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The Old Song of Colonial Empire in Ethiopia: Imperialistic Land Control and the Horror of Genocide
Ethiopian Empire as the Mirror Image of Colonial Order: Militarism, Expansion and the Scenes of Carnage in Oromia

Dr. Eshete Gemeda

Compressing and repressing divergence, polarization, tensions, stigmatization, hostility, confrontations, wars and horror of genocide dominate different readings of Ethiopian empire. Redefining the political journey of this shaky empire and re-reading conspiracy project of the ruling minority are necessary because they enable us to challenge the ‘Old Song’ of sophistry paradigm, bogus image of power, genocidal legacy of empire builders, the dislocated sense of history and unity. We can do better not by constructing the abstract image of fear, uncertainty and terror, but by humanizing our world and living conditions. This is what it means the fight for democracy, a sensible conceptualization of nation-hood and peaceful co-existence. The fundamental democratic values and social justice can be made as long as we draw the contours of the objective world and be able to transcend ‘dividing walls,’ ambiguities, dilemmas, fixed outlook, trickery and faulty impressions; which constantly cloud our minds. It is largely through developing this faith in reason that we secure our national existence. The vision of constructing socio-economic and political balance can never happen by fostering racial-centric hegemonic engagement and blanket theory of master-servant relations. Unless Oromo-centred institutions and indigenized civilization are in place, the future of this nation remains bleak. Every time the Abyssinian dictators emerge to restructure the ruined empire, hundreds of thousands of brilliant nationals of the Oromo must be wiped-out to the glory of genocide makers. Despite the tragedy of conquest and racism in the empire-state, the Oromo political discourse is still unable to challenge imperial myth and dismissive readings of pluralistic democracy. In order to advance the freedom of the silenced nation, the Oromo, the long-running illusion, historical and political dilemma should give way to fundamental changes and new meanings of the new generation. The Oromo should be understood in their struggle to emerge from the dark ages of repression, eviction, identity elimination and genocide. Significantly, the new generation whose mind is decolonized, seek to be free from the pressing yoke of occupation and colonization. Conversely, those whose survival is based on narrowing down the political space and possible alternatives are determined to celebrate the Nightmare Journey of Life and the Prison House made for them by the oppressors. To this end, they kept on calling for building the ‘Bermuda Triangle System,’ which consumes brilliance. These opposing views are the driving forces of the unfinished challenges and conflicts in the annexed territory, Oromiyaa.

This work examines the problematic nature of the failed state and the unqualified construction of the metamorphosed empire in East Africa. In this perspective, I have made clear that the dislocation of theoretical and conceptual frame of reference about the troubled empire, Ethiopia, has now endangered Oromo national existence and political entity. From the 1880s to the present, the ruling minority has kept on rewarding colonialist political discourse of insularity and the ideology of imperial expansion. The savagery of conquest and the genocidal historical journey of decades have now created multiple challenges in the annexed territories of the South, especially Oromiyaa. When the ‘White Mask’ expansionists emerged as the ‘Mirror Image’ of ‘Trojan Horse’ in the late 19th century and became part of the scramble for Africa, Oromo national identity challenged, Oromized lifestyle changed, national pride and the true image of indigenous population disappeared. In this paper, I have endeavoured to explore the paradox of ethiopianist frame of mind, the danger of fostering colonial-modelled unification theory and the way modern rhetoric about “Greater Ethiopia” remained the powerful weapon of silencing the subaltern populations. To this end, Ethiopian colonial empire as the representation of Trojan Horse in Guise, is analysed within historical and political context of global colonization, stigmatization and the scenes of carnage. Within this political framework, the Oromo have not only confronted with the historically institutionalized inequalities between the so-called “Great History” and “Great Tradition” of the occupant minority rulers and the history of the subject people, but also confronted with exclusionary theories and racial discrimination that have been arrogantly exercised by the empire builders. The ‘horror makers’ of post-feudalism have still clung on themselves to anachronistic theories and ideologies, which reward sinister political projects, an instrumentalist version of the rule of law, institutional racism, blind imitation of abstract ideas, imperial expansions, evictions and mass murder. Within this conceptual and theoretical framework, what we see is that the narrative construction of colonial empire does not allow pluralistic democracy, the rule of law and intellectual pursuit to take root in Ethiopian empire. On the contrary, the oppressed people have continued battling with imperialistic myth to win back the lost identity and history by challenging the colonial ideology of supremacy and perpetual domination. The two antithetical views need careful examination and sensible solution.

A colonial philosophy of undefined unification, the doctrine of pseudo-homogeneity of societies and colonial-made power representation have always been the core of human tragedy in Ethiopian empire. The savagery of colonial conquest, which mainly characterizes Ethiopian leaderships and the imperialistic method of compressing diverse identity in favour of singularistic ethiopianist ideology need critical observation and authentic explanation. Unless the illusive and vague ideas are brought out in the open and discussed, unless the core of the conflict is carefully identified, tackled or hammered out, domination, massacre, neo- expansion, ethnic cleansing and ‘redrawing unnatural boundary’ of Oromiyaa seem to perpetuate. Thus, to draw a clear demarcation between the issue of decolonization and freedom and colonialist discourse of modification and the imperialistic ideology of building Oromized Institution of Colonialism, is a point of great concern in this project.

