Resolution of OLF’s Fourth National Congress August 20-30, 2017

The fourth National Congress of the Oromo Liberation Front attended by representatives of the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), OLF chapters, OLF mass Organizations, Oromo civic organizations, invited guests & notables, and the Oromo scholarly organizations from all over the world. This National Congress is held at a very critical juncture in the history of the Oromo People’s struggle to do away with the Tigray People Liberation Front’s (TPLF’s) atrocious rule once and for all. The fierce resistance waged by the Oromo Youth (QEERRO), relentlessly supported by the Oromo masses and spearheaded by the OLF, has entered a new chapter in the history of the Oromo People’s struggle for freedom, democracy and peace. Hence, the aforementioned fourth National Congress was held with due consideration in the midst of such decisive course of events.

In-depth report was presented to the congress by the outgoing OLF’s National Council detailing all of the accomplishments, strengths, weaknesses and obstacles the organization has faced in its hitherto overall operations. After lengthy deliberation on the report, the Congress has adopted the Council’s report by recommending to incorporate improvements as suggested. The congress also deliberated on the Organization’s political program and bylaws. After days of debating, the congress has adopted OLF’s political program and bylaws with the needed improvements and amendments. Issues of paramount significance to the Oromo People’s struggle including Geo-politics, current socio-political, economic and military crisis of the conflict ridden Horn of Africa region in conjunction with global political climate had been discussed in detail.

After 10 days of lengthy deliberations on all matters pertaining to the Oromo People’s struggle headed by the OLF, participants of the organization’s fourth national congress passed the following resolutions:

