The Irreconcilability of the Oromo Nature of Peace and Leadership
with the Ethiopian Nature of Violence and Dictatorship
By
G. Chemeda Nadhabaasaa (M.G.Meelbaa)
As embedded in the Oromo Gadaa tradition, the Oromos understand peace
(nagaa) in its positive term. When the Oromos say, Peace to the Creator God
(Waaqa Uumaa), peace to the mother earth (lafa, dachee), peace to all mankind,
peace to plant life and animal creations etc. they mean that they perceived peace
as a gift of God (Waaqa), on which they are blessed to work in positive terms
for positive missions.
In order to defend the Waaqa given peace at the centre of its positive position,
the Oromos, in their history of peace management, tirelessly work and sort out
the root causes that could defile the worthiness of the peace (nagaa) they are
granted by God. This had helped pre-colonial Gadaa Oromo society in
particular to devise constructive reconciliation methods (mala araara) at
various levels, for example, at family level, at clan level, at inter-clan and at
ethno-national levels.
And, thereof, the Oromo belief of peace asserts a harmonious relationship
between human laws and natural laws. Any imbalance between the two laws is
believed to cause the departure of peace from the centre of its positive domain.
It will be casted down to the periphery, leaving the domain to chaos; selling it
for evilness and ruthlessness; inviting dictators to the top echelon to rule over
humanity with iron-fist. To the Ethiopian autocratic and theocratic leaders
however, the existence of balance of forces between the natural and human
order is undesirable, for the fact that it gives them no chance of getting up on
horseback to ride for violence and excommunication.
If we peer into the history of Oromo buttaa institution, when Oromo values
are at stake, and all peace efforts failed, the condition to go for a lawful
offensive right to protect the God-given nagaa Oromoo is unconditionally
voted for; and uncompromisingly declared by those competent and
democratically elected Gadaa leaders. In this case, the fact of bandits’
aggression and their ruthless oppression are main factors to compel the Oromos
to legitimise the use of offensive right in defence of their God-given peace.
Legitimate War in Defence of one’s own Peace
As the Oromos are men and women of their words, they are also men and
women of peace; peace with humans, peace with natures. However, this does
not mean that the Oromos were born being hostage to submissiveness, bondage
to complete docility or an appendix of subservient loyalty whose outputs are
humiliation, annihilation and slavery.
Whenever Oromos are threatened with aggression, as they are heroes of peace,
they are also heroes of war. This has been well documented by the aggressors’
writers themselves. They showed how the Oromos had been organised, for
instance in the 16th century, in Gadaa regiments and marched on the aggressors.
It was a just war fought against the unjust aggressive war.
However, to defend their humiliation, debtera historians and their allies
invented a phrase, just on the top of their essays, what they call “the Oromo
War of Migration” or “the Oromo War of Robbery”. They use these invented
headline interchangeably under the scornful name “Galla”, to justify the
inherent enmity they have developed against the people they labelled as “Ye
Amhara demenyaa Xelaat” meaning the bloodiest enemy of Amhara. (See Aleqa
Kidanewold Kifle’s Metsehafe---womezgeqalat. 1948, E.C)
The Oromos were born not to worship the misleading cowardly preaching of “if
one slaps on the left part of your face, turn your right face to him too”. This is
what they are preaching for ‘violence’ to be the supreme command structure of
surrender for awful humiliation. It is neither for peace, nor for freedom nor for
human dignity. It is for complete psychological slavery, disdainfully projected
to de-humanise the human dignity God has bestowed on mankind by birth. It
has been being preached under the cover of “individual right to worship”.
This brain killing silent bullet has been invented by supremacists who are using
the Bible as ‘Scripture of Holy Colonialism’. In fact, it is the preaching of such
verses from the re-edited Bible that has become an important aide to Ethiopian
dictators to continue to violate the peace of peaceable peoples in the empire of
the dictators.
