Another perspective into the crown prince's life 

BOOK REVIEW 

 BY WORKU BELACHEW   (PUBLISHED ON THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD ON 24 MAY 2014)

Title of book: “The emergence and failure of Abeyto Eyasu”      Author: Atnafseged Yilma

 Language: Amharic                                                                                         

Genre:  Biography       
 Publisher: Artistic printing enterprise                                                   

Number of chapters: 17     

Price: ETB 85, USD 25                                                                           

Number of pages: 337           

Illustrations:   Over 97                             

Date of publication: April 2014                                                  

The period of Abeto Eyassu, legitimate heir of  the great Emperor Menelik II is always with full of controversy. Lij Eyasu Michael was born to his father  Ras Ali of Wollo (later King Michael), and Woizero Shewaregga Menelik. Writers that articulate their contents making Eyasu at issue— particularity stressing to uncover the facts that aggravated and caused the deposition of  Lej Eyasu— have been quite often subject to criticism of lacking both depth and  objectivity on two accounts.  Authors ostensibly grouped in Dejach Teferi Mekonen's, who later would reign as Emperor Haile-Selassie, bloc try to justify the deposition of the crown prince, Eyassu, referring to various evidences.   To the contrary, others that were/are  believed to be in  Eyasu's bloc for their part  engages in tarnishing Dejach Teferi's image tagging him with a  plotting of  a successful  coup, organizing unfounded  accusations against Eyasu, just  for a mare desire of power.

Atnafseged's book takes readers between the frontiers of Eyesu's  pedigree , coming to power, disposition and in house detention to give a clear picture of string of events, that help readers arrive at sensible conclusions.  He used his backlog of writing techniques that he acquired back in the days when he was reporter of Menen Megazine, City Desk Editor of Addis Zemen newspaper being second man after Bealu Girma, and Editor-in- chief of Yezareyitu Ethiopia, among others.        

Author Atnafseged Yilima  in his biographical work elucidated the muse that has stricken him  to write this book this way: In the history of Eyasu, the destructive stands high shouldered when compared to the constructive...there were blind resentment his power rivalries spread against him. He [Eyesu] had remained unfortunate of such campaigns even now after  a century. Diametrically opposite to that, others who favours  Eyasu, inflate his deeds leaving aside the wrongs he did. According to Atnafseged, the political backdrop of various times consumed the history of Eyasu for their own cause. The author, therefore, tried to address the objective of  filtering the fiction from the reality so as to make the new generation understand what he calls “the truth”.

To hit the nail on the head and  come up with sound justification, Atnafseged included data of both primary and secondary kind in his book “The emergence and failure of Abeto Eyasu”,  a literal translation of the book's title.  Along the course of the narration which he opted to be from third person point of view, letters, exchanged between important political figures,  interviews with eye witnesses, among others, substantiated his assertions. In addition, he refereed and quoted, at times summarized  from published and unpublished works of other authors to base his arguments on a firm ground.  

In the first part of the book, the writer promised not to deliberately instigate another hostile chapter as a result of his work.  Later in the content, he  used various techniques to strike a balance and to keep this promise intact. For instance, he has given and treated with equal weight substances related to Eyasu recorded by several authors, despite the facts stand  in conflict with his principal argument. 

At some pages  as one goes through the book, the short-phrased  remarks — mostly  about  mistakes which brought tremendous chaotic results— are enough to put readers in ambivalence as to the writer's orientation. After revealing how the notabilities deluded  King Micheal for instance he exclaimed with a phrase  “innocent Woloye!”. And in other places as well his opinion has been manifest as he criticized “wrong doers” particularly when it comes to compromising the national interest for personal gains.

Having said that, this writer wishes to make a bird’s eye view of the content of the book.

The author preferred beginning with the various titles of Eyasu which were common in the system of Showa notabilities.  Among the titles were  Lej , Abeto, and his horse's name  Abba Tena. Particularly the latter, Aba Tena, looks like an optimistic one, it has something to do with stability, wellness and the likes. 

When readers leaf through the pages after reading the introduction, they do not  get the content of the book immediately, rather additional introductory pages  titled,  “I have more to say” appears. In these pages, he boldly criticized as Amharic is lacking ownership. He said that the grammar in various work of authors is being highly violated. His hard-boiled pen did not refrain from criticizing Ethiopian Orthodox Church too, which he complimented it for being the origin of Ge'ez and Amharic alphabets as well as creator and owner of  literature. But he squarely criticized the church itself for breaching the the grammatical rules of this language. In his final analysis on this part, he suggested the style he employed in using the arguably redundant Amharic characters. 

