Asafa Jalata’s Oromummaa Ideology is Based on Strategic Misinformation

Yonas Biru, PhD

This is a sequel to my May 2023 article titled “Oromummaa Is a Low-Grade Nazification Movement.” Some may view the “low-grade Nazi” comparison as hyperbolic. The intent is not to create moral equivalency or equate the scale of criminality, but to highlight the functional similarities in foundational mobilization mechanisms between the two.

Asafa Jalata’s body of work exhibits striking structural and functional similarities with two classic books that explain how to mobilize blind followers and organize them into a cohesive group with identity conformity: The True Believer by Eric Hoffer and The Logic of Collective Action by Mancur Olson. The fact that he refers to these books in his articles and books suggests their utility in his ideological construct.

Hoffer’s book was inspired by his effort to understand how otherwise rational Germans became blind supporters of Hitler. Jalata’s work displays several of the structural and functional features Hoffer identifies as characteristic of mass movements: romanticizing identity superiority, creating moral absolutism, demonizing a targeted enemy, propagating and evangelizing false narratives as articles of faith, and subordinating objective truths and informed reasoning to in-group conformity around a politically constructed identity.

Olson’s work focuses on solving the free-rider problem in collective action by organizing cohesive groups, often at the expense of truth, through manufactured mobilization narratives. The scholarship that weaponizes the Hoffer–Olson model functions less as a vehicle for liberation and more as a tool for mobilizing a Machiavellian political agenda.

Signaling the potential risk for large-scale atrocity does not suggest that every movement using these mechanisms commits genocide. What can be said without equivocation is: The architecture for mass violence is consistently preceded by the systematic construction of a mythologized past, the creation of a designated existential enemy, and the mobilization of a community of “true believers” conditioned by ideological indoctrination. 

Put clearly, the comparison is about the mechanics of mobilization (how people are moved to act) rather than the scale of the outcome of their action. The outcome depends on confluence of actions that in some cases inhibit spiraling crisis and in other cases fuel it.

It warrants repeating that genocide is not the product of ideology alone, but of a confluence of reinforcing conditions, including social despair, economic deterioration, the collapse of law and order, the erosion of moral and institutional guardrails, and elite competition for hegemonic power. The aim of this article is to identify recognizable and historically lethal blueprint that lend themselves to industrial scale barbarities. While the full tragic confluence may not occur, ignoring the construction of the blueprint itself is a profound and dangerous failure of foresight.

We must remember that Hitler did not begin with gas chambers or extermination camps. The militarization of the movement and its descent into industrial-scale violence came only after the systematic propagation of fabricated grievance narratives and sustained indoctrination and social mobilization targeting a vilified race (Jews in Germany), tribe (Tutsi in Rwanda), and religion (Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar). Only after these processes were normalized did movements weaponize themselves—first through street violence and intimidation, followed by organized terror, and finally mass extermination.

The easiest stage to thwart the crisis is before grievance narratives of the kind Jalata is propagating become normalized. In Rwanda, it was the normalization of “invader” story that led to genocide. In Myanmar, it was the “illegal immigrant/terrorist” story that descended into genocide. In Ethiopia the Oromummaa’s narrative of Amhara as a blight on Oromo sovereignty, cultural pride and civilizational history and ambition must be stopped before it is too late. 

A close reading of Hoffer and Olson shows Hitler’s strategy was threefold, and Jalata’s work mirrors all three in form and substance.

1. The Glorified Past

Both Nazi and Oromummaa ideologies posit an ancient, “pure” state with morally superior trailblazers of civilization. These are the Aryan race for Hitler and the Oromo Gadaa system for Jalata. In a similar functional manner, Jalata’s body of work emphasizes the creation of a “national consciousness” rooted in a romanticized vision of Oromo history and culture. He elevates the Oromo Gadaa system as the epitome of ancient civilization. This is consistent with Hitler’s glorification of ancient Germanic tribes and mythologized Aryan ancestors. Both frame their romanticized past as the zenith of human morality and civilization.

