for regional supremacy in

East Africa
For a long time, world politics has been shaken by two or three competing
superpowers. Diplomatically, the struggles of peoples and poor countries
depended on this competition of powers. Still, the three superpowers, the
United States, Russia and China, have the greatest influence on world politics.
However, in recent years, countries with rapidly developing economies and
ambitions for geopolitical influence have emerged and have begun to play an
important role in the political process in various regions in new ways.
For our region, countries like Turkey, Emirates and Qatar have started playing
a major role in the economic and political process. These countries are using
their rapidly strengthening economic and military power to pave the way for
the internal political process and relations between countries. They have
entered into fierce competition in their ambitions and efforts to gain supremacy.
This competition can be both an opportunity and a danger for our country.
We need to do two things to overcome the damage that such countries can
do to us. One is again to ensure internal stability.
When there is conflict between political factions, these countries provide
support to each other and lead to a relentless war that destroys the country.
This is what happened in countries like Libya, Syria and Yemen.
It is also good for these countries to facilitate their relations only on the
government side and block other channels. Secondly, it is good to be careful
that the relationship we establish with these competing countries is not one of
holding one and naming the other.
One may be too close to us and the other may interfere in our politics in order
to bring their favorite party to power if they think they are being oppressed.
This is the problem that has prevented Somalia from having a strong central
government again. Overall, these countries' rapidly growing economic power
and desire to expand their influence is a good opportunity for us to grow our
economy.
As we take advantage of this opportunity to move, we must be careful that
their competition does not pose a danger of violence.
PAGE _
6.5. StrengtheningSecurityForces
Security forces (security and military) are known to be the mainstay of the
state system. In the security sector, having strong human resources, leverage
and strategy is of great benefit only for internal political stability while
maintaining diplomatic relations with countries near and far. Although there
has been Oromo participation in the security forces in Ethiopia for a long
time, the force has benefited the interests of the ruling groups and harmed
Oromo.
When the Oromo faction came to power, it inherited the pillar of security
power built to benefit the foreign faction. They have tried to reform the
security forces inherited by the Oromo faction and have succeeded to some
extent. Especially because of the Tigray war, the security forces had to be
changed to reflect the wishes and interests of the ruling party. However, the
work of the country's security forces needs to be renewed and strengthened
to protect the interests of Oromo and ethnic groups in the country. Here are
some things that need to be done to further strengthen the country's security
forces.
As mentioned earlier, the relationship between the Oromo and the Ethiopian
regimes was hostile. That relationship continued during the five years that
the Oromo faction came to power. Hence, the ruling faction has entered into
fighting in Oromia and the security forces of the country have not attracted
Oromo and continue to harm Oromo. Many attempts to attract young Oromo
to the National Defense Force and other security forces have failed.
An educated and conscious youth who should have strengthened the security
forces has chosen to resign from the army and join the army. Until Oromo
and the Ethiopian regime turn this hostile relationship into friendship, the
country's security forces will not stop harming Oromo.
As long as the abuse continues, the chances of attracting qualified youth to
the security forces are slim.
Especially as many midlevel officers have been injured in the fighting in

Tigray, it is necessary to introduce young people who have reached higher
education levels into the officer corps to replace this quickly. Even in the
security sector, young people with educational qualifications and strong
consciousness are needed for such work.
PAGE _
Therefore, if the security forces at the regional and federal levels are required to
benefit from the Oromo, stop the fighting in Oromia and the relations between
the Oromo and the government should come out of hostility
it must be done.
Mental armor is more important than material armor to build a strong security
force. Both soldiers and security guards pay off by marching to the death with a
clear and convincing cause.
A soldier or a soldier needs a convincing doctrine to make the necessary
sacrifices, including his life. The purpose of the individual soldier is to motivate
the statement and the group needs to act in unity. This purpose and mission
stems from the governing narrative of the ruling party.
The Ethiopian security forces have followed different teachings under previous
regimes. During the ruling Amhara regime, it was about maintaining 'Ethiopian
unity' During the Tigrayan era, it was to protect the rights of ethnic groups
included in revolutionary democracy. What about the era when the Oromo
faction came to power? So far, nothing has been officially offered.
Initially, it was said that we would destroy the doctrine of the Wayyanes and
replace it with a new one. When the Tigray war started, the same Ethiopian
teachings of the Haylasillase and Dargu eras came back. That teaching,
however, failed to attract members of the army and security forces from Oromo
and other ethnic groups in the South and East, who were sharpened by the charge of nationalism
Because of this, it could not encourage individual soldiers and did not help to
strengthen the cohesion of the Army. Instead, he divided it.
Therefore, just as administrative prosecutions are required, it is necessary to

