Why Are We Funding Abuse in Ethiopia?

March 14, 2013, 9:15 am

≫ Next: “ኡመተ ፈናን- ኡመተ ቀሽቲ ዲሬ ደዋ” (አርቲስቱና ሽቅርቅሩ የድሬ ዳዋ ህዝብ)

Helen Epstein|New York Review of Books

AFP/Getty Images

Workers at a Saudi-owned rice farm in Gambella, Ethiopia, March 22, 2012

In 2010, the Ethiopian government began moving thousands of people out of the rural villages where they had lived for centuries to other areas several hours’ walk away. The Ethiopian government calls this program the “Commune Center Development Plan and Livelihood Strategy” and claims it is designed to bring scattered rural populations closer to schools, health clinics, roads, and other public services. But the Commune Center program has been marked by a string of human rights abuses linked to government attempts to clear huge tracts of land for foreign investors. According to testimony collected by Human Rights Watch and other groups over the past two years, the relocations have involved beatings, imprisonment, torture, rape, and even murder. In many of the new “villages” the program has created, the promised services do not exist. Deprived of the farms, rivers, and forests that once provided their livelihoods, many people fear starvation, and thousands have fled to refugee camps in Kenya and South Sudan.

Such mistreatment by the government is nothing new in Ethiopia, an essentially one-party state of roughly 90 million people, in which virtually all human rights activity and independent media is banned. But what makes this case particularly outrageous is that the Ethiopian government may be using World Bank money—some of which comes from US taxpayers—to finance it. If so, this violates the Bank’s own rules concerning the protection of indigenous peoples and involuntary resettlement. In response to complaints from human rights groups, the Bank’s internal watchdog recently conducted its own review of the Commune Center program—commonly known as villagization in Ethiopia—which confirmed the human rights allegations and recommended that the Bank carry out a full investigation of its activities in Ethiopia.

However, it’s unclear whether the Bank’s executives are prepared to accept these findings. After all, this impoverished country—which has received some $15 billion in foreign aid over the past decade is now being held up as an international development success story, and it also happens to be an important US military ally.

The World Bank is the world’s largest development organization, with an annual budget of over $30 billion provided by Western governments and Wall Street investors. Ethiopia, which hosts a US drone base and has US backed fighters in Somalia, has been a particular target of the Bank’s largesse. Since 2006 the Bank has spent more than $1.5 billion alone on a program known as Protection of Basic Services to pay the salaries of schoolteachers, health workers, and other civil servants throughout rural Ethiopia. Bank managers involved with the Protection of Basic Services project deny that it has anything to do with villagization. They also maintain that villagization is voluntary and that there’s no evidence of coercion.

But refugees who recently fled Ethiopia say that many of the very same civil servants who are supported by the Bank are now being forced to round-up and move people under the government’s villagization program. Soldiers have also used beatings and threats to make people move. “Anybody and everybody on the payroll of the government have to do their part,”—even teachers—one informant told the human rights group Inclusive Development International last year. “And people who are opposing it, they will be detained. They will be jailed or taken to the military camp.”

One man who refused to relocate to the new “village” explained in a letter to the World Bank Country Director for Ethiopia in 2012 that the soldiers who beat him knocked out two of his upper front teeth. “My brother was beaten to death by the soldiers for refusing to go to the new village,” he wrote. “My second brother was detained and I don’t know where he was taken by the soldiers.” A woman reported that because the promised services weren’t available in the new village, she and her daughter returned to their old village to get food. “One of my relatives was also there retrieving the maize he was forced to leave behind when we moved. Suddenly soldiers came and accused us of feeding rebels and shot our relative dead. They beat me and my daughter and raped us both.”

The human rights groups’ investigations have focused on Ethiopia’s Anuak, Nuer, and other ethnic groups, who reside in the sultry, fertile region of Gambella, and now number several hundred thousand people. The Anuak in particular have long had a tense relationship with other ethnic groups favored by the government, and many Anuak have vivid memories of the December 2003 massacre in which Ethiopian military killed more than 400 Anuak men, women and children and destroyed hundreds of homes. Breaking up existing villages might be part of a government strategy to uproot clandestine Anuak rebel groups.

But the government may have another motive in pursuing the villagization strategy against them. Over the past four years, the government has leased or marketed some 3.5 million hectares of fertile land across Ethiopia—an area equivalent in size to that of the Netherlands—to investors from Saudi Arabia, India, and other countries to grow food for their own populations and for the global market. In all, the government plans to relocate some 1.5 million people across Ethiopia by 2015, and the regions affected are the same ones in which huge tracts of land have been designated for investment.

AFP/Getty Images

A man on his plot of land in Kir, a resettlement village in Gambella, Ethiopia, March 22, 2012

These disturbing revelations have caused an internal battle among the World Bank’s leadership, according to Bank documents. In internal reports on the Gambella controversy, the Bank’s managers dismiss the human rights groups’ findings, claiming, for example, that the villagization program isn’t “synchronized” with its own program, Protection of Basic Services, even though the official objectives of the programs are the same and the people carrying them out appear to be identical and are being paid by the same budget. The managers also maintain that while the villagization program has faced “implementation challenges” it’s not abusive. They cite the findings of a group of officials from the UN, the US Agency for International Development and other organizations who have visited the new villages twice in the past two years. They say they found no evidence of coercion. However, the human rights groups point out that these officials gathered their information through group interviews. Although no government officials were present at the meetings, I know from my own experience interviewing people in rural Ethiopia that government informants were almost certainly there, monitoring everything that was said and who said it.

The Bank’s staff have never visited the Anuak refugees in the camps outside of Ethiopia where people can generally speak more openly. But in September, Human Rights Watch arranged for five refugees to visit the managers in their offices in Nairobi. During the meeting, according to people who were present, a World Bank official asked one of the refugees, who had been a teacher before he fled Ethiopia, whether he would prefer that the Bank not pay his salary. “Would that solve the problems with the villagization program?” she asked. The man reminded the official that he was no longer a teacher, but a refugee, and that there were no teachers at all in some of the villages where the Anuak people were now being forced to live.

Last fall, the California-based human rights group Inclusive Development International submitted a complaint on behalf of a group of Ethiopian Anuak refugees to the Bank’s Inspection Panel, an internal watchdog group that determines whether Bank projects violate its own regulations. Following this complaint, the Inspection Panel members carried out a preliminary review to determine whether a full investigation was warranted. They interviewed refugees in Kenya and South Sudan as well as officials of the Ethiopian government and the World Bank itself. In February, the Inspection Panel issued its findings, confirming that there was sufficient evidence to be concerned about abuses in the villagization campaign and about the overlap between it and the Bank’s Protection of Basic Services program. Now the Executive Board of the World Bank must decide whether to follow these recommendations and conduct a full investigation, or continue to do nothing. The Board is scheduled to make a decision about the Inspection Panel’s report at a meeting on March 19.

During the past decade, the US and other Western donors have supported many fine projects in the developing world with inspiring goals like saving lives, educating children and ending poverty. Since Ethiopia’s Protection of Basic Services project began, for example, independent surveys have found improvements in some crucial measures of development such as child mortality (though it’s worth noting that the improvements have been most pronounced in Ethiopia’s three major cities, and in Tigray, the region that happens to be home to the ethnic group of the nation’s highly autocratic and repressive leadership).

But in twenty years working in this field, I have long since lost count of the number of projects I’ve visited that turned out not to be doing what their project documents claimed they were doing. The only way to find out whether development funds are being spent as they should be is to listen to the intended beneficiaries or—in repressive countries like Ethiopia where people are often afraid to speak out—the human rights advocates who represent them. That the World Bank managers have until now ignored these voices does not inspire confidence in their willingness to ensure that our tax dollars are being properly spent.

If anyone has the wisdom to figure out what to do about this mess, it is Jim Yong Kim, who succeeded Robert Zoellick as president of the World Bank in 2012. A medical doctor, former Harvard public health professor, and World Health Organization director, Kim is considered a kind of hero by some. Dying for Growth, a 2001 essay collection he edited described in great detail how the World Bank’s past economic policies had harmed the health of the poor throughout the developing world. It should be obvious to him that the Bank’s support for politically repressive regimes may do the same. Kim and the other Bank executives finally have a chance to restore the organization’s reputation by showing that all human rights abuses are impermissible in its programs, even those committed by governments their most generous donors happen to favor.

March 14, 2013, 10:15 a.m.

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“ኡመተ ፈናን- ኡመተ ቀሽቲ ዲሬ ደዋ” (አርቲስቱና ሽቅርቅሩ የድሬ ዳዋ ህዝብ)

March 18, 2013, 6:41 pm

≫ Next: The Man Who Lived His Dream- An Assessment of Jaarraa Abbaa Gadaa’s Life Journey

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ጸሐፊ-አፈንዲ ሙተቂ

በደርግ ዘመን ነበር አሉ። ሰፊው የድሬ ዳዋ ህዝብ ከማዕከል የመጣው የደርግ አባል የሚያደርገውን ንግግር ለማዳመጥ በከተማዋ የመሰብሰቢያ አዳራሽ ተሰብስቧል። የስብሰባው ሰዓት ደርሶ የደርግ አባሉ ንግግር ወደሚያደርግበት መድረክ ወጣ። ንግግሩን ከመጀመሩ በፊት ግን አማርኛ መስማት የማይችሉ በርካታ ሰዎች በአዳራሹ ውስጥ ሊኖሩ እንደሚችሉ ገመተ። ስለሆነም ከፊት ለፊት ከተቀመጡ ወጣቶች መካከል አንዱን ጠርቶ ከአማርኛ ወደ ኦሮምኛ መተርጎም ይችል እንደሆን ጠየቀው። ወጣቱም “አሳምሬ እችላለሁ፤ ኦሮምኛ የመጀመሪያ ቋንቋዬ ነው እኮ!” በማለት መለሰ። የደርግ አባሉም በወጣቱ መልስ ተደስቶ ንግግሩን ለህዝቡ በኦሮምኛ እንዲተረጉም ነገረውና ለራሱ ወደ መነጋገሪያው ቀረበ።

