A Special Love for Assimba

January 13, 2014

January 4, 2014, I drove
from San Rafael to Oakland, California, for about forty-five minutes to have a get-together
dinner with one of my best friends, Kidane Haile and learn
more about the innovative projects that he is undertaking in Kenya, Nigeria and
Morocco.  In the course of our
discussion, the owner of the restaurant came and showed us a book entitled
“Ya Assimba Fekere” or My Special Love for Assimba.”  When I saw the title
of the book from a distance, I asked the owner of the restaurant if she could sell
a copy of the book to me. I wanted to buy and read the book because I had heard
very good informal comments from my friends about the book when comparing it with
the confession given by the late Berhane Meskel Redda, Secretary General
of the Ethiopian People Revolutionary Party (EPRP) to the ruthless and
dictatorial military rule (Derge) of Ethiopia.  I thought Kahasay’s
book, “Ya
Assimba  Fekere,”
hereafter referred to as “A Special
Love for Assimba,”
would give me another  firsthand
account of the guerrilla war that went on between the Derge
and  the Ethiopian People
Revolutionary Army (EPRA) which headquartered the training of its army in Assimba, Tigrai, Ethiopia.

Initially, I found the
content of the book and the flow of the paragraphs very inspirational,
effortless and smooth. So, I became fixed on the book and read it, starting at 7:00
pm on Saturday and completing it at 5:00 pm on Monday.   Roughly, the content of Kahsay’s autobiography gives a description of: 1) how
the author became involved with the EPRA, 2) his prodigious valor in the guerrilla
warfare movement, and 3) some of the positive social catharsis and rejuvenation
he created to bring peace of mind to himself.

Having been the director
of the Agazi Secondary School, I can testify that the
town of Adigrate was a renowned place for the
development of various types of movements. It was a vital place for the
creation of Ethiopian student movements led by Dawit Seyoum, Tselote Heskias and his associates. The town of Adigrate
also fostered the mushrooming of the Eritrean Seven Association (Mahber Shaw’ate), led by Baraki Gebre Selassie and his
Eritrean compatriots.

Given the geo-political
environment of the town of Adigrate and the solid convictions
of the Agazi Secondary School students, I was not surprised
to know how Kahasy  (hereafter referred
as the author) became a prodigy and a dedicated proponent of  the Ethiopian student movements that
originated in the 1960s . For example, in 1969 when I was the Director of the Agazi Secondary School, it was Dawit
Seyuom who, while undertaking Ethiopian University
Service, worked day and night to raise the political and revolutionary
consciousness of the students and at times to mobilize the masses.  To be more specific, it is possible to assume that the author might have subconsciously become an admirer of the Ethiopian
student movement philosophies after he encountered Dawit
Seyoum at the Zalambasa,
while there to play soccer against the Zalambasa
teachers.  

 In addition, while at the Agazi Secondary school, as the author claims, he was
formally socialized politically by a number of the Ethiopian University
students who were in Adigrate to visit their families
during school vacations.  More precisely,
the author claims that he was more galvanized when he learnt about the “Land to the Tiller” issue raised
by Ethiopian university students in 1965. Actually, “Land to the Tiller” penetrated the author’s
thinking because he grew up in Zalembasa, a town
known for bordering many wars where different views were entrenched. In
addition, being the son of a farmer, the author had first-hand experiences with
the conditions of oppressed farmers in his region. In short, as the author
described it, the farmers living in that part of the country were forced to
live with atrocities, oppression and exploitation by absent landlords whose feudalism
was entrenched with exploitative force.  

By a stroke of luck  in 1971,  the author was imprisoned by the military
because the Agazi School students indulged in a
violent demonstration that called for not only the toppling of Haile Selassie’s
corrupt feudal government but also  demanded
that the various nationalities in Ethiopia be allowed to have inalienable
rights to exercise their self-determined liberation.

