Manneen Murtii Aadaa: Bu’uura Nageenyaafi Tokkummaa Hawaasaa Cimsuu Keessatti Gahee Ol’aanaa Qabu
Ummanni Oromoo seenaa dheeraa keessa sirna haqaa aadaa isaaniitti bu’uureffate kan jaarrolii fi hayyoonni aadaa geggeessan qabu. Manneen Murtii Aadaa kunis gahee guddaa taphachuun nageenya hawaasaa eeguufi waldhabdee hawaasaa hiikuu keessatti hirmaatu.
OROMIYA — Manneen Murtii Aadaa Oromoo sirna haqaa hawaasaa keessatti aadaa fi duudhaa irratti hundaa’ee rakkoo ummataa hiikuun nageenya hawaasaa tiksuu keessatti gahee guddaa qabu. Rakkoolee akka walitti bu’iinsa maatii, walitti bu’iinsa ollaa fi hawaasa gidduutti uumaman karaa araaraa fi marii irratti hundaa’een furmaata kennu.
Sirni kun akka adda addummaatti yeroo fi baasii guddaa osoo hin gaafatin dhimmoota ykn waldhabdee hiikuun hariiroo hawaasaa akka hin diigamne godha. Kunis hawaasni nagaa fi tasgabbiin jiraachuu danda’u.
Bu’uurri Isaa Aadaa fi Duudhaa
Manneen Murtii Aadaa sirna haqaa kan aadaa fi duudhaa Oromoo irratti hundaa’een hojjetu yoo ta’u, kaayyoon isaa ijoon waldhabdee furuun nagaa fi tokkummaa hawaasaa eeguudha. Sirni kun hariiroo hawaasaa cimsuufi walitti bu’iinsa garaagaraa furuuf karaa salphaa fi hawaasatti dhihoo ta’e uuma.
Jaarsoliin biyyaa fi hayyoonni aadaa kanneen beekumsaafi muuxannoo dhaloota darbe irraa argatan fayyadamuun dhimmoota hawaasaa hiikuun duudhaa sana dhaloota darbee gara fulduraatti dabarsuuf gargaaru.
Gahee Jaarsolii fi Hayyoota Aadaa
Manneen Murtii Aadaa keessatti gaheen jaarsolii biyyaa fi hayyoota aadaa baay’ee murteessaadha. Isaan kunneen beekumsa isaanii fi muuxannoo jireenyaa fayyadamuun waldhabdee furuuf qofa osoo hin taane, hawaasa keessatti nagaa fi tokkummaa cimsuuf hojjetu.
Jaarsoliin kunneen aadaa, duudhaa fi seera Oromoo beekanii rakkoo hawaasaa hiikuun dhaloota darbee fi kan fulduraa gidduutti walitti hidhaa uumu. Akkasumas, isaan dhaloota dargaggootaaf fakkeenya ta’uun amala gaarii fi kabaja hawaasaa barsiisu.
Furmaata Araaraa fi Marii Irratti Hundaa’e
Manneen Murtii Aadaa adabbii irratti utuu hin hundoofne, araara fi marii irratti hundaa’ee waldhabdee furuuf yaala. Kun immoo ossoo walitti bu’iinsa cimsuu fi diiguu utuu hin taane, walitti araarsee nageenya hawaasaa eeguuf gargaara.
Sirni kun hawaasa keessatti hariiroo gaarii uumuufi walitti dhufeenya cimsuuf gumaacha guddaa qaba. Waldhabdee yeroo kana furmaata argatu, namoonni walitti bu’an walitti araaramuun akka turan taasisa.
Aadaa Dhaloota Darbee Bulchuufi Kan Fulduraa Ijaaru
Manneen Murtii Aadaa sirna haqaa aadaa Oromoo kan dhaloota darbee irraa dhaalan yoo ta’u, kunis dhaloota har’aafi kan fulduraatiif bu’uura guddaa ta’a. Sirni kun duudhaa Oromoo jiraachisuun akka inni hin dagatamneefi dhaloota itti aanuuf akka dabarfamu godha.
Dhaloonni dargaggoon Manneen Murtii Aadaa keessatti hirmaachuun aadaa fi duudhaa isaanii baratu. Kunis eenyummaa Oromoo cimsuufi seenaa isaanii akka hin daganne gochuuf gumaacha guddaa qaba.
Nageenya, Waliigaltee fi Tokkummaa Hawaasaa Cimsuu
Manneen Murtii Aadaa nageenya, waliigaltee fi tokkummaa hawaasaa cimsuun sirna haqaa hawaasaaf dhihoo ta’e ijaaruufi duudhaa Oromoo ganamaatti deebi’uu keessatti shoora olaanaa qabu. Sirni kun hawaasa keessatti nagaa fi tasgabbiin akka jiraatu gochuun bu’uura guddaa ta’a.
Hawaasni nagaa fi tokkummaan jiraatu, guddinaa fi misooma argachuuf carraa qaba. Manneen Murtii Aadaa kunis bu’uura kana cimsuuf hojjetu.
Guddina Sirna Murtii Aadaa Oromoo
Manneen Murtii Aadaa Oromoo akka qaama sirna haqaa hawaasaa Oromootti fudhatama argachuufi cimsuuf hojiin itti fufaa jira. Sirni kun akka aadaa Oromootti eegamuufi dhaloota itti aanuuf dabarfamuuf yaaliiwwan garaagaraa godhaa jira.