develop instructions for the security forces. Although its content is based on
expert research, in the dimashasha it is good to pull together side-by-side views
if the rights of ethnic groups and national unity are the main issues. Progressive
Patriotism and democratic pluralism are what we mentioned above.
In this regard, the process of allowing regions to have their own armies in the
name of special forces police must change quickly. Under federalism, regions
have the right to self-government and local peace and security but cannot have
military forces. To maintain security in the home
PAGE _
ordinary police are enough. Federal security forces are deployed for security
problems beyond the regular police. Apart from this, the current situation in
the regions that have built up armed forces in the name of special forces
police is a source of chaos and destruction of the country.
It has led to fighting between neighboring regions on the nominal side and
conflict between federal and regional governments. The solution is to upgrade
those special forces that the states have to the federal security forces (police
and army). They can then set up camps in the regions and be deployed at the
request of the regional security forces when security problems exceed the
ordinary police force.
6.6. EconomicsTaliguu
The economy is one of the most crucial pillars of power. One of the aims of
the Oromo struggle is to stop the looting, ensure ownership rights and get out
of poverty through properly formulated development policies. That is the
reason why the national struggle wants to seize power. Economically, three
main activities need to be focused on. Stop looting, bring about growth and
ensure equitable distribution of the country's resources.
As we have seen above, the plundering of the people has not stopped despite the fall of the
foreign regime and the establishment of the Oromo faction. Land grabbing has especially worsened.
Corruption has reached a shameful level. As soon as I was released from
prison, an old man from Laga Xaafoo came to visit me. “When you fought to
stop the Master Plan, we thought you would benefit us. But your struggle hurt
us. ” I was shocked and what do you mean? he said, smirking. The old man
said , 'You took the horse out of the stable and let it go to us . When I asked
what he meant, he said , 'During the Wayyaanee era, OPDO cadres were
afraid to sell land. Since the TPLF came down, the OPDO has seized power
and is robbing us without any restriction .
It is true that land grabbing and corruption in various forms have worsened in
the past five years. The looting was exacerbated by the fact that the incumbent
faction, which had lost political support by going to war with the Oromo,
wanted to gain financial support. Therefore, they have political frustration in
encouraging people to engage in land grabbing and corruption
PAGE _
it was a strategy that was openly implemented to cooperate with the regime
for economic gain.
Sadly, these government propagandists engaged in this looting do not save

