Oromia:The Features of Tigrean Neocolonialism

May 27, 2013

 Oromia:The Features of Tigrean Neocolonialism

In this short article I would like to highlight the abhorrent  features of Tigrean neocolonialism in Oromia. For someone  who is familiar with the history of the present day Ethiopia it is obvious that the Tigrean People Liberation Front (TPLF) struggled to emancipate its nation from the previous military junta in Ethiopia under whom Tigreans suffered serious subjugation and underdevelopment. Not surprisingly, that war of independence was waged in collaboration with other nations like the Oromos and Eritreans who were under similar conditions. The simple arithmetic of the collaboration made the demise of the derg regime reality after over two decades of hard fought struggle for independence. When the balance of the power started to shift towards the rebels in the late 1980′s, the Tigreans knew the fall of Mengistu Hailamariam’s regime was around the corner and started to devise how to expand their share of the blunder on other ill-fated nationalities in the Empire of Ethiopia.Even though who in their leadership came up with creating surrogate organizations as a means to realize the agenda is not clear, they started creating pseudo people’s democratic organizations (PDO’s) from the derg captives around 1989, which was  the origin of Oromo People’s Democratic Organization. OPDO was built entirely from Derg captives and from Afan Oromo speaking Habasha’s (Abyssinians) which means this organization is in part accountable for the crimes committed on Oromos under the communist military junta (Derg) as well.

It has to be clear that at that moment  TPLF was still struggling in collaboration with Oromo Liberation Front even though it was devising an opportunist organization to neutralize the just struggle of OLF for Oromia’s independence. A lot of  the long standing Oromo nationalists who participated in the struggle mention TPLF had once played a gimmick  on OLF/OLA after calling OLF for collaboration on the northern front whereby sending the OLA to a land mine  planted zones. It had also tried to steer OLA but it faced clear , strong and unyielding opposition from OLF and their gap started to widen in that short period before the fall of Derg. This culminated in TPLF creating its proxy organizations who would serve its repressive and exploitative policy on Oromos and others.

From this TPLF activities, it is easy to understand its colonial nature, the propensity for suppressing an independent Oromo leadership and create a human-robot (OPDOs) who never cared for Oromo nation since their inception. This was the first greatest political crimes TPLF did on our nation. This was followed by immediate silent war on OLF waged in 1991 and continued  in 1992 that resulted in murder and disappearance of  brave Oromo leaders. TPLF knew that if a real democracy  and the constitution were implemented, 1994 (the time of the first election) would be the end of their fiesta and to foil that from happening they had to fast annihilate OLA. In addition to the silent war they opened on OLA, they convinced the  OLF leadership that was partly detached from OLA and based in Finfine to further move OLA to camp. Here TPLF was on a meticulously designed extermination of OLF because it was the only relatively well armed  and had majority support. OPDOs were backed by TPLF and waged war on armed and unarmed Oromo nationalists and made the condition worse.

Imprisonment, Torture, Murder ,Looting, Transfer of Private and Public Properties

Soon, TPLF started imprisoning and executing outstanding Oromo nationalists. It uprooted machines and facilities from Oromia and transported them to  Tigray, including factory for military equipments like bullet factory in West Shawa. Even basic public properties were looted and transported to Tigray. Schools were emptied, electric power plants were vacated and the facilities transported over 1000 miles(1500Km) to Tigray. Until Tigray is developed let the others bleed became  the policy and  slogan of TPLF and Tigreans. The euphoria of liberation fast changed to doom of further occupation in Oromo camp. The fate of Oromo became continuation of subjugation. Oromo nationalists were amassed to the ever expanding prison cells. Pretrial detention, disappearances, kidnapping, rap, torture, murder,and  executions became the every day life of Oromos once again under TPLF. Oromos were dragged down from their homes and murdered in front of their facility members. Civilians were taken to military camps and inhumanly tortured non-stop until their body became numb and oozed blood allover. Prisoners were hanged upside down for several hours, their finger and toe nails were removed, their head were dry shaved, heavy objects were hung on male genital organs and women were inhumanly treated and gang raped.

