Abdulkadir Gumi
October 31, 2007African Union (AU), international organization established in 2002 by the nations of the former Organization of African Unity (OAU). The AU is the successor organization to the OAU, with greater powers to promote African economic, social, and political integration, and a stronger commmitment to democratic principles. The 53 nations of Africa are all members; the AU's headquarters are at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Designed somewhat along the lines of the European Union, the AU, when fully realized, will have a General Assembly, Executive Council, Pan-African Parliament, African Central Bank (and eventual common currency), African Monetary Fund, and other organs and agencies. The Constitutive Act of the AU was adopted at Lomé, Togo, in 2000, the act was ratified in 2001, and in July the OAU held its last summit as the AU came into existence. The OAU continued to function, however, during a yearlong transition period, until the first official summit of the AU was held in July, 2002. The Pan-African Parliament, based in Johannesburg, South Africa, was inaugurated in 2004, initially as a purely advisory body; the Peace and Security Council was established later the same year.
Appointment of Ethiopia As the base of AU was wrong decision upon African nation in there history. the presence of AU in Addis Ababa represents a dangerous conflict of African Policy of many African Nation as Ethiopia is already a Conflict zone and the largest producer of refugee in horn of Africa after Somalia,
Ethiopian is known to the world that they are turning all Horn of Africa people in torn of fire and war. The previous military action againist Somalia brings bad name to the long-standing democratic and pro-peace stature enjoys among its neighbors. It could leave an indelible scar between our brotherly peoples in Africa. AU should be preaching peace in Africa and should be neutral position on democracy and peace for it's and African people. Ethiopia is killing its citizens daily and likewise like other African to share the blood shade of innocent people. African should understand that. The problem of Horn of Africa indicates and confirms that Ethiopia don't like peace for whole Africa people. As they have manufactured tact's of beating one tribe against others In Northern Kenya and rest of Somalia and all horn of Africa.It is very wonderful that foreign soldiers and security agents from Ethiopia can enter into any other part of Horn of Africa easily and kill innocent African nationals. This has continued since colonial era but still AU allows this evil continues to be done against African people while it is based in that country." The world need anger, the world often continues to allow evil because it is not angry enough.....Bede Jarre.
AU should either quit its base from Addis Ababa or pressure on Addis Ababa government to implement democracy and peace in Ethiopia at first place.
As African I feel shame if the AU leaders are driven by the Ethiopian Policy and that anyone may face sack if speaks against Ethiopian government while he is in Ethiopian Territory .The AU is now driven by one Nation Policy of Ethiopia.why silence on this issue?
While AU is Ethiopia, why do we see Oromo people are millions in Ethiopian jail, Killed, and become refugees scattered allover the world just because of practicing there national right, many Oromo people lost there lives on the cause of peace and democracy.why?
I am not from Ethiopia or Ethiopian but As an admirer of Oromia a country bordering Ethiopia, I should be jubilating at Finfinne if appointed as AU headquarter and Oromia should be independent. I am not happy with the current Ethiopia because it undermines the credibility of the AU. AU headquarter is set in a wrong country. It is not correct country that serve African nation. Peace minister should be put at the head of an institution that is supposed to be a people's forum. I can see the argument of visibility, clout and personal influence that may have weighed heavily on the minds of those who orchestrated her nomination, in absentia. But it is a wrong precedence. It sends wrong signals about the readiness of the AU to embrace civil society as an independent partner.
what is happening in Somalia, a daily massacre and AU is silent and eye folded. all eye are in DARFUR where the war is motivated by voice and media but the crises is less or the same as that of Somalia and Oromo people, the AU is silent why?
We as observers and African thinkers should not keep quiet because AU is a much-loved 'one of us'.and we need it to be in right way.
For African Union to succeed there has to be increase of democracy and participation of ordinary citizens in the affairs and governance of the continent. Without this, all the regional bodies (and we have had many) simply turn in to private clubs of the ruling elites. Furthermore, these elites, because they don't get their mandate from the African people, collude with multinational companies to rip off Africa with impunity. It is hard for the same people to be serious with an African Union without input from ordinary citizens who suffer daily in the continent.
