Sisai Ibssa passed away on 20 August 2005 in Washington DC

Sisai Ibssa: Charismatic and Visionary Leader
(Press Release by OLC)

(Below are how Oromos from different corners reacted, taken from ONET)
We would like to express our deepest sympathies on this forum on the loss of one of the most ardent freedom fighter, committed to the cause of Oromo dedicated to serve his people a luminary longest Oromo activist and leader in the Diaspora, has passed away on the21 August after noon It came as a great shock to hear of Sisai Ibssa terrible illness, and he will be greatly missed by everybody who knew him, particularly those who, like me, had the good fortune to have him as a tutor. He was an inspiring teacher on liberation and a comrade I am proud to have had. As it has been said, the only thing we could do for him is to rededicate ourselves to the just cause to which he wholeheartedly fought his entire life. Among the many Sisai works The Invention of Ethiopia is to the very memorial one.

We Lost Sissy, We Lost Our Prophet
I was fortunate to have known Sisay Ibassa and lucky enough to have shared his time; He was a man of courage, a man of integrity and a freedom fighter who gave voice to the voiceless. Sisay was my friend he was my mentor and my teacher. He had liberated me. He restored my identity, he made me proud of my heritage. He also installed a burning fire for love of my country, and to do whatever is necessary and by whatever means to bring about freedom for my people. For the short time I have known Sissy he captured my attention immediately, in that he was not only a genuine Oromo but also a genuine person. He was a giant; he was a head of his time. For me to attempt to describe Sissy as an Oromo or Oromo Nationalist is beyond the scope my knowledge but I will simply describe him as an Oromo giant. Every second of his life he worked on Oromo cause, the results of his hard work may not be apparent to all now, but he has altered the course of Oromo people forever put on the right target. By simply following the path that he already paved a bit farther we will complete what he had started. The only thing that is left to do is for us to insist like Sissy did, we will have our freedom soon enough. What Malcolm-X is for African Americans is and what Sissy Ibssa is to Oromo. You may resist his militant style, you may avoid him like a bitter medicine, you may dislike he’s directness, you may even disagree with him, but he sure will alter your course of reality and install Ooromummaa, Sabboonuma as you never known it before. He raised my consciousnesses; he elevated me to true Oromoness. I was a mediocre now I am a nationalist and I am not afraid to say it because of him. I will greatly miss Sissy Ibssia beyond the description of existing words. I will miss his console, I will miss his determination, I will miss his insight I will miss his fore slightness, I will his liberating spirits. My condolence, to his family and relatives especially to Oromo cause and Oromo people everywhere. 

Friend and Student of Sisay Ibissa.

The news of Obbo Sisay's passing away is a great shock as the man is a great nationalist son of the great Oromo nation on the march to liberate itself. Even if Obbo Sisay passes away his work and his vision for the liberation of the great Oromo people will never die. Passing away, however, is a natural phenomena from which no living things may escape, however unpleasant and tragic. But passing away without seeing the fulfillment of the visions and missions for which one has been standing both individually and collectively may also be considered as an additional tragedy. Tragedies and sorrows whether incurred through natural deaths or Tsunami type natural calamities are moments of deep reflection, holistic collective contemplation with all the senses of unity as one community, and that community in this particular case is the great kushitic community and the great Gada people. The somber mood also means that we are all in the same boat and we are all marching along the same direction and we will slowly but surely come to the same somber end. As death and sorrows are uniting factors, so let Oromos unite and make the dreams of Obbo Sisay and the entire Oromo nation come true, so that we may not keep on passing away one by one without seeing our reachable dreams and leaving behind additional tragedies. Otherwise, I wish to extend my deepest condolences to the family of Obbo Sisay, relatives, acquaintances, as well as to the wider Oromo nation for whose interest and true emancipation he has been working selflessly.

Tokkummaa Bartoota Oromoo Awurooppaa ( TBOA)

Hagayya 25, 2005

Obbo Sisai Ibsaatiin baattalatti uf gidduutii dhabuu keenyaaf gaddi TBOA tti dhagahamu daangaa hinqabu. Seenaa Qabsoo sabboononni Barattoota Oromoo biyya alaatti godhaa turan yoo kaafnu qooda obbo Sisai dagachuun hindanda´amu. Seenaa TBOA keessatti bakki obbo Sisai sadarkaa ol aanaatti beekama.