የደርግ አባሉ ንግግሩን ለመጀመር ያህል “የተወደድከውና የተከበርከው የድሬ ዳዋ ህዝብ” ሲል ወጣቱ ቀበል አድርጎ “ያ ኡመተ ፈናን ያ ኡመተ ቀሽቲ ድሬ ዳዋ” በማለት ወደ ኦሮምኛ ተረጎመው። ይህን የሰማው የድሬ ዳዋ ህዝብ አዳራሹን በሳቅና በፉጨት አናወጠው።

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ይህ ነገር በትክክል ደርሶ ሊሆን ይችላል፤ ፈጠራም ሊሆን ይችላል። እውነተኛ ነገር ከሆነ ግን እኔንና ብዙዎችን በሳቅ እንደሚያንፈራፍር እርግጠኛ ነኝ። ደግሞም ብዙዎች ሲስቁ አጋጥሞኛል። ነገር ግን ቀልዳ ቀልድ የሚመስለውን የልጁን ቱርጁማን በጥልቀት ያስተዋለ ሰው የድሬ ዳዋን ህዝብ በትክክል የሚገልጽ አባባል ሆኖ ያገኘዋል። “እንዴት?” ብሎ ለሚጠይቀኝ አንባቢ ነገሩን እንደሚከተለው አብራራለሁ።

“ኡመተ” በኦሮምኛ “ህዝብ” ማለት ነው። “ፈናን” ደግሞ በዐረብኛ “አርቲስት” ወይም “ከያኒ” ማለት ነው። በድሬ ዳዋና በሌሎችም የምስራቅ ኢትዮጵያ ከተሞች ግን “ፈናን” ከመደበኛው ትርጉሙ ሰፋ ያሉ ፍቺዎች አሉት። ለምሳሌ አለባበሱ የሚያምርበትን ሰው “ፈናን” ማለት ይቻላል። አዳዲስ ፋሽን የሚከተሉ “ዘናጭ” ሰዎችንም “ፈናን” ማለት ይቻላል (በተለምዶ “ቴክሳስ” እንደምንለው ማለት ነው)።

ነገር ግን “ዘናጭ” ወይም “ቴክሳስ” መሆን ብቻውን “ፈናን” አያሰኝም። ወግና ጨዋታ አዋቂነት ሲጨመርበት ነው “ፈናን” የሚያስብለው። ንግግሩ የሚጣፍጥለት፣ ሌሎች ሊቀርቡት የሚጓጉለት፣ ከሌሎች ጋር ለመላመድ ጊዜ የማይወስድበት ሰው ወዘተ.. “ፈናን” ነው። እንዲህ ሰፋ አድርገን ካየነው የድሬ ዳዋ ህዝብ በእውነትም “ፈናን” ነው።

“ቀሽቲ” የድሬ ዳዋ ልጆች የፈጠራ ውጤት ነው። በየትኛውም ቋንቋ ውስጥ እንዲህ የሚል ቃል አይገኝም። ትክከለኛ ፍቺውን የሚያውቁትም ቃሉን ፈጥረው የሚጠቀሙበት የድሬ ልጆች ናቸው። በምስራቅ ኢትዮጵያ ከተሞች በሚታወቅበት አገባብ ግን “ቀሽቲ” በመጠኑ ከ“ፈናን” ጋር ይመሳሰልና በአገልግሎቱ በጣም ይሰፋል። ለምሳሌ ፍጥነትና ቅልጥፍናን ለመግለጽ “ቀሽት ነው” ማለት ይቻላል። አንጀት-አርስ የሆነ አገልግሎት የሚሰጥ ካፍቴሪያ፣ በፈለጉበት ጊዜ ከች የሚል አውቶቡስ፣ በፈገግታ ደንበኞችን የሚያስተናግድ የባንክ ኦፊሰር ወዘተ.. “ቀሽት” ሊባሉ ይችላሉ። እንዲሁም አስደሳች የሆነ የመኪና ሞዴል፣ አዳዲስ የብር ኖቶች፣ ግርማ ሞገስ ያለው ቪላ ቤት ወዘተ ሁሉም “ቀሽት” ናቸው።

ታዲያ እንዲህ በስፋት ከዘረዘርኳቸው ትርጓሜዎች አንፃር የድሬ ዳዋ ህዝብን “ፈንና” እና “ቀሽት” ነው ለማለት አይቻልምን? እንዴታ!! የድሬ ህዝብ በጨዋታ አዋቂነቱ፣ ከአዳዲስ አሰራሮችና የቴክኖሎጂ ትሩፋቶች ጋር በፍጥነት ለመላመድ ባለው ክህሎት፣ በንቃተ ህሊናውና በፈጠራ ችሎታው ወዘተ… “ፈናን” እና “ቀሽት” ነው። ጨዋታው የማይሰለች፣ ለእንግዳ አክብሮት የሚሰጥ፣ ደሃና ሀብታሙን በእኩሌታ የሚያይ ህዝብ ነው-የድሬ ህዝብ። ስለዚህ “ፈናን” እና “ቀሽት” የሚለው የወጣቱ አባባል በትክክል ይገልጸዋል። ነገር ግን ከሁሉም በላይ “ፈናን” እና “ቀሽት” መባል ያለባት ድሬ ዳዋ ራሷ ናት።

አዎን! ድሬ ዳዋ እንደ ሀረር እና እንደ ጎንደር እድሜ ጠገብ አይደለችም። ነገር ግን በ110 ዓመታት ጉዞዋ ከአንድ ከተማ የሚጠበቀውን ሁሉ አበርክታለች። የንግድ፣ የኢንዱስትሪ፣ የትራንስፖርት፣ የቴክኖሎጂ ወዘተ… ማዕከል በመሆን መላውን የምስራቅ ኢትዮጵያ ህዝቦች አገልግላለች። ለኪነ-ጥበብ እድገትና ለመንፈሳዊ ተሀድሶ ያበረከተችው አስተዋጽኦማ አይነገረም። አዲስ ፈጠራ ወደ ምስራቅ ኢትዮጵያ ሲደርስ መጀመሪያ በረከቱን የሚቀምሱት የድሬ ዳዋ ልጆች ናቸው።

በዚህ ጽሁፌ የድሬ ዳዋን ማንነትና ታሪካዊ እውነቶች በሙሉ እዘረዝራለሁ የሚል ዓላማ የለኝም። ከዚያ ይልቅ የከተማዋን አመሰራረት፣ ከድሬ ሰፈሮች የአንዳንዶቹን መጠሪያና ገጽታ፣ እንዲሁም የድሬ ዳዋ ልጆችን የቋንቋና የቃላት አጠቃቀም በመጠኑ አስቃኛችኋለሁ።

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በጥንት ዘመን አሁን ድሬ ዳዋ ባለችበት አካባቢ ሶስት አርብቶ አደር ማህበረሰቦች ይኖሩ እንደነበር የከተማዋ ሽማግሌዎች ያወሳሉ። እነርሱም የኖሌ ኦሮሞ፣ የኢሳ ሶማሌ እና የጉርጉራ ሶማሌ ናቸው። ታዲያ የኖሌ ኦሮሞ በሚኖርበት ክልል የአካባቢው ሰው ለመጠጥ ውሃ የሚሻማበት ምንጭ ነበር። ምንጩ በኦሮምኛ “ዻዋ” (dhawa) የሚል መጠሪያ የነበረው ሲሆን ምንጩ ያለበት ቦታ ለማለት አካባቢው “ዲሬ ዻዋ” ተብሎ እንደተሰየመ ሽማግሌዎች ጨምረው ያስረዳሉ።

ከጅቡቲ እስከ አዲስ አበባ የተዘረጋው የባቡር ሀዲድ ስራው ሲታቀድ በመጀመሪያ ምዕራፍ እስከ ሀረር ደርሶ እንዲቆምና በሁለተኛው ምእራፍ ከሀረር ተነስቶ አዲስ አበባ እንዲደርስ ነበር የተፈለገው። ነገር ግን መስመሩን ሀረር ባለችበት ከፍተኛ ስፍራ ላይ ለማሳለፍ እንደማይቻል የተገነዘቡት የፈረንሳይ መሃንዲሶች ሀዲዱን ከሀረር በሚጎራበተው ቆላማ ሜዳ ውስጥ ለመዘርጋት ወሰኑ። የሀዲዱ የመጀመሪያው ምዕራፍ በ1895 ዓ.ል. ተሰርቶ ሲጠናቀቅም “ዻዋ” የተሰኘው ምንጭ ያለበትን ቦታ መዳረሻ በማድረግ የባቡር ኩባንያው ዋነኛ ጣቢያ በስፍራው ተገነባ። እርሱን ተከትሎም በአካባቢው ላይ የቆርቆሮ ቤቶች ተቀለሱ። በጥቂት ዓመታት ውስጥ በአካባቢው ሞቅ ያለ የገበያ አጀብ በመታየቱ የምስራቅ ኢትዮጵያ ዋነኛ የንግድ ማዕከል የነበረችውን ጥንታዊቷን የሀረር ከተማ የምትቀናቀን ሌላ ከተማ በአካባቢው ተወለደች። በወቅቱ በራስ መኮንን እግር ተተክተው የሀረርጌ ገዥ የሆኑት ደጃች ይልማ መኮንን (የተፈሪ መኮንን ታላቅ ወንድም) ለአዲሷ ከተማ “አዲስ ሀረር” የሚል ስያሜ ቢሰጡም ህዝቡ ጥንት አካባቢው የሚጠራበትን “ድሬ ዳዋ” የሚለውን ስም ለከተማዋ አጸደቀ።

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ድሬ ዳዋ የተወለደችው ከላይ በተገለፀው ሁኔታ ነው። ታዲያ ጥንት “ዻዋ” እየተባለ ሲጠራ የነበረው ምንጭ የሚገኝበትን ትክክለኛ ስፍራ በአሁኑ ዘመን በሚታወቅበት ስሙ ማመልከት አይቻልም። በዚያ ላይ “ድሬ ዳዋ” የስፍራው መጠሪያ ብቻ ሳይሆን ከሀረር በስተሰሜን ያለው አውራጃ በወል የሚጠራበት ስም መሆኑም ስለሚነገር ጥንታዊው ምንጭ የነበረበትን ስፍራ ማፈላለጉን ለጊዜው እንርሳውና ሌላ ሌላውን እናውጋ።

