Emperor Haile-Selassie and Mr. Kwame Nkrumah

I was reluctant to write
on this subject since many have written about it exhaustively. I am writing
this from a personal perspective which makes it slightly different from what
has been written before

According
to Nkrumah the first encounter he had with Ethiopia was while walking the
streets of London and seeing  the
headline of a newspaper “MUSSOLINI INVADES ETHIOPIA. “  In his Autobiography he writes about this
moment where he says that he felt that a spear has just pierced his heart. He
felt dizzy, sad and dejected. He also doubled his resolve to fight the scrooge
of Colonialism which has now encroached the only independent Black Country in
the world which has given pride to the entire black race when Menelik the Great
scored brilliant victory over the White Race (the same Italians) at the famous
battle of Adwa.

Subsequently
the Emperor went into exile in London where he met such Pan African luminaries
as George Padmore,  Azikiwe, Nkrumah
, T. R. Mekonnen  (who took his name
after Ras Mekonnen, father
of the Emperor and Hero of Adwa) Marcus Garvey  (with whom he has a falling off)  and other Africa and Caribbean leaders

The
next encounter is in 1958 a year after the independence of Ghana, an
All-African Peoples Conference was organized in Accra. There were only eight
independent African states, but 28 countries were represented. It was the
biggest gathering of its kind and there were over 300 delegates, prominent
among whom was Patrice Lumumba. 
Ethiopia was represented by Prince Sahle Selassie,
the Emperor’s youngest son. This was also the beginning of the
Emperor’s brilliant moves regarding African Unity. In his impeccable
Oxonian accent the prince announced at the conference that Ethiopia has offered
200 college scholarships for African student with immediate effect. In 1960
when I joined the University College of Addis Ababa, I was going in with the
third batch of African scholarship students (it was spread over 4 years – 50
students each year)

Another
important thing is for the Emperor to be the first African leader to invite
Nkrumah for an Official Visit. On arrival at the airport Nkrumah demanded that
a goat be slaughtered and he step on its blood when he came out of the plane. The
demanded has been communicated earlier to the Emperor and he has graciously
relented even though it was an affront to his religion. Dressed in his magnificent
golden robes Nkrumah was a sight to see. An air show at Debre Zeit  Air force base was held in his honor and
I was fortunate to find a place at the tribune. I was sitting at such an angle as
to observe the obvious delight of Nkrumah. One hitch was that the protocol put
the throne of the Emperor so high that the Emperor was visibly angry when he
arrived and saw that. But Nkrumah did not seem to mind perhaps because he
thought that it is the right protocol for monarchs (it is said that those who
arranged this were relegated from their post soon after.) It was a fabulous air
show and the acrobatic of one pilot was remarkable.  Nkrumah wanted to meet him. He was
presented at the end of the show and I was the one to be surprised. He was my
neighbor as well as classmate in elementary school in Tafari Mekonnen Lt.
Tigineh. I was thrilled.  (Tigineh
became a Colonel. He later transferred to the Ethiopian Airlines and is
currently a senior Captain. I met him in Washington DC recently and we had reminiscences
about his old air acrobatics).  Nkrumah
was the first African leader to visit Ethiopia and his presence was so high
profile, that for many years afterwards every African person (visitor or students)
was referred to as a “Ghanaian.”

The
next encounter with Nkrumah was when he came for the May 1963 OAU Conference. The
OAU was opened in the United Nations Economic Commission for  Africa (ECA)building which was a
gift of Ethiopia to the UN. It is also the far-sightedness of the Emperor to
bring that important regional organization to Addis Ababa in 1958, which later
became a magnet for bringing the Headquarters of the OAU. The main conference
hall called the “Africa Hall” had a huge mural of stained glass windows
depicting the Past; the Present and the Future of Africa the work of the world
famous Ethiopian Artist Maitre Afework Tekle. In the main conference hall was
an oil painting of the portrait of the 32 Heads of states and Governments
attending. One place was vacant – that of the assassinated leader of Togo,
Sylvano Olympus who was assassinated a couple of months before the
meeting.   Nkrumah was the
prime suspect in his assassination (years later, in 1972 I met his son in Hotel
D’Ivoire in Abidjan by accident. He was living in exile in Cote d’Ivoire
and he firmly believed that Nkrumah had his father assassinated).The assassin
was Sergeant Eyadema who ruled Togo for 38 years until his death in 2005 the longest
ruling military dictator in Africa.

