Editor’s Note : Views in the article do not necessarily reflect the views of borkena.com
By Samuel Estefanous
Last weekend I read a news brief that has put the former President in the limelight one more time. A local civic society has bestowed on him a meritorious prize in appreciation of the Colonel’s service to the people of Ethiopia with specific reference to the successful nationwide literacy program conducted under the aegis of none other than the one and only Mengistu Hailemariam!
What kept me thinking wasn’t the prize but the devotion of a team of Ethiopians who had travelled all the way to Harare to congratulate the former President in person and present the certificate with a warm family themed tribute. Guess what? He was addressed as ‘President’ by the visiting team just like any former President of a Western democracy is naturally called. Looks like the alleged butcher of ‘ya tweld’ has lived to be fully reinstated into the good will of at least a segment of the society.
1-Children of the Dergue
It was the day European soccer titans were set to do battle at Munich Allianz Arena and as the game increasingly looked like an exhibition charity tournament right from the beginning, a diehard Milan fan turned to me and said something like my team was winning. I smiled and chose to say nothing the more so as I didn’t betray the slightest hint that I was rooting for PSG. I don’t mean to brag but even when I was a kid I wasn’t a noisy fan. I just love watching and enjoying the beautiful game.
At 10:30p.m. My favorite hangout wasn’t packed and rather the atmosphere was unusually relaxed so…what I did was, I quizzed my companion about the slightly noticeable Tigrigna accent I had detected in his flawless Amarigna, you know, to take his mind off the game and stuff. I don’t know, maybe I was trying to prove a local theory here in Addis that Eritreans invariably support Italian teams in all Championship tournaments.
The Milan fan readily and pleasantly confirmed my surmise and imparted that his family was booted out of Asmara in the early 1990s because ‘my Dad was a Dergue soldier, you know, we are children of the Dergue’ he noted rather proudly. Right away he broke into a happy Amharic rendition of Le Internationale (In the event you didn’t know the Amharic version of Le Internationale could only be surpassed by the original French. Whoever wrote the lyrics to the anthem of Workers of the World deserves recognition), followed by the epic ‘Our Sun has come out to shine’. Incidentally the second song always reminds me of Nodar Dumbadze’s book of similar title.
I was thinking…once the lid is broken and folks feel like they can speak their hearts out, we are sure to hear stories like this more frequently. Say what you have got to say but when an Asmerino says he is a child of the Dergue to a chance acquaintance, I think it is time to re-review the true legacy of the Dergue without the popular hysteria. Obviously, the era of political correctness that validates unquestioned Dergue bashing is losing ground. As it is ‘this generation’-yih tweld-is unapologetically roasting ‘that generation’-ya tweld-and wouldn’t honor the sacrifice selflessly made in the name and for the sake of posterity. On the contrary it has kept the memory of Mengistu alive and warm in endless jokes, impressions and the endearing ‘Menge’ posters decorating cabs .
Besides, for some reason the Colonel is reputed to have been an established Arada hailing from the heart of Addis and Harar and kids about the city find him as ‘one of their own kind’. I mean even in some of the irreverent depictions of the Colonel in the social media, the affection just pours in and the tubers are raking in huge sums. Menge has become a veritable goldmine and no one seems to try to tone down the contents at least in memory of the fallen. It has to be underscored in bold letters that the Red Terror wasn’t Khat driven hallucination of EPRP militants as some rudely contend.
2-Immortalizing a Convict through Books and Show talks?
Unlike his comrades Mengistu didn’t do term. He remains a fugitive in the eyes of the law. But to the absolute horror of his avowed enemies, little importance is accorded to the cold fact that the man is a convicted criminal. One of his ‘adopted’ children by the name Yitagesu recently published a sentimental biography of the Dictator that took the country by storm. It was sold like hot cake and the author has become an overnight sensational writer of the decade. The way I remember him, he was a small time writer best known to do master of ceremony gigs during inaugurals and book launching events. However, nowadays his ‘royal presence’ graces sponsored TV programs and he is a bankable guest to raise subscription, views and ratings of all kinds of shows. He deserves the kudos! He had worked hard for it.