All segments of Oromo nation tasted the bitter outcome of colonialism. Peasants were evicted of their land and their lands were handed over to Tigreans who are sponsored by the regime, or sold to foreign investors. The peasants were denied basic resources like fertilizers and selected seeds. Oromo business owners were over-taxed and made bankrupt. Young Oromo entrepreneurs were denied licenses unless they accepted membership to OPDOs. Oromo students were deliberately instigated by derogatory  terms used by Habasha students and teachers alike. Whenever the Oromo students responded with a request for corrections or legal actions the authorities responded by imprisoning or dismissing the Oromos from high-schools and universities. It became the trend that every year hundreds of Oromo students are dismissed from universities on bases of political grounds. This unconstitutional actions  exclusively targeted outstanding and top Oromo students. On the contrary, no Tigrean student was ever dismissed from the universities. Whenever there was term break and at the end of fiscal years, Tigrean students were directly transported home in free TPLF sponsored vehicles and are granted per diems.

Oromo elites are pushed to sign OPDO membership, and this became mandatory for any employment in the public sector. Those who refused membership to the puppet organization faced demotion or were fired from their jobs irrespective how efficient there are. They are tagged as supporters of OLF or members of OLF and are imprisoned and harassed or expelled from the country.Those who resist  manipulation are denied any form of promotion and are made to be ruled by ignorant party members.

 Oromia natural resources became the sole property of TPLF and the revenues coming from them built Tigray and Tigrean industrial conglomerates. Gold, precious metals, coal, and  other  precious minerals are extracted from all Oromia zones. Tones of this precious metals are exported on daily bases to Europe, Asia and the West and the revenues are shared between individuals  like Sheik Alamudin and the TPLF. The local people are not even granted the right to be employed in these mines. The workers are brought directly from Tigray.

Oromo towns that count hundreds of years since establishment are without basic facilities. There is no road, no electric supply, no industries, no any sort of developments. Towns that had airstrips more than three ,four decades ago and were frequented  by domestic flights , now do not  even have  regular  monthly  flights.

Tigray City

When Tigrean towns are fast being converted to cities and urbanization is on fast track, in Oromia villagization meant to sell the vacated lands is their prominent policy.

Even Oromia natural forests could not escape the reality in which Oromia finds itself. They are burned down  with the wild animals or mowed down and logged due in part to deny OLA a cover and to explore the natural resources lying under them. The Bale mountain forest burning, and the Ilu Abbabora forest burning are prototypes of this crimes perpetrated by Tigrean government. Tigrean ‘engineers’ have deployed hundreds of bulldozers  in several places in Oromia to loot the resources while Oromo engineers are on death rows in Ethiopian prisons or are forced into exile.

On death row, life imprisonment respectively.

The other most appalling feature of the Tigrean neocolonialism is the ethnic clashes masterminded by this government. They have costed lives of hundreds of civilians,disgraced citizens in their homes, resulted in looting of  several hundreds of cattle and burning of homes and resulted in internal and cross border  displacements. To easily accomplish this, the neocolonialist first disarmed Oromos who were traditionally armed and Oromia state special armed forces in the last decade. Even though Borana, Guji, Karayu and Hararge pastoralists were never disarmed before as is in other nomadic societies, under this regime the Oromo nomads were disarmed and their neighboring societies were encouraged to attack them by the Tigrean regime. In most cases, forces armed by the government  shot and killed Oromo civilians and those who defended themselves are seriously punished by the government.In the last two to three years this has been going on. Currently it is being reported in East Central and Eastern Oromia districts on border with the Somali State and on border with the Amhara Sate. At this moment, Oromia reginal state has no military of its own unlike other regional governments in the empire and the region is there only to implement the policy of Tigray People’s Liberation Front. There is no national army; ‘Ethiopian Defense Force ‘ is 100% filled by Tigreans and all the officers are Tigrean nationals.

All the appalling atrocities being committed by TPLF on the Oromos can not be fully described in this short article. My intention is to reflect on what is going on on Oromos for the last two or so decades and what current situations justify Oromos’ struggle for independence, even though this is not a necessary precondition for a nation to seek independence from external domination and exploitation.

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