“ባቡር ጣቢያ”ው ለከተማዋ መወለድ ትልቅ ምክንያት እንደሆነ ከላይ ተገልጿል። ታዲያ የድሬ ደዋ ቀደምት ሰፈርም በባቡር ጣቢያው ስም “ለገሀር” ተብሎ ይጠራል (ከፈረንሳይኛው la gare የተገኘ ቃል ነው)። “ለገሀር” የባቡር ትራንስፖርት የሀገሪቷ ዐይነተኛ የመገናኛ አውታር በነበረበት ዘመን በጣም የደራና የደመቀ ሰፈር እንደመሆኑ የድሬ ዳዋ ዐይን ተብሎ ይጠቀስ ነበር። እያደር መኪናና አውሮፕላን ወደ ከተማዋ ሲደርሱ “ለገሀር” ፊት መሪነቱን ለሌሎች መልቀቅ ግድ ሆኖበታል። ከቅርብ ጊዜ ወዲህ ደግሞ በሀዲድ እድሳት ምክንያት የባቡር ትራንስፖርት ቀጥ ብሎ ቆሟል። በዚህም የተነሳ የለገሀር ነፍስም ጸጥ ብላለች። ቢሆንም ግን በአንድ ዘመን አገር በሙሉ የሚርመሰመስበት ስፍራ እንደነበር ማንም ይመሰክራል።

አንዳንዶቹ የድሬዳዋ ሰፈሮች የሚጠሩት ጥንት በነበራቸው ስያሜ እንደሆነ በቀላሉ መረዳት ይቻላል። አንዳንዶቹ ስያሜዎች ደግሞ በንግድ መስፋፋት ሂደት የተገኙ ናቸው። በአንዳንዶቹ ላይ ግን የድሬ ልጆች የፈጠራ ጥበብ ይታያል። እስቲ ሁሉንም በምሳሌ ላስረዳ።

“ለገ ሀሬ” በቅርብ ዘመን የወጣ ስያሜ አይመስልም። “ለገሀሬ” በኦሮምኛ “የአህያ ወንዝ” ማለት ነው። እንደምገምተው ወንዙ በሚፈስበት በአንደኛው ስፍራ አህዮችን ውሃ ለማጠጣት ይዘወተር ነበር። ደግሞ በዚሁ የአህዮች ማጠጫ ስፍራ ወንዙ ጥልቀት አልነበረውም፤ ምክንያቱም በተለምዶ እንደምናውቀው አህዮች ጥልቀት ባለው ወንዝ አቅራቢያ እንዲደርሱ አይደረግምና። ታዲያ የድሬ ዳዋ ህዝብ በአንድ ወቅት የመጠጥ ውሃ የሚያገኝበት ዋነኛ ወንዝ ይኸው “ለገሃሬ” እንደሆነ ታሪክ አዋቂዎች ያወሳሉ። ለዚህም ይመስላል ዓሊ ቢራ፡

“ዲሬ ዳዋ ዹጋ ቢሻን ለገሀሬ

“ጃለለ አከና ተካቱ ሂንአገሬ” በማለት የዘፈነው።” ትርጉሙ

“የለገሀሬን ውሃ የሚጠጣው ድሬ ዳዋ ነው

እንዲህ ዓይነት ፍቅር ያለዛሬም አላየሁ” የሚል ይሆናል።

የድሬ ዳዋ ዐይን የሆነው ሰፈር ከዚራ ነው። ብዙ የተባለለትና የተዘፈነለት የድሬ ሰፈር ነው-ከዚራ። የስያሜው መነሻ ምን እንደሆነ በትክክል ለማወቅ አልቻልኩም። የከተማዋ ታሪክ አዋቂዎችም ቁርጥ ያለ መልስ ሊሰጡኝ አልቻሉም። እንደምገምተው ከሆነ ግን “ኸዲራ” (በዐረብኛ “አረንጓዴ” ለማለት ነው) የሚለው ቃል ተለውጦ ነው “ከዚራ” የተገኘው። ይህንን ያሰኘኝ ድሬ ስትወሳ በሁላችንም ዓይነ ህሊና ቶሎ ከተፍ በሚሉት ውብ “ጥላዎች” የተሽቆጠቆጠ ሰፈር በመሆኑ ነው። ድሮ ዘፈን እሰማ በነበረበት ዘመን አርቲስት ነዋይ ደበበ

“ከተፍ አለ ልቤ ደረሰልሽ

ከዚራ ጥላው ስር ተነጥፎልሽ” የማለቱ ፍቺ የገባኝ ከዚራ ከደረስኩ በኋላ ነው።

አዎን! ድሬ ዳዋን ያስገኘው ሰፈር “ለገሀር” ቢሆንም በሌሎች እንድትናፈቅ ያደረጓት ዋነኛ ምልክቶቿ የከዚራ ጥላዎች ናቸው። ሰፋ ባሉት የድሬ ጎዳናዎች ዳርቻ የተሰደሩት የከዚራ ጥላዎች ባይኖሩ ኖሮ ድሬም የምትኖር አይመስለኝም። አነዚህ ጥላዎች የጂኦሜትሪ ጥበብ በጠገበ አትክልተኛ ተኮትኩተው ያደጉ ይመስል ከመንገዱ ወዲያና ወዲህ ትይዩ (Symetric) ሆነው ቀጥ ቆመዋል። እኔ እንደማውቀው በኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ ከተሞቻችንን “ፅዱ እና አረንጓዴ” እናድርግ የሚል መፈክር መነዛት የተጀመረው አርቲስት ስለሺ ደምሴ (ጋሽ አበራ ሞላ) በ1993 ዓ.ል. የከተማ ጽዳት አብዮት ከለኮሰ ወዲህ ነው። የከዚራ ጥላዎች ግን ከጥንትም ጀምሮ የድሬዳዋ የዐይን ማረፊያዎች ነበሩ።

“ከዚራ” በጥንቱ ዘመን የውጪ ሰዎች መኖሪያ ነበር። ግሪኮች፣ ዐረቦች፣ አርመኖችና ጣሊያናዊያን በብዛት ይኖሩበት ነበር። በኋላ ላይ ደግሞ እንግሊዛዊያን የሰፈሩ ዋነኛ መንደርተኞች ሆኑ። ታዲያ የከዚራ ጥላዎች መነሻም እነዚያ የውጪ ዜጎች እንደ ንዳድ የሚያቃጥለውን የድሬ ዳዋ ሙቀት ለመቀነስ በአካባቢው ሲሰሩት የነበረው የዛፍ ተከላና የጽዳት ስራ ነው። የጥላዎቹ አገልግሎት በከተማዋ ብቻ አይወሰንም። ለዚህም ሁለት አብነቶችን ልጥቀስ።

አብዛኛው የአዲስ አበባ ነዋሪ ለሰርግና ለጫጉላ ሽርሽር የሚመርጠው የሶደሬና የላንጋኖ መዝናኛዎችን ነው። የምስራቅ ኢትዮጵያ ነዋሪዎች ለሽርሽር የሚመርጡት ደግሞ ሁለት ቦታዎችን ነው። ከነርሱም አንደኛው የሀረማያ ሀይቅ ነው። ነገር ግን የሀረማያ ሀይቅ በአሁኑ ወቅት የለም። እነ ዓሊ ሸቦ፣ ማህዲ ጃፖን፣ ያህያ አደም፣ ሀሎ ዳዌ ወዘተ… እንደዚያ የዘፈኑለት ሀይቅ ምን እንደነካው ሳይታወቅ ታሪክ ሆኖ ከምድረ-ገጽ ጠፍቷል። ሁለተኛውና በአሁኑ ዘመን በአካባቢው የቀረው ታላቅ የሽርሽር ስፍራ “ከዚራ” ነው። በተለይ ሰርግ ደግሶ ከሚዜዎቹና ከአጃቢዎቹ ጋር በከዚራ ጥላዎች ስር የተንፈላሰሰ ሙሽራ “እገሌ እኮ በይህን ያህል መኪና በከዚራ ጥላ ስር ተንፈላሰሰ” ይባልለታል። በአንድ ወቅት ነጂብ ዓብደላ ዓሊ የሚባል የበዴሳ ተወላጅ በአስራ ስድት መኪናዎች በከዚራ ጎዳናዎች ላይ በመንሸራሸሩ እንደ ሪከርድ ሲወራለት ትዝ ይለኛል። (ነጅብ አሁን ሞቷል፤ አላህ ይማረው)።

በሌላ በኩል ጸሀይ በምስራቅ አፍሪቃና በዐረብ ሀገራት ጠንከር ስትል፣ ከጅቡቲ፣ ከሶማሊላንድ (ሀርጌሳ) እና ከየመን ለሚመጡ ጊዜያዊ ተፈናቃዮች የመሸሻ ቦታዎቸው የከዚራ ጥላዎች ናቸው። ለዚህም ነው አንዳንድ ሰዎች ድሬዳዋን “የበረሀ ገነት” እያሉ የሚጠሩት።

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በድሬ ዳዋ ከተማ “ገንደ” (በኦሮምኛ “ሰፈር” ማለት ነው) የሚል የመነሻ ቅጥያ እየተጨመረባቸው የሚጠሩ በርካታ ሰፈሮች አሉ። ገንደ ቆሬ፣ ገንደ ጋራ፣ ገንደ ሚስኪን፣ ገንደ ቱሽቱሽ ወዘተ… ጥቂቶቹ ናቸው። “ገንደ ጋራ” በኦሮምኛ “ኮረብታማው ሰፈር” ወይም “በኮረብታ ላይ ያለው ሰፈር” እንደ ማለት ነው። በእርግጥም ሰፈሩ የሚገኘው በኮረብታ ጥግ ነው። “ገንደ ቆሬ” ቃል በቃል “እሾሀማው ሰፈር” ለማለት ቢመስልም አውዳዊ ፍቺው “እሾሃማ ዛፍ ያለበት ሰፈር” የሚል ይሆናል። እንደነዚህ ዓይነት ስሞች በመላው የኦሮሞ ምድር የተለመዱ በመሆናቸው ጥንታዊነታቸው አያጠራጥርም።

