Jawar Mohammed

They see prominent Oromos notably Jawar Mohammed trying to place Oromo nationalists at the centre of Ethiopian politics instead of pushing to secede...

Then the government cracked down hard on the OLF and the Oromo Federalist Congress the other main Oromo nationalist opposition party arresting the most influential Oromo opposition figure Jawar Mohammed (AC Vol 61 No 15 Oromia cracks open again)...

It was his key ethnic support base and he may have been trying to win it back on 7 January when the government released political prisoners including regional leaders Jawar Mohammed and Bekele Gerba of the Oromo Federalist Congress (AC Vol 63 No 2 Prisoners' release sparks war cries)...

Also freed were leading Oromo politicians Jawar Mohammed and Bekele Gerba of the Oromo Federal Congress (OFC) and Eskinder Nega chair of an Amhara political party based in Addis Ababa Balderas for True Democracy (AC Vol 62 No 13 War casts shadow over Abiy's election plan)...

Abiy also detained many Oromo and other opposition leaders including Jawar Mohammed ahead of last year's election (AC Vol 62 No 13 War casts shadow over Abiy's election plan)...

Oromo tensionsAfter Abiy set up the PP in December 2019 moving from support for a federal structure to a more unitary government his relations with leading Oromo political figures including Jawar Mohammed the owner of the influential Oromo Media Network that helped bring Abiy to power deteriorated...

After the killing of the popular Oromo singer Hachalu Hundessa in June 2020 Abiy used the chaos to arrest the region's leaders such as Jawar Mohammed Bekele Garba and Hamza Borena from the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC); and Gemechu Ayana Michael Boran and Dawud Ibsa under house arrest since April this year from the OLF...

The elections are vital for Abiy's project of establishing his Prosperity Party nationwide and to deal with the fall-out from a hunger-strike by leading Oromo opposition figures in detention including Jawar Mohammed and Bekele Gerba...

Abiy detained many of his Oromo critics including opposition leaders Jawar Mohammed and Bekele Gerba and placed former Defence Minister Lemma Megersa under house arrest earlier in the year (AC Vol 61 No 2 Regime reality check)...

The federal and Oromia governments then conducted mass arrests including influential politicians such as former activist Jawar Mohammed who were criticising Abiy's leadership and Oromo journalists who published damning reports (AC Vol 61 No 15 Oromia cracks open again)...

Hachalu was speaking on the Oromia Media Network founded by activist Jawar Mohammed (AC Vol 60 No 22 Prize fight)...