By Yohannes Edemariam and Aida Edemariam
The poet and dramatist Tsegaye Gebre-Medhin, who has died aged 69, was considered Ethiopia’s poet laureate. He was one of the most important literary figures that country has produced in the last hundred years, and certainly the best known, both within and outside it; his 1960s decision to write about the common man, rather than religion and royalty, marked the beginning of modern Ethiopian theatre. He wrote in English and was a translator of Shakespeare, but his real gift and achievement was to harness the considerable lyrical powers of his own, Ethiopian, languages.
This was often achieved under trying circumstances. His career spanned three regimes: Emperor Haile Selassie I’s feudal rule, Mengistu Hailemariam’s Marxist dictatorship (under which he was briefly imprisoned), and the putative democracy of Meles Zenawi. All three banned his plays; he once estimated that of 49 works, 36 had at one time or another been censored.
Tsegaye was born in Boda, a village some 120km from the capital, to an Oromo father, who was away fighting the Italians, and an Amhara mother. (The two groups speak languages from entirely different linguistic groups, Cushitic and Semitic respectively; the latter has an alphabet of some 300 letters.) As many Ethiopian boys do, he also learned Ge’ez, the ancient language of the church, an Ethiopian equivalent to Latin; he also helped the family by caring for cattle. He was more unusual in beginning to write plays when at the local elementary school. At 16 he transferred to the Wingate school in Addis Ababa, where he developed an interest in pantomime; this was followed, in 1959, by a degree from the Blackstone School of Law in Chicago. He had not forgotten his first love, however; the following year he used a Unesco scholarship to do an educational tour that included visits to the Royal Court Theatre in London and the Comédie Française, Paris.
The 1960s were an important decade. He returned to Ethiopia in 1960 to run the Municipality Company at the National Theatre and establish a school which produced a number of leading Ethiopian actors. Realising the usefulness of Shakespeare in the making of dangerous political points, he translated Macbeth and King Lear. He also translated Molière’s Tartuffe, and wrote a play in English called Oda Oak Oracle, which was performed in theatres in Ethiopia, Britain, Denmark, Italy, Romania, Nigeria, Tanzania and the US, and still appears on reading lists in black studies departments. But it was Yekermew Sew (Tomorrow’s Man) which established his place in Ethiopian theatre.”Drawing from Ge’ez and Amharic and Orominya, he was able to coin phrases which, in normal Amharic language, don’t exist, but are powerful and expressive,” says Tamrat Gebeyehu, author of the Ethiopian entry in the World Encyclopaedia of Contemporary Theatre. Thus it was “a pleasure to hear his characters talk, even though chances were you did not understand 50% of what they were saying.” In 1966, aged 29, he became the youngest person ever to receive the Haile Selassie I Prize for Amharic Literature.
Briefly, he was appointed minister of culture, but Haile Selassie was deposed by Mengistu Hailemariam and, during the Red Terror in 1975, Tsegaye and the playwright Ayalneh Mulatu spent months together in a prison cell. Ayalneh, who remained friends with Tsegaye for the rest of his life, remembers a daily 11am roll call of men to be killed, and the day his own name came up. It was mispronounced, and Tsegaye seized on the mispronunciation to argue they had the wrong man, thus saving Ayalneh’s life. They wrote poems and plays on the paper bags their food came in.
Agit-prop came into its own under the Marxist regime, as did Tsegaye’s own brand of declamatory nationalism. He wrote Inat Alem Tenu (or Mother Cour- age, though he borrowed only the title) and Ha Hu be Sidist Wer (ABC in Six Months), which referred to the period of the emperor’s deposition. In 1979 he helped to establish the theatre arts department at Addis Ababa University where he is remembered as being very strict and aloof. In the 1980s he also wrote historical plays about Ethiopian kings, one of which, Tewodros, was performed at the Arts Theatre in London in 1986. In 1993, after Mengistu Hailemariam was in turn deposed, he wrote a companion piece to Ha Hu be Sidist Wer. This was Ha Hu Weynis Pe Pu – A or Z, a play about peace, which the current regime banned.
There are persistent reports that the actors were beaten while on tour. Despite this, “I like to go out and communicate with the common folk of Ethiopia,” Tsegaye wrote in 1999. “The peasant, the patriot, the soldier, the traitor, the housewife, the priest, the sheikh … It is from them that I learn about my country and people. And generally their comments are accompanied by tears; their stories are mostly melancholy; their memories are bitter and tragic. It is that which I reflect in my writings. That is why my plays dwell on tragedy.”
In 1998 he moved to New York to undergo dialysis, virtually unavailable in Ethiopia, and to be near his children. He remained active, promoting Ethiopian culture, until the end. In 2002 the African Union took one of his poems as its anthem. He is survived by his wife Lakech Bitew, three daughters, Yodit, Mahlet and Adey, and three sons, Ayenew, Estifanos and Hailu. Tsegaye Gebre-Medhin, poet and dramatist, born August 17 1936; died February 25 2006
Dr Nardos Minase, the wife of Addis Ababa mayor-elect, Dr Berhanu Nega, was prevented from visiting her husband yesterday at the Qaliti prison where he is detained.
Dr Nardos was told that she needs Kebele ID, even though she explained to the prison authorities that as a non-citizen she is allowed to have only a Ministry of Foreign Affairs-issued ID.
By Scott Morgan
There was a glimmer of hope for the Ethiopian Opposition last week. The British have asked for the Government of Ethiopia to allow for an independent investigation into Human Rights Abuses. Now the ultimate player in world politics was calling. A delegation had arrived from the United States. The two main opposition parties made their concerns known and duly waited for the response. What was the reply? Don’t expect any changes to be facilitated by Washington. However we will talk with the government to improve conditions.