Oromo Code of averting and ending blood feud
When leaders are adhering to society’s norm, respect the rule of laws and have
honesty to public feelings, there is no reason why peace cannot supersede
violence and aggression. But in a society where rulers view themselves more
than the Creator, and the subject people also view them as divine creatures,
there is no reason why the rule of anarchy for violence prevails over the
awesome of peace.
As the Oromo egalitarian system of Seera Caffee/Gumii has clearly laid down,
there is no crime more than slaying a fellow human being, whether or not it is
carried out through intentionally planed action or in self-defence. It is a serious
crime, committed in violation to the harmonious functions of natural order and
the human Oromo code of conduct.
According to seera gumaa Oromoo, if a man slays his fellow semblance, that is,
human being, he has to pay the necessary compensation for the blood he is a
cause to spill down. This fundamental code has been a guide in resolving feuds
and in re-enforcing peace between two or more feuding parties. It automatically
averts tension that could divide the society on clan or sub-clan lines. It
peacefully resolves the incident on the ground and any prospective intent of
retaliation. Thus:
 Seera Gumaa is a law of blood compensation legislated, adopted and
declared by Caffee to avert and resolve blood feud or any retaliatory
vengeance peacefully.
 It is a wisely designed law that halts the escalation of feuds to interclanship level, which could be a cause for a war to start and a dictator to
rise.
In pre-colonial era of Gadaa Oromo society, there were strong political and
religious institutions which were directly responsible for managing peace.
While from the secular Gadaa side, the Abbaa Seeraa institution is responsible;
from the religious side, the Abbaa Muudaa/Qaalluu institution is responsible.
To avert any form of deviance seems to be detrimental to the normal function of
Gadaa societal norms, the two institutions work in dual relationship. Ideally, the
Abbaa Seera functions in the light of the seera caffee tumaa and the abbaa
muudaa/qaalluu functions in the light of Seera Uumaa. There is a harmonious
check and balance relationship between this two Oromo pillar institutions.
Ethiopia’s Code of Endless Feud
Abyssinian politico-religious institutions, the ‘tewaahido taabot’ theocrats and
the ‘zewud-nugus’ autocrats, can be credited for their notable proxies of war and
violence in the region. In their politico-religious history, the Abyssinians are
well known to agree on agreement that can certify any effort to escalate feud,
war of conquest and aggression. The question is what could come out of a
society that has been negatively harmonised with the deadliest “tit for tat”
doctrine; a doctrine of conflict to conflict, feud to feud, retaliation to retaliation?
How peace can come to those colonised peoples in the ‘taabot-nugus’ empire of
Ethiopia who lost their God-given peace to the Ethiopian rule of violence?
The mono relationship between the Ethiopian ‘tewaahido-taabot church’ and
the ‘zewud-nugus’ Solomonic dynasty of legendary history function being as a
dagger and sheath. When the main function of the tewaahido-taabot is the
pronouncement of excommunication and pouring of wreath of curses on those
who have grievances against the cruelty of the divine rulers, the function of the
zewud-nugus is the declaration of death sentence, the expansion of colonial
territories (qiny gizaat), the management of chisanya-gabbar with iron-fist etc.
Distinguished leaders of MatchaTuulama Self-Help Association like
Dejazmatch Kebede Bizunesh were the victims of the espionage work
conducted by Ethiopian Tewaahido Church leaders, Abune Tewoflos and Abba
Mattias Workineh. After the Tewaahido Church leaders had known where the
MatchaTuulama leaders were, they secretly approached them in the name of ‘ye
haymaanot abbaatooch’.They bowed down to their feet and appealed for peace.
