Can the Ethiopian State Be Reformed from Within? The Oromo Loyalist Experience

Though their methods and moments differed, each attempted to enact change from inside the system. Each hoped, or perhaps believed, that reform was possible. And each, ultimately, was betrayed by the very state they sought to reform.

Reform from Within: A Common Beginning

Taye Dendea entered the Prosperity Party with a vision of peace and transformation. Appointed State Minister for Peace in 2021, he became complicit in the criminalization of Oromo identity, particularly through the designation of the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) as a terrorist organization. When he finally broke ranks in 2023, publicly criticizing the regime’s repression, the backlash was swift: dismissal, arrest, and re-arrest in June 2025.

Lemma Megersa, a former key architect of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s rise, took a principled stand when he opposed Abiy’s centralization agenda. He is widely known for his remark, ‘Being Ethiopian is an addiction,’ a phrase that captured both admiration and controversy. Though he remained loyal to Ethiopia as a state, his dissent led to political isolation, removal from office, and effective silencing. The moment soldiers surrounded his home, it became clear that even the most senior insiders are not safe once they challenge the state’s direction.

Jawar Mohammed, a charismatic activist-turned-politician, was initially embraced by the regime and hailed as a bridge to the Oromo youth. He even helped disarm some OLA fighters in support of the state’s agenda. But the assassination of artist Hachalu Hundessa in 2020 marked a turning point. Jawar’s arrest and two-year imprisonment made clear: loyalty is rewarded only when it serves the regime’s interests,and revoked the moment one asserts independent power.

Bekele Gerba, a lifelong advocate of nonviolence and peaceful resistance, also worked to facilitate disarmament on behalf of the regime. Yet he, too, was repeatedly arrested and vilified. His unwavering commitment to dialogue was not met with respect, but with suspicion and repression, proving that even the mildest dissent becomes intolerable when it confronts the state’s foundational interests.

A Pattern, Not a Coincidence

These four stories reflect a larger truth. The Ethiopian state does not merely resist change, it punishes it. Regardless of strategy, armed or peaceful, radical or reformist, Oromo figures who assert agency within the system are systematically discarded.

What unites Taye, Lemma, Jawar, and Bekele is not just their Oromo identity, but their belief that reform from within was possible. What condemned them was not betrayal of the state, but their refusal to betray their people when the moment of truth arrived.

Their experiences are not anomalies. They are evidence.

The Imperial Logic of the Ethiopian State

To understand why this pattern persists, one must examine the nature of the Ethiopian state itself. It is not merely a multi-national federation in theory and an authoritarian regime in practice, it is imperial in its very design. Built on conquest and sustained by centralization, it prioritizes domination and hierarchy over equality and consent.

Its institutions are not malfunctioning, they are operating precisely as intended. The Ethiopian state does not tolerate genuine power-sharing. It only tolerates subordination. In such a system, Oromo political participation is permitted only so long as it reinforces central authority.

The moment it becomes a vehicle for genuine Oromo agency, it is criminalized.

There is no safe or dignified way to be Oromo in a state built to suppress Oromo identity.

Four Lives, Four Lessons

The experiences of these four men offer clear lessons that must inform Oromo political strategy:

Lesson 1. Reform Is a Mirage: Each of these figures attempted reform, and each failed, not for lack of courage or capability, but because the system does not allow meaningful change. Participation is often a trap, not a path forward. Oromo nationalists must avoid prolonging the life of a state that was never built to serve them.

Lesson 2. Loyalty Offers No Protection: From high-ranking ministers to nonviolent dissidents, all four were eventually punished. The state’s tolerance is transactional. The moment you assert independent thought, you become a threat. Joining the system requires full surrender of conscience.

Lesson 3. Division Is a Weapon: The regime thrives by fracturing Oromo unity, federalists vs. separatists, OLA vs. OLF, diaspora vs. locals. But repression is indiscriminate. Unity is not optional, it is essential. Oromos still serving the regime must understand that their participation enables the weaponization of division. The time to defect is now.

Lesson 4. Resistance Is the Only Path Forward: The Oromo struggle cannot be advanced through appeasement. It requires principled resistance, political organizing, coordinated defections, and the construction of an alternative political project rooted in self-determination and collective dignity.

The Reform Illusion Must Die

Taye Dendea, Lemma Megersa, Jawar Mohammed, and Bekele Gerba are more than cautionary tales. Their stories form a collective indictment of a system that rewards silence and punishes integrity. They tried to reform. But they were discarded despite their loyalty, and because they  spoke up against injustice committed against the Oromo People.

The Ethiopian state cannot be reformed from within. It was not built for inclusion; it was built for control.

Oromo political movements must abandon the illusion that they can transform an imperial order by participating in it. The future lies in resistance, unity, and the courageous work of building a new political vision, one grounded in Oromo self-determination and culminating in the eventual formation of an independent state.

These stories must not be forgotten. Not just to mourn what was lost, but to guide what must come next.