Fisshea
Desta’s Reminiscence of the Ethiopian
Revolution:
A
Critical
Review
Professor Desta, Asayehgn
Considering Meison’s
visionary ideologue, EPRP’s firm convictions,
and the Derg’s commitment to unity and
sovereignty, if these were to operate in a
conducive socio-political
and economic environment, they would have ushered
in Ethiopia’s successful development!
(Fisshea
Desta, as paraphrased by professor Desta.)
Last year, while we were
reviewing KhasayAbraha Bisrats’ book , entitled
“A Special Love for Assimba” at the
National Archives and Library in Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia, one of the reviewers, Professor
GebruTareke, brought to the attention of the
audience that in addition to the books written by
former President
Mengistu Haile Mariam (hereafter Mengistu)
and former
Prime Minister
Fikre Selassie Wegderase (hereafter Fikre
Selassie), the former Vice President, Fisshea
Desta (hereafter Fisshea, or the author) has
written an account of his memories of the
Ethiopian Revolution during the Derg’s (an
Amharic word for committee) era. During a private
conversation, Professor GebruTareke told me that
Fisshea’s book would be favorably received by
the public and probably would be marketed heavily
when compared with the fictitious account of the
Derg’s era written by Mengistu and Fikre
Selassie. In addition, as Professor Gebru told me,
which is now acknowledged by the author on page 4,
Professor Gebru had advised the author to be
truthful and profoundly search his memory to
reconstruct the so-called“ bloodless
revolution” that was usurped or snatched by the
Derg from the genuine Ethiopian revolutionaries.
Similarly, when there was an
informal talk about the possibility of the author
writing a book, one of the distinguished advisors
of the Derg, without hesitation, reflected loudly
and clearly that if an authentic, and true account
of the Derg’s administrative style and military
history were to be written, the distinguished
advisor of the Derg argued that this should be
Fisshea’s book.
In short, the prominent but
anonymous member of the Derg asserted that
Fisshea’s account is likely to be more reliable
than what was recorded by
Mengistu and Fikre Selassie because
Fisshea was not only a prolific writer but
also Fisshea was in charge of the Derg’s
administrative apparatus and Fissshea had
unstrained access to all the documents that
pertained to the Derg’s era.
After many months of delay,
now Fisshea’s (hereafter the author’s) book
has been released and is in the open market for
the general public. Though it might sound like a
marketing gimmick, the publisher claims that the
author’s book is more original and stands out as
more authentic than those previously published by
contemporaries of the author. Though many
prospective readers have received the author’s
book with some
skepticism, the publisher wholeheartedly
endorses the author’s
book as truthful because the author
genuinely extends a deep and heartfelt apology to
1) the parents who not only lost their children
but were also forced to pay for the bullets used
to kill their innocent sons and daughters, and 2)
other Ethiopians who were humiliated, offended,
victimized, terrorized, assaulted, and injured for
their ideological differences during the Derg’s
military rule in Ethiopia.
Also, the author’s book is regarded by
the publisher as unique because it reveals for the
first time, the hideous death of the well-known
Ethiopian creative writer, Ba’lu Girma, about
whom a large number of Ethiopians were left
clueless concerning his disappearance.
Contrary to the command and
control policy that prevailed during the communist
period of the Derg’s era, in which the author
served as a faithful and very important
functionary, the author claims that he had a
special love for his country. It is exciting to
read the author’s book because the author feels
that he can’t undo the numerous inhuman
atrocities committed by the Derg but can apologize
for them. As a reborn advocate of democracy and
the rule of law, the author openly advocates for
human rights and citizen participation,
sovereignty, control of the abuse of power, and
political tolerance. He is very much interested to
get constructive feedback from the readers of his
book.
Despite having lost a number
of my friends and family members, including my
younger brother, and that I was pulled from my job
at the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris, by the
Derg, the advice of the Nobel Laureate, Desmond
Tutu, that there can be “No Future Without
Forgiveness,”
I forgive the author and congratulate him
for having the stamina and the courage to reveal
to the public part of the story that occurred
during the Derg’s era. I am also sure that the
author’s motives to write the book didn’t
emerge for further aggrandizement or to rekindle
his personal ambitions, but it is my belief that
the book is based on a sincere desire to bring
closure to his personal role during the military
regime that extended from February, 1974 to April,
1991.