1. We applaud and strengthen the fierce resistance that the Oromo people, the Oromo youth (Qeerroo) and the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) are waging against the current Ethiopian colonial rule and its cronies.
2. Cognizant of the fact that the Oromo Liberation Army is the vanguard of the Oromo people’s freedom and liberty, the congress unanimously decided to increase the supply of human and material resources necessary to boost OLA’s operations against the TPLF’s occupation army in Oromia.
3. We support the heroic deeds of the Oromo Youth National Movement’s (Qeerroo’s) unprecedented form of struggle and its adherence to the guidance from the OLF leadership. Participants of the congress re-iterated its promises to triple all the material and all-round support it has been providing the QEERRO national movement.
4. We condemn the atrocities and acts of genocide perpetrated by the TPLF minority regime against the Oromo and other Peoples since it came to power. The congress urges the immediate release of all prisoners of conscious languishing in empire’s prisons, military camps, private homes and many other undisclosed facilities the regime uses to quell dissent.
5. Admiring the heroic battle that the Oromo people are conducting against the minority TPLF rule that is already suffering from political, economic and military crisis, the congress calls up on all Oromo liberation organizations that are fighting for the right to self-determination of the Oromo People to join forces with the ongoing national movement headed by gallant Qeerroo and its vanguard organization, the Oromo Liberation Front.
6. We call up on all Human Rights advocating organizations, governments and the
   International Community at large to support the resettlement of Oromo people evicted from their homes and displaced from their ancestral land in the name of investment and development.
7. We condemn the acts of human trafficking and slavery brokered by agents of the Tigrean People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) mainly targeting women and children under the guise of job opportunity in the Middle Eastern countries.
8. We, strongly, condemn TPLF’s sinister motives of pitting neighborly nations and nationalities against one another by ceding territories from one to the other. The congress, therefore, urges the immediate cessation of “Liyyu Police’s” aggression in Oromia and calls upon those, intentionally or unintentionally, collaborating with TPLF’s scheme to refrain from such acts of divide and rule.
9. The Congress calls up on all Oromo political organizations, parties and groups that uphold the values enshrined in the Oromo People’s quest for the right to self-determination, freedom and democracy to closely work with the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) for the attainment of the right to self-determination of the Oromo People.
10. Cognizant of TPLF’s ruthlessness and it’s genocidal policies against the Oromo People coupled with the inevitability of its demise, the congress calls upon all Oromo nationals employed or otherwise engaged within the regime’s bureaucracy in different capacities to stand with the ongoing national resistance sparkled by the Qeerroo, firmly supported by the Oromo masses and spearheaded by the OLF.
11. We call upon all government entities, International regimes, political organizations, civic institutions, investors and parties that maintain or conduct business interests with incumbent Ethiopian regime led by the TPLF/EPRDF to immediately cease such forms of bilateral relations adversely affecting the Oromo People’s struggle for freedom and justice.
12. We condemn the genocidal scheme known as land grabbing being carried out under the guise of investment and developing the land that resulted in to the eviction and dispossession of millions of Oromos from their ancestral land. OLF’s National Congress, therefore, urges governments, corporate investors, individual investors and partakers of such acts of brutality to refrain from their business ventures as well as to immediately cease their activities related to such matters in Oromia. The Congress also would like to reiterate the lethal consequences such acts would bear, if continued unabated.
13. We regret that certain governments and organizations had fallen prey to the deceptive policies of the TPLF/EPRDF regime in Ethiopia and continued their political, financial and military support for the very regime that is utilizing such support to suppress the people’s quest for freedom and democracy. The anti-terrorism band-wagon that the TPLF/EPRDF regime jumped on, rather hatched more acts of state terrorism of its own other than fighting terrorism in its true sense. Terrorism is a menace to humanity and human civilization that the state terrorist regime of Ethiopia cannot be part of the fight against such acts of atrocity. The OLF national congress, therefore, urges all peace loving forces to immediately withdraw their support for the TPLF/EPRDF in any of its forms and call up on all stakeholders to review their bilateral relations with the incumbent Ethiopian regime.
14. The OLF National Congress calls upon all Oromo nationals who serve in the TPLF regime’s armed forces , security, police, people’s militia, and other coercive structures to side with the ongoing Oromo People’s national resistance against tyranny and to turn all of your weapons at your disposal against the brutal regime that is planning to decimate the Oromo People.
15. We appreciate Oromo scholars, artists, and athletes whose role was so significant in promoting the Oromo national struggle over the years. The congress, therefore, calls upon these groups to continue their historic contributions with more intensity and latitude.
16. The National Congress highly regards the immense price Qeerroo has paid in the course of the fight against tyranny during the last six years in particular and expresses its deepest appreciation for the unprecedented discipline the Oromo Youth National Movement has exhibited in a fight against tyranny in the history of the world to date. Proud of such valor and perseverance that the entire world also admired as such, the congress calls upon the Qeerroo to intensify the ongoing national resistance until the demise of the TPLF/EPRDF regime is ascertained while assuring the movement to double all forms of support the Oromo People are supposed to provide to this end.
17. The Congress reiterates OLF’s commitment to respect the inalienable rights of minorities in Oromia as well as that of the nations’ and nationalities’ surrounding it. The Congress, therefore calls up on other oppressed peoples in Oromia and its neighbors to join forces with the OLF in the fight against the brutal TPLF/EPRDF regime in Ethiopia with a commitment of establishing a just system of governance for all.
18. We extend our sincere appreciation for governments, political organizations and individuals who support the struggle waged by the Oromo People for freedom, democracy and justice. We call upon these progressive forces operating inside and outside of Ethiopia to work closely and continue their support for the Oromo People’s national struggle so that a comprehensive peace, security and prosperity in the horn of Africa realizing that this could only be attained when the Oromo People’s quest for the right to self-determination is guaranteed.
19. We reject and stand against all malicious acts of TPLF/EPRDF that is perpetuated to separate Finfinnee Oromia’s Capital from its main land.
20. The national congress finally reiterates OLF’s resolve to intensify all forms of struggle until TPLF’s force of occupation is wiped out from all parts of Oromia. The Oromo Liberation Front continues to intensively engage in the ongoing civil disobedience, doubles its efforts of the armed struggle waged by OLA and, therefore, calls upon all Oromo nationals at home and abroad to stay alert for any of the national calls to be announced by the Oromo Liberation Front from time to time.

Victory to the Oromo People!
OLF’s Fourth National Congress
August 30, 2017