The Oromo people are at the receiving end of all the ills of the economic gains in Ethiopia over the last 25 years. The Oromo people continue to be dispossessed of their lands, natural resources, social values and human capitals without gaining any economic benefits. The whole scheme of economic development in Ethiopia violates all the rule of free market and capitalist economic rules. Most of the economic gains are not the result of value creation as much as it the process of dispossession of land and natural resources, and wealth transfer from the poor to the politically connected and the rich.
The #OromoProtests is partially a protest against this scheme of dispossession and wealth transfer from the Oromo to other including foreign corporation. Unless this process immediately ends, its toxicity is bound to poison business and social harmony in Ethiopia in the long run. This is very risky venture that must end.
In this context, the Oromo people and the Oromia Regional Government should seriously consider policy changes on Dangote Cement PLC to make the following changes:
1) Dangote Cement PLC must agree to give shares to Oromo citizens who were displaced from their ancestral land in proportion to the value of their land and the natural resources on and within the land;
2) Dangote Cement PLC must agree to employ Oromos at the Executive positions including the CEO position (there are tens of thousands of qualified Oromos to run it). Now the company is employing imported Indians in these positions as opposed to Oromos;
3) Dangote Cement Plc must immediately start paying tax to the Oromia National Regional Government;
4) Dangote Cement PLC must make Afaan Oromo its working language immediately in line with the constitutions of Oromia and Ethiopia; and
5) Dangote Cement PLC must agree to rehabilitate the rivers, springs and streams and forests it destroyed and agree to follow the environmental standards and the culture and business values of Oromo people.
These are minimum policy practices companies in other countries, be it in China, India, France, Germany, United States or other European countries follow. A foreign company in China works in Chinese and employs Chinese. Foreign companies in the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Greece, Israel, and so on works with the working languages of those countries by employing the citizens of those countries. But, in Oromia and Ethiopia, a country with no owners, none of these standards are being followed. Not anymore. The Oromo people and all other Ethiopians should unconditionally reject and chase these colonialist companies out of Oromia and Ethiopia if they refuse to obey our languages, cultures and business etiquette and values.
Dangote Cement PLC is one of the foreign companies that are mercilessly displacing tens of thousands of Oromos from Mogor( English and Amharic speakers spell it as Muger) and dispossessed the land belonging to the Oromo people with zero benefits for the Oromo people.
This company’s CEO, an Indian filled with extreme hatred and disdain for the Oromo, was see on Oromia National Television ridiculing and insulting Oromo journalists who went to his office to interview him about this company. Neither Dangote Cement PLC owner, a Nigerian, nor other executives of Dangote Cement PLC apologized for the actions of the racist Indian CEO who runs it. Listen to the youtube video of this account. It is important to remind Dangote and the Indians who run it that Ethiopia is not their colony. Never will be.
Oromia National Regional government should immediately request Dangote for the removal of the Indian CEO who insulted the Oromo people and our journalists. If Dangote refuses to remove him, he should be permanently expelled from the country. This type of racist individual with colonial mindset should not be allowed to operate in Ethiopia. Our forefathers died to keep our independence to save us from this humiliation. And we will not relinquish our Independence and culture for godforsaken foreign direct investment and the lie of job creation when their practice is worse than slavery.
As it currently stands, Dangote Cement PLC has no value for the Oromo people except being exploited and our country and environment being destroyed by greedy foreigners. There is no value for the company to exist in Oromia if the Oromo people don’t have any ownership rights in the company and its executives are exclusively non-Oromos imported from other regions or from outside when there are competent and well-qualified Oromo’s to manage Dangote Cement PLC. Even regular employees are not Oromos including truck drivers. Afaan Oromo is not the working language of Dangote Cement PLC. Dangote Cement PLC is not paying tax to the Oromia Regional Government. Unless the company immediately corrects all these, it should immediately leave Oromia and the Oromo people should help it to leave!
The good news, Oromia can establish its own cement factory to meet its people’s need!
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