He is a member of Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC) which promotes political change by nonviolence.

He obtained a bachelor of arts in foreign language and literature at Addis Ababa University (AAU).

Bekele moved to Addis Ababa and continued teaching at private universities.

An Amnesty International delegation had met both Bekele and Olbana in the preceding days.

In 2012, while still in prison, Bekele became the First Deputy Chair of the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC) that was formed from a merger of the OFDM and the OPC.

On 16 February 2021, the Ethiopian Federal High Court ordered Bekele and the other hunger strikers be treated at Landmark General Hospital.

The Federal High Court confirmed its order for Bekele to be taken to Landmark Hospital.

He described his motivation to enter politics as a reaction to discrimination, including unfair land transfers.

Bekele stated in 2015 that he saw no role for armed struggle for the OFC, favouring the civil disobedience methods of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King.

[2] Earlier, during a court appearance for his 2011 arrest, Bekele stated, I am honoured to learn that my non-violent struggles and humble sacrifices for the democratic and human rights of the Oromo people, to whom I was born without a wish on my part but due to the will of the Almighty, have been considered a crime and to be unjustly convicted.