When the leaders accepted the appeal of the ‘spiritual fathers” and cooled down
their grievances, the tewaahido-taabot leaders of Ethiopia betrayed them from
behind. They handed them over to Hailesellasie’s security agent through Prince
Tenanyework Hailesillasie. (See Gizetina Gigot by Olaanaa Zewgaa, pp: 92-133)
In case of murder or manslaughter, vendetta, which they call biqqela in
Amharic, is the only code of ‘relief’ through which the victim’s relatives are
believed to be ‘compensated’. It is a blood for blood compensation. It
contradicts the Oromo gumaa code of compensation that compels the payment
of blood price to the victim’s relatives. It stands to assure groups’ security and
individuals’ free movement in the society, not merely the diffusion of hostility
between feuding parties.
In the Abyssinian case, what is odd to an outsider is that, when revenge after
revenge goes on between two feuding parties, it is considered as heroic deeds by
the general society at large. There is no institution with chartered codes that can
manage to avert the escalation of the feud. There is no mechanism of
reconciliation that can prepare the two parties to sit for peaceful resolution of
the feud either. Feuding parties are always on standby to take revenge against
each other.
The Vagueness of Irqe-Salaam
As the Abyssinians, alias Ethiopians, have developed no God of their own
concept, or a God indigenous to African concept, they have no culture of their
own peace concept; or a peace concept of an indigenous to African spirituality.
All are ideas and practices borrowed from Arab and Hebrew origins. In other
words, if the Abyssinians had developed peace of African mentality that has
respect for human values, loves and protects plant lives and animal creatures,
rampant war and famine, vicious drought and hunger could not have been the
endemic phenomena of the region.
We often hear of their overdue saying, “irqe-salaam” (reconciliation-peace) in
their daily utterances. But, this borrowed utterance is devoid of flesh and bone
in delivering the strategy of peace. It is not more than a tactical approach of
buying time to update programmes of the old model; for violence to continue to
function in a modified programme.
Had they had an indigenously conceptualised peace institution of their own
notions, they might have developed quality leadership earlier and a social
charter that could govern the ethical function of the irqe-salaam. The vagueness
of the ”irqe-salaam”, which is only invoked to buy time, is designed to give
more chances to the dictators to stay in power than offering peace solutions to
the people suffering under the rule of violence in the empire.
One should note that, it is not the anger of God Who ordered violence and
hunger to rule over the people and the land. It is the “angry devil” of the
leaders’ inhuman behaviour that has cultivated nudeness against peace.
Gadaa Democratic Leaders and Abyssinian Autocratic Rulers
In a society like Abyssinians (Ethiopians) where aggression, expansion,
violence, banditry and retaliatory vengeance are dictatorially and imperially
institutionalised, there is no place for the growth of socially chartered
institutions that can manage peace for the wellbeing of the citizens. The kings,
regional warlords, emperors, and dictators are ‘divine’ rulers, who are believed
to have an ascribed status in giving a divinely-fetched decision, be it
punishment or amnesty. They are well tilted to a magical wand of war and
aggression strategists as righteous advisers instead of eschewing such advisers
as devils of peace.
In the goggled eyes of the rulers, an Oromo who summits to peace is coward,
indolent, lousy and inherently being born to be ruled. Sadly, these negatively
perceived adjectives have also been illusively inculcated in the minds of the
subject Abyssinian society at large. The king’s or dictator’s decisions are taken
to be absolute, unchallengeable, and un-contestable.
Patriarchs, priests and deacons of the tewaahido-taboot Church re-divinise the
kings and the emperors as Siyume Igzihaber which is essentially similar to some
of the Sunni Muslims’ belief of Al-Mahadi as chosen ones. The ordinary people
are illusively assenting to the divineness of siyume-igzihaber by saying,
“nungus aykessesim, semaay aytaaresim”, which attests the fact that the nugus
is the only figure who is ascribable to his own divinely established will. This
divine will can be either the dispensation of peace for tax collection in his area
of control or the declaration of war of aggression on regions out of their control.
They appoint themselves as possessing divine right to do or undo, to unite or
disunite, to own or disown, to punish or pardon anything under their disposal.