Dabalataan, sirni kun sirna haqaa kan ammayyaa wajjin walitti hidhamee hojjechuu danda’a. Kunis hawaasni haqa aadaa fi haqa ammayyaa walitti maksee argachuu danda’a.
Gabaabaatti
Manneen Murtii Aadaa Oromoo bu’uura nageenyaa fi tokkummaa hawaasaa cimsuu keessatti gahee ol’aanaa qabu. Sirni kun aadaa fi duudhaa Oromoo eeguun dhaloota darbee kan fulduraatiif dabarsuun nagaa fi tasgabbiin hawaasaa akka jiraatu godha.
Kanaafuu, Manneen Murtii Aadaa kunis sirna haqaa hawaasaa keessatti bakka murteessaa qabaachuu isaa hubachuun, isaan cimsuufi eeguun dirqama keenya. Jaarsolii biyyaa fi hayyoonni aadaa hirmaachisanii hojjechuun isaanii hawaasa keenyaaf bu’uura guddaa ta’a.
Hub: Suurawwan gubbaatti mul’atan suuraa muraasa manneen Murtii Aadaa Oromiyaa keessatti argaman keessaa muraasatu fudhatame. Isaanis Manneen Murtii Aadaa jiranii fi hojiirra jiran agarsiisu. 🤝
Oromiyaa #MurtiiAadaa #NageenyaHawaasaa #Tokkummaa #JaarsoliiBiyyaa #AadaaOromoo #DuudhaaOromoo #AraaraFiMarii
Abbabach Gobena:The Woman Who Became a Mother to Millions Orphanage and beyond.
From the pain of famine to a lifetime of compassion — the remarkable journey of the Ethiopian woman known as Africa’s Mother Teresa, who gave hope, dignity, and a future to more than a million orphaned children.
Abbabach Gobena – The Mother Teresa of Africa lost her father during the period of the Italian occupation of Abyssinia/ Ethiopia/. At the age of ten, she was forced into marriage. Refusing to accept a life decided for her, she fled and made her way to Finfine /Addis Ababa/. In the city she struggled to rebuild her life, pursued her education with determination, and eventually secured a stable job.
Abbabach was a woman of deep faith. Her spiritual life guided her actions and shaped her character. She loved God deeply and placed great trust in her faith. During the Derg era, around 1980, she undertook a spiritual pilgrimage to Gishen Mariam, one of Ethiopia’s most sacred religious sites.
After completing the pilgrimage and beginning her journey back to Addis Ababa, she passed through Wollo, which at the time was suffering from a devastating famine. What she witnessed there changed the direction of her life forever.
She saw people dying from hunger. Families had been destroyed by starvation, and countless children had been left without parents. Among the heartbreaking scenes she encountered was a small child trying to breastfeed from his mother who had already died from hunger. The child, unaware of death, was still desperately searching for milk from a lifeless body of his mother.
When Abbabach saw this scene, she was deeply shaken. She could not walk away. Overcome with compassion, she picked up the child and took him with her. At that moment, the only thing she possessed was a small bottle of holy water she had brought from Gishen. Yet despite having almost nothing, she made a life-changing decision. She began caring for children who had lost their parents to famine and hardship.
Abbabach started raising orphaned children with whatever means she could find. She worked tirelessly, taking on different kinds of labor to support them. Within just one year, she had already taken in 21 children.
What began as a single act of compassion gradually grew into a lifelong mission. Over the course of her life, Abbabach Gobena went on to rescue, support, and educate more than 1.5 million children. She helped them grow, receive education, and become self-reliant members of society.
Today, her extraordinary life continues to inspire people across Ethiopia and beyond. In honor of her legacy, a film titled “Adaraa Abbabach” has been produced to tell the story of this remarkable woman who became a mother to millions. Plans are also underway to establish a hospital bearing her name so that her service to humanity may continue in new forms.
The name Abbabach Gobena has become a symbol of compassion, faith, honesty and sacrifice.Yet remembering her name alone is not enough. The greatest tribute to her life is to continue the work she began — caring for the vulnerable, protecting children, and standing with those in need.
This week we renew our commitment to the legacy of Abbabach Gobena. By learning about the work done in her name and contributing in whatever way we can, we carry forward the promise she made through her life.
May God help us succeed in continuing her mission.
Exclusive: Prosperity Party Officials Accused of Colluding with Security Forces to Thwart Opposition in Oromia Ahead of June Elections
FINFINNE – With less than three months until Ethiopia’s seventh general elections, scheduled for June 1, 2026, the political atmosphere in the Oromia region is becoming increasingly charged. Sources within several zones and districts have revealed to local media that officials from the ruling Prosperity Party (PP) are moving secretly through communities, allegedly instructing party and security bodies to disrupt opposition activities.
According to accounts collected from residents in multiple districts, PP leaders at the zonal and district level are holding undisclosed meetings with security apparatuses. These sources claim that directives have been issued to monitor and crack down on political rivals rather than allowing them to campaign freely.
“People in our districts and zones are not speaking out,” one resident told a local reporter on condition of anonymity. “They told us in secret that directives are being given to party and security offices to work against us. They are using the election as a cover while they try to move through Oromia to stir up trouble and spy on opposition activities.”
The informants specifically identified concerns regarding the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF). Community members expressed that while they have no issue with the OLF contesting elections peacefully, they oppose the idea of the party using the electoral process as a pretext for movement and mobilization across the region under the current circumstances.
