Negele Boran - History

History

The town of Negele was founded in the early 20th century; the Swedish doctor F. Hylander described it in 1934 as an "Amhara new settlement and fortress with palisades", which was "the farthest outpost towards Jubaland".

At the beginning of the Second Italo-Ethiopian War from 4 October 1935, Negele served as the headquarters of Ras Desta Damtew The Italians subjected the town to frequent bombing raids. The Italians under General Rodolfo Graziani captured the town shortly after their victory at the Battle of Ganale Dorya, which further weakened the southern Ethiopian defenses.

The town was occupied by the British Gold Coast Brigade on 27 March 1941, who had pushed north from Dolo. The British colonial unit found that the Italians had abandoned the settlement 10 days before they arrived, and in the time between the buildings had been looted and destroyed by the neighboring Borena Oromo. By the time David Buxton visited Negele Borana in 1943, he found that a battalion of the Ethiopian Army had garrisoned this "half-built Italian settlement".

The Norwegian Lutheran Mission operated a station in Negele from 1949. Their most important activity was to start a hospital for the town in one of the abandoned Italian buildings, which they operated until 1956 when the Ministry of Public Health took it over. In 1958, Negele was one of 27 places in Ethiopia ranked as First Class Township.

On 12 January 1974, enlisted men and non-commissioned officers of the Fourth Brigade stationed at the Military Base protested over their substandard living conditions. "There was nothing new about discontent among soldiers serving in the desolate conditions in these far-flung garrisons," note Marina and David Ottaway. "The heat was unbearable, the food barely edible, and the water was bad or in short supply". The last straw was when the officers refused to let the soldiers use their well after their own water pump broke down. The soldiers arrested their superior officers and petitioned Emperor Haile Sellasie for redress of their grievances. The Emperor sent Lieutenant-General Deresse Dubale to investigate the matter; the mutineers took him prisoner, forced him to eat and drink as they did, then tied him up and put him under a tree for eight hours while they negotiated with the defense ministry. Furious, the Emperor sent two bombers to overfly the garrison and intimidate them to release Deresse, but did not punish the soldiers. The whole incident was hushed up for a while.

During the Ogaden War, the Somali Army attempted to capture Negele Borana throughout August 1977, but the local garrison was able to beat back the attacks.

Rights activists in southern Oromia reported to Human Rights Watch that students, farmers, and business people had been detained in Negele Borana. As of 25 January 2010 several hundred people, mostly affiliated with the Oromo People's Congress, were said to be still incarcerated in Negele Borana jail. These arrests reportedly were in response to protests about the activities of mining companies in the region, which the authorities attributed to the opposition.