It was a good time for taking stock, and asking serious questions. What, participants asked, has the current AU Secretariat done to prepare to Africa peace? How will the AU help promote the continent's political and economic integration? Most importantly, will the Union in representing the interests of ordinary Africans, following its repeated failures on pressuring African governments and regional organizations to realize the early aspirations for peace, unity, social progress and people's participation.
What happened to AU that the third largest Ethnic group in Africa "Oromo People" are suffering in Ethiopia without recognition of AU on there plight till now? What happened to AU? While many world nation recognized the Oromo political crises, our mother Africa AU never spoke out for Oromo people, or dreamed to solve the political problem in Ethiopia. This indicates that AU is masterminded by EPRDF policies to eliminate Oromo people's voice in There AGENDA.
The country of the Oromo is called Biyya-Oromo (Oromo country) or Oromia (Oromiya). Oromia was one of the free nations in the Horn of Africa until its colonization and occupation by Abyssinia at the end of the nineteenth century. In the east it is bordered by Somalia, Afar lands and Djibouti, in the West by Sudan, in the South by Somalia, Kenya and others and in the North by Amhara and Tigre land or Abyssinia proper. The land area is about 600 000 square kilometers.
The physical geography of Oromia varies from rugged mountain ranges in the centre and north to flat grassland in most of the lowlands of the west, east and south. Similarly, there are many rivers and lakes in Oromia. Many of the rivers flow westwards into either the Blue Nile or the White Nile, and others flow eastwards to Somalia and Afar land.
The climate is as varied as the physical geography, although close to the equator (to the north of it), because of the mountain ranges, high altitudes and vegetation, the climate is very mild and favourable for habitation. Snow can be found on the mountains such as Baatu and Karra. In the medium altitudes (1800-2500 m) the climate is very mild throughout the year and one of the best. Up to 80 per cent of the population lives at this altitude and agriculture flourishes. The low altitude areas (below 1500 m) in west, south and central part are relatively warm and humid with lush tropical vegetation.
People
PopulationThe Oromo people are one of the most numerous in Africa. Census data are not reliable but there are probably twenty million people whose first language is Oromo and who recognise themselves as Oromo. In older literature they are often called Galla. Except for a relatively small number of arid land pastoralists who live in Kenya, all their homelands lie in Ethiopia, where they probably make up around 40 percent of the total population.
LanguageThe traditional Oromo language is Oromiffa, the written form of which has recently changed to use the Roman alphabet. Oromiffa was banned during the regime of Haile Selassie, and Amharic was the only language taught in schools or used in the public sphere for decades. Thus Oromos who had formal education or grew up in urban areas can speak and write Amharic, while people in the countryside who were isolated from educational campaigns have continued to speak Oromiffa. Some Oromos may also speak Tigrigna, Somali, Arabic, or Swahili, but most Oromo refugees prefer to speak Oromiffa as a matter of cultural pride. Literacy in English is limited but growing, as more people take English as a Second Language (ESL) classes.
ReligionTraditional Oromo religious belief centers around one God, Waaqa, who is responsible for everything that happens to human beings. As Oromos adopted Islam or Christianity, they maintained the concept of Waaqa and incorporated their beliefs into the new religions. Another large percentage of Oromos are Christian. Christians are primarily Catholic or Adventist rather than Orthodox, as the Ethiopian Orthodox Church is associated with the dominant Amhara cultural group. Within the Oromo nation, Muslims and Christians have mingled peacefully. Those Oromos whose traditions still mirror the traditions of "Waaqefataa" are less organized, less visible and therefore less understood.
CultureThe Oromo enjoy a homogeneous culture and share a common language, history and descent. Prior to its colonization, the Oromo had common political, religious and legal institutions. The Oromo people have a rich folklore, oral tradition, music and art. Although much of this culture and these traditions have survived harsh suppression, much has been forgotten and lost.