“If the OLF wants to compete, let them do so like they do in Addis Ababa, but campaigning inside Oromia is a concern for our party,” a source quoted local PP hardliners as arguing. “But now they are moving through the zones and entering districts. If they are not allowed to compete, it is very worrying. Therefore, we need to follow their movements and take action preemptively.”
These allegations point to a strategy of preemptive disruption, with reports suggesting that regional officials are coordinating with unspecified parties to monitor and counter the opposition’s reach into rural constituencies.
The claims come amid a backdrop of severe political fragmentation and security concerns. Analysts note that the Oromia region, which holds the largest number of parliamentary seats (178 seats in the House of Peoples’ Representatives and 537 in the regional council) , remains a volatile battleground. The Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) insurgency continues in several zones, including East and West Wollega, rendering large areas insecure and complicating logistical preparations for the vote.
Opposition parties have long argued that the playing field is tilted. The Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC) has previously stated that participating in elections while its leaders are imprisoned or under threat would be “politics over the graves of its people” . In a joint statement issued late last year, a coalition of ten opposition parties, including the OLF and OFC, warned that proceeding without “enabling conditions”—such as the release of political prisoners, the reopening of party offices, and guarantees of freedom of movement—would result in a “sham democracy”.
The National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) has cleared over 60 political parties to contest and approved 45 domestic observer groups . However, logistical and security hurdles remain daunting. A recent report by the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) highlighted that freedom of movement is “under siege” in multiple regions, with roadblocks, ambushes, and curfews making it nearly impossible for civilians and candidates to move safely—a prerequisite for any credible election.
“The NEBE must evolve from a mere administrator of rules to a courageous facilitator of political consensus,” wrote Sultan Kassim, an OFC official, in a recent analysis. “An election that is boycotted or only symbolically contested will not resolve Ethiopia’s deep-seated political questions. It will exacerbate them.”.
The residents who spoke out warn that the alleged collusion between party officials and security forces threatens to undermine the will of the Oromo people. “We send a message of brotherhood to everyone holding onto their Oromo identity in the zones and districts,” a resident pleaded. “Do not accept these directives they are giving you. Do not let them drag you into committing a crime against your own people.”
As the June 1 polling date approaches , the credibility of the election hangs in the balance. The combination of active insurgencies, restricted civic space, and deepening distrust between the ruling party and opposition forces suggests that without urgent corrective measures, the 2026 vote may struggle to confer legitimacy or unify the nation.
Commentary: Of Elders, Apologies, and the Weight of Generational Debt
By Daandii Oromia
There is a photograph circulating on social media this week. In it, a young man sits at the feet of elders. His head is bowed slightly. The elders regard him with the mixture of suspicion and tenderness that only old men can muster when they look at the young.
The man is Habtamu Lamu. And he has done something remarkable: he has apologised.
“I represent my generation,” he wrote. “I have asked forgiveness from our elders.”
It is a simple act. But in a cultural landscape where elders are too often dismissed as obstacles rather than honoured as anchors, it carries the weight of centuries.
The weight of what was taken
Habtamu’s apology was not generic. It was directed specifically at those who carried the struggle for Oromo liberation through its darkest decades—veterans like the venerable intellectual Leenco Lata and former Oromia President Hasan Ali Waaqayyo.
“Sitting at the feet of elders, I learned many things,” Habtamu wrote. “May God grant them long life.”
One does not need to agree with every political position these men have ever taken to recognise what they represent. They are living archives. They carry within their bones the memory of what was done to the Oromo people, and the memory of what was done by Oromo people in the long march toward dignity.
Leenco Lata, in particular, embodies a certain kind of Oromo intellectual tradition—rigorous, uncompromising, and deeply rooted in the soil of his people’s experience. His writings on Oromo political history are not mere academic exercises; they are acts of preservation, ensuring that a generation born after the struggle understands what came before.
The rejoinder: who owes what to whom?
But no act of public apology goes unanswered in our times. Enter Magaada Boruu, whose response cuts against the grain of Habtamu’s humility.
“We, this generation, have nothing to apologise for,” he wrote. “If anything, we have been imprisoned and tortured ourselves, while they returned to their properties and prospered! Ashqaabbaxuunis hanguma obboo Gingilshaa”
The emojis do not disguise the anger beneath the words. Magaada Boruu speaks for a generation that watched many of the old guard return from exile to reclaim houses and land while young activists filled prisons. He invokes the name of Gingilshaa—the Oromo revolutionary flame—as witness to his claim.
And he is not entirely wrong.
There is a painful asymmetry in the Oromo experience of the past decade. Some elders returned to comfortable retirements. Some young people returned to torture chambers. The revolution devoured its children even as it elevated its patriarchs.
The dialectic of debt
Between Habtamu’s apology and Magaada’s rejection lies the full complexity of Oromo politics today.
Habtamu recognises something true: that generations build upon generations, that no struggle begins in a vacuum, that the young walk paths carved by the old through bush and briar. There is dignity in acknowledging that debt.
Magaada recognises something equally true: that debt can be claimed fraudulently, that suffering is not evenly distributed across generations, that some elders used the young as cannon fodder while securing their own exits. There is justice in demanding accountability.
The danger is that these two truths become mutually exclusive—that the young refuse all honour to the old, or that the old demand all honour from the young without examination of their own compromises.
Sitting at the feet
Habtamu’s photograph captures something worth preserving: a young man choosing to sit rather than to stand, to listen rather than to speak, to honour rather than to dismiss.
In Oromo tradition, the jaarsummaa—the council of elders—is not merely a social institution but a philosophical one. It rests on the understanding that wisdom accumulates slowly, that no single generation possesses all truth, that the young who do not sit at the feet of elders will eventually have no feet to sit at.