On the contrary, the Oromo Gadaa leaders, who come to the office of Abbaa
Gadaa through sacred nomination for public election every eight years, will stay
in office being servants of the rule of laws. They can be lawfully impeached and
dismissed for any misconduct, dishonest or partial judgements they may display
while in office; or for any attempt they may show to manipulate public opinions
to build dictatorial ambition.
However, after the brutal conquest of Oromoland by the Ethiopian war of qiny
gizaat maasfaafat, meaning, an expansion to colonise new territories, in the last
quarter of the 19th century, the functional value of araara Oromo in maintaining
peace and order has been unwillingly smothered. The culture of the new
colonial settlers, biqqela and adma which significantly expresses vendetta and
conspiracy respectively has been planted on Gadaa laws. Obviously, these
nefxenya colonial settlers have had clear objective. That is, to demonise the
democratic Gadaa code of statute. They did it in the past. They are doing it right
now.
By its very origin, the egalitarian Oromo belief of law, democracy, leader and
leadership is completely different from the Abyssinians, because the Oronmos
are electing their leaders and enacting their laws out of the deadly notion of
divine order. They elect them to defend, respect and pursue the rule of law. The
elected leaders know that, they are elected to serve their people, maintain peace
and order. They transfer the power vested in them peacefully at a fixed time and
fixed place. This underlines how Oromo traditional political decency functions
for peace and democracy. But, sadly, this Oromo values had been prohibited by
Aste Menilik. The quotation from an Abyssinian qees (priest) is quiet enough to
authenticate this; “Ke Burqaa betaachi ye Harar Gaallaa Caffee Bululloo
nebber. Indihu Wallom, Arusiim beyyedejjuu Caffee aaderege. Yihewum
Caffeyaachew be Aste Minilk zemen tekelekele.” Its English version, as has
been translated by Bahiru Tafla, “---The Galla of Harar had their Caffee in
Bulullo. Similarly, the Wallo, the Arusi set up Caffe in their respective areas.--Their Caffee, however, was abolished in the time of Ase Menilik.” (Tafla:
tras&ed. P.134-135) The prohibition is still going on, covertly and overtly.
The Culture of Conspiracy and Bloodshed
The culture of conspiracy to eliminate one another, the coming of individuals to
power through bloodshed, the destruction of natural habitat etc. are testimony to
the long history of Abyssinians muteness to the meaningfulness of power for
peace. They believe in individual’s seizure of power that would come to it
through violence and bloodshed. Peaceful transfer of power is unknown to
them; and, in fact, it is a dead political culture. If at all it exists, it is considered
as a vacuum that lacks the divine power.
The long history of Abyssinia, today’s northern part of Ethiopia, conforms to
facts of conspiracy, bloodshed, war and feuds registered among regional
warlords racing for the status of kingship and emperorship. It is this evil
political and social culture that has colonised Oromoland. Since the onset of the
colonisation, it has been ravaging the human value of Oromummaa and
continues to demonise its democratic tradition.
Let’s see few cases in brief how violence has been a criterion for power transfer
in Abyssinian (=Ethiopian) political culture which diametrically contradictory
to the Oromos’ culture.
1. AsteTewodros of Gonder
When we begin from Atse Tewodros, we find this man coming to power in
Gonder after he eliminated his rivals. He was blessed and crowned by the
patriarch of the tewahido-taabot church as Emperor of “Ethiopia” in 1855, after
he had defeated his own father-in-law, Ras Ali in 1854. While trying to expand
his territory to Wallo, to rule under his blood-stained sword, he captured Prince
Amedie Ali Liben, the son of Queen Warqituu, and finally executed him
together with other prisoners in 1865. (Darkwah: Shewa, Menilik--. 1975, p. 87)
Terwodros was killed in Maqdalla, Wallo, in 1868, which western historians
have given due credit to the British expeditionary force. However, Ethiopian
debtera historians are persistently defending the death of the cruel man as
committing suicide, to hide the humiliation and death of their divine leader at
the hands of an Oromo heroine.
