Nagessa Dube Announces His Candidacy

The East Side Freedom Library invites you to hear Nagessa Dube announce his candidacy for the 2020 Ethiopian General Parliamentary Election.

In 2019, CAPI USA recognized Nagessa Dube with the World Refugee Day Visionary Leadership Award. They said:

Nagessa Dube is a tireless advocate for the Oromo people in Minnesota and Ethiopia. Nagessa came to MN after being imprisoned and tortured for his political activism in Ethiopia. Here in MN, his consistent message is that Oromos outside of Ethiopia can and should play important roles in advancing justice – both here in MN and in Ethiopia. He has collaborated with The Advocates for Human Rights to educate Oromos about how to use the United Nations human rights mechanisms to press the Ethiopian government to respect human rights. He has been deeply involved as Chair of the International Support Group for the Oromo Federalist Congress as an active member of the Minnesota based United Oromo Voices. He uses Facebook and Oromo television to reach a wide audience of Oromos around the world. In March of 2019, he traveled with The Advocates for Human Rights to Geneva, Switzerland, to present in two parallel events as a session of the UN Human Rights Council and to lobby delegates to the Council to take up human rights issues in Ethiopia due the Councils’ 2019 Universal Periodic Review of Ethiopia. His efforts yielded great results. Dozens of countries emphasized the need for inter-ethnic reconciliation and for accountability for perpetrators of human rights abuses. Recognizing Nagessa’s commitment to justice and equality for the Oromo people, some of his fans on Facebook call him the “Oromo Martin Luther King”

Nagessa has been working with the East Side Freedom Library to organize conversations about the future of Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa, involving members of the diasporas that hail from all across East Africa. He is returning to Ethiopia in February to run for a seat in the Parliament.

Free and open to all