Keeping the above statements
in mind, I had no trouble constructively reviewing
Fisshea’s book considering the questions given
below:
1) Does the book have a clear purpose?
2) Is the book rigorous and
objective?
3)
Is the book parsimonious and glaring enough to
explain the pros and cons of the
Derg’s period?
5)
What lessons can we learn from the author’s
book?
To answer the above questions
as objectively as possible, within the fifteen
chapters of the book five major sections of the
book are briefly explored.
In
Section One of the book, the author documents
historically in 3 chapters the pre-1974 upheavals
that occurred in Ethiopia and outlines the
emergence of the Derg to power. At the outset, the
author humbly states that he has a very limited
background for carrying out historical analysis.
With this modest beginning, in Chapter 1 the
author uses primary and secondary sources of
information to document the history of Ethiopia
starting from the era of Emperor Tewdros, Yohannes
IV, and Menelik II. Furthermore, the author
illustrates some of the conspicuous pre-1974
political upheavals that were supported by the
Wayne group, the Oromo group, the Eritrean
Liberation Movements, and the uprising that
occurred in Gojjam and Balie.
Despite
the attempt of Emperor Haile Selassie to partially
modernize, and institutionalize his semi-feudal
authoritarian regime, the author argues that the
socialist-oriented Ethiopian university and high
school students were not prepared to accept the
autocratic nature of Haile Selassie’s
government. More particularly, the university
students didn’t accept sitting quietly when a
large part of the rural land was owned and
controlled by absentee landlords. In 1965, for
example, university students demanded land reform
and spread their passionate slogan “land to the
tiller” to capture the hearts of the Ethiopian
masses. More seriously, the author states that as
students became more radicalized, vocal students
like Waleligne Makonen, demanded that as Ethiopia
was a mosaic of nationalities, national groups
should be allowed to entertain their rights to
self- determination up to and including secession.
As Ethiopia’s economic
condition deteriorated, the author argues that the
militant university and high school student
demonstrations were accompanied by a mass movement
that embraced the peasantry, urban proletariat,
and the rank and file of the army. As a result,
the country was sent into turmoil.
In
Chapter 2, the author documents how the uprising
that was started by the armed forces of Nageli in
February 1974 for financial gain culminated with
the emergence of the 109 Derg members who
maintained their center of operations at the Army
Headquarters at Mashiloka, Addis Ababa. Later, the
disgruntled group composed of the Armed Forces,
the Police, Air Force, Navy, Imperial Body Guard,
and the Territorial Army formed the Provincial
Military Administration Council (PMAC).
Using “Ethiopia First” as
a slogan and emphasizing the various forms
injustice, corrupt behavior, and the divide and
rule policy that characterized the HaileSelassie
regime, the Derg started arousing the country
against the Haile Selassie regime. Eventually, the
PMAC embarked on structurally dismantling the
existing institutions and finally overthrew the
decaying system of Haile Selassie’s regime in
August, 1974. As the PMAC was in power, with
little knowledge of socialism, the Derg not only
acquired great political clout but also borrowed
from socialist states like the Soviet Union,
China, and Tanzania to embark on the
nationalization of the commanding heights of the
Ethiopian economy.
In Chapter 3, the author
brings to the attention of his readers that as the
Derg gradually rose to power, serious types of
irreconcilable differences developed between the
then Chairman General Aman Andom (hereafter Aman)
and Vice Chairman, Mengistu. As stated by the
author, Chairman Aman made it crystal clear to
Mengistu that instead of working with 109
mumbo-jumbo types of Derg members, he would like
to manage the country with about 14 highly trained
and manageable committee members. Also, Chairman
Aman emphasized his strong belief that the
Eritrean issue could be peacefully resolved
through an open dialogue with the Eritrean
fighters. Following his convictions, Chairman Aman
started giving clear instructions to the 2nd
Division of the Ethiopian Army Unit headquartered
in Asmara to refrain from using unnecessary force
against the Eritrean guerrilla fighters.
