Written by-- Libah Leencoo
Contributors-- Jawar Mohammed and
Jilcha Hamid
His given name is Abdulkariem Ibrahim Hamid. But he is
well known by his nom-de -guerre "Jaarraa Abbaa Gadaa". He is a great
grandson of Ibroo Shaxaa, one of the
ministers in the last Raabaa Doorii of the Afran Qalloo Oromo which was on
power on the eve of the Egyptian occupation of Harar (1875-1885).
Jaarraa was born in 1936 in the
village of Mudir Gorro which is found in Gara Mul’ata plains of Hararge
province. He attended Islamic education within his family. He started modern
education thereafter and completed his secondary school in the city of Harar in
early 1960s. In his stay in Harar, Jaarraa Abbaa Gadaa helped found the first
Oromo students union in history. The union was very instrumental in the renaissance
of Oromo culture and the use of Oromo language. Jaarra then joined Harar
Military Academy but left shortly when the academy's administrators prohibited
him from exercising his faith freely.
Jaarraa went to Assabot (in Carcar, the current West
Hararge zone) to farm on his family's land in the mid 1960s. There, he could
see the miserable life of the Oromo tenants very closely. His heart was filled
with a great sorrow; he understood that the cause of the misery was the
prevailing "Gabbar" system and the remedy to end that misery was
seeking the independence of his nation by all possible means. The incidence had
a tremendous effect on the young Jaarraa Abbaa Gadaa that his life journey
totally changed thereafter; on that spot he decided to immerse himself in his
half-century old quest for Oromo freedom.
In 1966, Jaarraa Abba Gadaa and his few men went to
join the armed revolt of the Bale people which was lead by famous patriots like
Waaqoo Guutuu, Waaqoo Luugoo and Aliyi Cirrii. There, Jaarraa
demonstrated his bravery earning respect from his compatriots at the battle of
Laga Dhare. Until 1968, he would travel back and forth between Somalia and
battlefield taking part in such combat missions as the battle of Eela Rooji
where the Ethiopian military attacked Oromo fighters using warplanes.
As the Ethiopian government
forces started to get upper hand over the Bale people’s revolt, Jaarraa Abbaa
Gadaa made up his mind that the military training and modern armaments were
important to have a meaningful contribution in the struggle. Hence, he and his
followers crossed the border and entered Somalia to seek the training and the
weapon.
*****************
Jaarraa and his men were
welcomed by the Somalis at first. And on the advice of the Somalis and the
Oromos in exile, they grouped themselves under the infamous movement of the
time called Liberation Front for the Somali West (LFSW). Apart from using
the name “Somali West” and the immense Somali morale and material supports, the
movement was purely devoted for the cause of the Oromo people and the Ogadenis
in South east Ethiopia. But short time later, when the dictatorial regime of
General Mohammed Ziad Barre came to power, the Somalis totally changed their
long tradition of supporting the Oromo freedom struggle; the newly created
government started to advocate a policy claiming that the Oromos of Hararge,
Bale and Sidamo were actually Somalis even though they speak a different
language. Further, the Somalis re-organized the LFSW in accordance with their
new expansionist dream. The organization was renamed Western Somalia Liberation Front (WSLF,
popularly known as "Somali Galbeed") and all Oromos
except few were removed from high position in its leadership. And it was
declared by the Somali government that only WSLF had a legitimate right to free
the provinces of Hararge, Bale and Sidamo and all fighting units must be
organized under it.
Few Oromos accepted the new Somali plan. But Jaarraa
and most of the Oromos in Somalia decried it as an act of self denial and
totally rejected it. From the latter group, more than a half left the idea of
undertaking the armed struggle and returned back to the homeland. But Jaarraa
and few people crossed the Indian Ocean in order to seek another way of continuing
the Oromo national struggle. On the help of some brilliant Oromo individuals
living in Yemen such as Hassan Ibrahim (popularly known as "Elemoo
Qilxuu"), and Bakhar Yusuf (Bakharee Galo) , they were gathered at the
port city of Aden (the then capital of Yemen People's Democratic Republic a.k.a.
"South Yemen") to lay down the foundation of a new organization fully
determined for Oromo freedom.
******************
When the Oromos in Yemen were
about to start discussions on the foundation of the new organization, another
delegation of Oromo elites joined them. The delegation was lead by Hussein
Mohammed Ali (popularly known as "Sheikh Hussein Sura" or simply
"Hussein Sura"). Hussein was the Secretary General of WSLF at the
time; but he was being frustrated by the new Somali policy which denied the
Oromo freedom. On the order he got from the Somali government, he came to Yemen
to recruit fighters for his organization. However, the morale and determination
of Oromo nationalists he saw in Yemen caused him to change his course. So he
abandoned WSLF and joined the Oromos in Yemen. Learning this, the Somali
government send to him a death threat which had little effect on bringing him
back.
