OLF Officials Held Successful Town Hall Meeting in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas

Prof. Mekuria Bulcha and Mr. Odaa Xasee, the representatives of the Oromo Liberation Front, conducted a town hall meeting with members, supporters of the Oromo Liberation Front, and the Oromo community at large in the Dallas/Fort Worth metropolitan area on February 16, 2013. The officials discussed issues pertaining to the settled controversies between the two OLF units. They clarified issues, on which both parties agreed to settle the disagreement, that divided the organization for more than a decade.

They said the agreement was indispensable in order to overcome the challenges our struggle was facing and to achieve the objective of the organization. They expressed the importance and needs of a reasonable cooperation, and sacrifices that all of us must make to meet our people’s noble goal. They mentioned that they had drawn enough lessons from the past mistakes/experiences that resulted in weaknesses that they would never repeat them in the future.

Moreover, they briefed the Oromo community about the current state of Oromo struggle, the condition that the Oromo people are in, and the solutions. Both officials of SHG-ABO and QC-ABO expressed their gratitude for those who arranged the meeting to that effect, and forwarded the points upon which they reached agreement in the following ways:

1. Both SHG-ABO and QC-ABO agreed to end the disagreement that existed between the two parties by agreeing to replace the contentious matter aside, form unity, and find a solution in unison.
2. They fully recognized that the disagreements in the past benefited only the enemies of the Oromo people, while they negatively impacted the interests of the Oromo struggle.
3. They reaffirmed unequivocally that the aim of the Oromo people’s struggle is the freedom of the Oromo People and the establishment of the Independent Democratic Republic of Oromia. To realize this righteous program, they are determined to mobilize all who stand for this cause and reunite their resources together.
4. The means of attaining this objective would be through coordinating political, diplomatic, mass disobedience/defiance under a unified and well organized armed struggle, without which the realization of the true independence would be fruitless and unreachable.

Finally, they made an honorable and urgent call to all friends, members, and supporters of the Oromo people’s effort to end a century-old brutal oppression, exploitation and cruelty exerted by the successive minority Ethiopian government.

At the end, the participants watched a video of the Oromo Liberation Army’s New Year’s (2013) celebration. The participants expressed their acceptance and happiness to hear from their compatriots about the reconciliation between the two OLF groups. The participants promised to make more positive contribution toward peaceful resolution of disagreements should they occur in the future, while strengthening the struggle for which many of them have already paid different degrees of sacrifices.

Victory to the Oromo People!

Oromia Shall Be Free!