Thugs gone wild in Kilil-istan

Posted on Ethiomedia (8/31/09)
By Alemayehu G. Mariam August 31, 2009
Rent-a-Thug Against Democracy

In a recent piece entitled "Mob Disrupts Political Meeting in Adama," former Ethiopian President Dr. Negasso Gidada described how “an organized mob disturbed a public political meeting of the Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ) in Adama, Oromia, and forced the discontinuation of the meeting.” Dr. Negasso explained:

Around 50 people started to disturb the meeting while Eng.
Gizachew Shiferraw, Vice Chairperson of the UDJ was addressing the meeting. The
disturbers were shouting, clutching and whistling from the rear of the hall.
This mob came up running to the front and damaged a microphone while trying to
grab it. They continued to shout: ‘This is Oromia’, ‘Oromo is our Language’,
‘You have to start the meeting by a blessing ceremony in accordance with Oromo
culture’, ‘You can hold the meeting in Oromo language’, ‘If you do not speak in
Oromo language, and you can not hold meetings in our country’. Several people
tried to cool down the mob by promising that what is said would be translated in
Oromo. But the mob would not heed the appeal. It even threatened to beat us up.
Eng. Gizachew could not continue his speech. He was forced to announce that the
meeting is adjourned because of the disturbance… The mob was not a spontaneous
disturbing group. There were some OPDO/EPRDF cadres among the mob. I myself
could recognize at least two OPDO cadres with whom I worked in the organization
before I resigned from it in June 2001. It is obvious that the disturbance was
an organized one. Read More