EconomyOromia has the potential to be one of the richest countries in Africa. Agriculture is the backbone of its economy and it is the means of livelihood for more than 90 per cent of the population. There are a great variety of farm animals and crop plants. The Oromo specialise in animal husbandry through their long tradition as herdsmen. Cattle rearing (pastoralism) are still the main occupation of many Oromo.
The main crops that are merchandised are coffee and chat (a stimulant shrub). Coffee is a major foreign currency earner for Ethiopia. The plant originates in the forests of Oromia and neighbouring areas. Kafa and Limmu are considered to be the cities where coffee originated. Coffee has always been the main export product, it represents more than 60 per cent of the foreign earnings of successive Ethiopian colonial regimes.
The forests of Oromia are a source of excellent timber. Although the major portion of the forests has been destroyed since its occupation, some still remain in the south and west. However, this is threatened by mismanagement, particularly through the fast the expanding state farms and resettlement programmes. In addition to timber trees, medicinal plants and trees producing different kinds of gums, grow in abundance. Myrrh, frankincense and Arabic gum are gathered from the wild trees.
Oromia also has important mineral deposits. There are gold mines at Adola and Laga Dambi in the Sidamo and around Nejjo, Asosa and Birbir river valley in Wallagga regions. Other important minerals found in Oromia are platinum, sulphur, iron-ore, silver and salt. In 1986, the Ethiopian government announced the discovery of a new deposit of natural gas in Baale.
The hundreds of hot springs scattered over Oromia are also of economic importance. Thousands of people, including foreigners, visit these springs for their medicinal and recreational value. They are a great potential source of thermal energy. Rivers, streams and springs are plentiful. The rivers have many fails that could be used to generate electric power with little effort. The extent of this electric power could easily satisfy the power needs of Oromia and several neighbouring countries.
History
Prior to colonizationPrior to its colonization, the Oromo people lived under a remarkable and relatively complex age-grade based indigenous democratic system known as a "Gada" in which political, military and other leaders including legal experts are elected for non-renewable eight-year terms.
The Gadaa system has been undergoing changes since its inception to accommodate the development of society. Gadaa is a highly developed form of democratic life. It is a system that organises Oromo society into groups or sets of about 11 that assume different responsibilities in society every eight years.
The foundations of the Gadaa system, starting around the end of the eighteenth century, were brought about mainly by events set in motion both from inside and from outside the Oromo society. In most communities the Gadaa system declined because of the protracted wars that preceded the onset of colonization. The end of the eighteenth century was marked by constant wars and skirmishes, which gave the war leaders a mandatory power. This weakened the outstanding democratic features of the Gada system. The second important factor that contributed to the weakening of the Gada system was the coming of new beliefs and religions. Islam and Christianity have significantly affected the culture of the Oromo people.
Thirdly, the changes in the mode of living of several Oromo communities, as a result of the interaction of all these factors, were probably one of the important causes that led to the decline of the Gada system. These and other related factors led to the emergence of a new social system, which had a significant impact on the original ideals of the Gada values, which provided the Oromo nation admirable strength to fight against any external aggression and later the colonial occupation.
Colonization and ResistanceThe Oromo were colonized during the last quarter of the 19th century by Abyssinia with the help of the European colonial powers of the day. The colonization process that brought about the present geographical shape of Ethiopia took the Abyssinians nearly 40 years. Present day Ethiopia is an outcome of the scramble for Africa conspired in 1884/85 in Berlin.
The successive colonial regimes banned all political, social and spiritual institutions of the Oromo and those of other colonized Peoples. During Emperor Haile Selassie’s regime (1930–1974), the only organizations allowed, under a strong vigilance, were a few self-help associations. In the beginning of the 1960s, there were three Oromo self-help associations which had their offices in Addis Ababa (Finfinne) namely the Jibat and Macha, Metta Robii, and Tulama Shawa self help associations. These three associations merged in 1963 and formed the Macha-Tulama Self-help Association.
It embraced all Oromos irrespective of religion and region and other non-Oromo nationalities who accepted the objectives of the association. The formation of the Macha-Tulama Association was a basis for the subsequent centralized leadership of the Oromo struggle for liberation.
