Bekele Gerba

Bekele Gerba (born 1961) is an Ethiopian politician and activist. He is a member of Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC) which promotes political change by nonviolence.

Views Ethnic conflict Bekele Gerba said that he became aware of ethnic diversity when studying at university. His first unpleasant experiences with discrimination against Oromo during his period as a high school teacher. He described his motivation to enter politics as a reaction to discrimination, including unfair land transfers. His view of land transfers in 2015 was of a three-tier system, with TPLF members having freedom to obtain any land they wanted; regional government ministers having relative freedom to purchase or sell land with oversight by the TPLF; lower level administrators having similar powers for remaining land deal opportunities; civil servants who observe without power; and farmers whose land is "looted" by the higher level elites. Bekele argued that the pattern was similar in all parts of Ethiopia.