Feature Commentary

Beneath the warm embrace of a shared meal and the quiet hum of community, members and supporters of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF)-Konyaa ABO Victoria gathered to mark the eve of January 2026. The atmosphere was one of familiar camaraderie, yet it was underscored by a profound and collective gravity. This was more than a festival’s eve; it was a vigil of memory and resolve.

The wishes exchanged were simple, universal: for peace, for happiness in the coming year. But here, these words carried the weight of a long struggle. As one speaker noted, this day is a confluence of two powerful streams of consciousness: the hope inherent in a new year, and the solemn remembrance of the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) – its founding and its continued sacrifice.

The true heart of the evening beat in the acknowledgments of those sacrifices. An elder’s voice, tempered by time and loss, cut through the gathering: “God bless our sons who sacrificed for us.” It was a prayer, a benediction, and a thread connecting generations. It spoke of a raw, personal cost paid by families across the Oromia region.

This sentiment was echoed, with hardened clarity, by Oromo fighters present. “We were able to come out in the open because of the sacrifices of a few people,” one stated. This simple sentence framed their current visibility not as a given, but as a hard-won space purchased by the lives of others. It acknowledged a debt that could not be repaid, only honored.

And so, the celebration naturally evolved into a covenant. The warm atmosphere became a crucible for renewed determination. The final, prevailing message was a call borne from both gratitude and grief: we must continue our struggle to put an end to the sacrifices that have been made so far. It was a recognition that the ultimate honor to the fallen is not just in remembrance, but in forging a future where such sacrifices are no longer required. The evening thus closed, holding in tension the joy of community, the sorrow of memory, and the unwavering steel of a continued journey.