2. The Existential Enemy

A targeted enemy is vilified to explain why the glorious past was lost. In Hitler’s case, the enemy was the Jews. In Jalata’s narrative, it is the Ethiopian colonial state led by Amharas. This group is portrayed not merely as a political rival but as a diabolical force that destroyed Oromo’s utopian past and continues to block its restoration.

Alleged Five-Million Genocide during Menelik’s Era: Jalata claims that “the Abyssinian/Ethiopian government massacred half of the Oromo population (5 million out of 10 million)” during imperial expansion. This claim is mathematically and demographically implausible. Contemporary estimates by Enrico Baudi de Vesme (1890), Alexander Bulatovich (1897), and the 1930s Italian colonial census place the Oromo population between 3 and 4 million. According to Statistica, Ethiopia’s total population in 1886 was 7.41 million, placing Oromos between 2.2 and 2.6 million. For Jalata’s “5 million killed” claim to be true, the Oromo population would have had to be nearly 100% of the Ethiopian population at the time, which contradicts all historical records.

Alleged Continuous Genocide in the 21st Century: Jalata asserts that Ethiopian colonial genocide “continues in the 21st century.” This contradicts Jawar Mohammed’s 2023 manifesto, which acknowledges Oromo political ascendancy since 2018 and notes that Oromo casualties under Oromo-led governments exceed those of prior regimes combined. Jawar is the most prominent and celebrated Oromo nationalist until 2019. 

Sadly, his stars deemed after his manifesto called for reconciliation and reconsideration of the destructive path, stating: “A very frightening and modern-day catastrophe is approaching. The process that has taken place over the last four years has destroyed and weakened Ethiopia, pushed the grievances between peoples toward enmity, and placed the country in great danger. To get out of the trouble we are in, it is necessary to realize that the path we have been on is not working and to turn back 

3. Reclamation and Restoration

Hitler’s objective was not reform but rebirth—a return to lost purity. Jalata’s work mirrors this objective, emphasizing the revival of Gadaa through enforced “national consciousness.”

Jalata’s repetitive publication of these themes across different venues functions not as scholarly advancement but as ideological reinforcement and identity conformity enforcement. Similarly, Nazi propaganda saturated Germany’s daily media ecosystem.

The trajectory of Oromummaa and its armed wing, the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), displays several warning indicators historically associated with large-scale political violence. While violence is not inevitable, the conditions for escalation are clearly present. Whether such violence could rise to the level of genocide depends on multiple internal and external constraints.

In The Present Phase of the Oromo National Movement, Jalata explicitly endorses the OLA, asserting that “every Oromo has a moral and national obligation to support the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) financially, ideologically, and intellectually.” He frames the OLA as a necessary “national defense army.” Similarly, in a paper hosted by the University of Tennessee, he insists that supporting the OLA is “absolutely necessary,” declaring that without it, “we do not have a political space to stand on.”

Jalata’s Animosity Toward Ethiopians in General and Amharas in Particular

Jalata’s rhetoric is disseminated through academic publications, media appearances, and digital platforms, while armed enforcement of the ideology is carried out by the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA). In this relationship, the OLA is framed not merely as a liberation force but as an indispensable coercive instrument for advancing Oromummaa’s political objectives.

The OLA has been implicated in repeated attacks against civilian populations, including women and children, using firearms and bladed weapons. These abuses have been documented by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and numerous international media outlets. While no political trajectory can be predicted with certainty, comparative historical experience suggests that movements combining mythologized grievance narratives with armed mobilization warrant serious precautionary scrutiny and early intervention.

Jalata’s animosity extends beyond Amharas to Oromo political actors who reject his ideological absolutism. He denounces the Abiy administration as a “Neo-Neftegna regime” allegedly committing “genocidal massacres,” and attacks Oromos who identify as Ethiopian as “biologically and culturally assimilated former Oromos.”

