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The people’s journey to liberation

Broadcast United News Desk
The people’s journey to liberation

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Tuesday, August 27, 2024
Mahd Mohammad


A member of the Ogaden National Liberation Front, an Ethiopian insurgent group, marches with other fighters in the jungle. Photo: Vanessa Vick for The New York Times

On August 15, 1984, the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) was founded, a significant moment in the history of the Ogaden people. At the time, I was 20 years old and living in Mogadishu, a city already in turmoil. However, the situation in the Ogaden was even more dire – the region was devastated by endless conflict and despair. The people of the Ogaden longed for hope, but they could only endure the suffering as war ravaged their homeland.

I visited the Ogaden region in February 1990 and witnessed first-hand the deep divide between the local people and the Ethiopian government. Basic necessities such as education, healthcare and clean water were non-existent. In the 1970s, the Western Somali Liberation Front (WSLF) was the main freedom fighter in the Somali region, advocating for self-determination for the ethnic Somalis in the Ogaden region. However, the WSLF was drawn into the 1977 Ethiopian-Somali Ogaden War, and the people of the Ogaden were trapped in an endless cycle of violence. However, the formation of the Ogaden Liberation Front brought a glimmer of hope.

As the people of Ogaden were disappointed with the SOLF’s ability to represent their aspirations and hopes, members of the SOLF diplomatic corps stationed in Middle Eastern countries formed the Ogaden Liberation Front in 1984. The first chairman of the Ogaden Liberation Front was Sheikh Ibrahim Abdullah (may Allah have mercy on him), with Mohammed Sirad Dolar as his foreign secretary and deputy (may Allah have mercy on him). In February 1999, former Admiral of the Somali Navy, Mohammed Omar Osman, was elected as the leader in London as the region’s diaspora grew in numbers in Western Europe and North America during the 1980s and 1990s.

After the 1977 war, the Derg regime led by Mengistu established the Ogaden Autonomous Government in the then East Hararge region, with Harar and Godi as its administrative cities. Leaders such as Bashir Said, Abdi Khalil Hashi Barre and Mahdi Ayub played an important role in ensuring that the voice of the Ogaden people was heard by the Ethiopian government for the first time in history. During my short stay in Harar and Dire Dawa, I had the opportunity to have long conversations with most of the leaders to fully understand the situation on the ground. I also met Sheikh Abdirahman sh Qasim in Dire Dawa – who, like many Ogaden politicians, was unjustly imprisoned between 1963 and 1990 for peaceful resistance in defense of the rights of his people. My journey also took me through several cities in the Ogaden region, including Dagabur and Jigjiga.

On April 11, 1990, I travelled by train from Dire Dawa to Djibouti to visit my brother-in-law, Ismail Ali Yusuf (may Allah grant him Paradise). Realising that the future in Somalia and Ethiopia was bleak, I gave up hope of continuing my business and planned to go to the United States after obtaining a visa in Djibouti. After a brief return to Mogadishu to see my family, I travelled to the United States and arrived in Washington, DC on June 1, 1990. I stayed with my cousin, former Somali Minister Hussein Qasim, and we discussed the ongoing struggle in the Ogaden and reflected on the devastating war that began in 1977. For decades, the people of the Ogaden had been denied the right to determine their own destiny and lived under constant threat. On June 11, 1990, I moved to Ottawa, Canada, like thousands of other Somali refugees and immigrants, to settle down and start anew.

The EPN’s struggle can be divided into two major phases. After the overthrow of Mengistu’s regime in 1992, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front drafted a new federal constitution that introduced ethnic federalism to Ethiopia. Although the EPN was not recognized as part of the co-governing coalition, it returned to the region, participated in the first elections, and won an overwhelming majority of seats in the state and federal parliaments representing the Somali region. During this phase, the EPN took control of the regional government and established the Somali regional state institutions, with Godi as its administrative city. However, due to the lack of infrastructure required to perform state functions and the heavy-handed intervention of the federal army and security forces, the new government was unable to meet the great expectations of the people. This led the EPN to call for a referendum on secession from the federation as provided for in Article 33 of the federal constitution. The federal government intervened, canceled the vote, and moved the regional administrative city from Godi to Jigjiga – a decision that led the Aoun National Liberation Front to abandon its participation in the government.

In 1996, the Ogaden National Liberation Front became an armed liberation front and the federal government designated it as an illegal terrorist organization. All these developments took place under the leadership of Sheikh Ibrahim. The second phase began under the leadership of Admiral Mohammed Osman (1999-2018), which was the bloodiest and most painful phase for the local Ogaden people, whether they supported or joined the Ogaden National Liberation Front or not. The Ogaden National Liberation Front mobilized the Somali diaspora in Europe and North America, using the Ogaden diaspora as a base to raise funds and exert political pressure on the Ethiopian federal government in the international arena. This internal and external pressure led by the Ogaden National Liberation Front reached its peak in 2018 when the TPLF-led coalition was overthrown and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power.

Going back to my previous story, I met Joseph Noor, a Somali Christian born in Ethiopia, who shared with me an interesting document showing that Shell Oil planned to start drilling for oil in the Ogaden in 1996. The project was expected to increase Ethiopia’s economy by 20%, but the entire board of directors was composed of Tigrinya officials, with no representatives from the Ogaden.

Joseph warned that this oil project would lead to the destruction of the Somali people in Ethiopia. This realization gave ONLF renewed momentum and our Ogaden diaspora community stepped up to support this struggle. Since 1995, thousands of lives have been lost and countless more have been displaced by armed resistance. Despite the heavy losses, we are proud of the tenacity of ONLF in preventing the TPLF government from achieving its goal of extracting oil in 1996, which posed an existential threat to our people. In 2007, the military wing of ONLF attacked and destroyed a Chinese-operated oil field in the Ogaden region, forcing the Chinese to withdraw. Forty years after its founding, ONLF remains a symbol of our resistance and fight for self-determination. We honor, pray and remember those who have lost their lives; they will always remain in our thoughts and prayers.

The struggle for justice and self-determination for the Ogaden region continues. In 2018, the Somali government, led by President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo and Prime Minister Hare, illegally extradited the famous freedom fighter Abdikarim Shi Mousse (Qalbi Dhagah) to Ethiopia. In addition, the Council of Ministers passed a resolution designating the Ogaden National Liberation Front as a terrorist organization, putting many lives in danger.

Since 1921, the people of Ogaden have suffered a lot of hardship and oppression, but we have never given up and have always remained steadfast. May God bless and protect all Somalis, whether they are in the Somali Peninsula or abroad.


Mahad Mohamed is an Ottawa businessman and member of Canada’s Ogaden community

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