Opinion
Differentiating Basic, National, Regional and Global Oromummaa
May 30, 2025
Examples of basic and political Oromummaa narratives
By Fikir Yibeltal
https://borkena.com/2025/05/30/ethiopia ... nd-global/
After President
Isaias Afewerki https://borkena.com/2025/05/26/eritreas ... -ideology/ dropped the term “
Oromummaa” during his keynote address on the Occasion of the 34th Independence of the country, the discussion on the term among Ethiopians has intensified. The topic is not new. It has been one of the issues circulating, since the rise of Abiy Ahmed Ali to power in Ethiopia. To fairly reference the president’s mention of the word:
But the external forces who were perturbed by the promising prospects were not idle. The wars they have declared against the Ethiopian people under the rubric of Prosperity (their new surrogate) in the past few years is illustrative of their desperation. The pretexts and banners are many; the reckless agendas and their pre-emptive features transparent. They include: “Issue of Water”, “Nile and the Red Sea”, “Access to the Sea”, “Ideology of Oromummaa” that does not represent the Oromo people, the conundrum of a “Cushitic-Semitic antagonism”, “Instrumentalizing the people and land of Afar as a ruse and convenient platform”, “stoking ethnic wars all over”, etc. …
The context in which he used the word, is clear. He mentioned it from the Eritrean perspective in the context of external forces. He explicitly referred to the word as a political ideology, separate from the Oromo people. He aligned it with other main propaganda issues that are narrated by the existing Ethiopian government-affiliated cadres: “
Issue of Water”, “
Nile and the Red Sea”, “
Access to the Sea.” However, the fact that he decided to drop the word at this time, even if it is only once, is akin to dropping a powerful bomb in the country. Some say it is not wise to use the word right now, since it might galvanize support for the Abiy Ahmed regime. Others argue that what has been happening in Ethiopia over the past seven years is evident, and now is the time to face it. The time to confront it, is now. However, others contend that it is better to understand what the word entails, as creating words and using them to isolate people without knowledge could be disastrous. So let us dive in and see what the word “
Oromumma” means.
Meaning of Oromummaa (Oromo-Ummaa)
The literal meaning of the word is “
to be Oromo” – “
ኦሮሞነት”. Hence the majority of the Oromo people take the word as an expression for their identity. Hence mentioning this word otherwise will irritate/offend them. Having said this the word became more prominent among the Oromo political elites after Professor
Assefa Jaleta, sociologist, used the term in his studies and published it as “
OROMUMMAA: Oromo Culture, Identity and Nationalism.”
https://trace.tennessee.edu/cgi/viewcon ... k_socopubs
He stated that
Oromummaa, is a complex and dynamic national and global project.
Assefa Jaleta calls for paradigm shift and coins the word as an ideology and as a political program. The whole book explains the project in detail. But let us see a short interview text of Assefa explaining his position, when asked about
what is the Oromo Question?
He replied:
the Oromo question is a colonial one. The Oromo has been colonized the last decades of the 19th centaury. Since they have been the colonial subject of Ethiopia, they have never been citizens of Ethiopia because they have been denied civil citizenry. They have been subjugated, exploited, abused, mistreated. Only Oromo collaboratives and opportunists and the Ethiopian, or Amhara or Tigray masters denied this reality. So Oromos really are facing very serious problems in Ethiopia, as colonial subjects. So the Oromo question, as I said, is a colonial one. Many people confuse BASIC Oromummaa or elementary Oromumma with National Oromummaa, which involves national crises, identity nationalism.
He continues to explain the difference between Basic Oromummaa and National Oromummaa, as follows:
Basic Oromummaa and National Oromummaa are interrelated, but they are not the same. You can have basic Oromummaa, and you may not have nationalism. Therefore, you may not participate in Oromo struggle. But having higher level of Oromummaa, which I call National Oromummaa is very beneficial. So, Oromumma, National Oromummaa, is very necessary to liberate the Oromo people from Ethiopian colonialism and global imperialism that have been keeping them in darkness, poverty, and ignorance for more than 100 years.