In 1991, the previously guerrilla group from the minority ethnic group (Tigre), seized power with the help of Western countries, especially the US and the UK. In the process of moving to the capital city – Finfinne (Addis Ababa) with its symbolic illusion (packed donkeys), dozens of umbrella political parties were organized in the image of the new colonizing power - Tigre People’s Liberation Front. The falsified coalition – ‘Ethiopian People’s Democratic Revolutionary Front’ (EPRDF) was theoretically meant to protect the democratic rights and autonomous rule of diverse groups in the country. Few months later, the symbolic image of passive donkeys became reality when the TPLF emerged as ‘Trojan Horse’ in guise (the EPRDF). The conspiracy theory here is that the EPRDF, which constitutes the umbrella organizations of different ethnic groups, is nothing more than the ‘powerless shadow’ manipulated by the TPLF. The non-Tigrean members of the EPRDF are simply uncritical imitators of the masquerading Trojan Image, the TPLF, the repressive power, which works against the interests and national existence of the colonized populations. This is how a ‘Tragic Irony’ reveals itself in a political crime of ‘divide-and-rule.’ From feudalistic colonial empire to the present, the tyrannical minority power in Ethiopia has continued to exist by playing political trickery with conspiracy political construct. The struggle for freedom and democracy in the occupied country, Oromiyaa, becomes fruitful only if the battle against hoax narrative of terror makers succeeds. This means the Oromo nation can break the pressing burden of chains as long as the new generation transcends the metaphor of imperial modernity and ceases to be the captive of conspiracy political project of empire-builders.

In his article entitled “The Threat of Tigrean Nationalism” (Sudan Tribune, August 19, 2007), Dubbi has argued that the TPLF identity politics - identity expression deficit, together with the imperialistic nationalism it advances are not only overtly discriminatory, but also dangerous to the national existence of other disenfranchised ethnic groups in the country. To this end, the colonial-based nationalist feelings, violent image and the dislocated identity politics of Tigre People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) are not merely characterized by negative manifestations, antagonistic political discourse, racism and massacre, but also the monopoly of Ethiopian integrative power which paralysis the political entity and existence the non-Tigre populations. In this way, the nominal Federal System has turned out to be ‘neo-colonial empire’ led by the remote-controlled Tigrean overlords, killing gangs, passive collaborators and depraved officials who have no sense of the rule of law, human freedom and dignity. As emphasized by Dubbi, the negative identity formation in which the TPLF defines itself and others in terms of what it is not, according to a famous sociologist, tends to lead into a pathological situation of internal violence. Like the Middle East, the pathological fear and internal violence, which is now rocking the utopian thinkers, may lead to serious consequences. Like apartheid system of the past in South Africa, TPLF’s segregation politics does not allow any diverse views other than ideological dogmas and colonial vision of the greatness of one race. Its militaristic style is basically antithetical to a civilized mind, human ingenuity, intellectual argument and professional excellence. This serves as a stifling factor for moving forward, killing brilliant ideas in a devastated country that requires a combined brainpower that can bring an end to man-made disasters and extreme poverty. In my previous criticism of TPLF’s ideology of ‘unity in guise of disunity,’ I have suggested that its exclusionary theory has paradoxically played a dramatic role of amalgamating the oppressed and segregated people into the ‘Metamorphosed Prison House of Federation’ of the TPLF/ EPRDF. In one sense, the Tigre People’s Liberation Front leaders have brought together victims (passive audience) who share the same abuse to a shaky ‘Powerhouse of Disunity’ that can consume both the masters and subservient. The ironic here is that the organized collaborators from different ethnic groups are united not to break the bondage of pressing shackles, but to dethrone the TPLF. This is what I call ‘unity in guise of disunity’ of the repressive forces. As argued by Dubbi, even a negative integration (or coalition) that is intended for a reason of shared abuse – intimidation, threats, persecution, maiming, hatred, tortures, arrests, and killings is integration of some sort for those who play foxes. This unnatural coalition of the oppressed and the oppressor is as strong as it can effectively resist political opportunism as well as TPLF’s corruptive influence and infiltration.