Today, Terwodros is praised by all corners of Abyssinians, by Amharas in
particular, as an almighty man that Igzihaber had sent for them to unite the
fragmented precincts under a single “Al- Mahdi”. But, Abyssinians muteness to
the culture of peace could not help them understand how unity for peace or
peace for unity cannot come from leaders whose hands are soaked with innocent
blood; their goggled eyes are thirsty to see human blood spilling down.
2. Aste Yohannes IV of Tigray
To occupy the vacuum left behind by the death of Tewodros, a race started
between Dejazmatch Kassa Mercha of Tigray and Wagshum Gobozie of
Amhara in 1871. Kassa defeated the race and became an emperor, bearing a
new name and a new title: His Imperial Majesty Emperor Yohannis IV,
Emperor
of
Ethiopia
and
King
of
Zion
in
1872.
(http://www.angelfire.com/ny/ethiocrown/Yohannis.html)
The most important mission of Aste Yohannes was either to convert Muslim
Oromos of Wallo to Christianity (tewaahido-taabot) or to finish them off. He
massacred them with the firearms he used to collect from different European
kings as a gift. He converted hundreds of thousands of Muslims to his
tewaahido-taabot faith under the rule of the firearms. His mission seemed to
have been fulfilled when he converted the Wallo leader Mohammed Ali to his
fanatic tewaahido-taabot faith and baptised him as Ras Michael, later became
Nugus Michael.
The fanatic Yohannes was guillotined at the war with the Dervishes around
Matama area and passed away. We do not know whose souls had gone to
heaven and rested in peace. The fanatic Muslim man who killed him in the
offensive war for Islam to triumph? Or the fanatic Emperor who was killed
fighting for the supremacy of Abyssinia’s tewaahido-taabot faith? Whatsoever,
similar to Tewodros, he also died of not natural death but killed by followers of
Islamic faith he hated to the most.
3. Aste Menilik of Shewa
The death of Aste Yohannes was excellent news for Menilik to hear, because it
left a vivid vacuum of power to occupy without any arduous race for it. As a
young man he had been once captured by Tewodros and taken to prisoner of
war. He learned cruelty in practice under Tewodros. He escaped from Maqdella
prison by the help of Queen Warqituu and was able to return to Shewa. After he
became King of Shewa, he turned the firearms he amassed from European kings
against the people of Wallo who did the most favour for him. He butchered
them and put under his control. That is the type of reward Abyssinian morality
accepts to the best performance.
In 1878 Minilik, as a king of Shewa, and Yohannes of Tigray, as an emperor of
Ethiopia made an agreement at Boru Meda on how to proceed conquering the
Oromos and enslaving them. They divided Wallo among themselves. Menilk
gave his daughter, Waizero Zewuditu, to Yohannes’ son, Ariya Sellasie as a
marriage to cement the bond of the Boru Meda agreement. Warra Illu was given
to the couples as a fief. (Darkwah: Shewa, Menilik--. 1975, P.78-78)
Menilik was encouraged to pursue his conquest of Oromoland further to the
south in which he used men like Ras Goobanaa, Ras Mekonnen, Ras Darge, Ras
Tesema, Ras Woldegiyorgis and others to accomplish the evil conquest. They
massacred millions of Oromos and other peoples in the area they occupied as
qiny gizat, colonial territory
Added to the death of Aste Yohannes, the mysterious death of Ras Goobanaa in
1889 cleared all obstacles for him to become the only absolute decider on the
future fate of the peoples now came under his iron-fist. Menilik became the
nugusenegest (king of the kings) of Ethiopia he concocted until his death was
officially announced in 1913.