“ገንደ ሚስኪን” እና “ገንደ ቱሽቱሽ” የተሰኙት ስሞች የድሬ ልጆች ፈጠራ ውጤት መሆናቸው በግልጽ ያስታውቃል። “ገንደ ሚስኪን”-የደሃ ሰፈር ማለት ማለት ነው። ስያሜው ለምን እንደወጣለት ባይታወቅም በአንድ ወቅት በልመና የሚተዳደሩ ወገኖች ደሳሳ ጎጆዎችን ከጆንያና ከማዳበሪያ ከረጢት ቀልሰው የኖሩበት ሰፈር ሊሆን እንደሚችል እገምታለሁ። ይሁንና ሰፈሩ በአሁኑ ወቅት “የደሃ ሰፈር” የሚያስብለው አንዳች ገጽታ የለውም።

“ገንደ ቱሽቱሽ” የሚለው ስያሜ በመደበኛ የቃላት አጠቃቀም ውስጥ አይገኝም። በድሬ ልጆች አነጋገር “ቱሽቱሽ” ሲባል በአማርኛ “ዝባዝንኬ” ወይንም ቅራቅምቦ፣ ወይ ደግሞ ኮተት እንደምንለው ነው። ሆኖም ሰፈሩ እና “ኮተት” በምን እንደተገናኙ እስካሁን ድረስ መረዳት አልቻልኩም። (የድሬ ልጆች በዚህ ላይ ማብራሪያ እንዲሰጡን በአክብሮት እንጠይቃለን)።

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የድሬ ዳዋ የኢኮኖሚ ሞተር የሆነው ሰፈር “መጋላ” ይሰኛል። መጋላ በምስራቅ ኢትዮጵያ በሚነገሩት ቋንቋዎች (አሮምኛ፣ ሶማሊኛ እና ሀረሪ) የገበያ ስፍራ ማለት ነው። ደግሞም “ከተማ” ማለትም ይሆናል። ጥንት አነስተኛ የመነገጃ ስፍራ የነበረው የድሬዳዋው “መጋላ” በአሁኑ ዘመን እጅግ ሰፍቶ የከተማዋን ግማሽ ጠቅልሏል። “መጋላ” ማንኛውም ዓይነት ግብይት የሚካሄድበት ስፍራ ነው። በአጭሩ አዲስ አበባ ሲወሳ “መርካቶ” እንደሚጠቀሰው ሁሉ የድሬዳዋ ስም ከተነሳም “መጋላ” መጠቀሱ አይቀሬ ነው። (የአዲስ አበባው “መርካቶ”ም ልክ እንደ መጋላ “የገበያ ቦታ” ማለት ነው-በጣሊያንኛ)። የአዲስ አበባው መርካቶ “ሸማ ተራ”፣ “ሚስማር ተራ”፣ “ሳጥን ተራ”፣ “ቦምብ ተራ”፣ “በርበሬ ተራ”፣ “ዱባይ ተራ”፣ “ምናለሽ ተራ” የሚሉ ንዑሳን ክፍሎች እንዳሉት ሁሉ የድሬዳዋው መጋላም ቀፊራ፣ ታይዋን፣ አላይበዴ፣ ጫት ተራ፣ ወዘተ… የተሰኙ ክፍሎች አሉት፡፡ ከዚህ በተረፈም “መጋላ” የሚለው ቃል ከመነሻው እየተጨመረባቸው የሚጠሩ በርካታ የግብይት ስፍራዎች አሉት። ከነዚህም መካከል “መጋላ ጉዶ”፣ “መጋላ ሶጊዳ”፣ “መጋላ ጨብጡ” ወዘተ.. የተሰኙት ይጠቀሳሉ።

“መጋላ ጉዶ” ትልቁ ገበያ ማለት ነው። “መጋላ ሶጊዳ” ደግሞ “የጨው ገበያ” ማለት ነው። እነዚህ ስያሜዎች ቀዳሚነትን (መጋላ ጉዶ) እና የግብይት ሸቀጥን (መጋላ ሶጊዳ) ተንተርሰው የተሰጡ በመሆናቸው ከመነሻቸው ህዝባዊ መሆናቸው አያጠያይቅም። በተጨማሪም በሌሎች ከተሞች ተመሳሳይ ስያሜዎች ስላሉ በብዛት የተለመዱ ህዝባዊ ስሞች የመሆናቸው ነገር ጥያቄ የለውም።

“መጋላ ጨብጡ” ግን የድሬ ልጆች ፈጠራ ነው። ከድሬ ልጆች ምትሀታዊ የፈጠራ ጥበብ ነጻ የወጣ የድሬ ዳዋ ክፍል በጭራሽ አይገኝም። “ገንደ” እየተባሉ በሚጠሩት ሰፈሮች ተርታ እነ “ገንደ ቱሽቱሽ” እንዳሉት ሁሉ በ“መጋላ” ተርታ ውስጥም “መጋላ ጨብጡ” አለላችሁ። ስያሜው ቃል በቃል ሲፈታ (በኦሮምኛ) “የስባሪ ገበያ” እንደማለት ነው። ትክክለኛ ፍቺውን የሚያውቁት ግን የድሬ ልጆች ናቸው።

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የድሬ ዳዋ ልጆች ብዙ የሚያስደንቁ ነገሮች አሏቸው። በተለይ እኔን የሚያስደንቀኝ ግን የቋንቋ ችሎታቸው ነው። የድሬ ልጅ ሆኖ ሶስት ቋንቋ መናገር የማይችል ምናልባት ከቤት ሳይወጣ ያደገ ልጅ መሆን አለበት። ኦሮምኛ፣ አማርኛና ሶማሊኛ የሁሉም የድሬ ልጆች የአፍ መፍቻ ቋንቋዎች ናቸው ማለት ይቻላል። ዐረብኛ እስከ አሁን ድረስ የከተማዋ የንግድ ቋንቋ ስለሆነ በርካታ የድሬ ልጆች እርሱንም ይጨምራሉ። የኮኔል (ሰባታች) አካባቢ ልጆች በ“ጌይ ሲናን” (ሀረሪ) እንደ ቋንቋው ባለቤቶች ይግባቡበታል። ለገሀር አካባቢ የተወለደ ልጅ ፈረንሳይኛ ይናገራል ብለን በእርግጠኝነት መናገር ቢከብደንም “ቋንቋውን ይሰማል” ብንል ከእውነታው ብዙም አንርቅም።

ብዙ ቋንቋ መናገር ጸጋ ነው። የእውቀት በሮችን ያሰፋል። በችግርም ሆነ በደስታ ጊዜ መድኃኒትነት አለው። ከዚህም በላይ ጨዋታን በእጅጉ ያሳምራል። ድሬ ዳዋ ሄዳችሁ አንድ ጓደኛችሁ ከሚያዘወትረው የበርጫ ጀመዓ ብትሄዱ ወይንም በአንድ ካፍቴሪያ ሰብሰብ ብለው ጭማቂ የሚገባበዙ የድሬ ወጣቶችን ብታስተውሉ በቋንቋ ችሎታቸው ተገርማችሁ “አጃኢብ” ትላላችሁ። በአማርኛ እየተነጋገሩ ቆይተው ወደ ኦሮምኛ ሲዞሩ፣ በቅጽበት ከኦሮምኛ ወደ ዐረብኛ ሲተላለፉ፣ ከአፍታ ቆይታ በኋላ ከዐረብኛ ወደ ሶማሊኛ ሲረማመዱ “ወይኔ ድሬ በተወለድኩ” ያሰኛሉ።

የድሬ ልጆች ፈጣን ናቸው። ከቴክኖሎጂ ትሩፋቶች ጋር በቀላሉ እንደሚዋሀዱት ሁሉ የመነጋገሪያ ዘይቤያቸውንም ለነርሱ እንደሚመች አድርገው ፈጥረውታል። ለምሳሌ ኦሮምኛን የነርሱ መለያ በሆነ ቅላፄ ይነጋገሩበታል። አማርኛውንም እንደዚያው የከተማቸው መለያ በሆነ ስልት ያስኬዱታል። በዚህም የንግግር ቅላጼና ዘዬ የድሬ ልጆችን በቀላሉ መለየት ይቻላል። እስቲ ነገሩን በምሳሌ ላስረዳ!

በድሬ ዳዋ የሚነገረው ኦሮምኛ በመሰረቱ የሀረር ኦሮምኛ ነው። በዚህ የሀረር ኦሮምኛ ዘዬ “አይቼዋለሁ” ለማለት ከፈለጋችሁ “አርጌቲን ጂራ” ትላላችሁ። የድሬ ልጆች ግን “አገሬቲን ጂራ” ይላሉ። በኦሮምኛ “አለፍኩ” ለማለት ካሻችሁ ደግሞ “ደብሬ” ትላላችሁ። የድሬ ልጆች ግን “ደበሬ” ይላሉ። እንደዚሁም በኦሮምኛ “እኔ ብቻ” ለማለት ከፈለግን “አነ ቆፋ” እንላለን። የድሬ ልጆች ግን “አነ ቁልሊ” ሲሉ ትሰማላችሁ። በኦሮምኛ “ቀጣፊ” (ውሸታም) ለማለት ከፈለግን “ኪጂባ” ወይንም “ሶባ/ሶብዱ” እንላለን። የድሬ ልጆች እንዲህ ዓይነቱን ሰው “ፈረዳ” ይሉታል።

ከሁሉም የሚያስገርመኝ ግን የድሬ ልጆች ቃላትና ሀረጋትን የመፍጠር ችሎታ ነው። ከዚህ ቀደም እንደጠቀስኩት “ቀሽት”/“ቀሽቲ” የነርሱ የፈጠራ ውጤት ነው። በአንድ ወቅት ደግሞ “ኡላ” የሚል ቃል አምጥተውብን መነጋገሪያ ሆኖብን ነበር። “ኡላ” በመደበኛ የኦሮምኛ ፍቺው “የማር ቆራጭ” ወይም “ማር ሲቆረጥ የንብ ቆፎዎችን በጭስ የሚያጥን ሰው” ማለት ነው። በድሬ ልጆች መዝገበ ቃላት ውስጥ ያለው ፍቺ ግን “የለየለት አጭበርባሪ” ወይንም “አወናባጅ” የሚል ነው።