In his research paper, Dubbi has made the parallel history of the TPLF and EPRP with reference to what he calls the ‘weakest link.’ This section shares common thematic content with the comparative analysis I made in the previous part. The ethiopianist conflict political construct, exceptionally violent and genocidal in its makeup, is nourished by oppressive laws (terrorist laws), formulating dysfunctional and segregating legislations, powerful delusional narratives, falsification and paradoxical lies that borders with compulsive disorder. On the whole, the politics of immature grownups assumes that every human being with its fine ideas and opposing opinions, every political opposition having future-oriented vision, every individual who feels himself, every citizen who has a strong sense of cherishing freedom and the rule of law, is not loved but hated, is not embraced but excluded, is not rewarded but punished, is not a friend but a terrorist. This is the paradox of TPLF’s dark reign of imprisonment, marginalization, eviction, impoverishment and killings. Dubbi has criticized sharply TPLF’s reckless disregard for humanity and the way it shares terrorist characteristic and roughness with the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Party (EPRP). A blind faith in ‘intolerance to human reason’ and an ideology of ‘singularistic political thought’ have warped the mental universe of the party members so profoundly, that one can observe their manifestations at parliamentary debates, public gatherings, interviews, in the street and even at scholarly meetings. “This is the major part of the inheritance of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Party (EPRP), the weakest link in the creation of a broad-based opposition against the TPLF domination - a hazard for political progress in the country.” The 1970s infantile political course and the vaguely articulated management of diversity not only continued to persist as ideological foundation of the two Marxist parties – the EPRP and the TPLF, but have also threatened the peaceful co-existence of diverse groups in that country. In the 1970s, in a bizarre combination of colonial feudalism with Marxism, the EPRP offered nothing else to the key political agenda and sensible intellectual debate other than winning through the act of terror - by killing or dying, even when its opposing force (the Dergue) stood a well-armed national army pronouncing its sure demise. Blinded by emotional ambition, traits of which are still glaring among its rank-and-file, the extremist politicians are incapable of devising workable strategies and alternatives. They have fallen through to make intellectual argument, sustainable negotiations and compromises. They convinced themselves that beating the drums of war, inciting violence and the use of terror alone would solve human conflicts. They are not only driven by emotional instincts, but also unable to comprehend the disastrous effects of calling for gun solution to natural differences. The military junta led by Col. Mengistu was driven paranoid by its abnormal ambition, and as a result, it passed a collective death verdict on those who challenged the violent ways of governing. This in part allowed the military to hold political power for seventeen years, leaving behind ‘Iron Walls of Division’ and unhealing wound of historical magnitude. In this sense, the TPLF and EPRP have little to distinguish them from Khmer Rouge, says Dubbi, except that the TPLF, also a teen army that grew to power without growing integrating to the society, is now terrorizing, maiming and killing the subject people whereas the EPRP resides in uncritical Diaspora minds as a political paranoia rooted in racial mythology. They do share concealed hate and love for each other; they cannot go against each other and neither do they go for each other. The issue is about political power than fighting for structural equality and democracy. The pernicious political philosophy and the pursuit of Social Darwinism of the last several decades in Ethiopian empire offered destruction than construction, criminalization and brutalization of society than building unity of hearts and minds.

This study of subaltern voice examines the consequences of predatory expansion, annexation and the making of Bermuda Triangle empire, with reference to the corrupting influence of colonial-modelled power and the danger of fostering the savage temper of conquest. With this centrality, I have explored the ideology of identity elimination through Land Grabbing and eviction, placing greater emphasis on the way racial politics in Ethiopian empire not only damaged political trust between the ruling minority and the oppressed majority, but also fuelled historical and structural dichotomy. As argued by Jones (2011), today we are living in a world full of horror. This appalling condition of investing militarism to dislodge indigenous peoples and expand mass murder has now created a new era of competing for ‘making Terror Markets’ where those who have beast characters are now rocking the free nations by constructing and deconstructing modern mask, conspiracy political projects and the ‘horror genre.’ In this comparative political survey of colonial empire, I have made concerted efforts to explore the many monstrous facets of the builders of ‘Trojan Empire’ and the making of Oromo Holocaust. As Mandela (1994: 544) has argued, to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. This is what it means the respect for democratic values. In Ethiopia, the Emperors, Presidents, Prime Ministers and their henchmen have a position worthy of the old colonial masters. Their rough decisions irreversible, their power has no boundary, their hegemonic narrative of greatness and the militant ideology of bringing people to heel unchanged; their lust for killing than healing horrifying, their disrespect for citizens intolerable, their power of hate indescribable. The disruptive political journey of more than 135 years in the empire state and the rivers of blood of the millions that have been shed to the glory of the unelected dictators need to be written in volumes. In this research work, I have not only attempted to redefine how the colonial-made power representation and militarism in the dependent empire generated complex racial politics, institutional racism, perpetual fear, instability and poverty in the region, but also the way neo-apartheid policies of expansion and eviction relegated the indigenous population of the South, the Oromo, to landless, vagrants and beggars. I have also emphasized that the authoritarian thinkers who have faith in violence will take their own freedom in the process of playing race cards. This implies that the tyrants who cherish unjust wars, exclusionary theory and segregation, must also be liberated from the bondage of paranoia, narrow-mindedness, prejudice and grotesque distortion of the truth. I believe that the extremist ruling groups in Ethiopia are also disparaging themselves by depending on the power of deadly weapons to wipe out the true owners of the soil. Both the unfeeling oppressors and the oppressed peoples will be free if the former cast off their imperial beliefs and live in peace with others. The remote-controlled terror makers may not always manage to silence the popular voice at gunpoint, nor can they perpetuate the metamorphosed colonial state by advancing extremism and building racial-based military power. The oppressors are not also free unless they combat their abyss of ignorance of the past and shake off the classical law of Social Darwinism.

In the study of empire building politics, the rising of totalitarian forces and racial stereotypes in the colonial empire can be classified into three parts: first, the period from 1889-1974 - Feudalistic Empire of Menelik and Haile-Selassie. Second, the period from 1974- 1991 – Communist Empire of Mengistu Haile-Mariam. Third, the period from 1991 to the present – Federal Empire of Meles Zenawi and Haile-Mariam Desalegn. The first is characterized by the so-called Divine power of the Conquering Lion of Yihuda; the time when the issue of fabricated legendary theory and the duplicity about Jewish origin - Solomonic line, Queen of Sheba, religious rhetoric, racial grandeur, ‘White Mask,’ imposition of non-African cultures, expansion and eviction of indigenous peoples had become the major themes of the cruel Emperors. The second and the third dictatorial eras (Communist Empire and Federal Empire), can be viewed as the periods of militarism and Stalinist method of ruling in which the use of force and making horror alone are the only option to every single problem. Thus, the emergence from feudalistic savagery to politically modern forms of expansion, Land Grabbing (Land Expropriation), Stalinism, Hitlerism, Organized Crime, State Terrorism and Genocide mark the distinctive features of contemporary Ethiopian political system.

