[lg policy] Birhanemeskel Abebe Segni:- Top Ten Reasons Why Afan Oromo Should Be the Federal Working Language in Ethiopia

Thu Mar 5 17:08:26 UTC 2015

  Birhanemeskel Abebe Segni:- Top Ten Reasons Why Afan Oromo Should Be the
Federal Working Language in Ethiopia

Posted: Bitootessa/March 4,

*By Birhanemeskel Abebe Segni**

Nowhere in the world has the government of the country refused to speak the
language of the majority of its people. It is weird, unthinkable, unjust,
undemocratic, immoral, and absolutely unacceptable. Ethiopia is all of
these. The Ethiopian Federal Government and two of its largest cities do
not speak the language of the majority of the people, Afan Oromo.

This is a preliminary outline to say the obvious: make Afan Oromo legally
and unconditionally the Working Language of the Federal Government of
Ethiopia and the two largest cities of Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa.

Here are the top ten reasons why:

1. *Demographic* reasons: Afan Oromo, the language of the Oromo people, is
the single most widely spoken language in Ethiopia and the fourth largest
African language in terms of the number and size of speakers. It is spoken
in at least three countries outside Ethiopia. Although statistical data may
vary, about 50% of the Ethiopian population is estimated to speak Afan
Oromo. In comparison, only about 29.1% of the entire population of Ethiopia
speaks Amharic, the legally imposed Official Language of the Federal
Government, and the two largest cities of Dire Dawa and Addis Ababa. Given
this demographic weight, it is unjust, undemocratic, and discriminatory, to
say the least, not to use the language of the majority of the people as the
Working Language of this multinational and multilingual country.

2. *Geographic* reasons: All of the segregationist entities, including the
Federal Government, the Addis Ababa City Administration and the Dire Dawa
City Administration, are based in and hosted in the Afan Oromo-speaking
State of Oromia. Yet, due to the discriminatory and exclusionary Amharic
only language policy, the federal government institutions and these two
large cities do not speak the language of the host people and the host
state. These entities, which feel like occupying forces rather than
governing forces, cannot continue as an Amharic-speaking island in the
middle of the sea of Afan Oromo-speaking population while fully relying on
the resources of the Oromo people for their existence, including food,
water, electricity, ports, waste disposals and roads – at a very high
human, financial and environmental costs to the Oromo people and the State
of Oromia.

3. *Unity* of the country as a reason: The exclusionary Amharic-only
language policy is the antithesis of the multilingual and multicultural
nature of Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Federal Government and the two
segregationist cities under its administration have an urgent civic duty,
if they care, to abolish this divisive and dangerous policy that undermines
the equality, mutual respect and peaceful coexistence of the people.
Ethiopia cannot continue as a united whole with its current segregationist
policy – which benefits one segment of the population while fully excluding
the other segment of the population.

4. *Economic and job opportunities*. This segregationist and exclusionary
Amharic-only language policy of the federal government and the two largest
cities (Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa) have fully and completely excluded Afan
Oromo speakers from all federal, municipal, corporate, and private jobs as
well as all economic and business opportunities, including the right to do
business and live in these jurisdictions unless one speaks Amharic. All
employees of the Federal Government and these two largest cities are 100%
Amharic speakers. Less than 10% of ethnic Oromos, who have been assimilated
into Amharic-speakers, are presently employed both by the federal
government institutions and by these two segregationist cities. Even worse,
none of the federal government offices and offices of these two cities,
including hospitals, businesses and all other service providers, provide
translation services for Afan Oromo-speaking customers and users. Yet, Afan
Oromo speakers and their State, Oromia, is the economic backbone and major
sources of exports and tax-revenues for the Federal Government and the two
segregationist cities.

5. *Representational* reasons: The Ethiopian Federal Government
institutions and its bureaucracies, and the two major cities of Addis Ababa
and Dire Dawa, have legally excluded Afan Oromo speakers by adopting
Amharic as their only Working Language. Under this condition, it is very
hard to either say Afan Oromo speakers are represented in the Federal
Government and these two cities, or to say that the Federal Government and
these two cities represent the Afan Oromo speakers. The ruthless
Amharic-speaking ethnic Oromo political appointees the government and these
two cities flag as representatives of the Afan Oromo speakers are outlaws
who don’t even represent themselves. Even the percentage of the
assimilated, i.e. culturally and linguistically disconnected, ethnic Oromos
employees in Ethiopian federal institutions, and the institutions of these
two major cities, as a whole is less than 10%. This is in a country where
the Oromo people constitute more than 40% of the total population.

