Written
by: Afendi Muteki
---
I know the man
pictured with me on this photo 28 years ago. His name is Atoomsa Kumsaa. I saw
Atoomsaa for the first time in December 1991 when the Oromo Liberation Front
(OLF) organized a festival that marked the resurrection of the congress of the
“caffee gadaa” assembly of Odaa Bultum which was banned for more than 100 years
under the successive Ethiopian regimes.
Atoomsaa Kumsaa
was one of the leaders of OLF in early 1990s. That was the reason for which he
fall in to the sight of mine and many others when he came to Odaa Bultum in
December 1991. After the completion of the celebration of the feast of Odaa
Bultum, I continued to see him occasionally as when he comes to Galamso, my
hometown, to carry out the tasks of his organization.
After OLF
quitted the transitional government of Ethiopia in June 1992 under the
pressures of EPRDF and started the armed struggle, however, I haven’t seen
Atoomsaa for a single day. I never heard of him, neither did I read about him
in the press. Due to the unavailability of information on his whereabouts, I
closely came to a conclusion that he might had been martyred in one of the
bloody battles fought between OLF and EPRDF in Eastern Oromia in 1992-1998.
Those intensive
battles and the war fought between OLF and EPRDF in other parts of Oromia (Wallaga,
Bale, Borana, western Shawa etc) are largely untold. Their history is rarely
written. The media gave them little attention. But the Oromo public at large
still remember that the lives of many members of OLA and their brilliant
commanders were lost in the war. Political leaders of OLF like Nadhii Gammadaa,
Buruysoo Boruu, Bilal Waaqayyo, Jiraa Leencoo etc were martyred in those
battles; gallant OLA commanders including Hambisaa Soolee, Daddafaa Dhaqqabaa,
Yaadataa Bariisoo, Arbii Miillii, Waarituu Waare etc fought bravely the
aggressors and died for the national rights and the liberty of the Oromo people
in those years.
As the Oromo
martyrs of that remarkable era amount to tens of thousands, it was natural to
assume that Atoomsaa might have been martyred in one of those battles. When I
saw him recently in my hometown, however, I felt unconditional joy and screamed
as if my dead brother were resurrected from his grave. I tried to rehearse my
memory again and again and realized that it was not a dream. And having
undertaken certain rudimentary checkups, I proved that I am not mistaken with
another guy.
It is the same
Atoomsaa Kumsaa that I knew in 1991-1992. It is that Atoomsaa to whom the
people of Eastern Oromia gave much applaud for his guerrilla tactics and
bravery. It is Atoomsa Kumsaa whom we were calling “Ramboo Part III” for his
charisma, grace and fighting abilities
----
Atoomsaa Kumsaa
was one of the brilliant commanders OLA (Oromo Liberation Army) had ever seen
in its long armed struggle. He was the commander-in-chief of the eastern
division of OLA in 1991-1997 (note: OLA had three divisions then; they were
called the eastern, the south eastern and the western divisions. Atoomsaa was
the commander of the eastern division, Abbaa Caalaa Lataa was the commander of
the western division and Guutama Hawaas was the commander of the south eastern
division).
During that
time Atoomsa’s main sit was the town Dadar in East Hararge zone. But as he was
assigned to lead the largest division of OLA that spread from Dhummugaa in Arsi
to Jjjiga in the tip of Eastern Hararge, he used to visit the towns of the
whole Hararge region. Mostly importantly he was seen in Galamso since it was
serving as OLF’s defacto capital for West Harerghe and Arsi zones. That was the
reason for which I encountered him in my hometown multiple times.
----
Atoomsaa’s
history of participation in the Oromo people’s struggle starts from his early
age. He was born in Haramaya, East Hararge, a town revered as a home of famous
Oromo nationalists and important public uprisings. In his hometown, he
participated in the clandestine groups which were founded to galvanize the
Oromo freedom struggle in the area. When the military government of Ethiopia
(i.e. the Dergue regime) waged a brutal campaign to silence the Oromo
liberation struggle in all provinces of Oromia, he went to the jungles of
Garamulata and joined OLF.