(Emperor) Lij Eyasu
After Menilik’s death, his grandson, Lij Eyasu, became the designated Emperor
to the throne. However, he was trapped by the Shewan conspiracy who was
bitterly opposed to his Oromo background as a main factor rather than his
legitimacy to the throne. The second factor was his close tie with different
social sectors in the newly concocted empire. He had good relationships with
the Muslim and Catholic communities whom the Abyssinians see as the
bloodiest enemy to their tewaahido-taboot faith. The third factor was his cordial
relations with outside world particularly with Germany, Austria and Turkey
which the British colonial power in the region found it dangerous to pursue its
colonial motives. Thus; the British assisted the Shewan conspirators against Lij
Iyasu and facilitated the way for Ras Teferi to come to power.
Lij Iyasu was politically and spiritually dismissed after Abune Mattiwos, head
of the then Coptic Church of Ethiopia officially excommunicated him. Even
though his father, King Michael of Wallo and he himself attempted to revert the
coup, their resistance was in vain, as the Shewan conspirators were backed by
the then superpower of the world. His father, Nugus Michael, was captured at
the battle of Sagalee in 1916. Later on, after five years of struggle, Lij Iyasu was
captured. He was first imprisoned at Fiche, Salaalee, and later on transferred to
Gaara Muldhataa in Hararge.
Iyasuu died about 1935. One of the versions of his death elucidates that he died
in Gaara Mul’ataa soon after Haileselasie sent his soul father, Abba Hanna
Jima, to visit him. His dead body was buried either in the Ogaden desert or
thrown to Waabee Shebelle river. The other version says, as the Italians were
marching toward the south to capture Finfinnee, Hailesellasie brought Lij Iyasu
to his palace and executed him and fled the country. There is no confirmation as
of Lij Iyasu’s burial place. However, there is unconfirmed rumour that
Hailesellasie buried him secretly in the churchyard called St. Marikos, located
in his former Sidist Kilo palace campus, now serves as the main campus of
Addis Ababa University. (See http://www.angelfire.com/ny/ethiocrown/lij.html)
Ras Teferi Mokonnen
Ras Teferi was a governor of Hararge region when Liji Iyasu was the
designated emperor of Ethiopia. Because of Teferi’s mistreatment of the people
of the region, particularly the Muslim population, Lij Iyasu wanted to transfer
him to other region. He summoned Teferi to Finfinnee and went to Harar to
discuss the problem with the people. It was by this time that Ras Teferi and his
Shewa compatriots, backed by British diplomats from the Embassy, stood
against Lij Iyasu and eventually dismissed the designated Emperor from power.
Ras Teferi became Haile Sellassie I, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah,
Elect of God and Emperor of Ethiopia on his coronation day that took place
on 2nd November 1930, at St. George Cathedral Church. The Church was built
on the former Oromo specific place name called Maarama Birbirsaa, in the
district of Birbirsa Yaa’ii Gooroo, one of Finfinne’s district names of precolonial time.
After ruling the country for more than 40 years, Hailesellasie was overthrown
and replaced by a military council called Dergue, led by the infamous man,
Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam. His death was officially announced in 1975
but his burial place had been kept secret until the current Tigrian based regime
came to power and publicised the secrecy for exhumation.
The Dergue: Military Council
In February 1974 there was a mass uprising against the autocratic, aristocratic
and feudalistic rule of Hailesellasie. It was culminated to a mass revolution that
the emperor’s regime was not able to break through. It was by this time that a
military officers’ club consisting of 120 members formed a committee known as
“Dergue” and snatched the revolution from the mass. On 12th September 1974
the Dergue officially announced that it had deposed the ailing emperor and
called itself “Provisional Military Administration Council” under the
chairmanship of General Aman Andom.
Following the overthrow of the emperor, power struggle among the 120 Dergue
members intensified. As to Abyssinian tradition of bloodshed for palace power,
the Dergue members turned to eliminate themselves. They first overthrew the
Chairman and executed him, filling the vacant position by another General
called Teferi Benti.