what they loot for tomorrow's benefit. They waste hands on entertainment.
The way they are wasting money is being used as a starting point for hatred
and defamation campaigns called 'ÿÿÿ'(taranyaa). It is understandable why
the tyrants of yesterday plundered Oromo and Oromia. They loot foreign
property and we may lose power tomorrow so we will loot today to satisfy
personal or group interests.
Why does the current ruling party plunder its fatherland?
The damage of the extreme corruption that has been observed in recent
years is not only the looting of public resources. It is killing education,
bureaucracy and entrepreneurship. Today, to become a mayor or a district
governor, you are appointed by matta, not by ability
it is possible. A student who graduated from university with high marks is
unemployed while the one left behind in high school takes power and builds
a house and drives a car.
The children of the earth have grown up seeing this and are taking education
and skills for granted. This will lead to a decline in the quality of education for
now, and tomorrow it will lead to a serious failure by eliminating the lack of
skilled and efficient human resources. To get rich fast, it is not hard work but
having a high-ranking official connection that is the source of success. Over
the past five years, the day-to-day businessman who works hard and saves
money has become a skeleton, and the complainers from the street have
become 'investors' who have moved billions of dollars without doing anything.
This discourages hardworking and innovative businessmen from working
hard to try to get rich by stealing. And he is doing it.
Therefore, a struggle must focus on stopping this escalating looting. The only
asset left for the Oromo is land. The Oromo share in many resources is very,
very small. When they sold the land, he was left empty handed. Accordingly,
controlling corruption in loans and infrastructure aid should be the focus of
the struggle. This is the goal
PAGE _
to achieve this, we need to establish and further strengthen strong media and
anti-corruption institutions.
The second task to be done on the economy is to bring about economic growth.
Since the beginning of the Qeerroo struggle, the Ethiopian economy has been
going down every year. According to the World Bank data below, the country's
economic growth has been declining since Let us remember that 2013 is the
year of the struggle of the youth. Even after the struggle succeeded and the
Oromo faction came to power, we see that it was impossible to recover the
economy. Instead, it got worse.
We have been in a huge setback, especially in the last three years because of
the conflict. The economy has been paralyzed by the destruction of property by
floods, huge expenditure on weapons, restrictions on domestic agricultural and
trade activities, cessation of foreign direct investment and cessation of loans and
development aid due to foreign sanctions.
Figure8:EthiopiaEconomicGrowth2013-2
The losses of the war retarded the country's economic growth for many years.
We have recovered this economy from the war and are on the path of development
PAGE _
it takes a lot of money and strong coordination. Peace and stability must be
restored by increasing domestic productivity. Several times the losses of the
battle in the North are reported. But in Oromia, in the past three years, the
four productive districts of Wallagga, East and South West Shawaa, Guji, Ilu
Abbabora on the one hand, and last year districts in East Arsi and East
Shawaa districts have never sown or from orchard production due to conflict
we cannot import it. Unless stability is restored in these districts and normal
agricultural activities resume, not only agricultural production but also income
from trade and mining will deteriorate. Similarly, to adequately attract foreign
debt, aid and investment, we must not only stop the existing conflicts but also
adjust our politics and convince foreign countries and institutions that a
resurgence of war will not destroy the economy. Those who want to pour
investment into a war economy and support it with loans and aid are covered.
Therefore, it is necessary to mobilize intellectuals with education and
experience to formulate economic policies that will develop the country and
generate funds to revive the economy. To do this, it is not time to establish
convincing security.
The third issue is the equitable distribution of wealth. Among the things that
create conflict and undermine the economy is the discriminatory use of a
country's resources to benefit one group and starve others. Past regimes
have harmed Oromo and other ethnic groups in this way. That is one of the
reasons why federalism is necessary. In the future, fiscal federalism must be
truly implemented to ensure that the people of the country receive equitable
benefits. It is also crucial to maintain unity among the Oromo by ensuring
that the regions benefit from development activities and employment
opportunities in an equitable manner.
Overall, government and national expenditures are increasing many times

over income due to instability and worsening corruption. It is not far from the
truth to say that a country that was hailed as a 'developmental state' a few
years ago has now become a 'consumer state'
The country's bureaucracy is filled with corrupt people rather than meritocratic
people.
PAGE _
On the other hand, development works have been hampered due to floods
and the cost of floods has skyrocketed. Such a country is urated under the
gumball. No matter how bad you stay, you’ll probably be naked. Ten years
ago, the pace of the Ethiopian economy was predicted to become a middle
cime country by Today, however, the question and doubt is whether it will
continue as a country or disintegrate. This failure is a huge shame not only
for the ruling party but also for this nation as it is reaching the era of the
'Oromo government' This is a testament to those who were telling us
yesterday that 'Oromos cannot rule the country' Stabilizing the country,
reducing corruption, handing over the administrative structure to competent
people and making the country's economy recover is a matter that should not
be given time.
6.7 KnowledgeProductionand Dissemination
What citizens and foreigners learn and hear about historical events and
current affairs has a profound impact on a country's policies and strategies
and relations with other countries. Historical and contemporary knowledge is
presented in a way that benefits the group that generated it. Both history and
contemporary circumstances encompass two things. The event and how the
event is explained (fact and interpretation of it). The historian who writes,
compiles, reports and broadcasts an event presents it to his advantage by
omission or fabrication. Or he makes the event as it is by distorting the cause,
manner and circumstances.
Accordingly, knowledge about countries is often presented in a way that