As stated by the author, Vice
Chairman Mengistu had a hidden agenda to be the
head of state. Therefore, not only did Mengistu
start defaming the most respected Chairman as an
Eritrean but also rallied against his strategies.
Mengistu chose to operate in the interest of
national security and sovereignty and he decided
to wipeout completely the Eritrean guerrilla
fighters by military force.
The rivalry between Aman and
Mengistu was prolonged because they could not come
to terms on how the imprisoned former Haile
Selassie officials would be treated.
Aman’s position was that the imprisoned
Haile Selassie officials be treated with the due
process of law. Realizing that Chairman Aman was
moving in a different direction, and in
collaboration with his cliques, Mengistu started
intercepting the various appeals and discussions
that Chairman Aman had with his friends and
supporters on issues related to the re-structuring
of Ethiopia’s political scene to put an
end to leading the country by semi-literate and
irresponsible military gangs. Ignoring the due
process of law and following the advice of Dr.
Berket Habte Selassie (by the way, Professor
Berket never anticipated that Mengistu would ever
attempt to kill General Aman) and also as is
widely known throughout Ethiopia, that Mengistu
was getting indirect signals from Professor
MesfinWolde Mariam, for example, “It is not us
but you who have the weapons,” the brutal, blood
thirsty, power monger, Mengistu and his cliques,
without consulting the other Derg members,
summarily executed Chairman Aman and 60 former
senior dignitaries of the Haile Selassie regime in
November 23, 1974. As a result, the radical action
by Mengistu and his cliques not only ended the so
called “bloodless Revolution in Ethiopia” but
also ended the peaceful way of solving the
Eritrean problem as outlined by General Aman, the
most charismatic visionary, and strategic leader
that the Derg had ever seen.
In chapter 3, the author
documents the underlying reasons the Derg and its
cliques designed the “Development through
Cooperation (Zemecha) Campaign,” a program that dispatched about 60,000
university and junior and senior high school
students and their teachers to the countryside. In
short, the author claims that the program
participants were sent to the rural part of
Ethiopia in order to mobilize rural masses,
explain how the land reform program could be
implemented, to spread literacy to the rural
masses, and to raise the political consciousness
of the rural mass (p.136).
On the other hand, to calm the
mass upheaval of the militant groups, the author
mentions that the Derg established an Advisory
Board. Being part of the drafting Advisory Board,
the author tells his readers that a document was
drafted as a directive for the PMAC to establish a
democratic civilian government that called for the
establishment of unity to bring about equity among
the various multi-cultural and religious groups in
Ethiopia.
In Chapter 4, as an
introduction to the land reform policy initiated
by the Derg, the author discusses briefly the
landholding system
during feudal times and goes on to describe how remnants
of the former landowners attempted to destabilize
the system after they evacuated and started
settling in various urban areas and the capital
city of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa. Though it is
subject to further investigation and without
giving credible evidence to support his claim, the
author states that the most well-known militants
during the Ethiopian Student Movement, Meles
Tekle, senior, Giday Gebrewhed, and Rezan Kidan,
collaborated with the Eritrean Liberation Fighters
and attempted bombing and burning the Wabi Sheble
Hotel, the Addis Ababa Municipality Office, and
the Bole Shell Oil Distribution Center.
The author indicates that the
land reform policy, Women’s Organization,
Debating Societies, Ethiopian Labor movement, and
Teacher’s Union, initiated by the PMAC, were
supported by the All-Ethiopia Socialist Movement (MEISON).
But, as the author stated it, the Ethiopian
People’s Revolutionary Party (EPRP) which was
founded in 1972 in West Berlin, Germany, only
supported the land reform policy. The
EPRP stood against the vague patriotic slogan of
“Ethiopia First” designed by the military and
showed its irreconcilable ideological conflicts
with MEIOSON. Claiming itself to be a vanguard
party, the EPRP used various types of clashes and
conflicts in Addis Ababa and finally, called
loudly for the abolishment of the Derg and its
program for the establishing of a “Democratic
Government in Ethiopia”.
