''I Will Not Regret'' (

Amharic Amharic is an Ethio-Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amhara people, and also serves as a lingua franca for all other metropolitan populati ...

: አልፀፀትም,

Oromo Oromo may refer to: * Oromo people, an ethnic group of Ethiopia and Kenya * Oromo language, an Afroasiatic language See also * *Orma (clan), Oromo tribe *Oromia Oromia (, ) is a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia and the homelan ...

: ''Hin Gaabbu'') is a 2024 memoir by Ethiopian political activist

Jawar Mohammed Jawar Mohammed (; ግእዝ፡ ጃዋር መሐመድ born 12 May 1986) is an Ethiopian political analyst and activist. One of the founders of the Oromia Media Network (OMN), Jawar was a leading organizer of the 2014–2016 Oromo protests. He h ...

, unveiled on 19 December 2024 in

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

. It accounts Jawar's life and his difficulty in

activism and the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

persecutions. The book, which consists of 500 pages, details Jawar's imprisonment following the Hachalu Hundessa riots in 2020. Commenting the reason of why the book was released in Kenya, Jawar said "The rulers were not happy,” he said. "Given the current situation in our country, I did not want to get into trouble for the sake of a book".

Synopsis

The book was written in

(translated as አልፀፀትም) and

(''Hin Gaabbu'') and consists of 500 page. Generally, the memoir reflects Jawar's life and career as an activist and embodies his struggle for

independence and his imprisonment and torture by the

Ethiopian government The government of Ethiopia () is the federal government of Ethiopia. It is structured in a framework of a federal republic, federal parliamentary system, parliamentary republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, prime minister is the hea ...

. This account includes the aftermath of Hachalu Hundessa riots, where Oromo singer Hachalu Hundessa was assassinated on 29 June 2020. Jawar began his writing during his 18-month imprisonment following the unrest. In 2024, Jawar revealed to

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

interview that he smuggled pages out of a prison with assistance of prison guards, explaining "At first, when I asked for paper, it was denied,” he said. “But a police officer gave me a notebook, and I started writing. Later, in Qaliti prison, writing was not prohibited, though taking the pages out was a challenge". Jawar opted the book unveiling in Kenya than Ethiopia because of political persecution of

Abiy Abiy Ahmed Ali (; ; born 15 August 1976) is an Ethiopian politician who is the current Prime Minister of Ethiopia since 2018 and the leader of the Prosperity Party since 2019. He rose through the ranks of government via the Information Networ ...

government, "The rulers were not happy,” he said. "Given the current situation in our country, I did not want to get into trouble for the sake of a book". Initially, Jawar decided to release the book in Europe, but due to the support of Oromo diaspora in Kenya, he shifted the release in Nairobi on 19 December 2024.{{Cite web , last=newsaddis , date=2024-12-20 , title=Launching of Jawar Mohammed's "HIN GAABBU አልፀፀትም" Postponed , url=https://newsaddis.com/launching-of-jawar-mohammeds-hin-gaabbu-%E1%8A%A0%E1%88%8D%E1%8D%80%E1%8D%80%E1%89%B5%E1%88%9D-postponed/ , access-date=2024-12-28 , website=NewsAddis , language=en-US He highlighted that the book should be read in good times in political situation, commenting "I had hoped that after the war had subsided, people could read the book in peace. But things are getting worse, not better. People who knew the book was ready were pressuring me to publish it."

References

External links

''I Will Not Regret''
at

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2024 non-fiction books Political books