This new generation has been reared and brought up upon story of the lives of MTA leaders as examples of real heroes and heroines. These stories are now the stories that have attracted the attention and captured the imagination of the Oromo youth. Through their struggle and sacrifices, these martyrs won a lasting place in the hearts of the Oromo nation. “…They died physically, but the cause for which they died will never die and they will remain in our hearts through the history of the Oromo struggle which is written with their blood. …Their names will live forever, lighting the torch of freedom for the Oromo nation.”[25] Through their achievements in building the Macha-Tulama Association these remarkable human beings became classic examples of Oromo nationalism, which embodies the Oromo spirit of resistance. Their names assume a prominent position in a galaxy of Oromo heroes and heroines.
*The organizers of the 50th anniversary celebration of the Macha-Tulama Association prepared this brochure. A member of the organizing team provided it exclusively to OPride. (Read the brochure as PDF)
Endnotes
1 Information for this brochure was drawn mainly from the first major work on this unique association is that of Olana Zoga, which appeared in Amharic language in 1993. We are truly indebted to Olana for writing an excellent book, which has enriched our knowledge and expanded the horizon of our understanding of an Association that played crucial role in the rise of political consciousness, which in turn gave birth to modern Oromo nationalism. Olana’s book depicts not only the political condition in which the association was formed in 1963, and its short legal existence but also the strength and weaknesses of its leaders and the association’s achievements and failures.
2 Olana Zoga, Gezatena Gezot and Matcha-Tulama Association, (Addis Abeba: No name of publishers, 1993).Additional Information for this treatment was drawn from sources quoted below.
Gemechu Taye,” The History of Macha-Tulama Association” BA thesis, Addis Ababa University, 1993.
Mohammed Hassen, ” The Macha-Tulama Association and the Development of Oromo Nationalism” Oromo Nationalism And the Ethiopian Discourse The Search for Freedom and Democracy, ed., Asafa Jalata (Lawrenceville, NJ: The Red Sea Press, 1998).
[2] Zoga,5-6.
[3] Zoga, 19.
[4] Mohammed Hassen, The Oromo of Ethiopia : A History , 1570-1860 ( Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990), 14.
[5]By exhibiting foresight and courage in saving the life of Nelson Mandela in 1962 General Tadesse Birru contributed to the possibility for saving South Africa from a potential blood bath – a peaceful transition to democracy was brought about through the leadership of Mandela, the first democratically elected Black President of South Africa who effectively led his country through the time that tried the soul of South African society.
[6] Leenco Lata, The Ethiopian State at the Crossroads Decolonization & Democratization or Disintegration? ( Lawrenceville, NJ: The Red Sea Press, 1999), 191-192.
[7] Zoga, 172.
[8] Zoga, 26-27.
[9] Zoga, 51.
[10] Mohammed Hassen, ” Review Essay: Gezetena Gezot., Matcha and Tulama Self-help Association,” The Journal of Oromo Studies, Volume 4, numbers 1 & 2, (July 1997): 212.
[11] Zoga, 172.
[12] John Markakis, National and Class Conflict in the Horn of Africa(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987), 260.
[13] Hassen, ” Review Essay: Gezetena Gezot., Matcha and Tulama Self-help Association,” The Journal of Oromo Studies, Volume 4, numbers 1 & 2, (July 1997): 214.
[14] Abbas H.Gnamo, Conquest and Resistance in the Ethiopian Empire, 1880-1974 The Case of the Arsi Oromo ( Boston: Brill, 2014), 255-56.
[15] Zoga, 114.
[16]. Taye, 34 .
[17] Zoga,
[18] Zoga, 249.
[19] Zoga, 138-48.
[20] Zoga,
[21] Zoga, 401.
[22] Zoga, 402.
[23] Zoga, 278.
[24] Hassen, ” Review Essay: Gezetena Gezot., Matcha and Tulama Self-help Association” The Journal of Oromo Studies, Volume 4, numbers 1 & 2, (July 1997): 236.
4
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1September 17, 2026 795
