Oromo Liberation Front Mission

The Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) is a political organization established in 1973 by Oromo nationalists to lead the national liberation struggle of the Oromo people against the Abyssinian colonial rule. The emergence of the OLF was a culmination of a century old yearn of the Oromo people to have a strong and unified national organization to lead the struggle.

The fundamental objective of the Oromo liberation movement is to exercise the Oromo peoples' inalienable right to national self-determination to terminate a century of oppression and exploitation, and to form, where possible, a political union with other nations on the basis of equality, respect for mutual interests and the principle of voluntary associations.

The Oromo people's quest for their right to self-determination is just and legitimate. The aspiration of the people to regain their fundamental freedom is in line with the principle enshrined in the charter of the UNO. The OLF is struggling to enable the Oromo people to realize this fundamental right and bring an end to century old oppression. OLF's commitment to this objective is based on a democratic principle, that the Oromo people are endowed with the right to decide the type of sovereignty they want to live under and the type of political union they want to form with other peoples.

The change made by the Tigrean regime, that grabbed power from the Amhara rulers in 1991, is far from enabling the Oromo people and others to realize this fundamental right. It is merely a cosmetic change intended to affect the momentum of our just struggle. The OLF reiterates the struggle of the Oromo people is not directed against any people but the system of oppression. In fact the OLF and the Oromo people are committed to the noble cause of laying a foundation for union of free peoples on the basis of their freely expressed will.