Letter to the Kenyan Education Ministry on the Correct Identity of the Oromo People

January 06, 2014

The following is a letter written by the Oromo Refugee Teachers and the Oromo Refugee community leaders in Kenya to the Kenyan Education Ministry on the correct identity of the Oromo people.

From Oromo Refugee Teachers and
The Oromo Refugee Community Leaders, Kenya

To:
Kenyan Education Ministry
Nairobi, Kenya
P.O. BOX 30040-00100

REQUEST TO REMOVE AND BAN THE USAGE OF THE TERM GALLA IN KENYA

We, the Oromo teachers from Oromo refugee community in Kenya, are writing to you to bring to your attention the negative impact of the usage of a derogative and abusive word Galla to identify the Oromo in textbooks of Social Studies used in primary and secondary education in Kenya. It is a wrong terminology usage against the Oromo identity.

In fact, the people identify themselves as OROMO, and their language as AFAN OROMO, which are the correct terminology usages.

Although the Oromo nation is the second largest in Africa, it is forgotten by or still unknown to the majority of the world today, even the name Oromo is not well known. This is partly because of the colonial Ethiopian Emperors Menelik and Haile-Sellasie and their successors, who had treated and continue to treat the Oromo with utmost cruelty due to their resistance against the subjugation of the Oromo nation. The Oromo people have endured a stagnant existence, where illiteracy and famine have been coupled with ruthless oppression, subjugation, and exploitation in all spheres of life, and above all extermination. Everything possible had been done to destroy the Oromo identity, language, culture, custom, tradition, names and origin.

In short, the colonizers maintained the general policy of genocide against the Oromo and used the termGalla to dehumanize, to victimize Oromo, and to destroy their identity and language. Such insulting name to the nation was abolished and eradicated by the 1974 oppressed nations’ revolution in Ethiopia, and the usage of the term Galla is officially banned.

And, sadly, to deny the Oromo the right to identity, and as if this is not enough and to add insults to injuries, the term Galla is in use interchangeably for Oromo in textbooks of Social Studies used in the educational system in Kenya. To cite few books: The Evolving World: A History & Government Course Form 1, by Oxford New Edition 2010, under the topic Cushitic: “the  Cushites group comprised of …Galla (Oromo) …” on page 78, and under the topic Borana … “the Boran are branch the Oromo or Gallapeople … they speak Cushitic language called Galligna …” on page 81. And, also in other course book, Milestone in History and Government Form 1 by Longhorn Publishers – reprinted in 2010 under the topicEastern Cushitic comprise of the Elmolo, Gabra, Oromo (Galla) … on page 40. And, also in some many other course books published by Kenya Literature Bureau.

Hence, as we have clearly tried to indicate above, such wrong terminology usage for Oromo identity is illegal, and it allows subjugation and victimization of Oromo children and people at large; in fact, it is a clear violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of children’s basic right to good education and right to identify of the Oromo nation. And, this should not be allowed to continue by the free and democratic nation of Kenya and Africa.

Therefore, we, the Oromo refugees in Kenya, would kindly like to request the honourable education office and concerned authorities of institutions to totally remove the use of the term  Galla from educational books and further ban the usage of such abusive term against people in any written or oral form in Kenya.

Thank you in advance for your attention to this matter.