The definition of the term Oromummaa, according to the professor, is plain and simple. He perceives Ethiopia as a colonial power, but most Oromo people do not think like him. The Oromummaa project implementers claim that as a political program, Oromumma has several stages (levels):
(i) Basic, referring to identity, culture, and language;
(ii) National Oromummaa, referring to the demanding struggle for rights;
(iii) Knowledge and values – educating and transforming the masses;
(iv) National project – referring to dominating governance and the economy; and
(v) Global Oromumma – dominating the region and positioning Oromummaa on the global stage.
Prosperity Party as Political Oromumma
Of course, the political elites, especially the existing
Abiy Ahmed and
Shimelis Abdisa-led Oromo elite, are implementing this ideology at the speed of light by competing with other Oromo elites like
Jawar Mohammed, a prominent politician who galvanizes the Oromo youth to overthrow the TPLF from power, and others. In fact, Abiy and his comrades, as prosperity party leaders, are trying to implement this Oromummaa program by dominating others via the principles that some people call the seven mountains of dominance.
The seven mountain mandate, or seven mountain prophecy, is a strategy for cultural engagement popularized by Lance Wallnau and Bill Johnson in their 2013 book Invading Babylon.
If you want to dominate a culture or a country, dominating these seven key influence areas are crucial: family, religion, education, media, entertainment, business, and government. Some even speculate that the present Prosperity Party is an extension of the prosperity gospel; even some claim that this is how those who want to dominate Ethiopia, the present group of leaders, communicate with forces in the USA to gain a mandate for leading the country in that direction. Dr.
Yonas, a prominent Ethiopian scholar in the USA, calls it the Oromummaa Politics, in his articles titled
The Oromummaa Politics: Weaponized with Lies and Soaked in Blood
and the second was headlined
Oromummaa is a Low Grade Nazification Movement.
In this regard and context, what President Isaias said fits into this picture.
Many in Ethiopia have seen patterns of dominance by these elites, led by the PP and OPDO people, the former TPLF partner party in the Oromia region. Many businesspeople are flooding out of Ethiopia, leaving the space to those who claim the time is theirs. Almost all key aspects of the government are dominated by this group of people. The tank and bank of the country, is fully controlled by the Political Oromummaa. In almost all the main religions, the main leaders are from the same group. Even these days, across social media, there is a push for the Kush people narrative – an effort to galvanize the East African people, including Somalis (in Ethiopia, Somalia, and Kenya), Afar (in Eritrea, Djibouti, and Ethiopia), and other ethnic groups in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan, Kenya, and beyond. The claim of Red Sea and Indian Ocean aspirations, comes from that. Even Obbo Shimelis Abdissa has said that, next time they will celebrate Irreechaa by the side of the Red Sea. That manifests, both the regional and global Oromummaa. These days, the Kenyan’s are voicing against Abiy Ahmed in fear of his and his gangs political orchestrating in the Horn (Regional Cushitic politics) as many Ethnic Oromo live in the Northern Part of Kenya.
Mr Taye Dendea View of Oromummaa
Mr. Taye Dendea Aredo, a senior (former) Prosperity Party member who was released from prison after a conflict with the prime minister, provided his view
on the ongoing discourse. He did not like the president’s use of the words “
Oromummaa” and “
Kush,” but he squarely placed the blame on those ruling party gangs who are giving such impressions to all people, not only in Ethiopia but also in the whole of the Horn of Africa. Taye acknowledged the use of the word for political purposes and criticized the people who are using the Oromo people as hostages to hold onto power. He argued that the consequences of what these people are doing, is the hatred of the Oromo people inside and beyond the borders of the country.
Way Forward!
Now the basic and national (political) meanings of Oromummaa are differentiated. How do we proceed with our discourse from here? It should be with understanding. What the elites want does not necessarily reflect what the people prefer in life. Taye is right, it is better to differentiate the two categories. We have learned from our generational mistakes, that the TPLF is not the same as the Tigray people. Similarly, those Oromummaa nationalists, are not representative of the Oromo people. Identifying the political party from the broader mass is key. We need to differentiate this without a doubt. Both Oromos and other Ethiopians should challenge these political Oromummaa reinforcers. It does not benefit the Oromo people. In fact, they will create enemies for the people 360 degrees around, if they insist on continuing to do this. People in East Africa, should choose to live in peace and order. Instead of division and disorder, collaboration and cooperation should come forth. This approach is more constructive and sustainable, than dividing and hating each other.
Editor’s Note : Views in the article do not necessarily reflect the views of borkena.com