The stagnation of Ethiopian socio-political order, the fight for winning ‘corruption license’ and the apartheid model of making ‘horror market’ have always been the problem to breakthrough. The reason is that what motivates authoritarian thinkers is to cling on their old pattern of colonial model, encouraging militarism, playing petty games with dogmatic ideologies and the method of mental control. To this end, the makers of ‘beggar state’ are devoted to formulating complex problems, hoax political narratives and delusional theoretical construct than adopting non-violent approaches and peaceful co-existence, which empower them to develop a civilized way of thinking. Reasoning, rethinking, debate, listening to citizens, compromises, negotiations and forgiveness have no place in Ethiopian political culture; and this colonial mannerism of provoking violence has led both the oppressed and the oppressors to political tensions of decades. The continuity of conflict with the neighbouring countries - Somalia and Eritrea, together with the mounting of the internal challenges and crises seem to lead the shaky ‘Federal Empire’ of the TPLF to another era of ‘Great Tears,’ lament and disintegration. The policy of violence and retaliation never resolves human problems. Rather, it only creates new hostilities and more complicated situations. As Martin Luther King, JR (1992: 1) has put it, If we succumb to the temptation of using violence…unborn generations will be the recipients of a long and desolate night of bitterness, and our chief legacy to the future will be an endless reign of meaningless chaos. Those who celebrate violence to humiliate others rather than winning friendship and understanding are the loser of all time. The policy of identity elimination and the principle of Marxist centralism characterize Ethiopian political system; and the absence of such methods of controlling the marginalized people means the falling apart of the dependent state. On top of playing games with the colonial issues of expansion, the whole conflict in the empire is the conflict about the greater dependence of the individual annexed states of the South (colonies) on the central government of the dominant ruling minority. Haile-Selassie’s extreme centralism resulted in the bloody Revolution of 1974, and the Marxist centralism of Col. Mengistu provoked revolt and end up in chaos. It seems inevitable that TPLF’s Hitlerian system of bringing people to the heel by force will lead to irreparable damage; and in this case, the dismemberment of Ethiopian empire may give way to a new era of freedom to the submerged peoples, the Oromo and others. If the ethiopianist political narrative of mechanical unification is to entertain minority domination, racism, conflicts, wars and genocide, then the disintegration of the colonial-modelled empire is necessary. Throughout this book, I have forcefully argued that in a racial-based colonial structure, building democracy and sustainable national bond is impossible. I think it would be sensible to seek another alternative than jumping from one delusion to the next. Playing dead games with the ‘Trojan Empire’ means to kindle the fire that consumes the wrong players. It would be the gravest, the most dangerous error, if we were to confuse the concept of unity with that of centralization….The more strictly the latter is driven home, the more is political unity threatened and with it the further existence of the monarchy; one will charge to its account all the grievances and dissatisfaction results from such attempts. A wise, clear separation alone can compromise these dangerous contradictions and on the one hand can satisfy the requirements for the autonomy of the crown lands (Robert 1950: 90). The idea of uniting people through extreme centralism and an iron fist of conquerors always precipitates antagonism simply because such grip of control is basically contrary to pluralistic democracy and the idea of holding people together in peace and equality. Adopting colonial method of warping the mental universe of people and the policy of playing ‘race cards’ have always been a serious problem to the co-existence of diverse groups precisely because such repressive political approach violates the growth of national and personal freedom. This ultimately deprives people of enjoying social power and independent existence. The continuity of rewarding imperialistic military control and exercising anachronistic political tradition of divide-and-rule, in the final analysis will provoke civil war. In ‘Ethio-Centric’ concept of nation-hood and ethiopianist concept of national existence, the Oromo nationals are taken as worthy only to be treated as inferior slaves in their own homes. The changing of leadership and political style of the empire builders actually means to complicate human relationship and this prolongs dictatorial tyranny and the dominance of certain groups as perpetual children who must rule others forever; but conversely regarding the colonized people as subservient listeners who should necessarily depend on the minority oppressors and obey their will. As long as this kind of colonial attitude is place, and if the remote-controlled minority government continues to exercise savagery of conquest, promoting common interest cannot happen.

