September 27, 2008 (ADDIS ABABA) — The state owned Ethiopian radio and TV agency (ERTA) reduced drastically earlier this month the majority of airtime of the Affaan Oromo TV program. The decision left some 60 Oromo journalist jobless and raised anger.
The Tigriga and the Afaan Oromo TV programs, which were run through the federal TV on a separate desk within the only national TV station, were made their airtimes shrunken on September 12 and transferred to the hands of regional states under a new agendum called “localizing” TV programs that allows regional governments to take control of the medias.
Two Oromo opposition groups told Sudan Tribune by telephone from Addis Ababa that the move is politically motivated and violates the ruling party’s, self own constitution and to the international treaties it has ratified too.
“This is a political motivated action of the ruling party which targets to put the Oromo people’s national political role out of the game by weakening their role from every angle by such undemocratic acts” Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement(OFDM) Chairman and parliament member, Bulcha Demeksa told Sudan Tribune.
“We are talking about the liberty of a language of more than 40 million people” Bulcha said. “This once again reveals the at most hatred and contempt the regime has for the Oromo people and their language Afan Oromo” he added.
The Oromo oppositions believes that the regular Oromiga programme was deliberately replaced by a local program known as STVO, which completely prepared by OPDO — one wing of the ruling coalition — cadres and used by the regime to broadcast propagandas of Meles-led government.
The Oromo People’s Congress (OPC) echoes the action as discriminatory and as having political agenda.
“The ruling party of Ethiopia has taken the Afaan Oromoo TV programme off the air without any consultation or prior notice” OPC chairman and MP Merrara Gudina said.
“The Oromo people were not given a chance for self-consultation ahead of practicing the so-called ‘localizing’ policy” he underscored.
“The ruling party fears that offering the huge Oromo people a wide and strong voices to the public will heighten political consciousness” Merrara said. He added that “the move as it, is clear like a crystal is aimed to paralyze the propagandas of the Oromo people by silencing them from every possible doors.”
The opposition groups said shrinking little of the Tigriga programme is to pretend that the measure doesn’t target only to the Oromos.
The Afaan Oromoo TV programme was launched in 1991 following the toppling of the Communist Derg regime as a part of the package of the then newly introduced democracy and freedom of expression.
As a result of the pressure from the Oromo people in general and the OLF in particular, the regime opened a one hour TV program for Afan Oromo as a gesture of attempting to restore freedom and justice for the suppressed Oromo nation.
Although this was seen as one positive step forward when compared to the previous Ethiopian regimes, it was clear for the Oromo people that this was no justice yet since the same amount of air time was given to the Tigriga language which is spoken by less than 7% of the population of the empire simply because the current rulers come from Tigray region.
A real justice for the Oromo people is to give the maximum air time for Afan Oromo, radio or TV, than any other language.Oromo oppositions strongly argue.
The fate of the former 60 employees of the Afan Oromo desk, who were said to have been laid off and have been holding demonstrations in protest at the action, is not known. Most of them have been placed under surveillance and their movements have been restricted within the Capital.
Opposing to the unjust decision the journalists, now off duty, have appealed to Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s office, to the Ethiopian Parliament, to the OPDO office and to the so called Oromian president for the reversal of the decision.
Afan Oromo, is spoken by over 40% of the entire population of the nation. The Oromiya region is believed to house about 80 or so different languages.
(ST)
September 27th, 2008 at 3:52 am
The article is full of erroneous information
1) The Oromo TV program was planned by Mengstu’s regime and implemented by EPRDF. It is not OLF pressure!
2) The Oromo constitute about 35% of the Ethiopian population. That is about 28M of the 80M Ethiopians. These distrorted figures are the basis for OLF propaganda.
3) TPLF had no clear language policy; all its actions were based on “weakening chauvinists”. There is no logic in setting up a Tgrigna program and neglecting Somali until this misguided adventure came about.
In many federal countries, there are broadcasting organizations controleld by regional/state governments. Their broadcasts focus on local issues and they use local languages. THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE CASE FOR ETHIOPIA.
When we agree to add more languages as offical languages at federal level (at this stage, there is a strong case for Afaan Oromo), then the federal broadcaster has to include programs in those languages. Until that time, it should be the responsibility of regional/local governments to set up media institutions which use the local language/s.
But, all in all, this mess is a reflection of the confused state of affairs in 4 Kilo; i.e. EPRDF headquarters. And the solution is to fight for the removal of this criminal regime.
September 27th, 2008 at 5:36 am
ኦሮምኛው መዘጋት የነበረበት ድሮ ነበር::ምነው ግን ዋናው መዘጋት ያለበትን የትግርኛውን ችላ አሉት?ነው ሰው መሰማት እንዳንገፈገፈው አላወቁም ኖርዋል?