But elders, too, have obligations. The feet at which the young sit must be feet that walked toward justice, not away from it. The wisdom imparted must be wisdom tested by experience, not merely authority asserted by age.
The long road
The Oromo struggle has always been a relay race across generations, not a sprint within them. The baton passes from those who fought with the pen (like Leenco Lata), to those who fought with the gun, to those who fight now with keyboards and courage and the willingness to fill prisons.
Each generation stumbles. Each generation falls short. Each generation imagines itself the first to truly understand what is required.
And each generation must decide whether it will honour what came before while building what must come after—or whether it will burn down the past in the name of a future it cannot yet see.
Habtamu has chosen to honour. Magaada has chosen to question.
Perhaps both are necessary. Perhaps the Oromo people need young people who sit at the feet of elders and young people who demand that those elders account for what they did while sitting in comfort.
But in the photograph, the young man sits. The elders look at him. And something passes between them that cannot be captured in Facebook comments or Twitter threads—something older than politics, deeper than grievance, more enduring than any single generation’s anger.
It is simply this: the recognition that we belong to each other across time, that the debt runs both ways, that apology and accountability are not opposites but partners in the long work of becoming a people worthy of our ancestors and our descendants.
May God grant long life to those who carry memory. May God grant courage to those who carry struggle. And may God grant wisdom to all of us who must somehow do both at once.
The views expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of any organisation or institution.
A Scholar Between Two Worlds: Professor Asmerom Legesse Laid to Rest in Asmara
The renowned anthropologist, who bridged Eritrean patriotism with pioneering scholarship on Oromo democracy, was honored at a state funeral after his body was returned from the United States for burial.
Asmara — A funeral service for Professor Asmerom Legesse was held today at Asmara’s Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery, bringing home one of the Horn of Africa’s most distinguished intellectual figures for burial in the land of his birth .
The ceremony was attended by Ministers, senior government and PFDJ officials, religious leaders, and family members, reflecting the high esteem in which Professor Legesse was held by the Eritrean state . His body had been transported from the United States, where he passed away on 31 January at the age of 94 .
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed “deep sorrow” over his passing, conveying condolences to his family and friends in an official statement.
A towering intellectual figure
Professor Asmerom was a prominent and illustrious anthropologist who produced important research during his tenure at some of America’s most prestigious institutions, including Harvard, Boston, Northwestern, and Chicago universities. A Harvard-trained anthropologist, he served as Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at Swarthmore College.
His scholarship spanned more than half a century, during which he conducted extensive field research among the Oromo people of Ethiopia and Kenya, living among Borana and other Oromo communities to understand the intricate workings of the Gadaa system from within .
His seminal 1973 work, Gada: Three Approaches to the Study of African Society, introduced the world to the sophisticated constitutional and democratic principles embedded in the Gadaa system. The book was revolutionary in its methodology and presented Gadaa as a highly developed system of checks and balances, age-set organization, and rotational leadership that had governed Oromo society for centuries.
Nearly three decades later, he published Oromo Democracy: An Indigenous African Political System (2000), which became the most authoritative scholarly work on the subject and was instrumental in UNESCO’s recognition of Gadaa as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2016.
Two homelands, one legacy
Professor Legesse’s life embodied the complex intertwining of Eritrean and Oromo histories. Born in 1931 in Geza Kenisha, Asmara, he grew up in the same area where the pioneering Oromo scholar Onesimos Nesib had sought refuge and translated the Bible into Afaan Oromoo more than a century earlier. Advocacy for Oromia noted this “physical proximity” as a powerful metaphor, linking the spiritual resilience of those earlier figures with Professor Legesse’s intellectual fortitude in defending Oromo identity.
For the Oromo people, he became known as “Abbaa Gadaa”—a symbolic recognition of his role as a guardian of their threatened heritage. The Oromo Studies Association described him as a “kinsman of the Oromo people” whose work on Oromo customs, history, and culture significantly advanced understanding of political and social systems across Africa.
Defender of Eritrea
Beyond his academic achievements, Professor Legesse served his country and people in various capacities over four decades. From 1984 until independence, he served as Chairman of the U.S. branch of the Eritrean Relief Association, supporting Eritrea’s liberation struggle.
In 1998, he published well-researched documents on atrocities perpetrated by the Ethiopian regime against Eritreans and Ethiopians of Eritrean origin. He also documented and exposed extensive gender-based violence committed by the Ethiopian army during its occupation of various areas, particularly in the Senafe sub-zone during the border war.
In 2015, he played a significant role in countering what Eritrea viewed as attempts to dehumanize the nation through allegations of human rights violations, preparing a critique of the UN Human Rights Commission on Eritrea for a meeting at the House of Lords in the United Kingdom.
A complex political geography
Professor Legesse’s life was not without political complication. In 2017, despite his stature as the world’s leading authority on Gadaa and an invitation to attend a historic Gadaa power transfer ceremony in Borana, the Ethiopian government refused to issue him a visa, citing his Eritrean background . The incident reflected the tragic political tensions that for decades prevented scholarly exchange between the two countries.
Yet his influence on Oromo scholarship remained profound. Ezekiel Gebissa, professor of history and African studies at Kettering University, wrote in a tribute: “For the Oromo people, whose culture Asmarom studied for more than half a century, death is not an ending but a passage from the world of binary reality to the realm of singularity. It is fitting to imagine him joining the ancestors he so often wrote about”.
