Elemo Qiltu

Hassan Ibrahim (1936 – August 1974), better known by his nom de guerre Elemo Qiltu, was an Ethiopian guerrilla commander and businessman. A prominent member of the Oromo nationalist movement, he served as one of the first leaders of the Oromo Liberation Army.

Biography Early life Not much is known of Elemo's early life but by 1956 he had had an Islamic education and was living in Dire Dawa working for a wealthy Arab merchant who eventually took him to Aden, Yemen (then the Aden Protectorate) in 1956. He was suspected of financing enemies of the Ethiopian government. In 1967, a Harari businessman working for the Ethiopian government, visited Aden from Ethiopia and borrowed goods from Elemo and promised to pay him back if he came with him to Addis Abeba, Ethiopia.

Oromo Liberation Army After the meeting, Elemo, along with a fellow Oromo nationalist Hundee Taqi, went to Gelemso to begin the armed struggle. There they met the famed Tadesse Birru who was under house arrest. Elemo began to secretly organize an armed force in the city and Hundee's father suggested he base the guerrilla force in an area called Guba Koricha in the Chercher Mountains. In May 1974, Elemo took twenty men and made a base camp in the mountains. They then began to attack the guards of Mulatu Tegegn, a local landowner who was notorious for abusing the local populace. They eventually killed Mulatu after he ordered the killing of a Muslim teacher in Gelemso.

The killing of Mulatu shocked the region and the administrators sent their own troops to deal with the insurrection but failed. The local militias were unable to stop the guerrilla army which led the government of Ethiopia to send General Getechew Shibeshi to Gelemso with a large force. Elemo's army rarely engaged in long battles which made it hard for General Getachew to deal decisive blows to the guerrilla force. Getachew finally managed to surround the Oromo Liberation Army at the Battle of Tiro and managed to kill most of the force in the ensuing battle. Elemo surrendered but then blew himself up with a grenade when the government soldiers came to arrest him.

Legacy Elemo Qiltu is considered a martyr by the Oromo people and he is immortalized in many poems by Sheikh Bakhri Sapalo and many Oromo nationalist songs.