Obbo Sisai yeroo namni Oromummaa isaatti boonee isa cinaa dhaabbattu hedduun hinjirre keessatti wallaalaa ´ ufii ´ fi diina kallattii waliin qabsoo dachaa gochaa daandii bilisummaa Amerikaa Kaabaa fi Awurooppaatti warra bu´uuresse keessaa isa hangafa akka ta´e seenaan isaa ni hima.

Bilisummaan tokkummaa malee , tokkummaan ammoo wal dandeettii malee abjuu akka ta´e hubatee kan bu´uura furmaataa buuse obbo Sisai Ibsaati. Obbo Sisai akkuma gootota keenya hedduu abjuu bilisumma ummata isaaf hawwu utuu hinargiin hirribni xumuraa isa fudhachuu isaaf gaddi keenya guddaa dha.

Firootaa fi hiriyyoota isaa hundaan waaqni isin haa jabeessu jenna. Lubbuu isaas Waaqni bakka qabbanaa nuuf haa kaawu.

TBOA, Hagayya 25,2005

Sisai Ibssa Dies at 60; Advocate For the Oromo People of Africa
Washington Post
Thursday, September 15, 2005

Sisai Ibssa, a longtime Washington resident who championed the cause of nationalism for the Oromo people of the Horn of Africa, died Aug. 20 of a heart attack at his home. He was 60.

Mr. Ibssa worked as a cabdriver in Washington for 25 years while building political organizations and pursuing scholarly research on the plight of people in his native land. An activist since the early 1970s, he advocated national liberation for the Oromo people, who number 30 million in Ethiopia.

Sisai Ibssa was a longtime Washington resident. (Family Photo - Family Photo)

Mr. Ibssa was born in the countryside of central Oromia, the youngest of 14 children. As a young boy, he took responsibility for herding 120 head of cattle and goats before beginning his formal education.

He arrived in the United States in 1967 and received a bachelor's degree in economics from Federal City College, a predecessor of the University of the District of Columbia, in 1972. He attended American University before returning to UDC to earn a master's degree in political science in 1974.

When Mr. Ibssa was a university student in Washington during the late 1960s, his political fervor was stoked by involvement in the civil rights movement. He joined the Ethiopian student movement in Washington in 1968 and eventually sided with those who supported Eritreans' quest for national self-determination.

In 1974, Mr. Ibssa founded the first Oromo organization in North America, known then as the Tokkummaa Oromo Organization in North America and later as the Union of Oromo Students in North America.

From the formation of that first organization to the establishment of the United Liberation Forces of Oromia (ULFO) in 2000, he played a leading role in establishing and consolidating several dimensions of the Oromo national movement locally and globally. He had served as the chair of Union of Oromo in North America and of the Oromia Liberation Council. He was a spokesman for ULFO at the time of his death.

In 1984, he helped arrange a committee to organize a Horn of Africa conference in Washington and two years later founded the Oromo Studies Association.

He was a member of the Oromo Community Organization of Washington and a founder in 1996 of the Oromo Center Inc., a community cafe and gathering place in the District. He chaired a group that acquired land and a building, which opened in July. Between 2,000 and 3,000 Oromo people are said to live in the Washington area.

An independent thinker, he was involved in establishing and editing several Oromo publications. He also wrote numerous articles and was a regular presenter at the African Studies Association annual conferences as well as at Oromo Studies Association meetings.

He was co-author, with Bonnie K. Holcomb, of "The Invention of Ethiopia: The Making of a Dependent Colonial State in Northeast Africa" (1990).

He mentored many young people in academics, music, business and sports -- particularly soccer. He served as coach of the Renegades U-14, a Montgomery (County) Soccer Incorporated Classic Division Soccer Team in 2001-2002. He also advised Leenca Oromia, the Washington-based team of the Oromo Soccer Federation.

More than 1,000 people turned out in the rain last month for a traditional Oromo memorial ceremony at a horse farm in Potomac. Eighteen men on horses draped in red and white joined in the celebration of the cultural icon's accomplishments.

Survivors include four sisters, Alemitu Ibsa of Falls Church and Dingishu Ibsa, Danse Ibsa and Bizunesh Ibsa, all of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; and three brothers, Bekele Ibsa, Tadesse Ibsa and Lema Ibsa, all of Addis Ababa.