After Andom’s elimination, the turn to eliminate was knocking at the door of
Teferi Benti’s office. Subsequently, he got Aman Andom’s fate and his dead
body was removed from his office. Now, Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariyam,
who was the then first vice chairman of the Dergue, became an acting chairman.
But, he was not so secured to declare himself “first chairman” as far as his rival,
the second vice chairman, Colonel Atnafu Abate was behind him. By any
means, Atnafu’s elimination had to be executed. It was successfully executed as
intended, and officially announced.
The Colonel became the sole winner of the blood-stained race for the seizure of
palace seat. The power had lasted with him for seventeen years, of course, with
full of terror, bloodshed, war, and mass killings. He verbally showed cruelty by
saying “ye fiyyel waxexe tikishaw yaabbexe libbuu yaabexebbet and practically
announcing names of those who were executed. He testified himself being the
true ‘son’ of Tewodros and Minilik, the only men he used to praise in his longboring speech.
Mengistu had fled the country in 1991 before the Marxist-Leninist League of
Tigray (MLLT), operating in the name of Tigray People’s Liberation Front
(TPLF) led by Meles Zenawi, overran him.
TPLF’s MLLT
Blessing Mr Herman Cohen of the United States of America at the London
‘violence’ Conference of 1991, Tigrian People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) of
Marxist-Leninist League of Tigray (MLLT) was able to overrun the century old
Amhara based Ethiopian regime. After the Conference, Cohen gave TPLF’s
MLLT full permission to enter Finfinnee as quickly as possible and grip palace
power. Since then, Ethiopia, the concocted empire of Nugus Menilik of Shewa,
has been being controlled by Amhara brethren from Tigray, the home of the
fanatic Atse Yohannes IV. All Menilk colonies (qiny gigaatooch) of the South
haven been transferred to cliques of individuals cascaded down from the rocky
hills of Tigray.
Today the colonies are under the most oppressive colonial rule of these food
hungry and water thirsty cliques from Aste Yohannes’ homeland. They have no
new ideology to follow except to update the old nefx ideology of their Amhara
brothers; the ideology of suppression and exploitation. They cannot re-enforce
peace, nor can they uproot the new model of the war, conflict, violence and
aggression they have planted among peaceful peoples of Oromiyaa and the
South because these are core values they have inherited from their ancestors as
a pride way of life.
Conclusion
Basically, true peace should be measured with the one who is at normal position
with his own state of creation. Those who desire to live in harmony with
humans and natures or who are desirous of peace, must, in the first stage, be at
peace with their own state of mind at domestic situations. The origin of the
Oromo nature of peace is rightfully spearheading to maintain such objectives
for truth, justice, love and harmony at the centre of humanity. It is built on the
basis of human values; constructed to harmonise forces of the visible world and
the invisible supernatural world. Thus:
 The Oromo views of peace are balanced between the given-natural order,
Seera Uumaa and the legislated human order, seera tumaa.
 The human laws and natural laws are understood as having
complementary relationship to each other in maintaining the nagaa
Oromoo worldviews.
Minor and major Oromo clans (lammii and gosa) are historically organised in
federation, no matter whether it is loose or tightened. At a supra-regional level,
for example, the case of MatchaTuulamaa Oromo, Yaa’ii saglan BooranaaSagaltama Gabraa is a continuous historical process of a living reality in place
today.This peacefully developing Oromo kinship organisation has been
continuously supressed and banned by Abyssinian successive colonial regimes.
An Oromo self-help association named after MatchaTulama was banned by the
regime of Meles Zenawi for the third time by a letter written to the association
on October 14, 2011, bearing a Ref.Nr 01/chsA-10,241, by signed a certain Ali
Siraj Mohammad. Similarly, before banning MatchaTuulama Self-help
Association (MTSHA), the regime’s Minister of Justice, Minister Harqa Harriye
had totally banned the legal body of Waaqeffannaa Oromo spiritual association
from Oromoland by a letter he wrote on 3/3/1997 (E.C) with a Ref.Nr 01/
?/2655/112
One of the major problems of Abyssinians is that they lack wisdom of
reckoning their lammii, gosaa, mana or balbala to trace their roots. That is why
they label the Oromos who are rich in having such African based wisdom as
gosanya or zerenya: literally, tribalist or racist respectively. They have neither
the mythology nor the genealogy to narrate their roots in ascending or
descending generation. As a consequence, they become suspicious of lammii
Oromo’s developmental sociology as threat to their ‘divinely derived’ ruling
motive.