An enduring legacy
Professor Legesse’s work challenged colonial narratives that had dismissed African governance systems as primitive or lacking in sophistication. The Oromia Culture and Tourism Bureau emphasized that his life’s work preserved the Oromo Gadaa system and documented its practices for future generations, serving as a bridge for knowledge and scholarship.
The Oromo Liberation Front issued a statement describing his passing as a significant loss to the Oromo community. “His research highlighted Gadaa’s principles of equality, leadership rotation, and social cohesion, positioning it as a model of African democracy,” the statement read.
At his funeral in Asmara, the gathering of state officials, religious leaders, and family members honored a man who had walked many paths—from the shearing sheds of his youth to the hallowed halls of Harvard, from the remote airstrips of Farrer to the Gadaa assemblies of Borana. His final manuscript, Gada: Democratic Institutions of the Borana Oromo, is expected to be published posthumously.
“His work did not merely preserve the past,” wrote OROMIA TODAY in a tribute. “It equipped future generations with evidence and language to assert historical truth”.
Liberal Party in Turmoil: Angus Taylor Elected Opposition Leader as Susan Lee Announces Retirement from Politics
By Hayyuu Oromia
Feature News
In a stunning political realignment that has sent shockwaves through Australia’s political landscape, Angus Taylor has been elected as the new leader of the Liberal Party and Opposition, decisively defeating Susan Lee in a 34–17 vote of the Liberal Party room. The result, which hands Taylor a commanding 17-vote margin, marks the first time in the Liberal Party’s history that a woman leader has been ousted and effectively compelled to exit public life altogether.
Ms Lee, who made history as the first female leader of the federal Liberal Party, has announced she will tender her resignation to the Speaker and retire from Parliament entirely—bringing a definitive close to a political career that once held the promise of breaking the nation’s highest glass ceiling.
The Numbers That Shifted
According to sources within the party room who spoke to SBS News on condition of anonymity, Taylor secured 37 votes from the 51-member Liberal Party room—a commanding majority that reflected not merely his own support base but a significant cross-over of former Lee loyalists.
“Some of Susan’s own people crossed the floor in that room,” one senior Liberal source said. “That’s what made the margin so devastating. It wasn’t just that Angus won. It was that her own tent had holes she hadn’t seen coming.”
The 34–17 count among voting members represented not merely a defeat but a collapse. For a sitting leader—particularly one who had broken historical ground—to lose by such a margin signaled deep fractures that had been concealed beneath public displays of unity.
‘I Don’t Know What Comes Next’
Emerging from the party room, Ms Lee appeared composed but visibly somber as she addressed waiting journalists. Her statement was brief, personal, and delivered with the restraint of a politician accustomed to public composure—yet carrying undertones of finality.
“I will be tendering my resignation letter to the Speaker,” she said. “I don’t know what comes next. I intend to spend time with my family—to withdraw entirely from public life.”
There was no pledge to contest again. No hint of a return. No fight for redemption. In a matter of sentences, Australia’s most senior female Liberal parliamentarian signaled the quiet close of a chapter that many had hoped would span years.
Colleagues who spoke with her afterward described a woman at peace with her decision, if not the circumstances that precipitated it.
“She wasn’t angry,” one longtime ally said. “She was tired. There’s a difference between being defeated and being done. Susan was done.”
Taylor’s Challenge: Unity Without Concession
For Angus Taylor, the victory presents both opportunity and immediate pressure. Assuming the leadership of a divided party room requires more than numbers; it demands the ability to heal wounds he did not create but from which he has now benefited.
Taylor’s supporters characterize him as a seasoned economic manager with the gravitas to hold the government to account. His detractors—including some who voted for him—wonder whether the manner of his ascension will haunt his early tenure.
“He didn’t just win. He won because Susan’s people abandoned her,” a Liberal moderate said. “That creates expectations. It creates resentments. And it creates questions about what promises were made behind closed doors.”
Taylor himself has not commented on the internal dynamics of the vote, issuing a brief statement thanking his colleagues and paying tribute to Ms Lee’s “historic leadership and dedicated service to the party and the nation.”
The First Woman Curse?
Ms Lee’s departure renews uncomfortable questions within the Liberal Party about its relationship with women leaders—and the political price they appear to pay for occupying the role.
She is the third woman to lead the federal Liberal partyroom, following the tenures of Julie Bishop, who never led the party to an election and was deposed before contesting one, and Tony Abbott’s single term. But Lee’s case is distinct: she was elected leader, contested an election, and was removed before she could lead the party to a second.
“She did what she was asked to do,” a former staffer reflected. “She stabilised the party. She made them competitive again. And this is how it ends—not with a loss at the ballot box, but with her own colleagues deciding they’d seen enough.”
The contrast with Labor’s treatment of female leaders—Julia Gillard was removed by her party, but contested again and remained in Parliament—has not gone unnoticed. Lee’s immediate and total exit suggests a rupture beyond ordinary leadership defeat.
What Remains
Ms Lee’s departure leaves a vacuum not only in the Liberal Party’s leadership but in its parliamentary ranks. Her seat, considered reasonably safe, will trigger a closely watched by-election that will serve as an early referendum on the Taylor leadership and the government’s standing.
For the Liberal Party, the challenge is immediate: present a coherent alternative to a government seeking re-election, while managing the fallout of removing—and effectively retiring—a leader who broke barriers but could not hold her ground.
