The launching ceremony of the Oromia Media Network (OMN) in Minnesota was muted as some of the key players and their supporters in the ranks of Oromo activists boycotted the event. Swirling allegations of Jawar’s dictatorial tendencies, shady financial issues and building personality cult reportedly blunted the hype.

Mohammed Ademo, who was one of the key architects of the project and publisher of Opride.com, broke his silence and publicly distanced himself from Jawar and OMN just hours before the launching ceremony last Saturday. As efforts to heal the deep resentment and bitter infighting failed, Mohammed posted a note on Facebook raising concerns on “feasibility, sustainability, professionalism, strategy, and accountability.” According to Ademo, the concerns raised failed to be addressed.  Read more →