The last 135 years of darkest colonial eras in Ethiopia show that to co-operate with the extremist ruling section does not only mean to humiliate the Oromo people, but also worsening the social, political and economic condition in the occupied land (Oromiyaa). In Abyssinian history, every power shift is attended by negative developments - social polarity, new expansion, eviction, new conflicts, new wars, absolute poverty, hopelessness, anarchy and genocide. If the oppressed people stand in one place and wait for better future to come for them, or if they keep on playing unfair games of the aimless escapists and have carried on serving the colonial masters who have cynical disregard for them, then they remain not only the losers of all time who abuse their own freedom, but also responsible for their disintegration. Every Oromo national has to question himself/herself what the future of this nation would be if every born child is forced to comply with the will and interest of the oppressors. The oppressed nation, which celebrates the supreme power of those who take their freedom is a lamenting nation whose future is uncertain. In human history, the free and the unfree, the prisoners and masters, the killers and the victims, have never lived together as one people. They [racists] argue that his [African-American’s] inferior social, economic and political position was good for him. He [black American] was incapable of advancing beyond a fixed position and could therefore be happier if encouraged not to attempt the impossible The ‘master race’ will be able to civilize him to a limited degree, if only he will be true to his inferior nature and stay in his place (Martin Luther King, JR, 1992: 5). As any colonial custodians of the past, Abyssinian dictators perceive themselves as the caretakers of the colonized peoples of the South. The paradoxical ‘unification’ strategy and the artificial mechanism of order, which they pursue as the basic tenets of Social Darwinism aim at relocating racial politics in the new direction of repressive metaphor. In this sense, the unqualified use of the term actually means to stigmatize diverse groups through the instrumentality of a Colonial Club. By Colonial Club, I am referring to colonial-made establishments whose main purpose is to create ‘prey-predator’ relations marked by institutional racism, ransacking and violence. The core of the argument here is that the oppressors often call for the dislocated application of unification in order to escape the pitfalls of hypocrisy. The unfinished colonial historical project of expansion and the diminishing image imposed on the indigenous peoples in Ethiopian empire are the driving force of resistance and genocide of decades. The ethiopianist theorists believe that the unification of the antagonistic groups can occur as long as the colonial subjects have maintained subservient attitudes and accept the lower place assigned to them. According to this colonial philosophy, the inferior status of the marginalized people creates convenience to live together on the basis of the law of ‘Natural Selection’ of Darwinism. This is one of the major thematic contents of Ethio-Centric political project. In this article, I have argued that an ethiopianist ideology, the asymmetric hierarchical structure and the corrupt socio-political system it generates, are not merely antithetical to Oromo egalitarian way of life, but also endanger their national existence.

Beginning from the late 19th century to the present, Ethiopia is a country whose leaders heavily relies on foreign powers than on the decisive power of their people. It is what some scholars call a ‘Baksheesh’ State’ or a ‘dependent beggar state’ whose existence is based on collecting ‘alms’ (aid and loans). The term ‘Beggar State’ refers to a failed regime that engages in ‘alms racketeering’ or what we call using money, power, organizations and institutions for criminal purposes by exercising a variety of deceptions, corrupt practices and unconstitutional activities. In a narrow sense, it is a culture of political corruption and moral bankruptcy, wherein the government officials make ‘subservient-master’ agreement with foreign governments. The agreement empowers the spongers to get ‘aid,’ ‘loans,’ ‘donations,’ or even in some cases ‘gifts’ and ‘tipping’ for services rendered at the highest level (e.g. the gifts Meles Zenawi received from one of the Norwegian companies). The cycle of ‘loans’ and ‘aid’ actually means to negotiate the freedom of citizens in which a system of neo-colonialism does not merely deprive the natives the right to participate in decision-making, but also reduce them to economic captives - inferior paupers, prisoners and powerless listeners. In a beggar state political setting, the benefactors who manipulate the leaders who rely on them are at the same time the powerful arm of that remote-controlled failed state. It can be argued that Ethiopia has never had a truly represented leadership for the last 135 years because this ‘Tutelage’ empire has always been indirectly ruled by those foreign powers (benefactors) who are the source of survival for the figure-headed Ethiopian despots. Being the permanent members of the “Begging Club” of their masters, they aggrandize enormous wealth at the expenses of the grassroots. Throughout its history, Ethiopia remains politically and economically stagnant due to the baksheesh nature of the regime. This static condition, together with deep-seated corruption of decades has now worsened involuntary unification and pseudo-federalism programme.

Today, Ethiopia is one of the ‘competing beggar’ countries in the African continent. As argued by Hassen Ali (2014), the TPLF is the prototype and archetype of the baksheesh state in Africa which is characterized by the highest level of economic mismanagement (Illicit Capital Outflows), racketeering, social and moral sinking. In this sense, the political power is a means for those who monopolized power - the party officials - from highest to lowest, not only to accumulate excess wealth, but also to silence the popular voice of the grassroots. Privatization of lucrative firms, controlling fertile lands of the true owners - Land Grabbing, siphoning public asset (treasury) and natural resources ultimately mean to open ‘Golden Gates’ at the misfortune of the people ruled. A beggar state produces a community of loss, which lacks sensibility, vision, innovative initiatives, humanistic feelings, courage, drive and a sense of self-reliance. This is how the competing vision for baksheesh and moral depreciation damages the virtue of being human.

Ethiopia continued to be Africa’s largest recipient of foreign aid or what is known as the leading alms collecting country in the region. The report of Development Assistance Group Ethiopia shows that official development assistance given to Ethiopia in 2008 was $3.819 billion, $3.525 billion 2010, and $3.563 billion in 2011. According to this report, Great Britain has chosen Ethiopia to be the biggest recipient of development aid. The US also increased its aid to the TPLF regime from $1.8 billion in 2005 to nearly $3.5 billion in 2008. It is not hard to imagine how much money was poured into Zenawi-made ‘Tutelage’ Ethiopia under the cover of development for the last 25 years. Whether that money was given to the TPLF regime to feed the mouth of the impoverished citizens in the country or whether it destroyed the nation, history will judge those who play foxes. The basic subject matter of this work is, therefore, to address the core problems, which kept the Oromo people in perpetual bondage and then suggest the concrete political direction, which empowers the nation to find permanent possibilities, alternatives and solutions to the long-standing racial-based domination, identity elimination, massacre, political and economic disempowerment.

