Dear Editor,
Rivers may stop flowing and the rain may fail to pour down but our history of love remains forever in our hearts. Oromo people have been our neighbors and our reliable brothers and sisters when crisis arise; however, nowadays, those who do not want peace are trying to take peace away from us. But we will stand again together and restore peace in our region.
The Oromo and Somali people are from the same forefathers and have been living together for centuries. They shared everything and sacrificed themselves to help one another. And nothing should come between them.
Dear Oromo brothers and sisters, even though there have been ethnic quagmires in the border towns of Moyale and Tulliguled recently, it has always been true that we have resided together and shared everything. There is no border between us and we can see that our enemies are exploiting our slight differences to divide us. Conflict is inevitable and it comes at any time but we have had a long culture of resolving any problem that comes between us and the best example is the Gadaa system of Oromia and the Somali customary law that enable us to solve the conflicts under trees. We have had fathers who have always been standing to resolve the conflicts of the family and society as a whole. Today, we should stand united putting aside our differences. The land will stay but generations change and if we want our children to live peacefully we have to come together and make peace. I hope my message will break the borders and unite my Somali people with my Oromo brothers. Nothing will change our strong sense of brotherhood be it political, economic, and/or environmental factors. We are the ones who chose to live together and we won’t be led to think otherwise.
I pray that all will be peaceful and that both my Oromo and Somali people will live in peace.
Amin Dahiry