***************
The Oromos in Yemen agreed on the objectives and strategies
of the new organization. But a very hot debate erupted over its naming. Hussein
Sura and few people favored using the name “Ethiopia” for the organization; Elemoo
Qilxuu, Jaarraa Abbaa Gadaa, Bakhar Yusuf and many others argued that the name
of the organization should indicate the Oromo people for whom they would fight
for. However, both groups agreed to postpone the naming and to focus on the
launching of an armed struggle. And for that, Hussein Sura, Jaarraa Abbaa
Gadaa, Elemoo Qilxuu and other leading figures of the nationalists in exile
went on diplomatic missions that took them to Cairo, Baghdad and Damascus. The
Iraqi and Syrian governments agreed to provide them some weapons. And the
Palestinian Fighters (based in Damascus, Syria) agreed to train the personnel
that would launch the armed struggle.
It was also about that time that
the flag of Oromia (Alaabaa Oromiyaa), which has been used by almost all Oromo
political groups, was developed by those fathers of Oromo national struggle.
When they did so, they primarily referred to the "Oda" (sycamore
tree) which had long been used as the logo of the Macca Tuulamaa Self Help
Association (MTSHA); it is said that Haile Mariam Gammadaa, one of the founders
of MTSHA, proposed the use of "Oda" as the symbol of Oromo unity,
ancient history, integrity and dignity. The Oromo nationals in exile took this
symbolism of "Oda" and made it the center of the flag; they added the
two red colors, the central green color, the rising sun and the red start.
***************
The arrangements over the armed
struggle went according to the plan; the training and the equipping were
accomplished. And 37 of the trainees were selected to be included in the unit
that would be dispatched to the homeland to start the armed struggle. Jaarra
Abbaa Gadaa was assigned as the commander of that historical military unit
which was named "Qeyroo Ganamaa". The combatants
in the “Qeyroo Ganama” group were mostly the Oromos who had been in Somalia and
fled to Yemen. The following is the list of the members of the “Qyeroo Ganamaa”
group.
1.
Abdukariim Ibraahim Haamid
( Jaarraa Abbaa Gadaa ).
2.
Abdulkariim Aadam Lakkuu (
Soowraa )
3.
Mahmuud
Sh. Mahammad Umar ( Bookhee)
4.
Umar Abuubakar Ibraahim
5.
Muhammad Abdulkariim (Areedoo)
6.
Muhammad Abdullaahi (Koosum)
7.
Bakrii Ibraahim (Abbaa Fatoo)
8.
Bakrii Ahmad Baabbilee
9.
Muhammad Ahmad Umar (Kormooso)
10.
Muhammad Abdulqaadir Shaltaataa
11.
Ahmad Mahammad Umar (Caalaa)
12.
Muhammad Abdullaahi Alii (Muudee)
13.
Ahmad Mahammad Muussaa (Mullata)
14.
Muhammad Kabiir Iissaa (Jarjarso)
15.
Ahmad Mahammad Usmaan (Daammacaa)
16.
Mahammad Sanii Umar (Horoo)
17.
Husseen Abbaa Waaqaa (Baale)
18.
Jamaal Abdulqaadir
19.
Ahmad Iissee
20.
Aadam Mahammad Alii (Laafaa)
21.
Ahmad Nuur Alii (Arroo)
22.
Ahmad Nuur Hassan
23.
Abdulkariim Mahammad Anas (Jifaaraa)
24.
Mahammad Sheikh Hassan (Nibarbaannaa)
25.
Aadam Abubakar (Moluu)
26.
Ahmad Mahammad Abdurahmaan
27.
Mahammad Ibraahim Wadaay (Shantam)
28.
Ahmad Nuur Muussaa Na’ee
29.
Abdallaa Bakhrii
30.
Mahammad Alii
31.
Ahmad Umar Abdalla
32.
Ahmad Haashii
33.
Hajji Maamoo
34.
Ramadan Husseen Khalil
35.
Abdurahman Mohammed Yonis (Tuujii)
36.
Ahmad Yuusuf Ibraahim (Turee Leencoo)
Jaarraa and his "Qeyroo
Ganamaa" unit started their journey. They crossed the Gulf of Aden by boat
and few days later, they offshored on the northern Somali coastal area known as
Bulhaar which is found near the port city of Berbera. According to the plan,
they had to travel to the Gara Mul’ata Mountains of Hararge and launch on the
armed struggle. But when they were about to start their long journey, the
Somali troops surrounded them and opened a fire instantly. A combatant named Ramadan
Husseen Khalil died from the
Qeyroo Ganamaa group and the rest of them were imprisoned at Mandheeraa (now in
Somaliland).
