ONM-ABO (17 May 2026) — Reports across several zones in Oromia, including Horro Guduru Wallaga, Hararghe, and Bunnoo Beddelle, reveal a coordinated and systemic campaign of financial exploitation, intimidation, and forced political submission orchestrated by agents of the ruling Prosperity Party (PP).
In the Abbay Coomman district of Horro Guduru Wallaga, public unrest is mounting over aggressive fundraising practices by administrative entities. Officials have reportedly been coercing community members into providing monetary contributions ranging from 500 to 5,000 local currency units, ostensibly to support regional militia forces.
Local testimonies highlight the cruelty of these measures, citing the case of a vulnerable mother who relies entirely on selling straw for her livelihood and lives in a rented home, yet was forced to comply. Compounding this anger is a broader pattern of development failure; citizens claim that numerous promises concerning essential public infrastructure remain completely unfulfilled, serving as a transparent pretext for continuous financial demands.
Further west in the Bunnoo Beddelle and Abee Dongoroo districts, this economic victimization has evolved into institutionalized fraud. In the Abee Dongoroo district, PP-affiliated groups are extorting between 500 and 3,000 local currency units per household for “militia uniforms”.
Simultaneously, in villages like Botoroo, local farmers seeking vital potato seeds from state agricultural offices are falling victim to a multi-layered scam. They are forced to purchase the seeds at an exorbitant price of 4,200 local currency units while being hit with an additional 550 per person levy for militia support. Sources indicate that after handing over the initial payment, farmers are routinely defrauded out of another 4,200 units, only to receive an insufficient quantity of seeds.
In tandem with financial predation, the regime is utilising heavy-handed intimidation to ensure political compliance ahead of elections. Between 8 and 10 May, PP cadres in East and West Hararghe held mandatory gatherings under the guise of “election skills training” for local youth, elders, and mothers. Eyewitnesses report that participants were explicitly threatened with the confiscation of their land and personal possessions if the Prosperity Party failed to secure a victory in their respective districts. Those unable to attend due to illness were subsequently hit with punitive fines of 3,000 to 4,000 local currency units.
A similar environment of political terror has been reported in Tibbaa Dabalii village, Beddellee district, where residents were forcibly evicted from their homes on 13 May to make way for PP campaign operations. Local authorities have also targeted essential service providers, arbitrarily removing license plates from motorcycle taxi (“Bajaji”) operators to cripple their livelihoods and control movement. Militias have reportedly issued warnings of “serious danger” to anyone found without official ballot papers or identified as a “new face” in the community, illustrating a widespread strategy to suppress dissent and control voter participation through outright criminal activity.
