The Quest for Afaan Oromoo’s Inclusion to the Federal Government Working Languages in Ethiopia: Causes and Benefits

Abstract

This paper explores long standing demands of the Oromoo to make Afaan Oromoo, the most widely
spoken language in the Horn of Africa as a mother tongue, one of the working Federal languages. The
antagonism behind the linguistic policy of the consecutive Ethiopian regimes is the main reason for the
exclusion from the Federal working languages during the last three decades. Although FDRE
constitution of 1995 gives equal status to all languages, the status quo has still continued marginalizing
Afaan Oromoo and other major languages considering the demography of the speakers and public
demands. In spite of these facts, the struggles for inclusion of Afaan and its marginalization from the
Federal working language from its historical root is overlooked. The paper argues that the use of Afaan
Oromoo as a Federal working language has multifaceted importance in the country’s unity and political
stability. The paper considers the socio-political and historical background in relation to the promotion
of Afaan Oromoo to the Federal working language. It also puts flashlights on the continuing use of the
language as an expression of Oromoo identity, Oromummaa and Sabboonummaa. The main purpose of
this research, therefore, is to identify the causes of exclusion, and to address the benefits of inclusion of
Afaan Oromoo to the Federal working language. To achieve this objective, qualitative research design
was used and qualitative data were collected using interviews and document analysis. In the interview,
informants with good knowledge of linguistic history of the country were identified. The data reveled
that Afaan Oromoo was excluded from politics, business, administrative, religious, media of instruction
and other public services. The study also displayed that including Afaan Oromoo in the Federal working
languages of the country develops and enriches the language, and gives job opportunity to many youths
in the Federal Institutions. As the language is spoken by many nations as lingua franca, its inclusion
plays significant roles in stabilizing the country and cementing the unity of the nations. The study, thus,
recommends that the government should keep the freedom and inclusion of all languages to enhance the
legitimacy of political processes.
Keywords: Afaan Oromoo, Ethiopia, exclusion, inclusion, Federal, working language