For Ms Lee, the future is deliberately undefined. “I don’t know what comes next,” she said. For a woman who spent decades knowing exactly what came next—policy briefings, media appearances, late sittings, electorate events—that uncertainty is itself a form of liberation.
Whether it is also a loss—for her party, for women in politics, for the institution of Parliament itself—will be debated long after she has cleared her office and returned to the private life she has briefly, poignantly claimed as her next act.
Ethiopia’s Strategic Crossroads: When Criticism Blurs the Line Between Government and Nation
By Maatii Sabaa
Feature News
In the high-stakes arena of the Horn of Africa, where geopolitics shifts like tectonic plates beneath ancient soils, a troubling pattern has emerged in Ethiopia’s opposition discourse—one that increasingly conflates personal grievances against a sitting prime minister with the nation’s enduring strategic interests.
Over the past several days, Jawar Mohammed, once a close ally of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and now one of his most prominent critics, has launched a series of attacks against Ethiopia’s posture toward the deepening crisis in neighboring Sudan. His criticism, while occasionally resting on isolated facts, appears to systematically strip those facts of their broader strategic context—reducing complex national security calculations to evidence of government incompetence or malice.
The distinction being lost, critics argue, is one upon which stable democracies are built: the difference between the party in power and the state itself.
Facts Without Context: The Strategic Vacuum
Some of the reports circulated by Mohammed and his associates may be factually accurate in their narrowest sense. Ethiopia has indeed sought to protect its strategic interests amid Sudan’s collapse. It has engaged with actors on the ground. It has not adopted the posture of a passive observer.
Yet to present these moves as evidence of strategic folly—without reference to the regional power competition, Ethiopia’s existential stake in Sudanese stability, or the active interventions of other external actors—is to substitute selective outrage for sober analysis.
“The tragedy unfolding in Sudan is indeed exacerbated by foreign intervention,” one regional analyst noted, speaking on condition of anonymity. “But Ethiopia is hardly unique in pursuing its interests. What’s unique is Ethiopia’s vulnerability.”
No country in the region, and perhaps few beyond it, stands to lose more from a permanently destabilized Sudan. Ethiopia shares a 744-kilometer border with its northern neighbor. It hosts hundreds of thousands of Sudanese refugees. Its access to critical trade routes, its management of transboundary water resources, and its exposure to cross-border armed group proliferation are all directly implicated in Sudan’s trajectory.
Egypt and other regional actors are not neutral mediators. They have been actively shaping the conflict’s trajectory to favor preferred belligerents. To suggest that Ethiopia should operate as though this were not the case—or that acknowledging these realities somehow constitutes aggression—reflects what one foreign policy specialist described as “an aversion to the very language of national security.”
The Luxury of Abstraction
Mohammed positions himself as a politician-activist, a hybrid role that in theory could bridge grassroots mobilization and high-level policy engagement. But his recent posture suggests discomfort with the hard currency of statecraft: strategic interest, national security, geopolitical positioning.
In the Horn of Africa—a region defined by proxy competition, transboundary militant threats, and zero-sum maneuvering among rival states—such discomfort is not a virtue. It is a liability.
“States do not have the luxury of moral abstraction when core national interests are at stake,” said a former Ethiopian diplomat who requested anonymity to speak candidly. “You can critique how a government pursues those interests. You can propose alternative strategies. But to pretend that Ethiopia should have no strategy at all—or to frame every strategic move as evidence of malign intent simply because it originates from this prime minister—is not analysis. It’s partisan grievance dressed in policy language.”
The pattern has raised concerns among observers who note that Mohammed, widely believed to harbor ambitions for higher office, appears to be adopting what one analyst termed a “scorched-earth posture” not merely toward the Abiy administration but toward the Ethiopian state itself.
Governments Change. Geography Doesn’t.
This conflation carries implications beyond the immediate policy debates.
Governments are transient. Parties rise and fall. But strategic geography is stubborn. Ethiopia’s long-term national interests—its access to the sea, the security of its borders, the stability of its neighborhood, the viability of its water security arrangements—will outlast any single administration.
A credible political alternative, analysts argue, must demonstrate the capacity to distinguish between the party temporarily in power and the permanent interests of the nation. It must show that it can inherit the state without seeking to dismantle it.
“Thus far, Jawar has shown a near-pathological inability to make that distinction,” said Meheret Ayenew, a political scientist at Addis Ababa University. “The criticism never stops at the government. It bleeds into delegitimization of the state’s very right to defend its interests. That’s not opposition. That’s something else entirely.”
The Accountability Question
To be clear: critique of government policy is not only legitimate but essential. Ethiopia’s approach to the Sudan crisis, like any foreign policy posture, warrants scrutiny. Questions about coordination, consistency, and effectiveness are fair game.
But critique demands an alternative framework. What, precisely, should Ethiopia be doing differently? Should it abandon its engagement in Sudan entirely? Should it defer to Cairo’s preferred outcomes? Should it pretend that its national security is not implicated in the fate of its neighbor?
These questions, conspicuously absent from Mohammed’s recent broadsides, are the ones that distinguish serious opposition from performance.
Beyond the Immediate
The tragedy in Sudan has already claimed thousands of lives and displaced millions. For Ethiopia, the stakes are not abstract. They involve real security threats, real economic costs, and real humanitarian obligations that will persist regardless of who sits in the prime minister’s office in Addis Ababa.
In such moments, the distinction between government and state matters. A political culture that cannot sustain that distinction is one that struggles to produce durable alternatives—only perpetual opposition.