Nevertheless, realizing
that the only way to bring substantial change to Ethiopia was to be involved in
an armed struggle, in 1975, the author, under a nom de guerre, joined Ammanuel  and became a member of the Ethiopian
People Revolutionary Army, an arm of EPRP, that had its operating headquarters
in Assimba.  Assimba was
chosen to be the headquarters for armed struggle of the Ethiopian People Revolutionary
Party because of its gorgeous rural landscape and its proximity to Eritrea
where another war for independence was going on. With a well thought-out
clandestine strategy in mind, the forefathers of the EPRP would dismantle the
oppressive military force that was terrorizing Ethiopia and eventually seize political
power.   

After heavy indoctrination
with the communistic political lessons that he was learning, the author started
feeling comfortable even though such teaching was at variance with his orthodox
Christian upbringing.  He became
very skilled with some of the military lessons given to him by the senior cadre
of the EPRA.  Initially, the author
was stationed as a guard.  In the
course of time, the author took everything as a challenge and fared well under
conditions of stress. Because of his whole-hearted devotion to the armed
struggle, he was able to survive thanks to Salemawit,
his “attorney”, though his comrades filed a baseless political
smear against him stating that he was a narrow nationalist.

Though the author was
instructed by his vanguard party to be constantly vigilant against his enemies,
he was able to survive at the Robit (in Wello) battleground and was able to return in peace to Assimba, because of the basic trust the author acquired
from his parents and religious upbringing. Therefore, contrary to the teaching
of guerilla tactics and the guiding ideology of the Party, he was guided by his
common sense and background.  This
enabled him to make peace with the government’s militia, “Yemar Negussi,” who could
have killed him instantly. Because he was able to survive, he was overwhelmed
by a sudden emotional experience to love and adore one of my former students
(i.e., when I was the Director of Woldi Secondary
School in Wello), the courageous and highly
disciplined “Delay Menala.”  The author was at that time an emotional
virgin until he fell in love with Delay. Thus, from the author’s
description, the memories of Delay, Yemar Negusi, the battle of Wekro, and the
deaths of a number of his friends from terrifying incidents, have shaped his
life’s legacy.  In order to
remove his disillusionment with the EPRP, the author underwent a major
catharsis, became a well-disciplined pharmacist, and has written this very
instructive book.     

             To summarize, after enduring the
Party’s top-down order, and its various forms of internal strife or schisms
(university diploma carriers vs. high school guerrilla fighters, the suspicions
of fighters because of their ethnicity, urban guerrilla warfare vs rural-based
movements, etc.), I am glad to note that the author was very cautions not to criticize
his comrades or to fault the EPRP. 
Most probably, due to his love for the party or feeling that these factors
could be better synthesized by prolific writers such as Dr. Gelawdois
Aaria etc,  I am very glad that the author did not
enter into controversial issues or begin  narrating to his readers the objective
and subjective needs for the utilization of an effective guerilla warfare. We
all know that the wars have contributed to the disappearance of the brightest
young Ethiopians, and have destroyed the livelihoods and lives of many
Ethiopians.

Actually, I am very happy
to read, learn, and reflect on Kahsay’s  book, “My Special Love for Assimba” because:
1) the author has honestly, sincerely, and eloquently, described the wars that occurred
between the inhuman military junta and the EPRA; 2) to entice his readers, the
author begins each chapter in the book with highly relevant quotations (poems) written
by well-known persons; 3) the book moves the reader along easily from one
section to the next; 4) the author has tried his best to make the book readable,
using simple words and easy to understand sentences. Finally, I would like to
thank the author for allowing me to recall some of my former students and
colleagues who courageously fought to emancipate Ethiopia from the atrocities
of the Military Junta, and for making me clearly visualize and appreciate all
the places (Adigrat, Adwa,
and Woldia, Kobo, Alamata etc) where I have worked and which have contributed to my
transformation.  So,  Kahsay,
to me, you are an architect of change.

—
The writer, Asayehgn Desta, Ph.D, is a
Sarlo Distinguished Professor of Sustainable Economic Development