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Lemma Megersa

Lammaa was appointed the President of Oromia Regional State in October 2016. He is still a member of the reviled Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), which has ruled Ethiopia with an iron fist since 1991 and presided over some of the worst human rights abuses on record. But three years of stubborn protests remade — at least rhetorically — the one-time docile Oromo Peoples’ Democratic Organization (OPDO), the junior partner in the four-party EPRDF, into something of an opposition party.

Lemma was born and raised in Gudeya Bila woreda, East Welega Zone. Lemma earned his first degree in Political Science and International Relations from Addis Ababa University; and his second degree in International Relations from the same institution. Lemma rose through the ranks of OPDO, and served in various capacities in the regional administration since the 1990s. He spent most of these years in the Oromia state’s security sector. He served as Oromia police commissioner, head of the Oromia Administration and Security Bureau, as well as Head of Trade and Market Development Bureau.

On November 30, 2015, speaking at a town hall meeting in Burayu, a little-known Speaker of the Oromia State Assembly (Caffee Oromia) said: “As for the Integrated Addis Ababa Master Plan, even if it is for the benefit of the Oromo people; even if it were to pour gold on us, it will not be implemented if rejected by the public; it will not be implemented. The sky does not break up, nor does the earth burst.” The speech resonated with his audience and catapulted Lemma Megersa to a national spotlight out of relative obscurity.

A year later, on October 23, 2016, he was elected chairman of the regional ruling party and president of the Oromia National Regional State, following a reshuffle that’s meant to calm growing tensions in the state of Oromia. The Council of the State of Oromia elected Lemma Megersa as President of the regional government. Prior to this assignment, Lemma has served as speaker of the Council of the State of Oromia. Following the swearing in ceremony before the Council, Lemma said he will strive to sustain the ongoing development in the state. Lemma also said that the regional government will work hard to address legitimate concerns of the youth.

In a widely shared Facebook video, Lammaa made an impassioned and surprising appeal to Oromo nationalism. He called for economic revolution in Oromia and for strengthening of Oromo unity — “with new and modern thinking.” He urged the youth to remain engaged in the country’s affairs and to get organized. He received the most sustained applause when he in a clearly Gorbachevisn style mocked the hollow rhetoric of his party: Good governance, rent-seeking, narrow nationalism, and chauvinism.

His comments made one thing clear: the rift within the loose EPRDF coalition continued to deepen. OPDO’s once influential old guard — Abbadula Gamada, Kuma Demeksa, Girma Biru, Diriba Kuma, etc — were out of the picture. The younger cadre like Lammaa, who were not part of the armed struggle, may be opportunistic, but the opportunity to gain nationalist credentials is evident. OPDO struggled for popular legitimacy, which lost following the 2016 crackdown on protests, and the Tigrean military’s takeover of the state OPDO purported to govern autonomously.

In a documentary by Oromia Broadcasting Network (OBN) the president of Oromia Regional State, Obbo Lemma Megersa, speaks about the recent crackdown on rent-seakers and illicit trades. “In Ethiopian history, the most awful and gravely far reaching land abuse that has ever happened is the land of Oromo”, explains Lemma. Obbo Lemma Megersa also asserts that after his administration has started against this illegal land grab and illicit trades that drained the land resources of Oromia, “those thieves and robbers launched war against Oromia and and his administration“.

The first sign of trouble emerged in late December 2017 from the three week long EPRDF Executive Committee meeting. The lengthy statement was in essence a rebuke of Lemma and his reform agenda, as well as his overtures to the new OPDO’s counterparts in the Amhara state. Lemma's team was given directives to undertake a deep internal self-correction. Should they fail to get in line with the revolutionary democrats, TPLF planned to replace them. Lemma Megersa touched a nerve with the Ethiopian people for standing up against the TPLF, the clear leader of the challenge to the TPLF.

On 03 January 2018, when the leaders of the four member parties of the EPRDF were holding a presser regarding their 18 days of meeting, he stood out among the four for his eloquence and visible anger for the country. The four chairpersons of EPRDF’s member parties, OPDO, ANDM, TPLF, SEPDM and TPLF, Lemma Megersa, Demeke Mekonen, Hailemarim Deslaegn, Debretsion Gebremichael participated in the briefing. Lemma seemed to suggest that the government should even resign for the sake of the country and the people, which he said was “in crises.”

Well over 2000 prisoners were released from across Oromo region of Ethiopia after the region’s popular president, Lemma Megersa, pardoned them 26 January 2018. Of the pardoned prisoners, 1568 were convicted prisoners, 557 were under investigation and the cases of 250 of them was in court. The prisoners were arrested in connection with unrest in the region over the last two years.

Some worried that his popularity might not be liked by the core and secretive security wing of the TPLF. His predecessor Alemayehu Atomsa was reportedly killed by poison.