In this work, one of my core arguments is concerning the danger of embracing and fostering the ‘Politics of Conspiracy Theory’ in Ethiopian empire state. I say danger because it is the breeding ground for hate crime, state terrorism, exclusion, genocide and ethnic cleansing. As argued by Alexander Zaitchik (a former Intelligence Report staff) and Paul Rogers, ‘Theorizing Conspiracy’ has flourished as a virtual art form in all expansionist nations and across all political strategies; but the American ‘radical right’ has to be considered a strong contender for the title of modern conspiracy champion. A vast body of academic literature exists exploring this history, of which Richard Hofstadter's essay of 1964, "The Paranoid Style in American Politics" is the most popular. Hundreds of books and articles have chronicled the rise and fall of an unceasing march of disparate conspiracy-based political movements and theories that, at different points in American history, have warned against fabrication and threats posed by radical rights and conspiracy maker agencies of the government. We find parallel ‘paranoid political style’ in the ‘Tutelage’ Ethiopian empire.

Scholars continue to debate the psychological and sociological origins of conspiracy theories, but there is no arguing that these theories have seen a revival on the ‘extreme right’ whose ambitions are to get hegemonic space by creating unrelated stories and theorizing those stories to achieve their vested interests and objectives.

The struggle between the oppressed and the oppressors is the struggle between justice and injustice; the struggle between the old world of darkness and the world of hope and light. The oppressed nation, which fights for justice, is not aiming at annihilating the oppressors, but to abolition misrule and the dislocated system. Conversely, those who struggle to maintain racial barriers and social injustice are mainly concerned with identity elimination and exploitation; and these often generate both external physical violence and internal violence of spirit. That is why the oppressors and exploiters often lack humanistic thinking and mental peace. Therefore, the basic difference between peace lovers and those who honour violence is that the former struggle to create a new hope and independent world in which all men willrespect the dignity and worth of all human personality, whereas the latter encourage dependence, bitterness and indignity. As any peace loving people of the world, the Oromo people do not like beating the drum of war. They are struggling to blot-out the hate and injustice of the old Darwinists with the love and justice of the new order. As Martin Luther King (1992) has noted, our main concern is to inject a new dimension of freedom, justice and love into the veins of the next generation and the generation yet to come. This is the foundation for Oromo egalitarian life and civilization. Social transformation becomes meaningful not merely those who have been exploited and trampled over have broken the pressing shackles of oppression, but also succeeded in promoting the philosophy of love, respect and equality; by humiliating the oppressors whose minds are clouded by egoism, hate crimes, prejudice, paranoid thinking and violence.

As one American - the President of Yale, had once said, the loss of faith and confidence in our world and destiny is the cloudy and dark climate which most of us are unable to overcome during the last several decades; and this has now threaten ed the future of Oromo people. We cannot reconcile colonial structure and egalitarian system because one is the destroyer of the other. The savagery of conquest cannot be changed through toleration or intellectual debate; and it seems impossible for the Oromo to continue with the rule of anarchy, which always finds gun solution to their genuine demands. The point is then to choose between liberating the marginalized majority from the grip of colonial control or continue to celebrate traumatic disturbances and genocide. For how long Ethiopia becomes the ‘Prison House’ for Oromo nationals? For how long Oromo children grow in tensions and mental strain? For how long do the true owners of the land remain traumatized, evicted, starved, massacred and become refugees in their own homes? For how long the Oromo nation, which constitute 40-50 million, be ruled at gunpoint by the minority oppressors? For how long do the Oromo people tolerate the collaborators who continue to slaughter their fellow men and women to the glory of the colonizers? Let every Oromo national give answers to these compelling questions.

The rising heroic generation has to replace self-pity with self-respect and self- depreciation with self-dignity. The Oromo people have lived in the most ghastly period of human tragedy in which colonial-modelled power in Ethiopian empire has now threatened their national identity and values. Most importantly, imperialistic investment, neo-colonial expansion and eviction displaced hundreds of thousands of Oromo nationals. The sordid history of racism and the dying colonial system, which produced the murderers cannot be tolerated.

Martin Luther King; JR, provided disciplined calmness, reason and hope in the face of death threats and ominous signs of disillusionment within the African-American community. He stood for a world free of bigotry and brimming with faith, hope, love and justice. He dared to dream of a better day in the midst of the nightmare that surrounded him. He dared to believe and sacrifice for a future that some believe we are beginning to occupy (Washington, 1992: xxi).