Up on his
arrival at the OLA camp, Atoomsaa was made a member of the “Aayidaa”, a
division of very young OLA combatants. As his age progressed, he served the
organization and the Oromo people in different positions, from a single
combatant up to a member of the supreme executive council of OLF. And when I
knew him in 1991, he was a member of the Politburo of OLF and the commander in
chief of OLA’s East Oromia division.
According to
multiple sources, Atoomsaa Kumsaa was one of the chief architects of the military
operations OLA undertook in eastern Oromia in 1980s and 1990s. He was a
tactician of guerrilla warfare and a planer of many attacks that the Oromo
freedom fighters waged against the Dergue and the EPRDF regimes. When OLF was a
member of the transitional government (from June 1991-June 1992), Atoomsaa
served as a member of the joint committee founded by OLF and EPRDF to avert a
clash between the armies of the two organizations. He was also a member of the
committee formed by the governments of Eritrea and USA in order to encamp the
armies of OLF and EPRDF and make necessary arrangements for the highly
anticipated election of 1992.
Following OLF’s
withdrawal from the transitional government in June 1992, he resumed his
command of OLA’s military operations in the highlands and lowlands of eastern
Oromia. He and the notable leaders of OLA in his area of command such as
Daddafaa Dhaqqabaa, Yaadataa Bariisoo, Leencoo Elemoo, Hambisaa Soolee,
Aaneessoo Waaree, Waarituu Waaree, Raggaatuu Roobaa, Muraad Haashim, Caccabsaa
Odaa, Ahmad Leemman, Gootomsaa Daadhii, Dayyaas Daadhii, Tokkumaa Sabaa,
Duumeessoo Waariyoo and others, together with thousands of Oromo youth, fought
selflessly the highly equipped and savage army of EPRDF for days and nights.
Atoomsaa was
also highly admired by the members of OLA and the OLF’s political leaders who
passed many years in the eastern front (Galaasaa Dilboo, Nadhii Gammadaa,
Buruuysoo Boruu, Dhugaasaa Bakakkoo, Dhugoomsaa Dhugaasaa, Tujii Raggaasaa,
Bobbaasaa Gadaa etc) for his organizational skills, humbleness, commitment and
punctuality. His combat skills were praised both by his enemies and his
friends. EPRDF designed many plans to kill him smoothly but failed. He was
ambushed by rocket launchers and military helicopters repeatedly but escaped
those skillfully planned operations. After many years of ups and downs, and the
tremendous hardships of the long term Oromo people’s liberation struggle, he
survived as one of the main veterans of Oromo Liberation Front.
----
I passed two
days with Atoomsaa Kumsaa in my hometown (Galamso) and I observed that his
fluency and eloquence are still intact. His skill to clarify the ambiguous
issues and topics raised by my friends is so amazing. He told us that currently
he is a member of the supreme executive council of OLF and a head of the social
affairs committee of the organization. But the name in which he addressed the
organization’s supreme council is different from the one I know before 28
years.
Atoomsaa said
“I am a member of Gumii Shanee of OLF”. I inquired “What is this Gumii Shanee?
A new organization? And you were a member of the Politburo of OLF in 1992. So
are you demoted or promoted?”
Atoomsaa smiled
and replied “Politburo and Gumii Shanee are the same. The former Politburo was
renamed "Gumii Shanee" following the tradition of the Oromo of Borana
who call their executive council of their Gadaa assembly “Gumii Shanee”. It was
renamed so on the OLF’s Mogadishu Congress of 1999. The organization made this
change learning that the name “Politburo”, which implies a socialist
orientation but which we left a long time ago, wasn’t comfortable to many
members. So the old name “Politburo” was replaced by the new “Gumii Shanee”. No
change was made on the name of the organization, and there is no organization
called “Shanee” for sure. This name refers to only the executive council of our
organization”
----
My two days
stay with Atoomsaa Kumsaa were very amusing and fruitful. His encyclopedic
knowledge of the history of the Oromo liberation struggle in general and that
of OLF in particular made me to plan writing a full book in which he will be
read as a central figure. Meet me when we have the book.
----
Afendi Muteki
January 5/2020
Galamso, West
Hararge
Jabaadhu
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