The term “biological and cultural assimilation” must chill anyone with conscience and knowledge of the Nazi history. The language mirrors the “Racial Purity” laws of the Nuremberg 1935 laws enacted for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor.

Evidence from the last five years suggests that this ideological framework has produced destructive outcomes for the very population it claims to emancipate. Movements built on rigid identity binaries and moral absolutism frequently experience internal fragmentation and intra-group violence. As Jawar Mohammed observed in his 2023 manifesto, Oromo-on-Oromo violence under Oromo-led governments now exceeds that of previous regimes.

Jalata’s Six Evidentiary Lies that Anchor Oromummaa’s Ideology

Jalata is not a misguided scholar trapped in a rut. He is a sophisticated political strategist who consciously weaponizes and institutionalizes curated grievance narratives (some exaggerated, others fabricated) to advance an ethnonationalist agenda. His ideology is anchored in seven evidentiary lies that have been rejected by historians, including by Mohammed Hassen, a celebrated Oromo historian and OLA’s international representative.

Lie 1. The Claim Menelik Decimated the Gadaa System

Jalata accuses Menelik of destroying the Gadaa democratic order. Two prominent Oromo nationalists, Endalkachew Lelisa Duressa and Jawar Mohammed acknowledge the Gadaa system had declined centuries before Menelik’s expansion due to internal factors. This is consistent with Mohamed Hassen’s observation that the primary cause of Gadaa’s demise was internal revolt, leading to gabbaro uprisings in 1681, three centuries before Menelik.

Lie 2. The Claim that 16th-Century Oromo Expansion Was to Reclaim Lost Lands

In Oromia & Ethiopia: State Formation and Ethnonational Conflict (2005), Jalata argues the 16th-century Oromo expansion wars were acts of “territorial dispossession” to “recover their lost territories and accommodate their increased population and stock.” He further states: “The Oromo fought twelve Butta wars between 1522 and 1618, recovering and reestablishing the Oromo country called Oromia today.” This stands in direct conflict with Mohammed Hassen’s historical account in The Oromo of Ethiopia: A History 1570–1860 (1990), which is consistent with other reputable historical studies. Nonetheless, Jalata continues peddling his lies to portray Oromo as peaceful that fights for justice to defend what is rightfully its rights.

Lie 3. The Claim that the Oromo Republic Existed in the 16th Century

In The Battle Between Ethiopianism and Oromummaa: From the Thirteenth Century to Today (2025), Jalata asserts there was a unified “Oromo country called Oromia today” as far back as 1522. He further claims that during the 16th-century Gadaa wars “many Oromo branches were under one Gadaa government.” In Oromummaa: Oromo Culture, Identity, and Nationalism (2012), he repeats the same claim: “Oromummaa is the totality of Oromo culture, history, worldview, and political consciousness that has existed for centuries.”

This claim stands in stark contradiction with historical consensus, as documented, among others, by Asmarom Legesse (1973, 2006), Mohammed Hassen (1990, 2015), Marco Bassi (2005), and Paul Trevor William Baxter (1994).

Historical and anthropological evidence indicates that Oromummaa, as a politicized ideological framework, is a modern construction, crystallized in the late twentieth century under conditions of ethnic federalism, revolutionary politics, and postcolonial identity discourse. Pre-modern Oromo identity was plural, localized, and politically non-uniform, organized primarily through the Gadaa system rather than civilizational nationalism. Mohammed Hassen asserts that a process of Oromo state formation only began in the 19th century. However, Jalata sticks to his lies because it sustains his “Colonizer Ethiopia v. Colonized Oromia” narrative without which the Oromummaa ideology collapses.

Lie 4. The Claim of Singular Oromo Victimhood

Jalata claims Oromummaa is a liberation ideology aimed solely at equality, justice, and decolonization. He presents Ethiopian history as a unidirectional process of Oromo victimization by Abyssinian colonizers. In Oromo Nationalism and the Ethiopian Discourse (1998), he asserts: “The Oromo have been colonized by the Ethiopian state and reduced to a subject people through military conquest, land expropriation, and cultural domination.” He further adds: “Since their incorporation into the Ethiopian empire, the Oromo have existed as an internally colonized nation.”