September 27th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
ኦሮምኛ ብሎ ነገር ምኑም አይጥም
ኢትዮጵያን ካስከፋው ትልቁ ነገር ኢትዮጵያዊነታችን አፍራካዊነታችን ምልክታችን ግዕዝን ጹሁፍ ትተው በላቲን ምንም በታሬክ በጅኦግራፌ የማይገናኝውን በኦሮሞ ክልል መገልገያ መደረጉ ይህ ነገር ደግሞ ለኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ መከፋፈያ መሳሪያ ካልሆነ ለኦሮሞ ተወላጀም ለኢትዮጵያም ህዝብ ጠቃሚ አይደለም ።በቋን ቋችን ከስራን አሆንም የዓለም ህዝብ የደረስበት መድረስ እንችላለን። ማንነታችን መታወቂያ አጥፍተን የሌላ ስውን ቋንቋ ማስፋፋት የስው ወርቅ አያድምቅ ነው።ላቲን ቋንቋ በርግጥ ነው ኢንተርናሽናል ቋንቋ ነው ያም ማለት እንደ ሁለተኛ ቋንቋ መጠቀም ይቻላል ያለዛ ግን ለልጅ ልጃችን ትልቅ ጠንቅ ነው የሚመጣው።
September 27th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
here we go onther lie afte lie by so call’d oppostion media. i called them ሰራ ፈት.kkk what kind of lie is this? what can’t u tell exactly what happen? ayee emama ethiopia. any way let me tell u the story. what happen wes oromghna and tigrna tv programed has been teransfer to the oromo tv program to oromia rigon the tigrna progrma to tigray rigon,.,,what is wrong with that? u bee the juge peopel..but to u so call’d ethio fourm all i can said is shame on u realy. speack the truth okey. the truth shall set you free. with this kind of gossip u will never move an inch from were you at know….i hop u take my advise for positv and learn from it..tell then adiyos
September 27th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
can any body write why the goverment is making this changes. then after can we comment on the issue.
September 27th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
I am confused with what I am reading.Some people try to tell us that the oromo people are Ethiopians whereas they tell us afaan oromo is not an Ethiopian language;let’s choose one.
The other confusion is that some didn’t understand (or deliberately trying to confuse innocent Ethiopians) the difference between the language(AFAAN Orommo) and using the latin alphabet to write Afaan Oromoo.As to the convenience of the alhpabet to use for writing let the people(the owner of the language) choose and decide;that will bring us together better than blind rejection of approach (mutual respect).In fact it will not be easy to adopt new thing regardless of its significance.
Let’s be more accommodative!
September 27th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
..አንበሴ ጥሩ ብለህል ….ድሮ አንድ ፊልፕስ ሬድዮ ነበርችኝ….ጥሩ ስገለገልባት ቆይቼ ተሳስቼ ኦሮምኛ ብከፍትባት ሬድዮና ተሰብራ ቁጭ አለች ..ላቲን ቅዋቲን …ህዋላ ቀር….የሰው ወርቅ አያደምቅ ..ኦሮሞ ..ኦሮሞ ነው ..መቼም አይለወጥም..
September 27th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
I Have no words how tell to these blind Habesha about their back word comments and not having what is individual right. and collective right as a nation. I am not here to lecture you about oromo but I want to remind you that if you hate me and disrepect me or oromo:do not expect love or respect from me or from fellow oromo. As Martin king said, “If one black American or any American fail ,I fail” what i want to say because of you guys and your ruling acessetors failer, we oromo also fail.
September 27th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
“Afan Oromo, is spoken by over 40% of the entire population of the nation. The Oromiya region is believed to house about 80 or so different languages.”
Dialects or languages?