The suspicion has created the problem of ‘in-group’ identification in their selfconflicting minds, whose ultimate result has become social-psychological
inferiority complex. To heal the crumbling crisis, their only option was to
choose for the worst side of inhumanity. Hence, it has taken up cruelty as the
only panacea to continue to suppress Oromos who are endowed with lamummaa
as in-group identification pride within the matrix of Oromummaa.
“--muka Odaati mukti baala qabu, muka silkiiti mukti baala hin qabne; of eegi
yaa ilma dhiiraa,nama galaafatti namni lammii hin qabne.”
This traditional Oromo song has been given an artistic expression by artist
Jomboo Jootee. The song clearly substantiates the root cause of identity crisis
and the effect that follows.
To the Oromos, peace is not a tactic for buying time in order for the old model
to be systematised and updated. It is a strategy to be achieved through a wise
application of reconciliation, araara. It is a mission to be accomplished. To
come to the peace mission, the Oromos are spiritually in close attachment with
their Waaqa, Who enriched them with wise elders and provident natures. Thus,
Oromo’s understanding of peace (nagaa/nagayaa) is, fundamentally, for
humanisation, harmonisation, naturalisation, integration of fellow human
beings.
However, to the Abyssinians, the Oromo humane practices of peace for love
and integration through moggaasa (naturalisation) and guddifachaa (adoption)
for harmony are not norms of civilisation but they are the untutored minds of
primitive people’s manifestation. As of now, it could be reasonable if Gadaa
leaders are able to review existing Gadaa laws in relation to those who are
eligible and not eligible for moggaasa and guddiffacha, especially in Oromo
regions where Gadaa laws are still effectively working.
Oromos understand peace as a striking staff against the breading store of
aggression and violence which are negative to build social consensus, hindrance
to the prevalence of sustainable peace for lovely co-existence. That is why
Oromo people’s history of struggle for peace is replete with profound rejections
against imperialist Ethiopia’s institutionalised monger of aggression, conflict
instigation, retaliatory action and incessant domination.
A country like Abyssinia, alias Ethiopia, which has no root of democratic
traditions at all, can neither be smoothly nor abruptly democratised. Taking into
account the current reality on the ground, such like, lack of charted institutions
to regulate people’s behavioural activities, it may take another ‘three thousand
years’ for peace and democracy to come to the Abyssinians.
As history has been thoroughly teaching us, as a colonised ethno-nationals, it is
too meekness to expect peace, democracy, quality leadership or human dignity
from any form of Abyssinian ruling regimes. Therefore, for peace and
democratic leadership to come back to Oromo forests, rivers, birds, wildlife etc.,
not merely to the people and the land, the only panacea is the ending of
Abyssinian dictators’ coronation on Oromo soil.
Theoretically, one can argue in favour of Abyssinians as good democrats who
can forge a ‘unitary peace polity’ with peoples like the Oromos in the region,
who have long history of indigenously developed democratic culture. However,
as it was witnessed in the past ca.130 years, it is practically unrealisable even to
try to enliven a ‘federal peace polity’ arrangement. Hence, Oromos’ question
should not focus on, who could be the next champion of a bloodshed race for
dictators’ coronations on Oromo soil? Their question, from every walk of life,
should concentrate on how a unified display of power can speed up the demise
of evils’ coronation in Oromoland, in which the re-consummation of an
independent republic of Oromiyaa can be a reality.
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