benefits the politically powerful and economically dominant groups. The
knowledge about Ethiopia so far has been biased towards the views and
interests of the North. It is the same that is taught and told to outsiders as the
culture and history of Ethiopia. Whether it is a current event or not, the same
things that are said control the country's media.
The same reaches the ears of outsiders. Diplomats and international
organizations who come to Finfinnee never hear the history and truth of other
nations or find it distorted. They coordinate and report or submit the same to
the headquarters of their respective governments. This situation is policy
PAGE _
foreign attitudes towards the country and the mainstream media reports.
Therefore, making the way knowledge about the country is produced and
disseminated reflects all ethnic groups and enables the people of the country and
foreigners to develop a balanced attitude will bring great benefits for nation building.
It is not enough to adjust the education policy (curriculum) alone to bring about this
adjustment. Universities and think tanks should work in a coordinated manner.
Universities should facilitate students and scholars to present research supported
by strong evidence. Research centers should summarize research done in
universities and prepare it in a strategic manner. The media should broadcast in a
timely and focused manner.
We are far behind in this regard. Even five years after coming to power, the
knowledge that is sourced and disseminated is the same as that of yesterday. Supremacy
discriminatory allegations are being spread by using their positions in government
bureaucracies, media institutions, embassies and foreign organizations. To correct
this, as mentioned above, our institutions and scholars should be strong in
conducting strategically planned research.
Not only do state media need to stop discrimination but also make sure that the
input they receive is based on balanced knowledge.
In addition, it is imperative to ensure that employees from all ethnic groups are
equally involved in all federal institutions. The current dominance of one or two
groups in foreign institutions and embassies needs to be changed to reflect the
peoples of the country.
To coordinate all this, there should be a Strategic research and planning forum
involving the leadership under review. In such a forum, the knowledge generated
at the university level, refined by the research centers, is discussed by the leaders,
matured and translated into the basis of policies and strategies and implemented
by various bodies. We must understand that failure is not far off unless they hold
power in the same dimension and pave the way for the process of generating and
distributing knowledge.
PAGE _
7. CONCLUSIONS
This article attempts to analyze the progress of the Oromo struggle after a long
faith and great sacrifice, the recent problems, the future dangers, and the works
that need to be done to preserve the victories achieved so far and pave the
way for future successes. The strong point attempted to make is that with the
seizure of power comes a serious danger and a wide range of opportunities;
that we must admit that we have failed to avoid risk and take advantage of
opportunity over the past five years.
Because of this, they cannot consolidate power or answer the demands of our
people.
Our nation and country are in grave danger. Mistakes made over the past five
years should be reviewed and corrected quickly
it is necessary. It is important to avoid making similar mistakes in the future.
First, attention needs to be paid to stopping the conflict in the country in various
directions. Alongside that, formulating policies to govern the country, improving
leadership efficiency, building, changing and renewing pillars of power are tasks
that need to be done with great maturity. Building our relations with the nations
and directing the work to correct the weaknesses in the diplomatic field is a task
that awaits us and should not be given time.
There is no denying that the propaganda that 'Oromos cannot rule the country
let alone rule the whole' is being accepted by the mistakes of the past five years.
This causes serious damage to the psychology of our people. It is also
destroying our relations with the nations of the country and foreign countries.
Understanding this, it is necessary to put aside personal ambitions and factional
views and work to clean up our collective reputation.
PAGE _
The generation before us saved, awakened, and built Oromo from extinction.
Our generation stood on their shoulders and hatched power from the hands
of foreigners and placed it in the hands of their own group. However, they
have not been able to consolidate and consolidate that power in the interest
of the people. The next task is to correct these mistakes made since he came
to power, stabilize the country, return the economy to the path of development,
pave the way for democratic transition and ensure that the next generation
does not inherit war and poverty. We may not see a developed and
democratized Oromia and Ethiopia in our lifetime. But At least we must
promise ourselves not to pass on the destroyed country to the next generation.
The opinions and analysis presented in this document may not be complete
or accurate. The purpose of this article is to pave the way for discussions in
a magical manner. While it is good to criticize the article, it is even more
useful to present a better way. In order to summarize the article and avoid
making some things clear, many points have been chosen to be presented
in a dimensional manner. Unclear points are ready to be further clarified
through physical and media discussions.
.................... //.
PAGE _