6. *Legitimacy* reasons: The government that does not speak the language of
the people it claims to govern neither it does speak for that people nor it
does legitimately represent the interests of that people. For the Ethiopian
government to be considered a legitimate representative of the Afan
Oromo-speaking population, it must speak Afan Oromo and be the
representatives of the interests of the Afan Oromo speakers at all levels
of its institutions, not just in nominal political appointee positions and
portfolios.

7. *Justice, Equality, Equity and Fairness* reasons: Justice, equality,
equity and fairness demand equal opportunity and equal treatment of Afan
Oromo speakers on the same basis as the Amharic-speaking segment of the
population. The Amharic-only language policy of the federal government and
the two segregationist cities have completely left the Afan Oromo-speaking
population outside all economic, social, religious and educational
institutional frameworks – creating a country where close to half of its
population lives in subhuman situations, without any single institution of
their own. The Ethiopian Federal Government and these two largest cities
must not only immediately abolish this unjust, discriminatory and apartheid
language policy, but also invest financial and human resources to create
Afan Oromo economic, religious, cultural and educational institutions; and
adopt economic empowerment policies that will remedy and address the
historical injustice Afan Oromo speakers had passed through and are passing
through right now.

8. *Multilingualism* to create bond among various nations and
nationalities: The Amharic-only policy – that was intended to assimilate
over 80% of the Ethiopian population into the Amharic-speaking few or
exclude them from the political, economic, religious, and social structure
and institutional fabrics of the Ethiopian state – has created a very
racist and hateful group which does not accept and respect the equality of
various nations, nationalities, languages, and various ethnic identities.
This dangerous policy has now lent legitimacy to the development of racist
and hate groups which claim to struggle for the ‘unity of Ethiopia in the
name of this Amharic-only language policy’ to openly discriminate,
propagate hatred towards non-Amharic speakers, and even issue racist
political manifestos in a way that will destroy the social bond among
various nations and nationalities of Ethiopia. The main targets of these
hate and racist groups – which have been incubated and developed through
this Amharic-only racist and bigotry policy – are the Afan Oromo-speaking
population of Ethiopia.

9. *One language and one ethnic hegemony policies will kill Ethiopia*:
Diverse and pluralistic Ethiopia can only stand on the acceptance of the
policy of unity through diversity. The two most important challenges that
work against this most important policy presumption to keep diverse and
united Ethiopia are the effort to create one ethnic hegemonic country and
the Amharic-only language policies. These are two equally cancerous and
terminal policies that will kill Ethiopia. Ethiopia will only continue to
exist on the multinational and multilingual federal structure – where
mutual respect and peaceful coexistence of its multiple nations and
nationalities are protected and respected by institutionalizing
constitutional system of governance where fair economic power- and
political power-sharing mechanism are legally established. Making Afan
Oromo the Working Language of the federal government and the two largest
cities will open the door to save this sick and disabled country that now
operates with less than one third of its potentials.

10. *Language as a core factor in Human Development*: The only means and
avenue through which any human society could produce, develop, exchange and
disseminate knowledge and information for self-actualization, economic and
social development is language. The Ethiopian Federal Government and the
two segregationist cities of Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa have denied the Afan
Oromo-speaking population of Ethiopia this fundamental, inalienable and
basic right through their Amharic-only policy. No wonder Ethiopia is the
tail of the world and at the very bottom in the Human Development Index of
the United Nations.

As a conscientious member of the Afan Oromo- speaking society, and because
of the above listed reasons and so many others, I call upon the Ethiopian
government to immediately and unconditionally abolish the Amharic-only
language policy and make Afan Oromo the Working Language of the Ethiopian
Federal Government and the two largest cities of Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa.

** Birhanemeskel Abebe Segni
<http://finfinnetribune.com/Gadaa/category/articles/birhanemeskel-abebe-segni/>
is an Attorney & Counselor at Law, and a former Legal Affairs Advisor in
the Permanent Mission of Ethiopia to the United Nations.*

[image: TopTenReasons2015_2]
http://gadaa.com/oduu/26742/2015/03/04/birhanemeskel-abebe-segni-top-ten-reasons-why-afan-oromo-should-be-the-federal-working-language-in-ethiopia/

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