የድሬ ልጆች እውነታቸውን ነው። ማር ቆራጩ “ኡላ” ፊቱን ሸፋፍኖ በጭሳጭስ ቀፎዎችን እያጠነ ንቦች አመቱን በሙሉ የለፉበትን ማር “እንደሚዘርፈው” ሁሉ አጭበርባሪው “ኡላ”ም ሰዎችን በውሸት እያጠነ ገንዘብና ንብረት ይመዘብራል። በውሸት ቀረርቶ የሚያቅራራ፣ የበሬ ወለደ ወሬ የሚነዛና በሌለው ነገር የሚኩራራ ሰው በድሬ ልጆች ቋንቋ “ቦንባ” ይሰኛል።(“ቦንባ” የውሀ ቧንቧ ማለት ነው።)

በአማርኛ “የቀበሮ ባህታዊ” የሚባለው ሰው በድሬ ልጆች አነጋገር “ሀቱ ሰላቱ” በሚል ይጠራል (ቃል በቃል “የሚሰግድ ሌባ” እንደማለት ነው)። ወደ አንድ ሆቴል ገብታችሁ፣ ወይንም ከመደብር እቃ ወስዳችሁ ያልተጠበቀ ዓይነት ሂሳብ እንድትከፍሉ ስትጠየቁም ኩነቱን “ሂሳበ ፊኒና” (የሞቀና የሚፋጅ ሂሳብ) በማለት ትገልፁታላችሁ። የአስተሳሰብ አድማሱ የተዛነፈ ወይም አዕምሮው የተቃወሰን ሰው በድሬ ልጆች ቋንቋ “ቀልቢን ኢሳ ዹፍቴ” (ልቡ ፈስቷል) በማለት እንገልጸዋለን። “ሰውየው እብደት ጀምሮታልና ቶሎ ይታከም” እንደማለትም ይመስላል።

ከዚህም ሌላ ከዐረብኛ የተወረሱ በርካታ ቃላት በድሬ ልጆች ማሻሻያ እየተደረገባቸው በኦሮምኛና በአማርኛ መደበኛ ንግግሮች ውስጥ ገብተዋል። ለምሳሌ ያህልም “ፈታላ” (አቃጣሪ)፣ ፈዱሊ (“በማይመለከተው የሚገባ” ወይንም “የእርጎ ዝንብ”)፣ ኢያለ-ሱቅ (ዱርዬ) የመሳሰሉትን መጥቀስ ይቻላል።

እነዚህ የጠቀስኳቸው በድሬ ልጆች የተፈጠሩት ቃላትና ሀረጎች በአሁኑ ዘመን በሌሎችም የሀረርጌ ክልሎች ተወርሰው በስፋት ያገለግላሉ። እንዲህም ሆኖ ግን የድሬ ልጅ በኦሮምኛ ሲነጋገር በቅላጼው በሌላው የሀረርጌ ክፍል ከተወለደ ወጣት በእጅጉ ይለያል። ለምሳሌ እኔ ገለምሶ የተወለድኩት አፈንዲ (ጸሀፊው) በኦሮምኛ ሳወራ እንደ ድሬ ልጆች “አገሬቲን ጂራ”፣ “አነ ቁልሊ”፣ “ፈረዳ”… አልልም። አስመስላለሁ ብል እንኳ በጭራሽ አልችልበትም (በነገራችን ላይ ከሀረርጌ የተገኘነው ሰዎች ድሬ ዳዋ ሳይወለዱ “የድሬ ልጅ ነኝ” የሚሉ ቀጣፊዎችን በቀላሉ የምንይዝበት ፎርሙላ ሰውዬው በዚህ የድሬ ልጆች የንግግር ቅላጼ የሚነጋገር መሆኑን በደንብ ማስተዋል ነው)።

የድሬ ልጆች ተረትና ምሳሌ በመፍጠር ጭምር የተካኑ ናቸው። ከነዚህም ውስጥ ጎላ ብሎ የሚጠቀሰው በአንድ ሰሞን በድፍን ሀረርጌ መነጋገሪያ የነበረው “ኸበጃን ኩንታላ አብባን ቁምጣቲ ዴቢሳ” (“Khabajaan kuntaala, Abbaan qumxatti deebisa”) የሚለው ምሳሌ ነው። ትርጉሙ “ክብር ኩንታል ነው፣ ባለቤቱ ግን ወደ ሀምሳ ኪሎ ያቃልለዋል” የሚል ነው። ይመቻል አይደል?

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ድሬ ዳዋን በወፍ በረርም ቢሆን አይተናታል። ስለርሷ የተጨዋወትነውን ሁሉ የበረካ ያድርግልን። ታዲያ ወጋችንን የምናሳርገው ከባቡር ትራንስፖርት ጋር በእጅጉ የተቆራኙትን የገለሀር ልጆች የቋንቋ አጠቃቀምና ታሪካዊውን የባቡር ትራንስፖርት አገልግሎት በመጠኑ በማስቃኘት ይሆናል።

ከባቡር መስመር በሚርቁ አካባቢዎች ለተወለድን ሰዎች ባቡር ሁሉ አንድ አይነት ሊመስለን ይችላል። የለገሀር ልጆች ግን ባቡሮቹን በሚሰጡት አገልግሎትና በምቾታቸው በመፈረጅ በልዩ ልዩ ስሞች ይጠሯቸዋል። ከነዚህም ጥቂቶቹን ላስተዋውቃችሁ።

“ኦቶራይ” የብዙሁኑ ህዝብ የመጓጓዣ ባቡር ነው። አብዛኛው የአውቶቡስ ተጠቃሚ በካሚዮንና በካቻማሊ ወደ ክፍለ ሀገር እንደሚጓዘው ሁሉ በባቡር የሚገለገሉ ሰዎችም ለጉዞ የሚያዘወትሩት “ኦቶራይ”ን ነው። ይሁን እንጂ “ኦቶራይ” እንደ አውቶቡስ አንድ ወጥ አይደለም። በውስጡ ከአንደኛ እስከ ሶስተኛ ማእረጎች አሉት። በአንደኛው ማዕረግ የተሳፈረ ሰው ሲፈልግ በሶፋ ላይ ለሽ ብሎ እየተጋደመ፣ ሲያሻው ብድግ ብሎ ውጪውን እያየ ይጓዛል። የሁለተኛው ማዕረግ ተሳፋሪዎች እንደ አንደኛ ማእረግ ተሳፋሪዎች በሶፋ ላይ የሚያንፈላስስ ምቾች ባያገኙም ለመቀመጫ የሚሆን ወንበር አያጡም። ሶስተኛው ማእረግ ግን በሁለመናው ከአዲስ አበባው የከተማ አውቶቡስ ጋር ይመሳሰላል። በቅድሚያ ወደ ፉርጎው ከገቡ ጥቂት ተሳፋሪዎች በስተቀር አብዛኛው ሰው በቁሙ ነው ረጅም ርቀት የሚጓዘው። በበረሃ ወበቅ መተፋፈግ፣ በትንፋሽ እጦት መሰቃየት፣ በሰዎች እርግጫና ግልምጫ መንጫረር…ወዘተ የሶስተኛው ማዕረግ የዘወትር ትይንቶች ናቸው።

ከ“ኦቶራይ” ትንሽ አነስ ያለው ባቡር ደግሞ “ዴዴ” ይሰኛል። ሁለቱ የባቡር ዓይነቶች የሚለያዩት በባቡሩ ላይ በተቀጠሉት ተጎታቾች (ፉርጎዎች) ብዛት ነው፤ “ኦቶራይ” በፉርጎ ብዛት “ከዴዴ” ይበልጣል። በዚህም የተነሳ አነስተኛ ፉርጎዎችን በሚጎትተው “ዴዴ” የማዕረግ ልዩነት ላይኖር ይችላል። ሲፈልግ ባለሁለተኛ ማዕረግ ፉርጎዎችን ብቻ ይጭናል። ሲያሻው ደግሞ የሶስተኛ ማዕረግ ፉርጎዎችን ብቻ ደርድሮ ሊመጣ ይችላል።

ከ“ዴዴ” ጋር የሚመሳሰል ሌላኛው የባቡር ዓይነት “ሀሰን ጆግ” ይሰኛል። ይሁንና እስከ አሁን ድረስ ባላወቅኩት ምክንያት የ“ሀሰን ጆግ” የጉዞ መስመር ከድሬ ዳዋ አይሻገርም። ዘወትር የሚሽከረከረው በድሬዳዋ እና በጅቡቲ መካከል ነው። ምናልባት ረጅም ርቀት ከተጓዘ ሞተሩ ስለሚግል ይሆን? የድሬ ልጆች የሚሰጡንን ምላሽ እንጠብቃለን።

እያንዳንዱ ተሳፋሪ ከላይ በተጠቀሱት ባቡሮች ሲሳፈር የሚከፍለው ክፍያ “ኖሊ” ይባላል። “ኖሊ” ከህጻናት በስተቀር ሁሉንም ተሳፋሪ ይመለከታል። ተሳፋሪው “ኖሊ” የከፈለበትን ቲኬት እንዲያሳይ በባቡሩ ተቆጣጣሪ ሲጠየቅ ይሁንታውን መግለጽ አለበት። “ኖሊ” ሳይከፍል የተሳፈረ ሰው ከተገኘ ግን ወዮለት! የተቆጣጣሪው እንግልት ብቻ ሳይሆን የተሳፋሪው ዱላም ሊያርፍበት ይችላል። ምክንያቱ ደግሞ ምን መሰላችሁ? በባቡር ላይ የሚተራመሱ ሌቦች በባህሪያቸው “ኖሊ” መክፈል አይፈልጉም። ዘወትር ከፉርጎ ፉርጎ እየዘለሉ ለማምለጥ ነው የሚፈልጉት። ስለዚህ “ኖሊ” አልከፍለም የሚሉ ሰዎችን ተሳፋሪው ሊሰርቁት የገቡ ሌቦች አድርጎ ነው የሚመለከታቸው። እንደነዚህ አይነት ሰዎች ከተገኙ ተቆጣጣሪው ይዛቸውና በሚቀጥለው የባቡር ጣቢያ ላይ በማስወረድ ለፖሊሶች ያስረክባቸዋል። ይህ የባቡር ላይ ተቆጣጣሪ በገለሀር ልጆች ቋንቋ “ሸፍትራን” ተብሎ ይጠራል።

