Saphalo script
The Saphalo script (Afaan Oromoo: Harfii/fidala Saphaloo) was developed in the mid 20th century, taught and used since, at a time when the Oromo language was targeted by the Emperor Haile Selassie, after being re-installed in 1941 after the Italians were expelled by British forces. Many Oromos were seen to be collaborators with the 'Italian occupation' and strongly opposed his re-installment. Sheikh Bakri began his project in opposition to Haile Selassie's policies introduced shortly after his return from exile.
Completed at Ligibo
It is not possible to know exactly when Sheikh Bakri started working on his new writing system. According to Aliyi Khalifa, it was during the time when he established his third center of teaching at Ligibo (1948-1953) that he completed the work on his writing system.
The Ligibo period was remembered by most of his students as the time when Sheikh Bakri started ACTIVE interaction with the villagers and the surrounding communities through his poetry. It was also said that Bakri completed his invention of alphabet here at Ligibo and The New alphabet was given special attention in his Quranic schools.
But there are reasons to believe that Sheikh Bakri started thinking and planning AbOUT his writing system shortly after Emperor Haile Selassie was restored to power in 1941. I say this for the following seven reasons. First and foremost, it has been reported that it took him ten to twelve years to complete his Oromo orthography.[ii][ii] This means, that he started working On It either in 1941 or 1942 and completed it by 1952 or 1953. Secondly, what forced him to embark on this decade long journey of invention was Haile Selassie's ban on the public use of Afaan Oromoo. It has been said and rightly that:
... from 1942 onwards, Amharic was promoted as the sole national language of the empire and all other national languages, particularly Afaan Oromoo, were suppressed. The regime prohibited the use of Oromo literature for educational or religious purposes.
Alternative Alphabets
Shaykh Bakrii tried using Ethiopic script but found out that just as Arabic, it has shortcomings. First, the Ethiopic script "has only seven vowels as opposed to ten vowels" of Afaan Oromoo. What is more, vowels of the Ethiopic script "do not have sound representation for" Afaan Oromoo. Second there is a difference in consonants and glottal stop. Thirdly, there is the problem of gemination. In short, the Ethiopic script "does not show the gemination of consonants and it is ill-fitted to represent the vowel sound." Since "vowel length and gemination are common features of Oromo language" Ethiopic script's "failure to represent them made [it] very inadequate."
Sheikh Bakrii knew the Latin alphabet and its advantages including its 26 letters as compared to 182 letters of Ethiopic script. And yet, he did not consider using the Latin alphabet because his ultimate objective was to Glorify Afaan Oromo with its own writing system, the objective to which he probably devoted a decade of his life. His orthography was a purposefully designed system "in which all the major issues of Oromo phonology are properly provided for." His invention of a writing system represents his life long efforts to develop Afaan Oromoo, and to expand and enrich its written literature. In the process Shaykh Bakrii became "the uncontested literary figure" a cultural hero, whose achievement "was so profound as to dwarf," all his contemporary Oromo scholars both Muslims and Christians. The invention of a writing system was his greatest achievement, which expressed his profound concern for the development of Afaan Oromoo.
Shaykh Bakrii was the first Oromo who saw clearly the problems inherent in attempting to write the Oromo language by means of orthographic systems which had been devised primarily for other languages.
Banned
It is reported that Sheikh Bakri wrote a 19 page letter explaining why he invented his writing system and why he continued to use it for Afaan Oromoo. His explanation did not satisfy the Amhara officials who banned the use of the Oromo writing system and subjected its inventor to ten years of house confinement. According to Mahdi Hamid Muudde (founder of Bariisa, first Newspaper in the Oromo language), Sheikh Bakrii's writing system "was used clandestinely in parts of Harar, Bale and Arsi." Once it was banned, using it became a criminal offense, thus deterring the people from using it. As a result, the Ethiopian authorities damaged the chance of the Oromo alphabet from becoming widely familiar and a workable writing system.