September 27th, 2008 at 6:34 pm
አይ የውያኒ ነገር አንዱን ካንዱ እያጋጨ እድሚዉን ሊያሰረዝም አሁንም ይጥራል; አማራን ከአኦሮሞ ሲያጣላ ቆይቶ አሁን ደግሞ ኦሮሞን ከሊላው እያጋጨ ነው; ወያኒ የኛ ድክምት ገቦቶታል ነጻ አወጥሃለው ብሎ እየደለለ ጉድ አሳየን አሁንም በዛው ሊቀጥል ነው የሚጥረዉ: እረ ለመሆኑ የራሱ ክልል የሚለው ትግራይ ውስጥ ይህን አርግ የሚለው አለ? እንግዲሀ ሊላ ክልል ዉሰጥ ምን ሊያደርግ ያዛል? ፊድራለ ነኝ ስላለ ይሆን? ወያኒ እራሱ አንገት ዙርያ ገመድ እየጠመጠመ ነው እማያገባው እየገባ:: ሊሎቹመ አሁን የሚያለቅሱብን ዋጋቸዉን ነው ያገኙት አሁን ማልቀሱ ዋጋ አይኖረውም; ድሮስ ወያኒ አሰቦላቸው ጥሩ ያረገላቸው ይመሰለ ያልቅሳሉ:: ዶሮን ሲደልላት መቕሚያ ጫንዋት? ይልቅስ በወያኒ አንደለል ሁላችንም በአንድ ደምጽ ሰልጣንህን አስርክብ እንበልዉ ፍርፋሪ ስንለቅም የወያኒ መጨዋቻ አንሁን::
የወያኒ ቅጥሮች ደግሞ አትነዝንዙን ዝም ብላችሁ ሆዳችሁን ሙሉ; ወያኒ እናስውድዳለን ብላችሁም አትድከሙ; ባይሆን ደህና ስው መሰላችሁ የምታወናብዱትን ትታችሁ ከወያኒ በሃላ ምን እንሆናልን ብላችሁ አስቡ: መቸም ወያኒን አቅፋችሁ ልትሞቶ ካላሰባችሁ ለዘላለም አይኖርላችሁ:: የስራችሁትም ወንጀል ሲያሮጣችሁ እናያለን እሱ ይሆን ሙጥኝ ያስባላችሁ?
ወይ ወይ ወያኒ የጅብ ችኩል ቀንድ ይነክሳል ሆናችሁ የሊሊት ጅብ ሆናችሁ ትቀሩ? ጨለማን ተገን አርጋችሁ ትኖሩ እንጂ በቀንማ ልትደበቁ አትችሉ::
ስንቱ ጉዳችሁ ተነግሮ እግዚሃቢር የስራችሁን ይስጣችሁ
September 27th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
anbesie ur stupid OK why u said that
September 27th, 2008 at 11:50 pm
አይ ኢትዮጵያ!! ሽክምሽ ብዛቱ:: አንበሴና ቢቂላ ከወይኔና ኦነግ የበለጠ ለኢትዮጵያ አንድነት ጠንቅና ሽክም ናችሁ::
ለመሆኑ ኢትዮጵያን በቅጡ ታውቁዋታላችሁ:: መንደረተኞች!! ከቀበልኛ አስተሳሰብ ያልውጣችሁ የአገር ሽክሞች::
አፈርኩኝ እናት ኢትዮጵያ እናንተን በማፈራቱአ::
September 28th, 2008 at 4:50 am
jalata.
i agree with you dear friend you are 100% right and we are with you guys
keep it up the good job. forget the loosers they know onley haw to talk.
but in reality they are dead shit. remember haw crule were there king minilik when he were in power. this time that will never ever hapen again.
i am dead sure.
September 28th, 2008 at 7:36 am
netsanet hagos/Agazi ሰለ ምንይልክ እኮ የደደቢት ዝንጀሮ አያውቅም::…….. እኔ የምለው ትግርኛ የተባለውን ቅዋንቅዋ አናሳ ጎሳ እየተናገረው እንዴት በቴሌቭዥን የመተላለፍ እድል ያገኛል:: መለስ ቅዘናዊ በግድ ሊያሰተምረን ፈልጎ ነበር?..መቼም አሁን ትግርኛ የሚባለውን ቅዋንቅዋ መናገር ብንጀምር እንደ መለስ ቅዘናዊ አምስት መሃረብ በኪሳችን ይዘን እንዞር ነበር::ለለሃጭ መጥረጊያ…ቂቂቂቂቂኢቂቂቂቂ
September 28th, 2008 at 8:34 am
BIQILA. GO TO HELL.
can you stop blaming me every where?. why you give me names? are you in love with me or what?. shit i am marrid looser. so give me a break
go and look for your future in ethiopia i hope you will get nice women.
but the sad thing is she is an lucky to marrid you b/s our ethiopian women dant like talkative men like you. so be cool if you wonne be a gentel man i can tich you what to do with our womens. first do not talk too much & do not lie every where and be cool where ever you go thats a gentel mans caracter. other ways if you lie & you talk too much she will put you in HELL. ( the place you love to be ) take my idea looser.