The Oromo and other peoples, which were conquered, neither accepted the colonial hegemony nor assimilated with the colonisers. The Oromo resisted Ethiopian colonial expansion and domination both militarily and culturally in localized and scattered ways during the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century.
Oppression was especially harsh and brutal under the imperial rule of Haile Selassie, of the Amhara ethnic group. During the reign of Haile Selassie the Oromo language was banned and speakers were privately and publicly ridiculed. The government did everything in its power to ensure the domination of the Abyssinian language and cultures over the Oromo people. Drought, famine, war and ill-conceived policies brought millions to the brink of starvation in the 1970s and 1980s. In 1974 this helped topple Haile Selassie. A self-proclaimed Marxist junta under which thousands of opponents, many of them Oromo, were purged or killed replaced his regime. Property was confiscated and defence spending spiralled.
With the overthrow of the junta in 1991, the Tigrean Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) dominated the ruling government of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic (EPRDF), and joined with the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) in co-authoring a democratic charter. Subsequently, the TPLF, consolidated its grip of power and further continued to deny Oromos their political autonomy. Like its predecessors, the government dominated by the Tigrean Peoples Liberation Front was vicious in its brutality against the Oromo people.
On may 15th 2005, Ethiopia held its third multi-party general elections, the first official result showed that the ruling party and opposition won roughly the same number of seats. This led to fraud allegations from the opposition parties. With tensions flaring high, and demonstrations where held in the capital Addis Ababa, at least 36 people died during violent clashes in which police opened fire on protesters. Mass arrests by police locked up more than 2000 people.
On June 8 2005, Dawud Ibsa, the chairman of Ethiopia's rebel Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) said that his group would not accept the government's rigged victory in disputed general elections that where held on May 15. He warned that the conflict will widen unless the international community comes out with a very committed stance to avert this situation.
OrganizationsThe Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) is a political organization established in 1973 by Oromo nationalists to lead the national liberation struggle of the Oromo people against the Abyssinian colonial rule. The emergence of the OLF was a culmination of a century old yearns of the Oromo people to have a strong and unified national organization to lead the struggle. The fundamental objective of the Oromo liberation movement is to exercise the Oromo peoples' inalienable right to national self-determination to terminate a century of oppression and exploitation, and to form, where possible, a political union with other nations on the basis of equality, respect for mutual interests and the principle of voluntary associations. The Oromo people's quest for their right to self-determination is just and legitimate. The aspiration of the people to regain their fundamental freedom is in line with the principle enshrined in the charter of the U.N. The OLF is struggling to enable the Oromo people to realize this fundamental right and bring an end to century old oppression. OLF's commitment to this objective is based on a democratic principle, that the Oromo people are endowed with the right to decide the type of sovereignty they want to live under and the type of political union they want to form with other peoples. The change made by the Tigrean regime, that grabbed power from the Amhara rulers in 1991, is far from enabling the Oromo people and others to realize this fundamental right. It is merely a cosmetic change intended to affect the momentum of our just struggle. The OLF reiterates the struggle of the Oromo people is not directed against any people but the system of oppression. In fact the OLF and the Oromo people are committed to the noble cause of laying a foundation for union of free peoples on the basis of their freely expressed will. The Oromo Liberation Front joined UNPO on 19 December 2004.
Finally I would love to see AU base to be in peaceful country if it never changed its character to be in a country like Gambia, Gabon and Namibia where the war is so far or in developing state like Kenya ,Nigeria and South Africa.I say this because Ethiopia is undermining the peaceful policy of AU and making it as political party in its country driving its mind.
I would love to see a strong African continent, and see my fellow Africans take their rightful place within the international community! I would love it if our continent could be economically strong, able to provide the livelihoods and opportunities that its peoples deserve. But I think that an African Union is just too much too soon. Many governments are stretched just trying to keep control over all parts of their countries. I have no doubt that one day we will have an African Union, but maybe we should start by creating regional states and see how they go.