In Chapter 5 of Section 2, the
author narrates the establishment of the National
Democratic Revolutionary Program. To calm the
controversies that erupted within the PMAC, a few
of the Derg members were sent for ten months to
the Soviet Union to study and observe in practice
the application of scientific socialism (Marxism).
Though they were not meant to last long, about
five in-formal political parties (MEIOSON, EPRP,
SADED (Revolutionary Flame), Waz League (Labor),
and the Ethiopian Marxist-Leninist Communist Party
were formed.
In Chapter 6, the author
eloquently narrates the skirmishes and intrigues
that occurred within Menelik’s Royal Palace
against Vice Chairman Mengistu for allegations
that Mengistu was being too despotic, had betrayed
the Revolution and also for consolidating his
power against the formation of the People’s
Democracy in Ethiopia.
In the first part of Chapter
7, the author narrates vividly the nine
assassination attempts against Vice Chairman
Mengistu. The organizers of the plots against
Mengistu were fully convinced that Mengistu in
collaboration with Meison (p.214) had become the
authority figure and the major originator of the
Derg’s so called decisions.
The second part of chapter 7
gives a narrative of the atrocities committed by
the EPRP. It
also blames the radical cliques of the EPRP for
throwing its vigorous and staunch supporters into
the jaws of the Red Terror of the PMAC machinery.
However, it needs to be made crystal clear
that, since Colonel Tesfaye Wolde Selassie, then
head of National Security, was known for giving
conflicting reports to his authorities, the
authenticity of the blame that the author
attributes to the EPRP is based on a 95-page
report given by Berhane Meskel’s Reda, the
former chairman of the EPRP. It needs to be
seriously questioned.
The third part of the chapter
vividly enumerates how two of the Derg’s
officers (Captain Moges and Capain Alemayohu)
played major roles in the restructuring of the
Derg’s organization, and also in restricting
Mengistu from making decisions by himself, without
consulting the Derg.
To the surprise of Mengistu,
Meison, Waz League, etc, the then Chairman,
General Teferi Benti, openly invited the
politically alienated EPRP members to participate
with the other groups in substantive political
dialogues. Conspiring with other security officers
(such as Colonel Daniel Asfaw, then Head of
theNational Security and others), Mengistu and his
cliques designed an effective strategy to wipeout
GeneralTeferi Benti and his associates (such as
Capitain Moges, Capitain Alemayhou etc).
Mengistu achieved his goal, he
was unanimously elected to be the Chairman of the
PMAC. Eventually, the Ethiopian Marxist-Leninist
Revolutionary Organization was established through
the merger of Meison, Seded, Echaat (the Ethiopian
Oppressed Mass Unity Struggle), Mal Red or
Emalerred (Ethiopian Marxist Leninist
Revolutionary Organization) and the Waz League
(p.234). In retrospect, taking a neutral stand,
the author reflects that had it not been for the
mal- political climate that prevailed over the
Derg era; the unnecessary atrocities that were
committed on each other during the Red and White
Terror period; then collectively pursuing the
visionary stance of Meison combined with the firm
convections of the EPRP and the nationalistic
stance of the Derg would have ushered to maximize
Ethiopia’s development.
In Chapter 8 of Section 3, the
author addresses the Somali annexation of Ethiopia
and the reasons the United States betrayed its
longtime ally, Ethiopia, and instead started
supporting the Republic of Somalia. In addition,
the author narrates some of the most important
factors that gave birth to the formation of the
Ethiopian Workers Party (EWP). Concerning the
Ethio-Somali war, the author states that Somalia
annexed Ogaden, the Somali inhabited region of
Ethiopia, in order to realize its dream of forming
a unified “Greater Somalia.” (Somalia had a
dream of incorporating the Somali inhabitants in
the Horn of Africa, i.e., Northern Kenya,
Djibouti, Ogaden, North and South Somaliland.)
