Hiiraan Online

Tuesday August 27, 2024
By Mahad Mohamed

A member of the Ogaden National Liberation Front, an insurgent group in Ethiopia, marches with other fighters in the bush. Credit /Vanessa Vick for The New York Times

On August 15, 1984, the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) was established, marking a significant moment in the history of the Ogaden people. At the time, I was a 20-year-old living in Mogadishu, a city already beset by turmoil. However, the situation in the Ogaden was even grimmer—a region devastated by endless conflict and despair. The people of Ogadenia longed for hope but were met only with suffering as war ravaged their homeland.

In February 1990, I visited the Ogaden region and witnessed firsthand the deep disconnect between the people and the Ethiopian government. Basic necessities like education, healthcare, and clean water were nonexistent. In the 1970s, the Western Somali Liberation Front (WSLF) was the primary freedom fighter in the Somali Region, advocating for the self-determination of ethnic Somalis in the Ogaden region. However, the WSLF was caught between the Ethiopia-Somalia Ogaden War of 1977, leaving the Ogaden people trapped in a relentless cycle of violence. The formation of the ONLF, however, offered a glimmer of hope.

After the 1977 war, the Derg regime under Mengistu established the Ogaden Autonomous Administration in what was then the Eastern Hararge region, with Harar and Godey as its administrative cities. Leaders like Bashiir Sayid, Abdi Harir Hashi Bare, and Mahdi Ayuub played important roles in ensuring, for the first time in history, that the voices of the Ogaden people were heard by the Ethiopian government. During my brief stay in Harar and Dire Dawa, I had the privilege of engaging in long conversations with most of these leaders to gain a good sense of the situation on the ground. I also met Sheikh Abdirahman Sh Kassim in Dire Dawa—a man who, like many Ogaden statesmen, was unjustly imprisoned from 1963 to 1990 for peacefully resisting to defend the rights of his people. My journey also took me through several cities in the Ogaden region, including Dhagahbur and Jigjiga.

On April 11, 1990, I took a train from Dire Dawa to Djibouti to visit my brother-in-law, Ismail Ali Yusuf (May Allah grant him Jannah). Realizing the grim prospects in both Somalia and Ethiopia, I lost hope in continuing my business ventures and planned to travel to the USA after obtaining a visa in Djibouti. After briefly returning to Mogadishu to see my family, I traveled to the USA and landed in Washington, D.C. on June 1, 1990. I stayed with my cousin, former Somali Minister Hussein Qasim, as we discussed the ongoing struggles in the Ogaden and reflected on the devastating war that began in 1977. For decades, the Ogaden people have been denied the right to determine their own destiny, continually living under threat. On June 11, 1990, I moved to Ottawa, Canada, like thousands of Somali refugees and immigrants, to settle and start fresh.

The ONLF's struggle can be divided into two significant phases. In 1992, after the TPLF toppled the Mengistu regime, a new federal constitution was drafted that introduced ethnic federalism in Ethiopia. Although the ONLF was not recognized as part of the coalition that shared power, it nevertheless returned to the region, participated in the first election, and won an overwhelming majority in the state legislature and federal parliamentary seats representing the Somali Region. During this phase, the ONLF dominated regional administrations and established the Somali Regional State institutions, with Godey as its administrative city. However, the absence of the necessary infrastructure for state functions and the heavy-handed interventions of the federal military and security forces made it impossible for the new administration to serve and meet the enormous expectations of its people. This led the ONLF to call for a referendum on secession, as provided for in Article 33 of the federal constitution. The federal government intervened, canceling the vote and moving the regional administrative city from Godey to Jigjiga—a decision that caused the ONLF to abandon its participation in the government.

In 1996, the ONLF became an armed liberation front, which the federal government labeled as an outlawed and terrorist organization. All these developments occurred under the leadership of Sheikh Ibrahim. The second phase began under the leadership of Admiral Mohamed O. Osman (1999-2018), which was the bloodiest and most painful for the local Ogaden population, regardless of their support or membership in the ONLF. The ONLF mobilized the Somali diaspora in Europe and North America, using the Ogaden diaspora as a base to raise funds and apply political pressure on the Ethiopian federal government in international arenas. This internal and external pressure led by the ONLF culminated in 2018 when the TPLF-led coalition was toppled, bringing Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to power.

Returning to an earlier part of my story, I met Joseph Nur, a Somali Christian born in Ethiopia, who shared with me an interesting document revealing that Shell Oil planned to begin oil extraction in the Ogaden in 1996. This project was expected to boost Ethiopia’s economy by 20%, yet the entire board of directors consisted of Tigrinya officials, with no representation from the Ogaden.

Joseph warned that this oil project would lead to the destruction of the Somali people in Ethiopia. This realization gave the ONLF renewed momentum, and we, the Ogaden diaspora community, intensified our support for the struggle. Since 1995, thousands have died, and countless others have been displaced due to the armed resistance. Although the losses are immense, we take pride in the ONLF’s resilience in preventing the TPLF government from realizing its target to extract oil in 1996, which posed an existential threat to our people. In 2007, the ONLF’s military wing stormed and destroyed a Chinese-run oilfield in the Ogaden region, forcing their withdrawal. Forty years after its creation, the ONLF remains a symbol of our resistance and fight for self-determination. We pay tribute, pray for, and honor those who lost their lives; they will forever remain in our thoughts and prayers.

The struggle for justice and self-determination for the Ogaden region continues. In 2018, the Somali government under President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo and Prime Minister Khayre unlawfully extradited Abdikarin Sh Muse (Qalbi Dhagah), a prominent and iconic freedom fighter, to Ethiopia. Furthermore, the Council of Ministers passed a resolution labeling the ONLF as a terrorist organization, placing many lives at risk.

The people of Ogaden have suffered and endured hardship and subjugation since 1921, yet we have never given up and remain steadfast. May Allah bless and protect all Somali people, wherever they are in the Somali peninsula and abroad.

Mahad Mohamed is a Ottawa Businessman and Member of the Ogaden Community in Canada