The Oromo Federalist Conference (OFC), one of the biggest Oromo parties accuse the government of closing down a branch office of the party in Guji zone of Oromo region, in Southern Ethiopia, VOA Amharic service reported on Friday.
The party also accused the government that it is harassing party members in the region. Government authorities did not deny those offices are closed down in the region but it argues that the offices were closed on grounds that they were not operating in accordance with the law.
OFC office head, Tiruneh Gemta, says west Guji Zone members and their leaders are harassed. And he cites examples, in Gelana district Jateni Mitiku who is a member of the leadership in the zone has been in jail for two weeks.
In the same zone, local head of administration of the district removed and tore apart our flag about two months ago. On Wednesday of this week, district authority burned our flag. They also removed two members of our party, Girja Guyo, and Samuel Mijo, from their office around 3 p.m., beaten them and detained them for hours and release them around 9 pm.
District administrator, Mathewos Otessa, denies the allegation. He told VOA Amharic that the party did not present permission to open a branch office in the district. He also claims that members were involved in illegal activity. Members of the party put OFC flag in the street without permission and members of the defense force in the region removed the flag, Mathewos Otessa added.
Guji has been a conflict zone since 2018. A disputed border region inhabited by individuals hailing from the Gedeo ethnic group. Over 900,000 ethnic Gedeos were displaced from the region following an ethnic cleansing campaign waged by the Oromo led OPDO Junta and there affiliated militias in 2018.
We will keep you updated with the latest developments from the region.
Halgan Media