During the war that lasted from July, 1977 to May,
1978, the United States supported Somalia and
withdrew assistance to Ethiopia when the Derg
declared itself to be Socialist. In addition, the
United States felt that in Ethiopia there was a
flagrant violation of human rights because the
Chairman of the PMCA was assassinated by Mengistu
and his cliques in January, 1977 (p.272).
Nonetheless, because it was the Cold War Period
and Ethiopia was regarded a genuine
Marxist-Leninist nation, it was able to get
support from the Soviet Union. Using his good
office, the author tells his readers that he was
able to solicit and get assistance from other
socialist countries such as, East Germany, Poland,
Cuba, Hungary, North Korea, etc.
As the Derg was strategizing
how to defend Somalia’s aggression, the author
reveals that to the surprise of many of the Derg
members, Colonel Atnafu Abate, the Vice Chairman
of the PMAC, raised his hand and openly told the
PAMC that instead of pursuing a command type of
economy, it would be better for Ethiopia to pursue
a mixed type of economy. After enduring a long
diatribe by the cliques of Mengistu, Colonel Abate
was handcuffed and dragged aside by Mengistu’s,
henchman, Major Getachew Shebashi. Not
surprisingly, later it was announced to the
Ethiopian public that Colonel Abate was executed
because of his anti-revolutionary stand.
While this was fermenting,
Somalia had no choice but to break its diplomatic
relations with the Soviet Union and instead
depended on United States’ assistance in
exchange for the use of Somali bases. In addition,
the author asserts that the huge turmoil in
Eritrea and other parts of Ethiopia and the
allegation that the EPRP sabotaged Ethiopia’s
effort to crush the Somali incursion, gave a major
advantage to Somalia. Also, since Somalia was a
member of the Arab League, Somalia was able to get
assistance from a number of Arab states.
However, it was indicated by the author
that after almost a year of heavy fighting the
Ethio-Cuba army was able to drive the Somali
National Army off Ethiopia’s
soil in March, 1978.
Chapter 9, titled “Our win
in the East will continue in the North,”
concerns the win that Ethiopia scored against the
Somali incursion that was believed would continue
with a win in Northern Ethiopia (in Eritrea). The
chapter also talks about the Celebration of
Ethiopia’s 4th Revolution that was
attended by the president of Cuba, Fidel Castro.
Gaining partial relief from
internal upheavals and external aggression, the
Derg finally was able to begin designing plans for
development. In October 1978, the Derg, on paper,
announced the formation of the National
Revolutionary Development Campaign to mobilize and
harness the country’s national resources and
transform Ethiopia’s economy. To construct the
necessary base, the Derg initiated a mass literacy
campaign in five languages: Amharic, Oromo,
Tigrinya, Wolayta, and Somali and later the number
of instructional languages were to be expanded to
fifteen languages.
With the nationalization of the Ethiopian
Airlines, the continuous forms of strife that
prevailed in the country, and the fact that that
the Soviet Union was interested in supplying
airplanes and indirectly running the Ethiopian
Airlines, the Ethiopian airlines faced financial
ruin due to poor administration. However, based on
the ingenuity of the author and the advice of the
formers managers of the Ethiopian Airline, the
administrative structure of the Ethiopian Airlines
was reorganized and the Ethiopian government
extended financial capital to lift it out of
crisis. Eventually the Ethiopian Airlines regained
its status as an aviation power.
In Section 4, the author
states that starting in 1976, the
Derg embarked a Program for the National
Democratic Revolution (PNDR).The primary objective
of the PNDR was to become socialist under the
leadership of workers, peasants, and other
anti-feudal forces. In order to form a civilian
vanguard party, in 1979, with the dismemberment of
the Derg, and electing Mengistu as its chairman,
the Derg formed the Commission to Organize the
Party of the Workers of Ethiopia (COPWE). In
September, 1984, the Worker’s Party of Ethiopia
was proclaimed. With little or no understanding of
Ethiopia’s culture or how to align it with the
Soviet Union’s modus operandi, in 1987, Ethiopia
drafted a new constitution in line with the Soviet
constitution of 1977.