Jaarraa and his comrades were
detained for five years. But that was not without a cost; they passed through a
serious torturing and starving. Later on, the Somali government started to show
amnesty to them in order to amalgamate them with the poisonous ideology of
“Somali Aboo” which was a generalization of the Somali expansionist doctrine on
the Oromo lands. However, the Oromo detainees didn’t retreat an inch from their
stance. They were lastly freed in 1975.
***********
When Jaarraa was released from
Mandheera prison, many things were already on the scene; Hussein Sura split
with his comrades over calling the exiled Oromo political organization “ENLF”,
the Haile Silassie regime fell down and replaced by the military junta called
“Dergue”, and Elemo Qilxuu was martyred in Carcar along with Ahmad Taqii
(Hundee) and other comrades. Jaarraa took some time to analyze the situations
of that period and he made up his mind that an armed struggle must be launched
in Oromia. To that end, he and his long time fellow Mul’is Gadaa traveled from
Somalia to Sharif Khalid, a rural village in the south of the town of Awaday,
and stayed there for months. With a help of different networking channels,
Jaarraa could reach many underground Oromo study cells that spread from
Finfinne to Dire Dawa and Harar and gave them necessary directives on the
course of the struggle.
While Jaarraa was undertaking the
political activities in Hararge, the Oromo nationals in Finfinne invited him to
help them in the proclamation of a new Oromo political organization whose establishment
activities were already started in late 1973 when Elemoo Qilxuu visited the
capital. Jaarraa went to Finfinne and stayed there for some time on the works
of laying the foundations of the new organization. But when the Oromo comrades
serving in the Dergue regime were made busy by the state in the formation of
the Union
of Ethiopian Marxist Leninist Organizations (UEMLO), he assigned his
representatives in Finfinne and went back to Hararge to perform another equally
important activity. This was the foundation of an independent Oromo fighting
unit with clear objectives and directions.
Jaarraa recruited many
nationalists who would be included in the fighting unit intended to be
established. With the help of some Oromo nationals, he could get two AK-47 guns
and some bullets which were buried in Carcar by Elemoo Qilxuu and Ahmad Taqii.
And with those arms, he traveled to the valley of Gobelle and disclosed the
foundation of the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA); and it was there that he
accomplished the resurrection of the armed struggle of the Oromo people which
was buried following the death of Elemoo Qilxuu and his comrades. Many Oromos
joined the new struggle from all directions. And within short period of time,
OLA got wide popularity throughout the nation.
***********
When the Dergue regime proclaimed
a mass killing campaign known as “Red Terror”, many Oromo nationalists,
including the OLF leaders disguised in the state’s higher positions, escaped
the assault and joined the OLA in Gara Mul’ata. But some time later, schism was
created in the organization. The cause of the schism was still unclear; some
people assume that it was caused by a power struggle, and others think it was a
mere factionalism which was motivated by regional differences. But in the sight
of this writer, it seems that it was a spilt driven by the international
political order of the time that bisected the old and pragmatic leaders who put
more trust on practical armed struggle from the young theoretically stimulated leaders
who gave more weight for the struggle assisted by ideological warfare.
Consequently, older leaders like Jaarraa Abbaa Gadaa and Mul’is Gadaa break
away from their younger fellow and went on their way. Both groups used to call
their organizations “Oromo Liberation Front” until 1985
when Jaarraa and his fellow men renamed their organization “Islamic Front for Liberation of
Oromia” (IFLO).
OLF and IFLO coexisted in east
and south east Oromia until the fall of the Dergue regime. The two parties
fought each other many times. Efforts made to bring reconciliation between them
turned fruitless. But in 1991, the organizations settled their dispute once and
for all. This resolution was turned to the formation of the Union
of Oromo Liberation Forces (ULFO) in 2000.
The IFLO lead by Jaarraa Abbaa Gadaa was the
participant of the transitional government of Ethiopia which was founded in
July 1991. And the organization opened its offices in many towns of Oromia for
the purpose of undertaking political activities. The head quarter of the front
was located in the town of Bisidimo (20 kms east of Harar) where Jaarraa delivered
his highly revered speeches to the public. But in 1992, a disagreement with
EPRDF (the main actor in the transitional government) forced him to an exile
again.
In 2005, the IFLO was renamed Front
for Independent Democratic Oromia (FIDO). And Jaarraa continued to lead
the struggle with his newly reorganized front. But on March 3/2013, after
spending four decades for the freedom and sovereignty of his nation, he died of
kidney complications in the city of San’a, the Capital of Yemen. Jaarraa was
married to Mariam Jamal and fathered two boys.
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