One must ask if this policy contradicts the goals laid out by President Bush in his second inaugural address in January 2005. In the address the President identified the spread of Democracy worldwide as a goal of his during his term that expires in 2009. This goal has had marginal success in the Middle East and in Africa recent elections in Liberia can be construed as a success. This goal is an interesting concept. In the Past the US has focused its foreign relations based more on stability than on Democracy.
This policy is a relic of the Cold War. The return of this policy could indicate that the US is trying to check the influence of a couple of actors trying to raise their sphere of influence in Africa. During the Cold War the US sought to minimize the influence of the Soviet Union. This time it appears that Washington seeks to limit the roles of an emerging China and the rise of Islamic Fundamentalism.
Members of the Opposition state that several months ago a political dialogue between Government and the Opposition ended. The climate of mistrust grew after the Parliamentary elections that were held last year. After there were allegations of fraud massive demonstrations broke out. Dozens of people lost their lives in the street battles. Several opposition members of Parliament have refused to take their seats in protest of the elections and the violence. Some of these people now face treason charges for refusing to take their duly elected seats. At this juncture both parties are trying to determine a dialogue so that negotiations can resume and end the impasse.
The United States has stated that it has an interest in promoting Democracy in Ethiopia. Which is a noble gesture in itself but hard to properly define. The American Delegation did promise to raise the concerns of the Opposition when it met with members of the Government. This could be seen as Washington once again doing just enough to appear that it is concerned with a crisis. Before the meeting the US Defense Department did withhold a shipment of HUMVEES to Addis Ababa to highlight its concerns over the current political detainees. But when asked to comment on the Outcome of the meeting both the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry and the US Embassy both declined comment. So was anyone truly surprised by this?
The author comments on US Foreign Policy and Human Rights in Africa. He has posted items regarding these subjects on www.frontpageafrica.com, www.canadafreepress.com and other sites including www.rpec.org
He can be contacted at [email protected]
Some Western donors plan to channel the withheld $375 million direct budget support to Ethiopia’s Woreda administrations, according to sources at the Ministry of Finance. The plan, which is supported by UK’s Department for International Development and the World Bank, is opposed by the European Commission (EC).
Yesterday, representatives of EC, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the World Bank and other donors met with Finance Minster Sofian Ahmed and talked about this so-called “New Instrument.”
Observers noted that the British Government, which announced the cut off of direct budget support to the Meles regime last week, helped the regime to come up with this new plan to get the money indirectly, since all woreda administrations in Ethiopia are controlled by the regime.
During the discussion, the Meles regime insisted that it should select the woredas which would be provided with the money. Representatives of the donors wanted the money to be shared by all woredas equally.
An economists at the Ministry of Finance said that the plan was an indirect budget support designed by the Blair government to save the Meles regime from economic collapse under the guise of helping the people of Ethiopia. The donors are expected to make a final decision in February.
EITB24
In Ethiopia it called for the release of political prisoners and said it “deplored the death of civilians during confrontations with security forces”.
An African human rights commission has criticised the continent’s worst rights offenders, including Sudan and Zimbabwe, in a report analysts say marks a “coming of age” for the organisation.
The African Union’s commission issued candid reviews of Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo in the report, obtained by Reuters on Wednesday. Those countries said they wanted a chance to reply before the report became public, ensuring it remained confidential.
“If the African Union is to have a strong voice it has to foster constructive criticism, not bury it,” said Reed Brody from the New York-based Human Rights Watch.
The report expressed concern at “the intimidation of independent judges and the interference of the executive in the judiciary” in Zimbabwe. It also expressed alarm at the number of people displaced because of government demolitions and urged Harare to immediately stop the policy which has made 700,000 people homeless.
It condemned Eritrea for arbitrary arrests and long detentions of ex-ministers, journalists and parliamentarians, and demanded their immediate release. In Ethiopia it called for the release of political prisoners and said it “deplored the death of civilians during confrontations with security forces”. It also urged an inquiry into the clashes over elections last year.
Summit host Sudan, snubbed for the chairmanship because of atrocities in its western Darfur region, was urged to immediately cease all attacks on civilians and to support aidworkers trying to feed 2 million refugees. Sudan should fully cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is probing alleged war crimes, the commission said. Sudan says it will not let ICC investigators enter Darfur.
The AU is reluctant to criticise members, but at a summit this week it elected judges for an African human rights court and fought a fierce diplomatic battle not to allow host Sudan tobecome its head, showing it would no longer ignore atrocities.
One AU official said this report was a challenge to member states and proof the rights commission was a serious organ. “Here we see how sensitive our member states are to criticism, but the commission is finally fulfilling its mandate and challenging them,” said the AU official, who declined to be named because the report was not yet public.
“The states will get their chance to comment but then the reports will be released,” he added. Brody said this was a sign of maturity in the AU rights commission. “The African commission is coming of age. Now it is the African Union’s turn to do so,” he said.
Meles Zenawi’s forces are savagely beating and torturing students in the town of Ambo, western Ethiopia. Some have lost consciousness from the beatings and torture by the heavily armed police and troops who are under the direct command of Meles Zenawi. The money that is used to arm and train these fascist troops comes from the U.S. and British governments.
Over 50 army troops who witnessed the savage beatings and torture of students in Ambo left their command in protest, according to eyewitnesses. A reliable source confirmed this news to Ethiopian Review. Five of the soldiers disappeared with their weapons.