September 28th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
አቤት የፖለቲካ እንጭጮች ጉንጭ አልፋ ክርክር!!!!!!!!!! ቢቂላ ; አንበሴ እና ሃጎስ:: ላንቃና ጉሮሮአችሁን አየነው:: ኣረ ባካችሁን ክፍት አፋችሁን ዝጉት::
September 28th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
Nagaro,
I agree with you 100%! There are people who cry about Ethiopian unity but have no clue how their tears will stop flowing. How can we talk about unity without starting from respect to each other as equals before the law? That notion includes treating all ethnic groups and their cultural and linguistic assets as equaly vauable to the country!!
Discussion on which alphabet/writing system should be used for which language could be conducted by experts, in my opinions. The problem is, when politicians have the upper hand in this discussions (as opposed to the experts) the decisions might be distorted. The same applies to the debate on Latin vs modified Geez alphabet for Afaan Oromo and other ‘cushitic’ languages. In addition, whoever wants to raise this issue has to TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION WHAT IS CURRENTLY ON THE GROUND. Millions of Oromo children have learned to read and write using the Latin alphabet.
Please, let us be as ‘cold-blooded’ as possible when we discuss matters affecting the future of our country. We are not deling with some abstract concept: It is about our children and grand children.
September 29th, 2008 at 11:08 am
አትላንታ
የኢትዮጵያዊነታችን መለያ ግዕዝን ትተን አሜን ብለን ላቲን ተብየውን ተቀብለን እንገልገልበት ማለትህ ነው? ካልክ ባጭሩ አንተ የነጮች በሊላ አባባል የፈረንጆች ተገዥ ባሪያ መሆንህ ግልጽ ነው።የኢትዮጵያ ጠላቶች ሆን ብለው ስዓቱን ጠብቆ የሚፈነዳ ቦንብ ደማሚት መቅበራቸው መሆኑን የተረዳህ አይመስለኝም።አንተም የነሱ መሳሬያ ሆነህ እያገለገልክ ነው።ስለኢትዮጵያ አንድነት የምታምን ከሆንክ ቋንቋ ሲበላሽ እያየህ የምትደግፍ አህያ ነህ።
September 29th, 2008 at 9:02 pm
አንበሴ :
ያንተ ችግር ይገባኝል:: ባለቤቱ መርጦት (ባልስማማበትም)ከሆነ በሁዋላ ግን መፍትሄው ከመቀበል ውጭ መስደብ ነው ብለህ ታምናልህ? በተሳደብህ ቁጥር ችግሩን ኢያባባስከው ነው::
September 30th, 2008 at 6:19 am
መልስ……….ለአትላንታ
እኔ ችግር የለብኝም ችግሩ ያለው ከአንተ እና አንተን ከመስሉ ነው።አፃፃፍ ጋልኛ ነው አሰተሳስብ ጋልኛ ነው።
“የቆጦን አወርድ ብላ የብብቷን ጣለች”!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! በጣም የሚሳዝነኝ ከሞፈር ያልወጣውን ገበሬ ላቲን ተማር ብላቹ መቀለጃ መሆኑ ነው።ከእንዳንተ ዓይነቶች ጋር ከመነጋገር “”"ድንጋይ ላይ ውሃ ማፍስ ይሻላል “”
September 30th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
አንበሴ
እስቲ ከምትሰድበው ህብረተሰብ ምን ትጠብቃለህ? የምትባለውን የማትሰማ, ድንጋይ; አንደበትህ ለከት የሌለውና ከቀበልኛና የድሮ አስተሳሰብ ያልውጣህ, ክፍት አፍ ባለጌ; በስድብህ ፍቅርን ከሌላ ሰው የምትጠብቅ ጅል ነህና ደህና ሰንብት:: ላይገባህ ጊዜዬን አላባክንም:: አንተም አፍህን ክፈት::
October 1st, 2008 at 6:38 am
መልስ ለአተላ “አትላንታ” እኔ የምስድበው እንዳንተ አይነት ማሐይሞችን ነው ።ህብረተስቡን አይደለም ።በቀበለኛ አስተሳብ እማ አገራችን ኢትዮጵያ አንድ ቋንቋ አንድ ባንዲራ ባህር ነበረን ከዘነጋህ ለማንኛውም መጨረሻውን ለማየት ያብቃን።
“ዶሮ ገብያ ሲወሰዳት ምን አለች አሉ እንካንስ ሲሽጡኝ ሲያሰማሙኝም አቃለው”
ኢትዮጵያ ትቅደም “ሞት ለእንዳነተ አይነቶች የአገር ቋንቋ ሻጮች”
October 1st, 2008 at 7:07 am
አንበሴ
ቪ ቫ………
እንዳንተ ዓይነቶች 5 ኢትዮጵያኖች ኢትዮጵያ ቢኖራት ኖሮ እስከ አሆን የማንም መሳቄያ ባልሆን ነበር።