As discussed in Chapter 10,
the Derg established the People’s Democratic
Republic Ethiopia (PDRE) with little attention to
the consequent economic collapse, drought, famine,
and military setbacks in the Northern part of
Ethiopia. Also, the Derg focused on establishing
the Institute for the Study of Nationalization (ISN)
in 1983, and forced settlement or villagization
schemes without
providing adequate services to implement
it.
In Chapter 11, subject to
discourse, the author claims that it was the
Tigrai Liberation Front (TLF), and not the
Tigrai’s People Liberation Front
that originated the Tigrai movement. However, what
is certain about the author’s illustration is
that he gives a firsthand narration of the various
forms of injustice that the people of Tigrai faced
while they were under the Haile Selassie regime.
In addition, though the author, being in power
during the Derg’s era had undeniable allegiance
to the Derg and his country, he narrates the
various forms of harassment and mistrust that he
faced for being suspected as a “double dealer
Tigraian” and informant for the TPLF because he
was raised and grew up in Tigrai.
Concerning the “Eritrean
Dilemma” (Chapter 12), the author outlines three
different perspectives. The first perspective
argues that Eritrea needed the federal status that
it had (the United Nations General Assembly
federated Eritrea with Ethiopia) before it was
forcefully dissolved by Ethiopia in 1962.
Others claim that like other nationalities
in Ethiopia, the Eritrean issue could have been
peacefully solved if the Eritrean people were
accorded the right to exercise self-determination
up to and including secession.
Others groups such as the Tigraian
People’s Liberation Front, assert that as a
former colony of Italy, Eritrea needed to be
bestowed nothing but its full independence because
it faced indirect colonialization by the Ethiopian
empire.
As stated by the author, after
the Derg came to power, with the assistance of
East Germany and the Soviet Union, it attempted to
resolve the Ethio-Eritrean war. But overtime, the
Eritrean armed struggle was carefully led by the
Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) and the Eritrean
People’s Liberation Front (EPLF). Actually,
during the Ethio-Somali War the Eritrean forces
almost drove away the Ethiopian Forces from
Eritrea. But,
after the Ethiopian and Cuban forces repulsed the
Somali incursion, the Ethiopian army swiftly
handled the Eritrean guerrilla forces causing them
retreat to their enclaves. Afterwards, the
Ethiopian army launched a number offensives
including the famous “the Red Star Offense in
1982”to dismantle the Eritrean guerrilla
fighters, but the Derg forces could not crush the
Eritrean forces because the Eritreans fighters
were supported by the Tigrean People’s
Liberation fighters (TPLF). As a footnote, the
author reveals to his readers that since the
Ethiopian forces fighting in Eritrea were
disorganized, the famous journalist Ba’lu Girma,
based on his firsthand observation, gave
a clear prediction to the Ethiopian forces that
the future of overtaking Eritrea was ended (or
Ormaye in Italian). This message was too bitter a
medicine for Mengistu to swallow, he most probably
instructed the National Security Force to get rid
of Ba’lu.
With the dismantling of the
Soviet Union into numerous republics in 1985,
socialist Ethiopia could not get war materials and
supplies. In line with Ba’lu’s projection, the
Ethiopian Army was completely wiped off of Eritrea
soil. And with the complete defeat of the
Ethiopian army by the Ethiopian People’s
Revolutionary Front ( EPRDF) in
1991, Mengistu, on the month he was born, made a
plan to flee to Kenya. Subsequently, he ended up
as a refugee in Zimbabwe.
Section 5, includes Chapters
14 and 15. What makes Chapter 14 exciting is that
in the introductory part, the author chronicles
some of the most conspicuous events that happened
in Ethiopian history all in the month of May to
entice his readers. For example, the author
mentions the Weicahle Agreement that was concluded
between Menelik II and Italy; the attempted coup
against the tyrannical and dictatorial regime of
Mengistu; the fleeing of Mengistu from Ethiopia to
Kenya and Zimbabwe; the overthrow of the Derg’s
regime by the EPRDF, etc. In addition, the author,
without hesitation, asserts that the coup that was
attempted by senior Military officers against
Mengistu’s regime in May 1989, was indirectly
designed by Mikhail Gorbachev. While the General
Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet
Union, Gorbachev was in the process of reforming
(perestroika) the Soviet Union to be more
transparent (glasnost), and destabilizing other
socialist countries. He found Mengistu to be more
socialist than Gorbachev himself, thus, Gorbachev
had no choice but to deny Mengistu the financial
aid and material supplies that he asked for.