“ኖሊ” ሳይከፍሉ በባቡር ለመጓዝ የሚፈለጉ ሰዎች ለጉዞ የሚተማመኑበት ሌላ የባቡር ዓይነት አለ። ሆኖም የዚህኛው ባቡር መደበኛ ስራ የደረቅ የጭነት አገልግሎት መስጠት እንጂ ሰዎችን ማጓጓዝ አይደለም። የዚህ የባቡር ዓይነት መጠሪያ ስም “ፋልቶ” ይሰኛል። “ፋልቶ” በርካታ ተጎታች ፉርጎዎች አሉት። ይህ ባቡር ሲፈልግ በሁሉም ፉርጎዎች አንድ ዐይነት እቃ (ጨርቅ፣ ስኳር፣ ሩዝ፣ ወዘተ) ጭኖ ይከንፋል። ሲያሻው ደግሞ በአንዱ ፉርጎ ፍየሎች፣ በሌላኛው ፉርጎ ዱቄት፣ በሶስተኛው ፉርጎ ቡና፣ በሌሎችም ፉርጎዎች ሌሎች ሸቀጦች እየጫነ ይጓዛል። ከላይ እንደጠቀስኩት “ኖሊ” ለመክፈል የማይፈልጉ ሰዎች ወይንም ቤሳቤስቲን የሌላቸው ልጆች “ፋልቶ”ን የሚያዩት እንደ ነፍሳቸው ነው። በውንብድናና በሌብነት ሙያ ለተሰማሩ ዜጎች ደግሞ “ፋልቶ” የዘወትር ደንበኛቸው ነው። እነዚህ ሁሉ ወገኖች ፋልቶን የሚፈልጉበት ምክንያት በሌሎች ባቡሮች ላይ ቲኬት አልያዝክም ብሎ ማጅራታቸውን የሚይዘው “ሸፍተራን” እዚህ ስለሌለ ነው።

ታዲያ በፋልቶ መጓዝ የሚፈለጉ ሰዎች የሚሳፈሩት በባቡሩ ውስጥ እንዳይመስላችሁ። የባቡሩ የውስጠኛው ክፍል የእቃ መጫኛ ነው። ተጓዦቹ የሚሳፈሩት በባቡሩ ጎንና በጣሪያው ላይ ነው። ስለዚህ በፋልቶ ለመጓዝ የሚሻ ሰው በባቡሩ ላይ በቅልጥፍና የሚሳፈርበትንና የሚወርድበትን ጥበብ በደንብ ማወቅ አለበት። ይህም “ሀርፋ” ይሰኛል። “ሀርፋ” ባቡሩ ከጣቢያው ንቅናቄ ሲጀምር ቀልጠፍ ብሎ መውጣትን፣ በባቡሩ ጣሪያና በጎኖቹ ላይ ሚዛን ሳይስቱ መቀመጥን፣ በአንደኛው ፉርጉ የመቀመጫ ቦታ ከጠፋ ወደሌሎች ፉርጎዎች እየተፈናጠሩ መቀመጫ መፈለግን፣ ባቡሩ በኮርባ ላይ ሲታጠፍ ሰውነትን መቆጣጠርንና ባቡሩ በሚቀጥለው ጣቢያ ከመቆሙ በፊት ፈንጠር ብሎ መውረድን ያካትታል። እነዚህን የ“ሀርፋ” ስልቶች ጠንቅቆ ያላወቀ ሰው የአካል ጉዳትና የሞት አደጋ ሊደርስበት ይችላል። እንዲህ ዓይነት አደጋ የደረሰበትን ሰው

የለገሀር ልጆች “ኘም ሆነ” ይሉታል (በኦሮምኛ “ተበላ” ለማለት ነው)። በባቡር አደጋ “ኘም ለመሆን” የማይፈልግ ሰው ሁለት እድሎች ብቻ አሉት። በስነ-ስርዓቱ “ኖሊ” ከፍሎ መሄድ፣ ወይንም በእግሩ መጓዝ። የለገሀር ልጆች የኋላኛው ምርጫ ሲሰጡን “በለፎ ግባ” ይሉናል። “በእግርህ ተጓዝ” ማለታቸው ነው። (“ለፎ” በኦሮምኛ “እግረኛ” ወይንም “እግረኛ ሰራዊት” እንደማለት ነው)።

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ከላይ እንደገለጽኩት በስርቆት የተሰማሩ ሰዎችም ባቡርን ያዘወትራሉ። በሌሎች ቦታዎች እንደለተመደው ሁሉ በባቡር ላይ ስርቆት የተሰማሩ ሌቦችም ሌሎችን ለመሸወድ የሚጠቀሙባቸው ኮድ መሰል ቃላት አሏቸው። ለምሳሌ ሌቦቹ “ይህ ሰው ዩያ ነው” ካሉ “ከባላገር የመጣ ሰው ነው፣ ለስርቆት ያመቻል” ማለታቸው ነው። “ፎቄ ግባ” ሲባል ደግሞ “የላይኛውን ኪስ (የሸሚዝ ኪስ) በርብር” ማለት ነው። “ቀስቴ ግባ” ከተባለም “የሱሪ ኪስ ግባ” ወይም “የሱሪ ኪስ በርብር” ማለት ነው። ሌቦቹ ገንዘብ የሚቆጥሩትም “ዴች” (አንድ ብር)፣ ቢጫ (አምስት ብር)፣ ዲናሬ (አስር ብር)፣ “ሴካ” (ሀምሳ ብር)፣ “ቼንቶ” (መቶ ብር) በማለት ነው።

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ድሬ ዳዋ በኔ ብዕር ይህችን ትመስላለች። የድሬ ልጆች በጎደለው ላይ እንደሚሞሉበት በመተማመን የራሴን ድርሻ በዚሁ አበቃለሁ።

አፈንዲ ሙተቂ

መጋቢት 6/2005 ዓ.ል

ሀረር-ምስራቅ ኢትዮጵያ

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The Man Who Lived His Dream- An Assessment of Jaarraa Abbaa Gadaa’s Life Journey

March 18, 2013, 6:51 pm

≫ Next: Council of the Monuments

≪ Previous: “ኡመተ ፈናን- ኡመተ ቀሽቲ ዲሬ ደዋ” (አርቲስቱና ሽቅርቅሩ የድሬ ዳዋ ህዝብ)

Written by– Libah Leencoo

Contributors– Jawar Mohammed and Jilcha Hamid

His given name is Abdulkariem Ibrahim Hamid. But he is well known by his nom-de -guerre “Jaarraa Abbaa Gadaa”. He is a great grandson of Ibroo Shaxaa, one of the ministers in the last Raabaa Doorii of the Afran Qalloo Oromo which was on power on the eve of the Egyptian occupation of Harar (1875-1885).

Jaarraa was born in 1936 in the village of Mudir Gorro which is found in Gara Mul’ata plains of Hararge province. He attended Islamic education within his family. He started modern education thereafter and completed his secondary school in the city of Harar in early 1960s. In his stay in Harar, Jaarraa Abbaa Gadaa helped found the first Oromo students union in history. The union was very instrumental in the renaissance of Oromo culture and the use of Oromo language. Jaarra then joined Harar Military Academy but left shortly when the academy’s administrators prohibited him from exercising his faith freely.

Jaarraa went to Assabot (in Carcar, the current West Hararge zone) to farm on his family’s land in the mid 1960s. There, he could see the miserable life of the Oromo tenants very closely. His heart was filled with a great sorrow; he understood that the cause of the misery was the prevailing “Gabbar” system and the remedy to end that misery was seeking the independence of his nation by all possible means. The incidence had a tremendous effect on the young Jaarraa Abbaa Gadaa that his life journey totally changed thereafter; on that spot he decided to immerse himself in his half-century old quest for Oromo freedom.

In 1966, Jaarraa Abba Gadaa and his few men went to join the armed revolt of the Bale people which was lead by famous patriots like Waaqoo Guutuu, Waaqoo Luugoo and Aliyi Cirrii. There, Jaarraa demonstrated his bravery earning respect from his compatriots at the battle of Laga Dhare. Until 1968, he would travel back and forth between Somalia and battlefield taking part in such combat missions as the battle of Eela Rooji where the Ethiopian military attacked Oromo fighters using warplanes.

As the Ethiopian government forces started to get upper hand over the Bale people’s revolt, Jaarraa Abbaa Gadaa made up his mind that the military training and modern armaments were important to have a meaningful contribution in the struggle. Hence, he and his followers crossed the border and entered Somalia to seek the training and the weapon.

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Jaarraa and his men were welcomed by the Somalis at first. And on the advice of the Somalis and the Oromos in exile, they grouped themselves under the infamous movement of the time called Liberation Front for the Somali West (LFSW). Apart from using the name “Somali West” and the immense Somali morale and material supports, the movement was purely devoted for the cause of the Oromo people and the Ogadenis in South east Ethiopia. But short time later, when the dictatorial regime of General Mohammed Ziad Barre came to power, the Somalis totally changed their long tradition of supporting the Oromo freedom struggle; the newly created government started to advocate a policy claiming that the Oromos of Hararge, Bale and Sidamo were actually Somalis even though they speak a different language. Further, the Somalis re-organized the LFSW in accordance with their new expansionist dream. The organization was renamed Western Somalia Liberation Front (WSLF, popularly known as “Somali Galbeed”) and all Oromos except few were removed from high position in its leadership. And it was declared by the Somali government that only WSLF had a legitimate right to free the provinces of Hararge, Bale and Sidamo and all fighting units must be organized under it.

Few Oromos accepted the new Somali plan. But Jaarraa and most of the Oromos in Somalia decried it as an act of self denial and totally rejected it. From the latter group, more than a half left the idea of undertaking the armed struggle and returned back to the homeland. But Jaarraa and few people crossed the Indian Ocean in order to seek another way of continuing the Oromo national struggle. On the help of some brilliant Oromo individuals living in Yemen such as Hassan Ibrahim (popularly known as “Elemoo Qilxuu”), and Bakhar Yusuf (Bakharee Galo) , they were gathered at the port city of Aden (the then capital of Yemen People’s Democratic Republic a.k.a. “South Yemen”) to lay down the foundation of a new organization fully determined for Oromo freedom.