As Bill Clinton (2004: 956) has pointed out, the interdependent world we live in is inherently unstable, full of both opportunity and forces of destruction. It will remain so until we find our way from colonial type of relations to meaningful interdependence – mutuality of feelings, genuinely motivated political and economic co-operation, win-win relations and shared responsibilities. We live in one of the momentous periods of human history, which despite the growing of wilderness, extremism, state terrorism, tensions, crimes and atrocities, is an age of dynamism full of promising hopes and dreams whereby the struggle for human rights and democracy has resulted in a new socio-economic and political order. The period in which many tyrannical dictators have suffered heavy defeats. It is an era during which millions of prisoners of centuries have succeeded in breaking the pressing shackles of oppressors. Although the world is now facing new challenges of savage acts and heinous crimes of different kinds, we are privileged to live in the 21st century because fascistic system of ruling is terribly losing; whereas the new vision for democracy and freedom has continued to be triumphant. This is what it means the emergence of the ‘Bright Day’ out of the ruined ‘Dark Era’ of repression.

As Martin Luther has stated, it is an honour to face jail together for a just cause becomes the global voice of freedom lovers. Pressing for justice remains a great challenge to the deep-seated prejudices; and the death of those who defend justice becomes the colourful victory for millions of oppressed people across the globe. Pains are growing. The Oromo people get tired of being trampled over by the iron feet of dictatorial fascism. Time seems to have approaching when the denied people who are frustrated of being pushed out of their homes and driven to dark life of exile regain light. This great light can be achieved only if Oromo nationals cherish it; if they keep on walking for freedom with dignity without fear, despair and retreat. In the nightmarish political landscape when the Oromo society is heading for disaster, and at the time when the nation’s existence is in danger, calling for Oromo solidarity is of pressing concern. There is nothing in all the world greater than freedom. It is worth paying for; it is worth losing a job; it is worth going to jail for. I would rather be a free pauper than a rich slave. I would rather die in object poverty with my convictions than live in indoctrinate riches with the lack of self-respect (Martin Luther King, JR, 1992: 27).

This is a living message of all time to all oppressed people who cherish freedom, justice and democracy. The great beauty of human being is to walk in dignity and self-respect than competing for subservient political role and self-humiliating position of the rich slaves. The old order is passing away and the new order of promising hope will emerge out of that ruined order. This will happen by having faith in the unified power of the Oromo.

No one has the power to stop or control historical changes and the birth of new meanings in those changes. The Oromo people will never be in the old box again. The walls of inequalities and segregation will be crushed by the battering rams of surging justice. To this end, the struggle for freedom and democracy continues until the ‘Bright Day of Justice’ emerges for the Oromo nation.

In this study of subaltern voice, I have tried to explore the entire political crises and socio-economic deficit in the Ethiopian empire within the context of colonial and postcolonial predatory expansion and then moved on to the way this dependent empire remained the violent image in East Africa. In dysfunctional terms, I have also proved that the institutional and structural arrangement of the ruling minority is epitome of anachronistic colonial system characterized by ‘remapping natural borders illegally,’ celebrating xenophobia, ethnic cleansing and genocide. In colonial and postcolonial setting, subaltern studies has a timeless essence in socio-cultural and economic terms; and is one of the most fruitful and rapidly growing fields in a contemporary conflict analysis and academic discourse. In terms of contemporary challenges, the comparative approach to the ‘the repeating itself theory’ of the ruling minority in Ethiopia enables scholars to move beyond the fixities, discover more about the metaphor of Ethio-Centric narrative and make empirical investigation of the unfinished Old Song of Empire. In terms of asymmetric socio-political and economic structure, the purpose of relocating postcolonial events in the context of the established political parameter of the Ethiopian empire builders is to empower the rising generation of the Oromo to redefine the paradox of that parameter and the imperativity of finishing successfully the project of decolonizing the mind in the occupied land - Oromiyaa.

As Moore-Gilbert (1997) has put it, the hegemonic formation is so powerfully negating that it controls the autonomous nervous system of humanity, one’s ability to exercise knowledge and the freedom to breathe. This is how the monopolistic grip on power in Ethiopian empire warped the mental universe of the oppressed. In this case, the Oromo nationals must face the empirical fact that some, if not all of us, are indeed reduced to as brute oppressed facts. Therefore, sustained negation of hegemony in this empire is necessary not only for the liberation of our minds, but also of our healthy attitudes, our rational way of thinking and our mental peace at large. My purpose of looking at Ethiopian political system within postcolonial complexity is that postcolonial theory marks not only ‘repositioning’ the role relationship of the Oromo in Ethiopian empire, but also paves the path for building indigenized democratic institutions, celebrating cultural values and national identity as markers of differences for good. It is the respect for these natural differences, which make co-existence and modern life meaningful. In other words, postcolonial historical theory as a resistance response to colonial-made power in Ethiopia should not be confused with the return or repositioning of the oppressors in guise of the oppressed. The diachronic and synchronic approach to the political culture of the ruling minority in Ethiopia shows that every violent change in the country often leads to the return of the new colonizing group with its viciousness in guise of the colonized. That is why the cycle of violence and political crimes persisted for decades in this empire. The irony here is that the colonized people, who celebrate the return of the violent power in guise of the unfree, are not only great losers, but also accountable for the costly mistakes made. The problematic political journey of the Oromo is an epitome of this paradox.