The author also discusses the
pivotal role that he played in sabotaging the coup
that was attempted against the Mengistu regime by
senior military officers (May,1989) mainly
from Addis Ababa and Asmara. As stated by the
author, the coup d’etat was mainly planned not
only to oust Mengistu from power while he was on
state visit to East Germany but also to negotiate
a peaceful settlement with the Eritrean Liberation
fighters. In addition, the author claims that
while being behind the scenes, he was able to save
a number of Tigreans from being slaughtered by the
brutality of Mengistu’s cliques because
irrespective of their political opinions, all
Tigreans were suspected to be supporters of the
Tigrian People’s Liberation Force.
Chapter
15, discusses token peace negotiations that
Mengistu attempted to resolve some nagging issues
in Ethiopia, and indicates how in the final hours
Mengistu repented and embarked on a plan for
Ethiopia to have a mixed instead of a socialist or
command economy that precipitated a complete
disaster for the Ethiopian economy as a whole.
After
indicating that a number of socialist countries
such as Russia and China, Tanzania, etc. were
abandoning the socialist system, it is interesting
that the author still advocates that there
was nothing wrong the socialist philosophy
as mode of production and fair distribution
provided Ethiopia
had pursued it rationally by maintaining
stability and restraining Mengistu’s arrogance
and obstructionism.
In
his conclusion, the author was honest enough to
argue that the revolution that emancipated
Ethiopia in 1974 was not initiated by the Derg but
was given to the Derg to administer. However, as
said by the author, the Ethiopian People’s Party
(EPRP) engineered the “White Terror” to force
the Derg, without the military administrating it, to
establish the Ethiopian People’s Democracy. The
Meison group on the other hand, with critical
cooperation with the Derg, preferred to reform the
existing bureaucracy and to expand public
education to raise the political consciousness of
the Ethiopian masses. Given this scenario, the
author argues that the Derg had no other choice
but to stay in power to maintain Ethiopia’s
unity and sovereignty through its Ethiopian
Socialism agenda.
Some
skeptics view that the author’s apology for the
atrocities committed during the Derg era is a distorted
plea to the country. However, having
thoroughly read his book, I can testify that the
author is sincere and truthful. Since the author
loved his country, he had to survive in a
constrained political space by entertaining and
flattering the then Chairman Mengistu. In
retrospect, however, the author openly says that
Chairman Mengistu was too arrogant and repulsing
to accept genuine advice from fellow Ethiopians or
foreign advisors.
For example, on the Eritrean issue, the
author from firsthand experience tells the reader
that Mengistu would never bend from his conviction
that ‘it is a mistake to negotiate with the
Eritrean separatist fighters.’
Though
candidly put, the author blames the United States
for abandoning its former ally, Ethiopia. He
argues that the United States began assisting
Somalia during the Somali incursion of Ethiopia in
order to access Somalia bases in the Red Sea.
Finally, negating his previous communistic view,
now the author whole heartedly stands for
democracy and is an advocate for the rules of law.
Review:
The
author, Colonel Fisshea Desta has written a superb
book that is well-documented with detailed
references. The book moves its readers along
easily from one chapter to the next. In order to
entice his readers, the author begins each chapter
of the book with highly relevant quotations and
poems, by well-known writers. Given the author’s
sense of humor, he tries to energize and remind
his readers of nostalgic memories by quoting
familiar songs, sung by Ethiopian celebrities. The
book is very readable and accessible to the
non-specialist because it uses simple words rather
than the heavily loaded political slogans that
were common during the Derg’s period.
