The business of politics is tricky and it has a dual game. In politics we need to go beyond a face value. In my last two articles, I have discussed about the outer cover of the ODF politics. Today, I will focus on the inner motif of the ODF politics in depth. As Idea, the ODF was there for many years. It was not a new idea .It was as old as the Oromo struggle. Depending on this, one can argue about the ODF and its political effect on the future fate of Oromia. If the ODF is genuine and free Oromo political party, the situation will be tough to the ODF. In this stand ODF is at war with OPDO and other parties in the Empire which are out there for power. It is a tough and huge task to democratise or change a political system of the empire for the ODF.
To democratize or reshape the political system of the empire, there should be a precondition. There should be an independent electoral commission, there should be an independent strong political party with a clear agenda, ideology, policy and program, there should be a legislation that ensures a fair and free campaign for all political parties in the empire, and there should be a freedom of press that freely air each and every bit of an information in the empire, there should be a free press that report every political activities and incidents on the soil. Certainly, these basic pillars of the democracy are missing in the Ethiopian empire and there is no rule of law that support this ideal mission of the ODF political philosophy to materialize. This is an ideal part, however, the reality is different and the ODF founder has a secret agenda which is hidden to the Oromo people. ODF founder is not a guanine and transparent. There is a secret agenda that kept aside from the Oromo people which ODF founder never wants to expose .
We have seen this clearly on the ODF Minnesota meeting .Many interesting questions were raised by the participants but no single question was properly answered. This indicates that there is a secret agenda behind the birth of ODF. In the absence of faith and openness, it will tough to move forward for ODF politicians. It will tough to build a genuine and vibrant political party that challenge the incumbent ruling party in the empire. It’s hard to mobilize a supporter and get a public trust and attention. The ODF founder knew this entire heavy political burden and they intentionally took this political decision because there is a promise between the ODF president, Mr Lencha and TPLF. He got a green light from the Wayane regime and there will be no any physical threat to him, to his party and member. Everything is settled and fixed. The post for the prime Minister and president are open and vacant too in upcoming election.
Mr.lencho and his team have good chance to win the election either by associating or disassociating with the OPDO .well educated and civilized ODF from the western world could be the best OPDO for the TPLF. Now, what remain is to pack their luggage and take off to finfinne .Once they get there, they will have some fund from the Obama administration’s too for the upcoming national election campaign. This was the secret behind the birth of ODF. ODF founders are a professional liar. They knew how to lie and if not, it will hard for them to pay their bill. It is hard to get support from the Oromian. They are an expert and went and learned at Habesha School. They do like Abyssinian ruling class .Copy and paste no change .Divide and rule political culture policy .Mr. Lencha, the master mind of ODF, had no any members and supporters in 1991 but now he got some. He recruited and mentored them. He took his time and worked on this technically and systematically. This was his project for the last two decades. I leave this for the history lets the history decides. I leave this for the Oromo, the judge and the boss who has a legitimate mandate on this. But the question is Can the ODF get a mass support? Can the ODF build a vibrant and healthy political party?
The answerer is no.ODF founder has the poorest leadership skills. The success of any political party depends on the leaderships. The efficiency and effectiveness of the organization is measured by its leadership skill and in this sense, the ODF has the biggest problem in conflict resolution, problem solving and organizing skills .ODF founder and member are weak in terms of communication skill through party channel and structure, they have the poorest ability in managing the information. In short, ODF founder and member are missing the leadership skill and incapable to build a genuine and healthy political party that mobilize the supporter to word a common goal. ODF founder and member are inflexible, rigid and hard to build a dynamic political party that creates an open and a democratic society. They are not a visionary leader and rotate behind their personal fame and interest.
ODF took a wrong political strategy or model to empower or to democratize the empire .It is a wrong political model because it was adopted a top down approach which does not engage the grass root approach .It is exclusive and little reflect a real political and social changes system. In any revolution the best approach to challenge a dictator regime is a bottom up approach. Without a mass support to make a difference is questionable and a matter of day dream.
The birth of ODF is a great opportunity and chapter for the fate of Oromo politics. It is a great opportunity because it ends the politics of illusion and dilemma within oromian, it ends the politics of scandal among 0romian, it will pacify and create a harmony for the real freedom fighter, and it will end the factions inside the freedom fighter and pulls together a true freedom fighter toward one camp. Therefore, I am in opinion that the birth of ODF can’t deter or stop the movement of birth rights rather it will strengthen the true freedom fighters.
Alako_bora@yahoo.com