Whether Mohammed and his allies can evolve beyond this posture remains to be seen. But the clock is ticking. The region does not pause for Ethiopia to resolve its internal political debates.
And strategic interests, neglected or denied, have a way of asserting themselves regardless.
Akkamitti Korri Lammii Buundhaa Aadaa Oromoo Cimsuuf Ta’e?
Kora Lammii akka Dirree Sabaatti: Akkamitti Korri Lammii Buundhaa Hundee Tokkummaa Aadaa Oromoof Mootora Ta’e
Amboo Ejersaatti Korri Lammii Buundhaa ardaalee Jaha jiraniif Aadaa fi Safuu Cimsuuf Ta’e
AMBO EJERSA, OROMIA — Dirree aduudhaan jiidhe naannoo Boojii irratti, sagaleen sirba kora lammii Buundhaa waa’ee eenyummaa fi duudhaalee callisaa, gadi fagoo ta’e waliin walsimsiisaa jira. Wanti akka jalqabbiilammii keessaatti jalqabe gara taatee hawaasaa guddaatti guddateera, korri lammii haaromsa aadaa wajjin haala wal hin tuqneen wal makaa jira.
Dorgommiin Kora Lammii Amboo Ejersaa dargaggoota Oromoo ardaalee adda addaa ja’a: Itayyaa, Amboo, Meexxii, Maatiii, Waddeessaa, fi Shanan irraa walitti fiduun milkaa’inaan walitti fiduun isaa ni yaadatama. Walga’iin isaanii walgahii caalaa; itti yaadanii gocha hawaasummaa deebi’anii walitti hidhamuudha. Kaayyoon giddu-galeessaa, akkuma hirmaattotaa fi qindeessitoonni walqixa ibsaman, waancaa bira darbee kan babal’atudha: Korri lammii aadaa aadaa (aadaa) fi safuu (seera naamusaa fi naamusaa) Oromoo cimsuuf akkamitti humna cimaa ta’uu akka danda’u qorachuuf yaalii walooti.
“Kaayyoon waltajjii marii uumuu ture,” jechuun qindeessaan korichaa ibseera. “Goolii fi qusannaa qofaaf osoo hin taane, haasa’uuf, dhaggeeffachuu fi eenyu akka taane yaadachuuf. Humna korichaa fayyadamuun waa’ee bu’uuraalee keenyaa marii boba’aa jirra.”
Mul’ata kanaaf dhugaa ta’ee, cinaa fi iddoowwan hawaasaa naannoo dirree jiran gara waltajjii marii boonsaatti jijjiiramaniiru-marii hawaasaa bal’aa, gadi fageenya qabu. Maanguddoonni, daawwattoonnis hojiirra oolmaa qabatamaa safuu jireenya ammayyaa keessatti, kunuunsa afaanii fi seenaa afaaniin dubbatamu, akkasumas gahee dargaggoonni akka guca aadaatti qaban irratti ofumaan marii irratti bobba’aa jiru.
”Korri Lammii kun maagneetiidha, garuu haasofni kun qabeenya dhugaati,” jedhan jaarsi buleeyyiin yeroo akeeka isaa ibsan. “Miseensi Kora Lammii Waddeessaa akaakayyuu Itaayyaa irraa dhufe tokko waliin taa’ee waa’ee kabajaa fi hawaasaa haasa’uu arguun… aadaan akkasitti hafuura baafata. Duudhaaleen kun kitaabota qofa keessatti osoo hin taane, gocha keenya guyyaa guyyaa keessatti akka ta’an akkamitti mirkaneessina.”
Miirri garmalee hirmaattota biratti mul’atu gammachuu fi itti quufinsa gadi fagoodha. ”Hirmaachuuf qofa hin dhufne,” jedhe miseensi Kora Lammii Buundhaa irraa dhufe. “Walqabsiisuuf dhufne. Jarreen kana waliin walarguu, achiis nyaachuu fi booda isaan waliin haasa’uu-dallaa ijaan hin mul’anne ni diiga. Akka ummata tokkootti akka cimnu nu taasisa.”
Miira namoota hedduu kan dhageessisan, hirmaattonni saganticha gaalee Afaan Oromoo humna guddaa qabuun wal irraa hin cinne ibsu: “Korre lammii kun waan haalan nama gammachisuu dha,” hiikni isaas, “Lammummaan hawaasaa kun waan gammachuu gadi fagoo, onnee irraa madde fiduudha.”
Korri Lammii Buundhaa Amboo Ejersaa akka moodeela dirqisiisaa sochii aadaa bu’uuraa ta’ee dhaabbatee jira. Meeshaaleen lubbuu ummata tokkoo kunuunsuuf gargaaran yeroo hunda dhaabbilee idilee keessatti akka hin argamne, garuu jaalala waloo kora lammii, dorgommii fi eenyummaa waliinii irraa maddu akka danda’an agarsiisa. Taphi kora lammii yommuu dhihaatu, injifannoowwan waaraa asitti argaman qabxiidhaan osoo hin taane, walitti hidhamiinsa cimee fi waadaa haaromfameen hambaa Oromoo boonsaan fuulduratti ceesisuuf akka madaalamu ifaadha.
The Goal is Deeper Than the Net: How a Kora Lammii—a community pitch Match Rekindles a Nation’s Soul
Subtitle: In Ambo Ejersa, the beautiful kora lammii—a community pitch Becomes a Classroom for Culture, Proving That Our Strongest Defence is Unity
The scene is familiar—a dusty pitch, the sharp cry of a whistle, the unified gasp of a crowd as a ball soars toward the goal. But in the Boji area of Ambo, the familiar scene is telling a profoundly unfamiliar, and more beautiful, story. Here, the Ambo Ejersa Community gathering has become something far greater than a community gathering. It has transformed into a living, breathing symposium on survival.