More
specifically, the author has made the purpose of
his book clear and convincing by entitling it,
“Fisshea’s Reminiscences of the Ethiopian
Revolution.” Using primary and secondary sources
of information, the contents of the book
illuminate Fisshea’s memory of the Ethiopian
Revolution from the start until he was finally
removed from the Derg because he was either
“sick” or had to be reshuffled for retirement
because his cajoling of Mengistu was not needed
anymore.
Most
importantly, unlike the writings of other
prominent people of the Derg’s era, the author
clearly elucidates not only the most important
contributions of the Derg but also apologizes
honestly for the blunders that were committed
during the Derg period which was like hell.
Furthermore, the author paints a vivid picture of
heretofore unknown, inhuman atrocities committed
during the Derg’s era.
Regarding
rigor which connotes carefulness and the degree of
exactitude in writing a book, the author as a
participant/observer demonstrates that he was a
good record keeper. All sources of information,
except with minor typographic errors with the
footnoting (please refer to footnote, 17-19 on
page 42-48), the content of the book was
systematically documented. The author has
consulted the writings of famous historians and
political scientists.
At times, the writing style of the author
seems to indicate that rather than being an active
participant, he gives the impression that he was
an aloof or third party observer. By and large,
the writing style of the author demonstrates that
the author was an excellent observer. The
author’s level of participation in a number of
political activities within the Dreg, entangled
with inefficient bureaucracy is clearly
demonstrated and presents new information and
evidence. Being the primary source of information,
the author has enabled his readers to get new
insights into the Derg’s hidden activities. By
and large, the conclusion he reached at the end of
the book is in line with his purpose for writing
the book. As a result, the author’s level of
analysis is outstanding.
As
the title indicates, the content of book is
supposed to be a full documentation of the
writer’s experience. At times the author
documents other writers’ opinions rather than
describing vividly his own. The book is supposed
to be an illustration of his inner impression from
the Derg’s camp rather than giving us the
opinion of others though they might have been well
documented. For example, the “Berhane Meskel
Redda’s interrogative reports” which the
author claims to have gotten from the documents
stored in the archive of the Derg’s National
Security Office are likely to be unreliable and
fictitious since most of the documents collected
by the then Head of the Derg’s National Security
Office were not true but were mainly written to
make Mengistu happy and the note takers could stay
alive and in power. Thus, it is likely to say that
some serious errors might have been committed,
because the author, without cross checking with
other documents or interviewing other reliable
sources, solely
depended on the documents submitted to him by the
then National Security office to include in his
memoir.
I
am sure the author’s organizational commitment
or his consciously or unconsciously forgetting
unwanted memories might have influenced his
writing style. For example, given the oppressive
nature of the Derg’s system and his life in
prison for 20 years, four months and six days
(p.576) during the currently in power, the
Ethiopia People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front
(PRDF), might have restrained him from fully
verbalizing some of the hideous atrocities
committed during the Derg’s era. Nonetheless, I
am glad to see that the content of the book and
the conclusions drawn are derived from actual data
and not from the author’s subjective or
emotional values. In addition, the book is
parsimonious or simple enough because the author
tries to explain every phenomenon in a very easy
way to understand.
In
the final analysis, it would be fair and exact to
suggest to the author that the book could have
been more robust if some of the chapters were
either shortened or further edited to keep the
book more concise and to the point. Otherwise,
when compared with other books that have been
written by Derg members that I have read, I fully
assert that Fisshea’s book is different from the
general understanding that we had about the
Derg’s period and has made a vital contribution
to the study of Ethiopian history, public
administration and politics. Therefore, the book
should be of value to policy makers, students, and
scholars. Given this, I hope the readers of
Fisshea’s book
will find it to be inspirational, motivational,
and will help us envision for the future a better
democratic Ethiopia.
References:
1.
Desta, Fisshea (2015). Abyot
Ena Tezetaye. Los Angles, CA: Tsehai Publisher,
Loyola Marymount University.
2. Tutu, Desmond (2000). “No
Future Without Forgiveness”.
London: Penguin Publishers.
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