Jawar Mohammed, a radical Oromo ethnic nationalist, has announced on Monday that he has joined Oromo Federalist Congress(OFC).He claimed he has been a supporter of the party for a long time, and he said he will be working to ensure that OFC works in cooperation with other ethnic Oromo parties.

According to DW Amharic, Jawar’s termination of his US citizenship which he reportedly initiated several weeks ago is still not finalized.

He has also announced that he is resigning as director of Oromo Media Network , a media he initiated and led for several years. Girma Gutema, another radical Oromo etho-nationalist based overseas, is rumored to be Jawar’s replacement.

Of the nearly ten ethnic Oromo nationalist parties,  Oromo Federalist Congress, which is under the chairmanship Merera Gunida, is believed to be a moderate ethnic nationalist with a considerably high number of supporters. It is one of the largest opposition parties in the country too.

Seemingly,  that it has become a question to many Ethiopian political observers as to why Jawar picked a moderate ethnic oromo party.

For many Ethiopians, Jawar is clearly known to be a radical Oromo nationalist, And the speculation is that he is intending to radicalize Merara Gudina’s ethnic party.  People with this view seem to assume that Jawar is unquestionably joining the party with the ambition of vying for leadership.

Still some tend to think that probably Professor Merera Gudina is losing ground in the party that he founded since many ethnic Oromo politicians, including Bekele Gerba who served the OFC as a secretary,  are radicalizing.

Why did Jawar opted out from  taking membership in Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) – which is believed to be the most radical ethnic nationalist party, with irredentist claims of lands in Amhara region of Ethiopia and the nation’s capital Addis Ababa itself, that has been around for well over four decades now? There has been a rumor in social media that OLF leadership is not comfortable with him.

Jawar is implicated in the death of over 86 people in Oromo region of Ethiopia. On the night of October 22, he wrote a facebook update claiming that he is under siege from security forces which triggered a protest and roadblock by his supporters in the region.

There was a campaign that he be brought to justice in connection to the incident.