He deliberately ignores or denies the Oromo imperial expansion and domination over other groups during the 16th century. The record documented by reputable Oromo and foreign scholars shows reciprocal conquest, alliance, and incorporation, not a singular axis of oppression. By presenting Oromo victimhood as exclusive and continuous, Jalata converts a historical record into a moral binary of colonialist Ethiopia versus colonized Oromia.

Lie 5. The Portrayal of the Ethiopian State as Exclusively Abyssinian

In Oromo Nationalism and the Ethiopian Discourse (1998), Jalata claims, “The Ethiopian state was constructed as an Abyssinian empire that systematically excluded the Oromo from power.” This claim erases Oromo emperors, generals, administrators, landholders, and religious leaders who actively shaped imperial Ethiopia. Emperor Haile Selassie and President Mengistu Haile Mariam were of part Oromo construct. The Ethiopian state was not a monolithic Abyssinian project, but a hybrid polity shaped by multiple ethnic actors, including Oromo elites.

• Ras Wele Betul: An Oromo nobleman and the brother of Empress Taytu (Menelik’s wife).

• Abba Jifar II: King of Jimma and semi-autonomous provincial governor.
• Ras Gobana Dacha: One of Menelik’s most influential military commanders.
• Ras Mekonnen Wolde Mikael: Governor of Harar and father of Emperor Haile Selassie.

Lie 6. The Reduction of Cultural Integration to Cultural Erasure

In Oromummaa (2012), Jalata asserts that “Amharization and Christianization were imposed to destroy Oromo culture, language, and identity” and that “The Ethiopian state used religion and language as tools of cultural genocide against the Oromo people.” In the Ethiopian context, Jalata ignores evidence of voluntary conversion, strategic bilingualism, and social mobility. This occurred not only during Menilik’s era but also during the Oromo Gadaa expansionary wars. Jalata’s reductionist view collapses the distinction between domination and interaction, turning history into a morality play.

Conclusion: The Price of Oromummaa’s Manufactured Past

The Oromummaa project, as articulated by Jalata, illustrates how scholarship can be transformed into an instrument of ethnonationalist mobilization. Applying the Hoffer–Olson framework reveals the danger lurking in the womb of Oromummaa. 

Jalata’s propaganda that is marketed under the cover of scholarship hosted under academic affiliation straddles between misrepresentation of historical events and outright fabrication is a dangerous undertaking that needs to be stopped. Jalata’s claim about the 16th-century “Republic” is a factual fabrication, whereas his claim about “Oromo victimhood” is a selective interpretation that documents real and exaggerated atrocities Oromos suffered, while completely ignoring or denying the atrocities Oromos wrought on others. 

As the data over the last seven indicate, this ideology has failed its own people. When a movement is built on the demonization of the “Other,” it eventually turns inward. The Oromo-on-Oromo violence cited by Jawar Mohammed is the natural byproduct of an ideology that demands absolute epistemic conformity and labels dissent as “biological and cultural assimilation.”

Tens of thousands of people lost their lives because of violent conflict in the Oromo region. As Amnesty International reported, over a million Amhara and other non-Oromo tribes were forcefully displaced out of the Oromo region because of their identity. This is both by the Oromo regional government and the OLA. 

For Ethiopia (and Oromo as part of Ethiopia) to survive, the national discourse must transition from Nationalist Mythology to Historical Pluralism. This requires acknowledging that the Oromo were not merely victims of the Ethiopian state, but central architects of its history, its military victories, its atrocious wars and its cultural fabric. Truth—however messy and complex—is the only foundation for a sustainable peace. Without it, Oromummaa remains a “low-grade” movement that risks burning the very house it seeks to occupy. This requires accountability to hate-mongers and political-profiteers.

Editor’s Note : Views in the article do not necessarily reflect the views of borkena.com  

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