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Machine Translated by Google

2) CHAPTERS OF THE OROMO STRUGGLE AND THE RESPONSE OF THE

5) FAILED TRANSITION - WHY ARE THE PROBLEMS IN CHAPTER

1) CHAPTERS OF THE STRUGGLE

1.1. The Revival Chapter

A people must first of all create a collective consciousness to overcome

When an oppressive regime forcibly occupies a people, it is a well-known

1.2. Reconstruction Phase

Once the oppressive regime has subjugated a people, it takes steps to

1.3. Chapter on State Formation

It is urbanization. These three factors quickly strengthened the nationalism

To elaborate on these three major changes;

a) Mother tongue literacy - One of the requirements for a people to reach

Figure 2: Expansion of Education from 1997 to 2012

How can this spread of self-language learning have a transformative and

As mentioned above, identity in illiterate communities is shaped by environmental

registration is acceptable for storage and distribution. Education therefore

b) Bureaucratization - Following the legal recognition of Oromia on the

Table 1: 2018 to 2015 Urban Population

Therefore, the main contributor to the increase in urban population is migration

Our rural residents and farmers also played an important role.

1.4. Chapter on Ascending Power

“Political power is the totality of means, influences, and pressures—including

2) CHAPTERS OF THE OROMO STRUGGLE AND THE RESPONSE OF THE GOVERNMENTS

Table 2: Ethiopian State Vs Oromo Relations

Imperial Direct Rule Elite Cooptation - Cultural Securitized

Dergue Semi-direct Land - Cultural Securitized

EPRDF Indirect - Self-governance - Political Securitized

The intention of this strategy is to facilitate the subordinate leadership to

The emergence of rivals for power by Amhara officials exacerbated suspicions

That is why looting, murder and various forms of oppression continue.

trying to counter it by using alienation (othering) is not going to do much.

may not work against an inherently oppressive system.

3) QUESTIONS AND RESULTS OF THE FOUR CHAPTER

They are; Identity, Wealth and Power.

4) THE POST-TERM STRUGGLE

Figure 3: Level of Response

5) FAILED TRANSITION - WHY ARE THE PROBLEMS IN CHAPTER 4 ?

After a national struggle overthrows a foreign oppressive regime, it goes through

5.1. Problems Caused by the Failure to Consolidate Power

5.1.1. Power is seized by a socialmovement

Figure 5 – Pillars of Power

5.1.2. Lackofpsychological preparedness

it cannot externalize all problems. He is in power, not a foreigner! If there had

The lack of pre-arranged preparation and capacity leads to forced repression

5.1.3. Lackofmeritocracy &inexperience

In addition, it would not involve the OPDO leadership in strategic formulation.

it is to seek a securitized solution for political problems.

The Wayyaanee has been responding to political demands by force because

In general, what needs to be understood is that when we came to power, the

5.2. Shift Of Power From North To South

into something he had never experienced before.

As we said it burns, a struggle must move from seizing power to strengthening

5.2.1. Problems that undermine legitimization

5.2.2. Power preservation

If the task of consolidating power and gaining acceptance is not successfully

5.3. What Needs to Be Fixed?

dominated in once is on the far right of the political column.

look at the view

Figure 4: Levels of Political Ideology