Kora Lammii of Buundhaa from Itaya, Ambo, Meti, Machi, Wadesse, and Shanen did not just come to compete. They came to convene. In a world where fragmentation is often the default, these generation chose convergence. They built a kora lammii—a community pitch—and upon it, they are rebuilding a community spirit. The real match is not just between teams; it is a collective struggle against the erosion of identity. The victory they seek is the preservation of their cultural soul: aadaa and safuu.
This is the quiet, revolutionary power of what is happening. In the breaks between matches, in the shade of Odaa tree, the kora lammii gathering organically spawns marii boonsaa—deep, communal dialogues. These are not academic lectures, but urgent, grassroots consultations. How do we practice respect (safuu) in a digital age? How do we wear our culture (aadaa) not as a costume for holidays, but as daily armour against assimilation? The gathering is the ignition; the conversation is the sustainable fire.
What these young people in Boji instinctively understand is a truth many societies grapple with: culture is not a museum artifact. It is a muscle. It atrophies without use. It strengthens under collective strain. By using the universal language of community gathering to strengthening the dispersed chapters of their community, they are creating a gymnasium for their Oromumma. They are exercising their shared identity, passing the weight of tradition from elder to youth, ensuring it does not grow weak.
The palpable joy reported by participants—“waan haalan nama gammachisuu dha” (it is something that brings deep joy)—is the most important metric here. This joy is not merely the thrill of sport. It is the profound relief and empowerment that comes from reconnection. It is the joy of speaking your mother tongue freely in a crowd that understands its nuance. It is the joy of seeing your values reflected in the conduct of your peers—in a fair tackle on the field, in the respectful deference to an elder off it.
In an era where globalized culture often flattens uniqueness, the Ambo Ejersa Buundhaa gathering is an act of gentle defiance. It declares that the future need not be a departure from the past, but a continuation of it, adapted on our own terms. These players are not running away from their heritage to chase modernity; they are sprinting toward a future where their heritage is the foundation of their strength.
The commentary from the sidelines, therefore, should be one of keen observation and high praise. This is grassroots cultural innovation at its finest. The kora lammii gathering is proof that the most effective guardians of a people’s spirit are not always politicians or institutions, but can be its youth, a ball, and a collective will to remember. They have remembered that the most crucial goal to defend is the one protecting their very essence. And in that defense, they are finding not just victory, but a deep and abiding joy.
Borana University Mourns a Beacon of Indigenous Knowledge: Professor Asmarom Legesse
Borana University Mourns a Beacon of Indigenous Knowledge: Professor Asmarom Legesse
(Yabelo, Oromia – February 5, 2026) Borana University, an institution deeply embedded in the cultural landscape it studies, today announced its profound sorrow at the passing of Professor Asmarom Legesse, the preeminent anthropologist whose lifelong scholarship fundamentally defined and defended the indigenous democratic traditions of the Oromo people. The University’s tribute honors the scholar not only as an academic giant but as a “goota” (hero) for the Oromo people and for Africa.
In an official statement, the University highlighted Professor Legesse’s “lifelong dedication to understanding the complexities of Ethiopian society—especially the Gadaa system,” crediting him with leaving “an indelible mark on both the academic and cultural landscapes.” This acknowledgment carries special weight from an institution situated in the heart of the Borana community, whose traditions formed the bedrock of the professor’s most celebrated work.
The tribute detailed the pillars of his academic journey: a Harvard education, esteemed faculty positions at Boston University, Northwestern University, and Swarthmore College, and the groundbreaking field research that led to his seminal texts. His 1973 work, “Gada: Three Approaches to the Study of African Society,” was cited as revolutionary for revealing “the innovative solutions indigenous societies developed to tackle the challenges of governance.”
It was his 2000 magnum opus, however, that solidified his legacy as the definitive voice on the subject. In “Oromo Democracy: An Indigenous African Political System,” Professor Legesse meticulously documented a system characterized by eight-year term limits for all leaders, a sophisticated separation of powers, and the Gumi assembly for public review—a structure that presented a centuries-old model of participatory democracy. “His insights challenged prevalent misconceptions about African governance,” the University noted, “showcasing the rich traditions and political innovations of the Oromo community.”
For his unparalleled contributions, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters from Addis Ababa University in 2018.
Perhaps the most powerful element of the University’s statement was its framing of his legacy beyond academia. By “intertwining the mechanics of the Gadaa system with the broader narrative of Oromo history and cosmology,” Professor Legesse was credited with fostering “a profound understanding of Oromo cultural identity.” It is for this work of preservation, interpretation, and transmission that he is declared “a hero—a goota—to the Oromo people and to Africa as a whole.”
Looking forward, Borana University management has called upon its students and faculty to honor his memory through “ongoing research and discourse on indigenous governance systems,” ensuring his foundational work continues to inspire new generations of scholars.
The entire university community extended its deepest condolences to Professor Legesse’s family, friends, and loved ones, mourning the loss of a true champion of Oromo culture and a guiding light in the study of African democracy.
About Borana University:
Located in Yabelo, Borana Zone, Oromia, Borana University is a public university committed to academic excellence, research, and community service, with a focus on promoting and preserving the rich cultural and environmental heritage of the region and beyond.
Oromedia 