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When the Oromos in Yemen were about to start discussions on the foundation of the new organization, another delegation of Oromo elites joined them. The delegation was lead by Hussein Mohammed Ali (popularly known as “Sheikh Hussein Sura” or simply “Hussein Sura”). Hussein was the Secretary General of WSLF at the time; but he was being frustrated by the new Somali policy which denied the Oromo freedom. On the order he got from the Somali government, he came to Yemen to recruit fighters for his organization. However, the morale and determination of Oromo nationalists he saw in Yemen caused him to change his course. So he abandoned WSLF and joined the Oromos in Yemen. Learning this, the Somali government send to him a death threat which had little effect on bringing him back.

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The Oromos in Yemen agreed on the objectives and strategies of the new organization. But a very hot debate erupted over its naming. Hussein Sura and few people favored using the name “Ethiopia” for the organization; Elemoo Qilxuu, Jaarraa Abbaa Gadaa, Bakhar Yusuf and many others argued that the name of the organization should indicate the Oromo people for whom they would fight for. However, both groups agreed to postpone the naming and to focus on the launching of an armed struggle. And for that, Hussein Sura, Jaarraa Abbaa Gadaa, Elemoo Qilxuu and other leading figures of the nationalists in exile went on diplomatic missions that took them to Cairo, Baghdad and Damascus. The Iraqi and Syrian governments agreed to provide them some weapons. And the Palestinian Fighters (based in Damascus, Syria) agreed to train the personnel that would launch the armed struggle.

It was also about that time that the flag of Oromia (Alaabaa Oromiyaa), which has been used by almost all Oromo political groups, was developed by those fathers of Oromo national struggle. When they did so, they primarily referred to the “Oda” (sycamore tree) which had long been used as the logo of the Macca Tuulamaa Self Help Association (MTSHA); it is said that Haile Mariam Gammadaa, one of the founders of MTSHA, proposed the use of “Oda” as the symbol of Oromo unity, ancient history, integrity and dignity. The Oromo nationals in exile took this symbolism of “Oda” and made it the center of the flag; they added the two red colors, the central green color, the rising sun and the red start.

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The arrangements over the armed struggle went according to the plan; the training and the equipping were accomplished. And 37 of the trainees were selected to be included in the unit that would be dispatched to the homeland to start the armed struggle. Jaarra Abbaa Gadaa was assigned as the commander of that historical military unit which was named “Qeyroo Ganamaa”. The combatants in the “Qeyroo Ganama” group were mostly the Oromos who had been in Somalia and fled to Yemen. The following is the list of the members of the “Qyeroo Ganamaa” group.

1. Abdukariim Ibraahim Haamid ( Jaarraa Abbaa Gadaa ).

2. Abdulkariim Aadam Lakkuu ( Soowraa )

3. Mahmuud Sh. Mahammad Umar ( Bookhee)

4. Umar Abuubakar Ibraahim

5. Muhammad Abdulkariim (Areedoo)

6. Muhammad Abdullaahi (Koosum)

7. Bakrii Ibraahim (Abbaa Fatoo)

8. Bakrii Ahmad Baabbilee

9. Muhammad Ahmad Umar (Kormooso)

10. Muhammad Abdulqaadir Shaltaataa

11. Ahmad Mahammad Umar (Caalaa)

12. Muhammad Abdullaahi Alii (Muudee)

13. Ahmad Mahammad Muussaa (Mullata)

14. Muhammad Kabiir Iissaa (Jarjarso)

15. Ahmad Mahammad Usmaan (Daammacaa)

16. Mahammad Sanii Umar (Horoo)

17. Husseen Abbaa Waaqaa (Baale)

18. Jamaal Abdulqaadir

19. Ahmad Iissee

20. Aadam Mahammad Alii (Laafaa)

21. Ahmad Nuur Alii (Arroo)

22. Ahmad Nuur Hassan

23. Abdulkariim Mahammad Anas (Jifaaraa)

24. Mahammad Sheikh Hassan (Nibarbaannaa)

25. Aadam Abubakar (Moluu)

26. Ahmad Mahammad Abdurahmaan

27. Mahammad Ibraahim Wadaay (Shantam)

28. Ahmad Nuur Muussaa Na’ee

29. Abdallaa Bakhrii

30. Mahammad Alii

31. Ahmad Umar Abdalla

32. Ahmad Haashii

33. Hajji Maamoo

34. Ramadan Husseen Khalil

35. Abdurahman Mohammed Yonis (Tuujii)

36. Ahmad Yuusuf Ibraahim (Turee Leencoo)

Jaarraa and his “Qeyroo Ganamaa” unit started their journey. They crossed the Gulf of Aden by boat and few days later, they offshored on the northern Somali coastal area known as Bulhaar which is found near the port city of Berbera. According to the plan, they had to travel to the Gara Mul’ata Mountains of Hararge and launch on the armed struggle. But when they were about to start their long journey, the Somali troops surrounded them and opened a fire instantly. A combatant named Ramadan Husseen Khalil died from the Qeyroo Ganamaa group and the rest of them were imprisoned at Mandheeraa (now in Somaliland).

Jaarraa and his comrades were detained for five years. But that was not without a cost; they passed through a serious torturing and starving. Later on, the Somali government started to show amnesty to them in order to amalgamate them with the poisonous ideology of “Somali Aboo” which was a generalization of the Somali expansionist doctrine on the Oromo lands. However, the Oromo detainees didn’t retreat an inch from their stance. They were lastly freed in 1975.

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When Jaarraa was released from Mandheera prison, many things were already on the scene; Hussein Sura split with his comrades over calling the exiled Oromo political organization “ENLF”, the Haile Silassie regime fell down and replaced by the military junta called “Dergue”, and Elemo Qilxuu was martyred in Carcar along with Ahmad Taqii (Hundee) and other comrades. Jaarraa took some time to analyze the situations of that period and he made up his mind that an armed struggle must be launched in Oromia. To that end, he and his long time fellow Mul’is Gadaa traveled from Somalia to Sharif Khalid, a rural village in the south of the town of Awaday, and stayed there for months. With a help of different networking channels, Jaarraa could reach many underground Oromo study cells that spread from Finfinne to Dire Dawa and Harar and gave them necessary directives on the course of the struggle.

While Jaarraa was undertaking the political activities in Hararge, the Oromo nationals in Finfinne invited him to help them in the proclamation of a new Oromo political organization whose establishment activities were already started in late 1973 when Elemoo Qilxuu visited the capital. Jaarraa went to Finfinne and stayed there for some time on the works of laying the foundations of the new organization. But when the Oromo comrades serving in the Dergue regime were made busy by the state in the formation of the Union of Ethiopian Marxist Leninist Organizations (UEMLO), he assigned his representatives in Finfinne and went back to Hararge to perform another equally important activity. This was the foundation of an independent Oromo fighting unit with clear objectives and directions.

Jaarraa recruited many nationalists who would be included in the fighting unit intended to be established. With the help of some Oromo nationals, he could get two AK-47 guns and some bullets which were buried in Carcar by Elemoo Qilxuu and Ahmad Taqii. And with those arms, he traveled to the valley of Gobelle and disclosed the foundation of the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA); and it was there that he accomplished the resurrection of the armed struggle of the Oromo people which was buried following the death of Elemoo Qilxuu and his comrades. Many Oromos joined the new struggle from all directions. And within short period of time, OLA got wide popularity throughout the nation.

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When the Dergue regime proclaimed a mass killing campaign known as “Red Terror”, many Oromo nationalists, including the OLF leaders disguised in the state’s higher positions, escaped the assault and joined the OLA in Gara Mul’ata. But some time later, schism was created in the organization. The cause of the schism was still unclear; some people assume that it was caused by a power struggle, and others think it was a mere factionalism which was motivated by regional differences. But in the sight of this writer, it seems that it was a spilt driven by the international political order of the time that bisected the old and pragmatic leaders who put more trust on practical armed struggle from the young theoretically stimulated leaders who gave more weight for the struggle assisted by ideological warfare. Consequently, older leaders like Jaarraa Abbaa Gadaa and Mul’is Gadaa break away from their younger fellow and went on their way. Both groups used to call their organizations “Oromo Liberation Front” until 1985 when Jaarraa and his fellow men renamed their organization “Islamic Front for Liberation of Oromia” (IFLO).

OLF and IFLO coexisted in east and south east Oromia until the fall of the Dergue regime. The two parties fought each other many times. Efforts made to bring reconciliation between them turned fruitless. But in 1991, the organizations settled their dispute once and for all. This resolution was turned to the formation of the Union of Oromo Liberation Forces (ULFO) in 2000.

The IFLO lead by Jaarraa Abbaa Gadaa was the participant of the transitional government of Ethiopia which was founded in July 1991. And the organization opened its offices in many towns of Oromia for the purpose of undertaking political activities. The head quarter of the front was located in the town of Bisidimo (20 kms east of Harar) where Jaarraa delivered his highly revered speeches to the public. But in 1992, a disagreement with EPRDF (the main actor in the transitional government) forced him to an exile again.

In 2005, the IFLO was renamed Front for Independent Democratic Oromia (FIDO). And Jaarraa continued to lead the struggle with his newly reorganized front. But on March 3/2013, after spending four decades for the freedom and sovereignty of his nation, he died of kidney complications in the city of San’a, the Capital of Yemen. Jaarraa was married to Mariam Jamal and fathered two boys.

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Council of the Monuments

March 19, 2013, 5:45 am

≫ Next: The Role of Muhammad Ahmad “Kormooso” in the Harar Provincial Administration (1977-1979)

≪ Previous: The Man Who Lived His Dream- An Assessment of Jaarraa Abbaa Gadaa’s Life Journey

By Girma Tadesse

Introduction:

This is an imagined dialogue among monuments, real and unreal(at least for now), of some controversial figures, most of whom are related to Ethiopia(Abyssinia). They are gathered at the inauguration of a new monument somewhere in Addis Ababa/Finfinne. Some references in this piece may be vague especially for non football/soccer fans; hence I briefly introduce the characters and expressions used below.