It looks like that this book has a lot to say for anyone that study or simply wants to know factors that account for political marriage between rulers during the imperial time. When Atnafseged assessed the  pedigree of Eyasu,  he went as far back both to his paternal and maternal bloodlines such as the parents of  Atse (Equivalent to emperor) Menelik II, families of Eyasus' mother and to his father's parents.

The significance of  writing and reading/studding about Eyasu would not be out of the context of understanding the cause and effect a very controversial “power transition” from Eyasu to Empress Zewiditu and Ras Tereri Mekonen. It also encircles around weather the prince's ousting is just or not.

After the passing of Atse Menelik II, Lej Eyasu took over the crown under the guardian of Ras Tesema Nadew.   However, Ras Tesema himself died after few years. Due to that, Eyasu had got the autonomous power to follow his own free will, as documented by various authors.

Atnafseged, therefore, sharply looked into this period and presented evidences on how various high ranking officials of the time made historic mistakes both in  misguiding Lij Eyasu and  ignoring their responsibility to assign  another guardian. 

Atnafseged is an equivocal to mention names of those whom he said were accountable for making what he called historic mistakes in failing to guide the young leader. Then, dominant politician    Fetawrari  Hapte Giyorgis, Patriarch Abune Matias, and Abune Wolde Georgis and even the prince's own father Ras Micheal and Showan notabilities in general have not escaped this criticism. Though these people could not defend themselves this time, Atnafseged's directness is important for it  can open discussion between various groups.

As  disproving the conversion of  Eyasu to Islam, the major charge filed against Eyasu by his rivalries,  is in the objective of Atnafseged's work, he has brought various evidences to showcase the charge was a falsity created with assistance of European colonials. For instance, he mentioned as Eyasu  built, Kechene Medhanealem church, a trend that Christian kings and emperors practiced,  he wrote as Eyasu jubilantly celebrated Meskel  in Addis Ababa, inter alia.

Though Eyasu's measures had been bitter to Christian rulers, his far sighted strategies of favouring  marginalized section of Ethiopian society and helping them  to stand in an equal feet among their fellow Ethiopians has been well explained  in the content of Atnafseged's work, a matter that other writers failed to  mention.  Eyasu's visit of peripheries (emerging states ) of Ethiopia such as Afar and  Ethiopian Somali, his political marriage to their women has also been presented as the soundness of his strategy. Then political system, however, was not patterned this way. Moreover, his being in bad terms with then colonizing forces added fuel to it. And finally, with fabricated photographs of Eyasu which showed as he wore in Islam traditions, among other charges, brought an opportunity to hasten his demise, Atnafseged wrote.  Unlike similar biographers, however, Atnafseged argued as the fabrication was just to dispose him from power.

He also pitied Eyasu, reasoning that the legacy Menelik had won was not easy to bear  for any successor, no matter who it would be. Coupled with working without guardian,  taking over and sustaining Menelik's legacy was a duty that  Eyasu alone was not able to discharge. 

Atnafseged endeavored to  explain turning points in history of Ethiopia resulted from the political upheaval of the time. For instance, the enthronement Menelik's daughter Empress Zewditu as well as Ras Teferi as a heir instigated fierce battles among the people of Ethiopia that lined up in opposite ends, history already recorded the battles of  Tora Mesk, and Segele, just to mention few. These and other battles vastly accounted for the death of many Ethiopians  including Heroes/heroines  of the battle of  Adowa.

In his analysis, the author remarked the price the people of Ethiopia paid as a result of those wars. Atnafseged and other writers shared this fact with almost the same tone. This internal instability was a great pretext creating a favourable condition for the second Italian invasion.

If the writer of this piece would like to recommend this book for readers, it is first for those who study Ethiopian History and history of Ethiopian diplomacy as well. For the general reader, this book contains a great deal in portraying, among others, how internal instability creates swampy ground for external antagonizing forces.

And for young leaders of Ethiopia too, Atnafseged's work is crucial for it shows how  advancing individual needs at the expense of  common good brings a fatal end.  Nation continues healthy and prosperous when a generation relays something good to the next. This could be attained when leaders are far sighted and stand united leaving differences aside.

Desert locust besieging Addis Ababa, “roof of Africa”

BY WORKU BELACHEW 

In my life, I did not see natural disaster in Addis Ababa until yesterday. Yesterday, however, a swarm of locust besieged the capital, though it caused no harm. Residents were unaware of that incident in advance. And the thing was too unusual. The locust were moving from Eastern Addis to North Western part. Fear reigned for hours. Mothers who send their kids to school were screaming and running to schools. One mother who  received a phone call informing her that “Desert Locust surrounded the neighborhoods” from a relative  mistakenly heard that Desert lion surrounded .... The mistake was this. Desert locust in Amharic is called Yebereha Ambeta, and she confused it with Yebereha Anbessa ( desert lion) for they are slightly related in phenom. And she spread this wrong information which raised escalated shock to  nearby residents. 