This conflict study, which is an integral part of postcolonial discourse, analyses the relationship between the oppositional forces – the colonizer and the colonized, the oppressor and the oppressed, in a specific historical and political setting. In this antithetical socio-cultural, economic and political environment, I have emphasized that the colonial subject does not comprise or represent the two antagonistic forces, namely the colonizer and the colonized. In this conflict analysis, I have also tried to single out the way the recurring dilemma and costly mistakes made by some Oromo politicians (both genuine and collaborators) led the Oromo nation to indescribable disaster. My research finding shows that Ethiopia is characteristically a ‘Tutelage’ Colonial Empire where peaceful co-existence of diverse groups is constantly under threat. As I have forcefully argued, the colonized and the colonizers cannot live together unless colonial method of ruling is totally changed. In this sense, the Oromo need to be meticulous not to try to reconcile colonial experience and oppositional model with social harmony and sensible co-operation. The metaphor of ‘war and peace,’ ‘free and unfree,’ can properly be addressed only if the Ethiopian ruling minority and the colonized Oromo choose to recognize the foundations for many of their differences, that is, the remnants of the history and contradictory socio-cultural and political transformations that have left the two opposing forces in antagonistic positions.

In a fast moving technological advancement and strategic shifts, the celebration of a new way of looking at ourselves and the orld is necessary because it enables us to discover the unknown terrain, reason rationally and speculate intelligently the direction to go. The fundamental democratic values and social justice can be made as long as we draw the contours of the objective world and be able to transcend the fixities, ambiguities, dilemmas and faulty impressions, which constantly cloud our minds. It is largely through developing this faith in reason that we secure our social and cultural lives. This kind of having faith in our world actually means to search for rational foundations of knowledge. In a widely shared cultural values and identity representation, the search for alternatives and rational way of thinking, in one sense refers to the re-engagement in the struggle for positively-oriented social construction in which an individual or a group remains responsive to various challenges, confrontations and paradigm shift. In a contemporary intercultural context, a New Criticism to social construction theory underlines the significance of expanding a strong sense of commonality feelings and mutual intelligibility. In this respect, building positively-oriented community eventually leads to or facilitates the path for deleting negatively-oriented social structure and the deficit discourses which undermine the realistic way of constructing social balance and human relationship.

The transformation of societies, the reconfiguration of organizations and institutions are often confronted with the timeless issue of centralization and decentralization, and the former is antithetical to the latter. The major challenges to undemocratic pluralism is that the two central dimensions or essential boundaries are not only undefined, but also distorted. In terms of social balance and the democratization of societies, the two opposing dimensions cannot operate together because one erodes or destroys the other. Calling for equitable socio-economic and political structures actually means to decentralize power and expand the basic principles of democratic governance or what is referred to as devolution. We are no longer in an age in which specialization and compartmentalization alone lead to the efficiency of civil society of our century. It is hardly possible to become active citizens without participatory democracy or if we are forced to cling to what is dysfunctional in the rapidly changing circumstances. In order for the Oromo society to function effectively, it must have competent representatives or leaders who are capable of co-ordinating and controlling their operations while responsive to the needs and interests of the grassroots by maximizing popular decision-making, creating equal opportunities and free thinking. By free thinking, I am referring to popular participation of civil society in a democratic process. This implies that centralization does not only compress and supress natural ability (talent) and differences, but also imposes unnecessary bureaucratic procedures, rules and restrictions that are not merely a challenge to citizens, their cultures and identities, but contrary to democratic culture of self-empowerment as well. Conversely, decentralization calls attention to people-centred power and unrestricted representation of that power. The former - people-centred power, facilitates democratic process, minimizes internal challenges, maximizes collective growth, accountability and enhances fruitful human relations. More centralization actually means to keep people under siege or make them passive obedient, reinforce challenges, create disillusions and resistance, encourage tensions and wars. In short, authoritative-based power management is the breeding ground for human right violations and unending forced migration. The dislocated political system in Ethiopian empire, which produces prisoners, refugees, beggars and homeless society, ceases to exist only if the empire builders and expansionists, whose main aim is to compete for making horror market, are challenged.

The struggle for freedom is always bitter but the fruitful outcome of that struggle is so sweet. In order for the Oromo people to eat that sweet harvest, they need to stand together and sing the heroic song, “Osoo janni jiru, yayyiin hin garmaamtu;” literally ‘where there is a hero, a wolf cannot play the race.’ The oppressors and the oppressed have never lived together as united forces in a political landscape where the latter is relegated to ‘a walking shadow,’ which has no voice. This takes us to the point that the prisoners cannot negotiate without breaking the pressing chains.

As we explore the political landscape of the troubled Ethiopian empire and the political structure of the TPLF led government, it is patently obvious that the country is facing complex problems, which may lead to civil war. In structural terms, the amalgamation of this regime is so dangerous. I say dangerous because each umbrella group within the ‘Trojan Image’ (EPRDF) is viewed by its own people as the representative symbol of the repressive power, the TPLF. The reason is that each undefined ‘shadow organization’ has no power to defend the will and interest of its people. In other words, like the TPLF, each collaborating group, which is limited to subservient political role, is also the mouthpiece, which is devoted to TPLF’s repressive political agenda of investment and genocide. Within the same ethnic group, including the Tigre, we find two antagonistic forces – the collaborators and the non-collaborators (the grassroots and oppositions). In general, the TPLF, whose political and socio-economic programmes are modelled on the basis of colonial representation, has not only polarized each ethnic group in the country, but also facilitated the ground for civil war. In this sense, the TPLF as a ‘Trojan Horse’ in guise is a mirror image of colonialism.