MZ – Perceived monument of Meles Zenawi, Ethiopia’s deceased prime minister, hailed as a ‘visionary leader’ by his party and ethnic group but ‘ruthless dictator’ by others

AF – Sir Alex Fergusson’s monument, erected at Old Trafford, home of Manchester United FC, which he still manages

RG – Monument of Rodolfo Graziani, considered to be the ‘butcher of Ethiopia and Libya’, erected for him by a city council in Italy

PP – Monument of Patriarch Paolos, erected for the former patriarch by the church he lead while he was still alive

AG – Monument of Ahmed Gragn or Ahmed Gurey, considered to be a ‘hero’(by some) for spreading Islam and a ‘villain’ for destroying churches and lives, erected for him somewhere in Somalia

MII – Monument of king Menelik II, considered a ‘hero’(by some) for expanding Abyssinia’s rule to the South but a ‘villain’ for the massacre and enslavement of the South people, especially the Oromo.

Scouse – reference to the people of Liverpool, England whose football club is considered to be the historic rival to AF’s Manchester United

Anfield Road – Home of Liverpool Football Club

Noisy Neighbors – reference to supporters of Manchester City FC another rival club in the same city as that of AF’s

Kaliti – is one of the prisons in the Ethiopia where thousands of political dissidents and journalist are jailed, the overwhelming majority of whom are Oromos

Waqeffata – a follower of an Oromo indigenous religion, Waqeffanna, which literally translates to ‘worshiping God’

Apart from MZ, every other monument exists in reality as of today.

The council begins its meeting …

PP – welcome everybody, this is in recognition of our newest member Meles Zenawi to the council of the monuments.

AF – so you’re not going to start with a blessing, father?

MZ – shut up you old …oops I thought I was in the parliament

AF – so you spoke to your people like that?

MZ – who are my people?

AF – (confused) where’s Abebe Bikila?

MZ – hasn’t got one (leans towards PP’s ears and whispers ‘whoever invited this guy, how does he fit the bill?’ to which PP replies in the same manner ‘your son asked for him’ and MZ says ‘kids’)

AF – are you kidding me?

MZ – why would I kid you? I don’t kid the Brits after Tony Blair made me world famous

AF – what do people say when you are getting erected and Abebe Bikila doesn’t have one. Are you not scared of the papers?

MZ – hahahaha, you really are a fool Fergie. What paper are you talking about? You need to learn a lot here and you need to learn fast. First, there are no papers that will oppose me; well, there were but not anymore. Second the people have no say.

AF – what did you do to them?

MZ – that’s another thing you need to learn. You don’t ask these questions.

AF – I wish the UK papers were like yours. They’d be writing my glory and none of the Scouse and these noisy neighbors

MZ – you need BS in the information department

AF – what?

MZ – Bereket Simon, he’s a guy who helps so much in the information ministry that the ministry is named after him. BS ministry.

AF – doesn’t BS mean…

MZ – (interrupting) I know, I know. But they are the same. By the way you ask more questions in 2 minutes than my former ministers did in 2 decades. The sooner you leave the better.

AF – or else?

MZ – you’ll be sent to Kaliti

PP – but Fergie doesn’t speak Afan Oromo

MZ – Bekele Gerba will teach him. But wait… you’re worried that Fergie is gonna sympathize with the Muslims and Waqefatas there, aren’t you?

PP – hahaha …you got me. That’s why I like you. You should have been a lawyer, you know?

MZ – I thought about that but found that being the law is better than being a lawyer

AF – what are you guys talking about?

RG – hi everyone…sorry I’m late; I was watching out for some street protesters

AF – ciao Grazziani; how come you don’t look scared around these guys?

RG – why would I be scared?

AF – you murdered their citizens a while back!

RG – hold on here; first of all I didn’t murder them I only gave the order after I got an order. Second, that’s a long time ago, 77 years. You guys still live in the past? Why don’t you ask these two, they executed and enslaved their own citizens yet still stand tall?

AF – who do you mean?

MZ – RG is trying to point fingers at me and MII. Listen to me old master, I didn’t murder my own citizens; there are no citizens of mine in Gambella and very few outside Tigray. I’m pretty sure Menelik didn’t massacre or enslave his ‘own people’ either. So get your facts straight.

RG – (Looking at AG and MII as if seeking approval but finding them uninterested) I understood that when I was here before; but I thought things would change

MZ – change has no place here my friend; why change something that suits you?

AF – what about those people that ‘no change’ affects?

MZ – to those people you tell them that there’s a change

AF – you’re not bothered that you’re lying to them? May be one day they’ll wake up and realize what you’re doing?

MZ – why do you make it look like I invented lies around here? Everyone and everything is lies. If you want to know, the motto is ‘deception is the best policy’. So you expect me to be a saint? And to those people that may wake up; we’ve never seen them do something, so why bother?

RG – and what surprises me the most is that your people are asking for my removal in Italy far away from where I committed the murder; oh sorry I meant to say ‘gave the order’, but you two are standing right in the middle of them.

MZ – how many times do I have to tell you who my people are? Plus, I made sure that those that care are locked up, chased out or vanished; whatever is left of them are either an ignorant bunch or those scared to death to ask anything. Except my people, of course. If you’re concerned about the protesters against you, then my people will take care of them.

RG – good; now we’re friends. By the way, have you considered asking Ahmed Gragn to move to one of the monasteries in the North? That would even everyone’s pain, don’t you think?

PP – good idea, I second it. That’ll also help deflect attention away from my successor.

AF – (murmuring to himself) when I return to England I am going to demand to be erected right in front of Anfield Road, where I can do damage. Or…maybe I should ask to be moved to the backyard of our noisy neighbors? Nah, I’ll just order another one of me, one for each venue.

RG – I heard that Fergie, but a nice thought. I’m also looking for a place around 6 Kilo.

↧

The Role of Muhammad Ahmad “Kormooso” in the Harar Provincial Administration (1977-1979)

March 19, 2013, 7:00 am

≫ Next: Ilma tokko garre

≪ Previous: Council of the Monuments

By Jilcha Hamid

“There are two men named Muhammad Ahmad in the Harar provincial administration. The one known as “Caffee” (Chaffee) is a snake. The other one is him.” said my uncle to his younger brother. “He is our man” he said, pointing at a burly tall man walking in the street in the town of Malka Rafu, East Hararge. Muhammad Ahmad Imar, better known as Kormooso was the head of the Farmers Union in the province of Harar in the late 1970′s. After spending 5 years in prison in Somalia as part of the Qeeyroo Ganamaa unit led by Jaarraa Abbaa Gadaa, he was released in 1975 and returned to his country where he headed the Farmers Union in the new administration.

During this time the Afran Qallo movement had spread to all sectors of society and there was a growing fear amongst the political elite that the growing social and political awareness amongst Oromos was a threat to the status quo. In March 1978 when the Somali army retreated and the Ethiopian army retook all the territory it had lost the previous year, their main concern was to exact revenge on those who they believed had allied with the Somali army, as well as to disarm the population. The OLF led by Jaarraa Abbaa Gadaa and Mullis Abbaa Gadaa had established themselves in the mountainous regions and were a primary concern for the Derg in the province after the Somali army had withdrawn. The policy of disarmament was central to re-establishing control. The governor of Harar province, Colonel Zeleke Beyene, was tasked with defeating the insurgency, and most importantly disarming the population. After the Somali invasion and the outbreak of the war, weapons had become abundant in the region. A province wide disarmament campaign was launched, sending government cadres around urging the people to turn in their weapons.

Muhammad Ahmad (Kormooso) as head of the Farmer’s Union was given the order by Colonel Beyene to lead the campaign. But he disagreed with the regimes policy, and disagreed with them on every one of their discriminatory policy towards Oromos. He believed that the crimes committed against the Oromo population by the Ethiopian army as well as the Somali militias during the Ethio-Somali war was a result of the population being unarmed and defenseless. In addition to that the targeting of Oromo community leaders and intellectuals was another discriminatory policy he was opposed to. So Kormooso, being familiar with the bias and hatred towards Oromos from the regimes cadres, used his position to counter these policies. For example people who were imprisoned for simply for being socially and politically conscious Oromos were released en mass. During the disarmament campaign he spoke with District administrators in Harar and made sure that they did not disarm the population. He believed that being armed was part of their right to self-defense. His policies, although done covertly to avoid direct confrontation with the Amhara establishment in the regime, gained him popularity in the province but equally gained him many enemies in the regime, most notably Colonel Beyene. Beyene regarded Kormooso as a cancer and attempted on many occasions to catch him in violation and have him killed. He attempted to build a legal case against Kormooso, using other cadres to testify against him. When this approach failed he gave up on that approach and took extra-judicial action.

Kormooso commuted to his office in Harar every morning, and by evening would return to his home in Ganda Sharo, Kombolcha district where he felt safe. This was located just north of Harar town. One evening he was held for a meeting called by Colonel Zeleke Beyene. The next morning it was announced on the radio that Kormooso had hung himself. The population refused to swallow the news. The farmers union from Kombolcha district, heavily armed, immediately headed to Harar to see Kormooso. The administration was hesitant to release the body, insisting that they had nothing to do with his killing and that Kormooso had hung himself. The body was hand over, riddled with bullet holes to the abdomen. Kormooso was buried in his home district. The regime, humiliated by the farmers show of force in Harar and the exposure of their lie, followed the situation carefully. At the funeral government agents approached the local farmers union leader to intimidatingly remind him that he was giving a respected burial to a state criminal. The threat was ignored and tension continued to grow between the union and the regime. Colonel Beyene found his new target in the head of the Kombolcha district union, Aliyyi Usman. He organized a tribunal in the district attended by the military top brass as well as his loyalists in the local administration to testify against Aliyyi, accusing him of abuses of his power, aiding rebels and so on. The local farmers union rejected the Colonel’s allegations and reminded him that they were free to choose their own leaders and would not accept the Colonel’s appointees. “If you do not remove your stinky hands from our district” said an influential local, you will be responsible for what happens next”. The regime backtracked, accepted the farmers demands and ended the tribunal.

The killing of Kormooso sparked anger throughout the province and fueled anti-regime sentiment. The role played by certain district and farmers union officials such as Musa Alisho of Haromaya, Abdurahman Bilu of Kombolcha and Muhammad Ahmad “Kormooso” during the “Red Terror” period is often forgotten. But the role played by these men was key during the Oromo socio-political awakening. They used their positions to serve their people at the expense of the regimes oppressive agenda which cost them their lives.

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Ilma tokko garre

March 21, 2013, 4:08 am

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Barreessaan: Eebba Coqorsaa

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