What makes this concerted effort to rehabilitate the Colonel emphatic is that some of his own victims and their descendants are loath to subscribe to his fugitive status. Otherwise, he could have been drowned in the sheer amount of court and other literature produced to demonize him and make him out as a walking monster. The likes of Major Dawit didn’t spare resources to ‘put him’ in his rightful place in history but it just wouldn’t catch on to the utter confusion of the ferenjis. I think the latter are beginning to figure out why. A ferenji Wikipedia contributor to the Colonel’s bio says the difficulty of prosecuting Mengistu and establishing his legacy as an out and out criminal junta is marred by the fact that there was indeed some kind of twisted justice in the Dergue’s criminal endeavors. Reportedly Mengistu was ethnic blind when he delivered his mortal blows left and right indiscriminately. See? Folks find that an elevated higher ideal than espousing a cause limited to a given tribe however peaceful the struggle is. This country is a mystery, I swear to God it is. Just when you give up on it and write it off as an ethnically fragmented polity you read something like that…and hear more. The other day I walked in on my colleagues debating the African heritage of our country reaching as far out as Ghana in their effort to drive their shared Ethio-based pan-Africanist point home. Without realizing it they were doing great justice to Haile Gerima and it makes you wonder how a handful advocates of tribalism were able to conquer the commanding heights in a country like ours.
God Bless.
The writer can be reached at : estefanoussamuel@yahoo.com
Editor’s Note : Views in the article do not necessarily reflect the views of borkena.com
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If all the people in the Mengistu picture are from the Southern region, then why are all the girls wearing kemis?
Is this a form of self-hatred? Mengistu and his family will go down in Ethiopian history forever, is that not enough to proudly present yourself for who you really are? It reminds me of Hailemariam Desalegn Boshe.
They are emulating the very same people who they were in brutal, murderous conflict with. It is sad to see!
Dear Obbo Estefanous,
I’m not surprised by this story. It is happening in other countries too where some groups trying to rehab proven murderers. You find people painting rosy pictures of genocidal brutes like Hitler and Mussolini. They try to tell us how Hitler achieved zero unemployment for Germany during the desperate days of the Great Depression of the 1930’s. They tell us how Mussolini gained the pride his Italy lost all along for decades. I remember when the former PM Haile Mariam Desalegn, after abdicating his premiership, traveled all the way to Zimbabwe to salute/honor Mengistu. So this is not the first time for some people seen adoring Mengistu. I can give you one or two others from the past in the history of that country being adored but I will bite my tongue for now. It is sad but true.
I would like to give you an example from my own experience. It took place many years ago at my place here in the USA many years ago. It was at the time when Mengistu and his hordes were put on trial in the old country in the 1990’s. Two of us were in the US when the carnage took place over there in the last 1970’s in what was called the ‘Red Terror’. Two others were in the middle of it with the opposition and it was nothing short of a miracle that they had survived. So we were talking about the brutality of Mengistu and his bootlickers and I asked the cardinal question. How come Mengistu is not charged by The ICC At The Hague? I was gopsmacked by the response of one of the two who narrowly escaped Mengistu’s dragnet. In a court of law his lawyers can bring up the attempt on his life and killing of his followers by the armed opposition which may give him the legal rights to defend himself. So in a court of law like the ICC, his arraignment might not get traction, I was told. In cases of Charles Taylor of Liberia and Slobodan Milošević is totally a different setup. So they will not take Mengistu’s case. So I asked my survived friend if the attempt on Mengistu’s life was a mistake by the group he supported and to my astonishment he told me it was indeed a tactical mistake. But Mengistu’s response was brutal and barbaric with no excuse for it. In my opinion, at least, Mengistu and his colleagues should have been tried at The Hague for summarily executing those 60 former officials of the late Emperor. So the haggling goes on.
Blessings to you and your family.
Dear EAFarda
That is right… summarily executing those elders who had willingly submitted themselves trusting in some kind of due process is going to haunt generations to come; and the senseless butchering of the generals who had attempted the ill fated coup…they meant to stop the carnage at any cost, he could have at least spared their lives.
God Bless
Dear SMLFanous,
Thank you for your response.