East African Desert Locust Prevention and Control Office headquartered in Addis Ababa in a place called Gurd Shola, North Addis. It is almost in same place that Ministry of Agriculture situated. None, nevertheless, forecast this to happen when it even made its way to Addis from Somali Land. Later on, Ethiopian Television attributing an expert from Ministry of Agriculture reported that the locust brings no harm since it is not crop season.

But, failure both to prevent, control and to inform residents as well as farmers about the disastrous locust is stirring questions among various people.

Genre: Editorial 

Published in The Ethiopian Herald on 10 May 2014

Peace, stability for the youngest African nation: A call of the day! 

The youngest nation in Africa has failed to maintain peace and stability even for two  years after getting its independence. South Sudan, which saw the longest war in the history of Africa, is still engrossed int a huge humanitarian crisis resulting from intolerance within the party itself that devoted to liberate the nation back in the days.

It is almost a year since South Sudanese peace and stability razed and fears and persecutions of human right enthroned in the entire nation. According to report of Oxfam for instance, Over 800,000 people have fled their homes, more than 76,000 people have sought refuge at various UN compounds across the country and 254,600 people have fled to neighboring countries while myriads of people lost their lives. The backdrop has even turned into worse as the war between the two factions evolved towards taking ethnic shape. Many pronounced the killing of South Sudanese that were under the security blanket of United Nations in Bor and  Benitu a genocide. This indiscriminate killing of innocent people looks like to leaving its protracted scars on the future of South Sudan. 

All these suffering principally source from less cultivation of  culture of dialogue to defuse differences and bring situations back to normal for the common good of  the nation. And even differences are natural, could occur at any place and time. It could not have derailed their determination to  prosper their nation. But, now the cracks are widening and widening. Due to that, the youngest nation's fertile lands are ravaging with bullets. Thus, its hardworking people have nothing other than bending their knees for humanitarian aids. But, are these things concealed from the understanding of the leaders? And why do they repeatedly fail to see their people's suffering?

From the outset of this conflict, the international community in various multilateral fora has done enough to bring the warring factions to terms. Ethiopia also through IGAD played a role with a view to stabilize its newest neighbour. The rival factions also signed agreement for the cessation of hostilities and to neutralize the issues that enervate the inter-party peace in a political dialogue. Albeit, the agreements did not get materialized.

The East African region which has seen catastrophic suffering of all kinds, to name just few, famine, civil and cross-border wars, terrorism, and even state failure,  is now revitalizing itself into a stabilized region. But the misfortune leaps from South Sudan, unless the two warring parties reconsider their stand and come to cooperation, for sure this nation would be a weak link of the region at least for two reasons. Firstly, the humanitarian crisis, aside from putting millions of its people into grave chaos, the situation would end up being another burden to the international community even more than it is now. The resulting state failure would also be a launching pad for  the opportunistic and infamous terrorist organization's destructive agendas. Thus, the problem, despite occurring in an African nation, would obviously infect many other countries, secondly. That is why, leaders of the parties in war need to sit and negotiate first for the good of their own people from which they hail and second for the good of the region and beyond.

Now IGAD is so devoted with the continued efforts from the international community and Ethiopia, opportunities are being created for the leaders to discuss and negotiate face-to-face [after this article get published the two parties made agreement on key issues] under same roof. This is  good news for the people of  South Sudanese and to all peace loving people across the world. But, it would be  complete when coupled with concrete results of ending the war. No doubt, trying to fetch solution from a barrel of a gun is not the dictate of the modern world. However, putting a win-win solution in a round table  for the resolve of the people they want to see prosper would be best. And they need to admit that  millions must not die, starve, destabilize and raped because of them.

What makes this negotiation too critical is also that as Mark Simmonds—Minister for Africa at Foreign and Commonwealth office— in his article titled, A tale of two visits published in The Ethiopian Herald on Thursday May 9, 2014 puts it: “If people are unable to plant crops over the next couple of months, we could be looking at a famine of grotesque proportions.”  Right! The leaders of both sides have historic responsibility not to leave their people into another desperation resulting from missing to use the coming crop season. Everything in that country needs to come to normal. For that to be real, the leaders genuine dialogue play unrivaled roles. May their discussion bear fruits!