Oct 08, 2018

Oromo: OLF and ULFO Merge


In late September, the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) and the United Liberation Forces of Oromia (ULOF) decided to work together for the common aim of the self-determination of Oromo people. The two organisations signed the agreement on 14 September following a series of meetings to determine common goals and strategies to better represent Oromos in the Ethiopian political configuration. In signing the agreement, both OLF and ULFO called upon Oromo organisations to pool their resources and defined Oromo national interests as the core of their agenda.  The merged front is provisionally named OLF.

The article below was published by The Reporter:

Following the call and invitation to all political parties to engage in the national political agendas of the country, the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), headed by Dawed Ibsa, and the United Liberation Forces of Oromia (ULFO), headed by Abdejelil Abdela, recently decided to work together as of September 26, 2018, Ibsa Negewo, Member of the Executive Committee of OLF, told The Reporter.

The two fronts signed the MoU on September 14, 2018 following a consecutive meeting and discussions between the leadership of the two organizations on how to chart their common agendas, Ibsa added.

Hence, based on the MoU reached between the two organizations on regarding the unity of the two fronts, a follow-up discussion was conducted on the process of their unification. Furthermore, according to the statement sent to The Reporter, following thorough discussions on the very agenda of unity, delegates representing the two organizations have agreed that “the two organizations be merged as per the signing of this agreement; and that the name of the newly merged front be the OLF in due course but within a fairly short period of time, the leadership and the organizational structure of both fronts be unified and, members at all levels of both organizations could embark on working collaboratively on common organizational affairs until the fronts are fully integrated,” reads the statement.

The two organizations also call upon all Oromo political organizations to work together to respond to the demands of the Oromo people, and further stated that “issue of struggling for Oromo national interests be our core objective; and that we endeavour to promote the unity that the Oromo people have for so long aspired; and we call upon all Oromo political organizations to equally respond to the demand of our people”.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia