The passing of great Oromo nationalist Tarfa Dibaba
We just heard a sad and heartbreaking news. It is the pass away of a great political tower in the
Oromo national liberation struggle, Comrade Tarfa Dibaba. Comrade Tarfa Dibaba was a
nationalist who introduced with his comrades the Oromo national liberation struggle for
independence. He was a member of the great Oromo generation of 1960s and 1970s that ignited
the flame of struggle for liberation of Oromiyaa and its people. He was the founding member of
the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF). For this liberation struggle, he dedicated his whole life to
fighting until his last breath. He firmly and unflinchingly stood on the side of his people, their
cause and their struggle for liberation.
Comrade Tarfa Dibaba was a great leader and hero for the Oromo people. He was a truly
inspirational nationalist leader and a revolutionary patriot. He was a person of passion and love
for his people and country. In this Oromo national liberation struggle for independence, he
fought against the Ethiopian colonial system with dignity, resolve and courage. He was a man of
iron will, great strength, firmness of mind and determination in spirit and purpose to fight for the
independence of Oromiyaa and its people. Throughout his life, his conviction to liberate
Oromiyaa remained steadfast and unwavering. He was optimistic national leader, tough-minded
and with confidence. In this national liberation struggle, he defended the sacred soil of
Oromiyaa against colonial occupation with conviction to the very last day of his life. In history,
no national struggle had ever been successfully fought without the braves-national heroes and
heroines. This means national struggle needs dedicated national figures; national leaders. Tarfa
Dibaba was the dedicated nationalist leader in the Oromo national liberation struggle. In the
struggle, he represented the aspiration of the Oromo people.
As the saying goes, people make history and that history creates national heroes and heroines,
not because one like to be one, but the necessity creates it. With this, we need to understand that
because one may put on the mask of nationalists, drapes oneself in guise of revolutionaries,
borrows the language of revolution and shout slogans of revolution do not make one a
revolutionary nationalist leader and a national symbol of national struggle. The Oromo struggle
needs truly revolutionary nationalists and patriots in the like of Tarfa Dibaba and many others
before him. The Oromo people had and still have such great national leaders. But today, the
numbers of such great revolutionary nationalist leaders and symbols are dwindling. Some have
already died in the military engagement, and others are dying natural death. In the long run, these
conditions may deprive the Oromo nation, national symbols and figures of the struggle. This
must be a concern for the Oromo nationalists, patriots and the Oromo people. We often say the
time-honored phrase, “Qabsaawaan ni kufa, qabsoon itti fuufa.” But, I am not so sure if this
time-honored phrase holds to be true in the Oromo case as revisionists are united more than ever
before and increasingly penetrating the Oromo nationalist organizations and Oromo mass
organizations in order to reverse the course of struggle for independence. If the Oromo
nationalists and patriots do not immediately unite and take the struggle to battlefields in
Oromiyaa so as to defeat the coordinated efforts of the reactionary forces of darkness both from
within and from without, I am afraid, as revolutionaries die, so will the revolution with them. It
is only the unity of the Oromo nationalists and patriots that can avert this situation. Unity is the
only way forward. Comrade Tarfa Dibaba embodies unity- the unity of the Oromo nationalists
and patriots. He embodies the spirit of unity of purpose, unity of mission and unity of the
objective as enshrined in the political program of the OLF of 1976 and its revised version of
1998. He was a man of unbridled enthusiasm for the unity. For this, he kept on fighting
tirelessly until the last day of his life against the divisive new political wave of empire
democratization that has been and is intended to divide the Oromo nationalists.
Comrade Tarfa Dibaba was a nationalist of high moral courage with willingness and
determination to fight against all odds and injustice. Throughout this struggle, he firmly stood
on the values and principles with convictions -even during duress based on the love and loyalty
to his country and people. Today, the nation has lost this great leader –a political and
humanitarian tower in the Oromo national liberation struggle. The Oromo people, the
nationalists, the patriots and the Oromo struggle have lost a great leader, Tarfa Dibaba – as they
had lost so many nationalists and patriots before him. Tarfa Dibaba and his comrades were the
ultimate nationalists who ignited the flame of liberation/bilisummaa in the hills and valleys of
Oromiyaa and across the globe. Comrade Tarfa Dibaba was the first person to introduce the
Oromo national struggle and its justness to the world communities and found friends for it.
Comrade Tarfa Dibaba has passed on to the new Oromo generation the unmistakable torch of
light of freedom; the invincible light–the light of struggle for liberation, democracy, justice,
peace, and unity. And now, it is incumbent upon the living nationalists and patriots to carry this
torch forward, keeping the flame of freedom alight until independence of Oromiyaa is realized
for which Comrade Tarfa Dibaba has been fighting for to the last day of his life. This is the only
way the nation, the patriots and nationalists honor, remember, and celebrate the life, the struggle,
and the sacrifice of the nationalist Tarfa Dibaba and those before him.
May God gives his family members, friends, and comrades the strength and endurance to
withstand this moment of grief and pain and may his soul rest in peace.
Oromiyaa Shall be Free!
August 1, 2016
