The Oromo protests of 2015-2018 paved the way for Abiy Ahmed to become Ethiopia’s PM. Since becoming PM, Abiy betrayed not only the individuals who put him in charge but also the Oromo public who paid the ultimate sacrifice so that they will have a decent shot at a dignified life. Time and again, he demonstrated the contempt with which he holds the Oromo people while emboldening the neo-Neftegna ideology by re-inscribing its narratives and glorifying its symbolic personifications. Under his watch, the demonisation and vilification of the Oromo has reached a new height.
The Prime Minister’s latest move to detain Oromo opposition figures such as Jawar Mohammed, Bekele Gerba and others unleashed a second round of Oromo Protests - Oromoprotests 2.0, with widespread economic boycott and road closures across Oromia, the economic heartland of Ethiopia.
I don’t know what the PM has in mind but the path he has taken are likely to plunge the country into its depths. It is no longer possible to govern a diverse country like Ethiopia where there has been considerable levels of political awakening with force, intimidation, gaslighting and/or excessive policing.
Rounding up political opponents and locking them behind bars didn’t work in the past and it is impossible to see how and why it would this time. If anything, the prospect of governing Ethiopia through sheer violence is likely to rock the country into an endless and enteractable violence that would bring about the demise of the country as we know it. It didn’t work for Derg. It didn’t work for EPRDF, and it is delusional to think that it would somewhat work this time.
It is in the interest of the country and the various nations and nationalities that make up the federation to step back from the brink and find a way forward.
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