In
1963 I was a third year student in Addis Ababa University College and also in
the last year of a 2-year experimental program in journalism. Our American
professor was determined that his student attend the conference as journalists.
 He begged and cajoled the Minister
of Information and was finally granted three tickets one of which I was lucky
enough to get by lot. It was the most important day of my life up to that
point. With my priceless press badge proudly hanging around my neck I literally
lived in Africa Hall for three days only returning to my college dorm to
sleep.  The Press was allowed every
access and the meeting was open except for behind the scene negotiations. It is
generally agreed that it was President Seku Toure of Guinea who convinced
Emperor Haile Selassie to bring the Casablanca and Monrovia group together   (I will recount later what he told
our delegation years after the event) Ethiopia has no Foreign Minister then but
a Minister of State and for all practical purposes the Prime Minister, Tshafi
Tezaz Aklilu Habtewold, who used to be a former Foreign Minister and now a de
facto Foreign minister was in charge. He had assembled ten or more officials,
most with legal background, and they were working on a legal draft drawn up by
Chilean and some say Colombian jurist. This draft was supposed to be the
framework for the Charter of the OAU. These officials were hovering around the
Ethiopian seat at the conference, only two of them I know before as family
friends. Most of the rest I met when I joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs a
few years later. If there is one person who was to be picked out of the
Ethiopian delegation it should be the Tsehafi Tezaz.  However, I think it was a group affair. The
Prime Minister was also the only one besides the Emperor who addressed the
Heads of States while refuting an accusation by the Somali President. 

Africa
Hall was in a festive mood. Something momentous was in the air. On the second
day all the Heads of States and Governments planted a tree each in the small
park in front of the ECA. At the evening reception the Emperor had the stroke
of brilliance to bring the famous South African singer Maria Makiba to electrify
the assembled guests with her music. After the conference we invited her at the
University College and she gave a memorable concert. What makes her appearance
significant is because Ethiopia together with Liberia had taken South Africa to
the  International
Court of Justice asking it to relinquish administering South West Arica (later
Namibia). However, they had lost the case. No other country has fought against Apartheid
in its press like Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Herald carried at least one Editorial
a week condemning Apartheid which it did for many years.  We all know that Ethiopia has given
military training to Nelson Mandela.

News
was filtering that the experts had reconciled the draft Charter and it was
rumored also that the Emperor had given an impassioned plea that Africa would
be the laughing stoke of the world if the leaders depart without an agreement.
The meeting went on and until 3:00AM when it was announced that the Charter was
going to be signed. The mood in the hall was electrifying. Everybody including
the Emperor looked fresh, even at these wee hours of the morning. Nkrumah looked
happy and was writing something and beaming broadly at everybody. Then cheering
and clapping when it was announced that the Charter has been agreed upon and
will be signed by the African leaders momentarily. Applause after applause when
each one signed one after another, the loudest and most sustained for the
Emperor.  Then it was announced that
President Nkrumah will read a poem that he has compose on the spot. It was
short and beautiful. A copy of it was distributed to all in the hall by the UN
staff. I treasured that copy for a long time until I could not find it when I
searched for it among my documents a few years ago. (a copy could surely be found
in the AU) But I could not forget the refrain which runs thus:

ETHIOPIA LAND OF THE
WISE

ETHIOPIA SHALL RISE

Everybody
clapped enthusiastically. It was read again and again by the secretariat.  That became the slogan of the meeting
until the Conference was formally closed. Ethiopian including myself could not
be more proud than this moment of historic achievement. Ato Kifle Wedajo became
the Provisional Administrative Secretary General of the new Organization of
African Unity (OAU) and he essentially established the office from scratch.
Halfway during the year he was replaced by Dr. Tesfaye Gebre Egzi. The next
year the first Secretary General of the OAU.  Mr. Diallo Telli was appointed by the
Heads of States. It was the logical choice.

Now
I go forward to 1972 when I was the Deputy Head of Delegation to the 4^th
African High Command meeting in Conakry, Guinea. Ethiopia was Chairman of the
High Command and our leader of delegation was Lt. General Haile Baykedagn. At
that time Amilcal Cabral the first president of Guinea-Bissau was assassinated
and his brother, Louis Cabral, has taken over with the help of Seku Toure. In
order to boost his moral Guinea has asked him to come for a State Visit. Both
Lt General Haile and Louis Cabral became honored guests flanking Sekou Toure in
all official functions and ceremonies and we likewise were close at hand.  At some moment our delegation was
transferred to the palace of Nkrumah which Seku Toure has kept as a museum (the
circumstance why we went there I will not go into detail here.) Soon after
Sekou Toure wanted to see our delegation. He asked if we liked our
accommodation, that he was making this exception for us because he loves Emperor
Haile Selassie “as a father”.  The palace was Nkrumah’s. When
Nkrumah was deposed while he was on a State Visit to China, Seku Toure
graciously offered him to become Co-President of Guinea. But this did not work
so he retired to this magnificent palace built on the edge of a cliff facing
the Indian Ocean. In this peaceful seclusion Nkrumah was able to write over 29
books. All his documents were in place while we were there Nkrumah died in Bucharest,
Rumania where he had gone to undergo medical treatment.

This
is what Seku Toure told us about the establishment of the OAU. When the
Casablanca and Monrovia group increasingly became separated. “I thought
that only Emperor Haile Selassie could bring them together. I flew to meet him
in Asmara; I did not even wait until he returned to his capital city Addis
Ababa. The Emperor was gracious and agreed to send invitations for African
Heads of States to meet in Addis Ababa. I for one promised him that I would
convince the Casablanca group (we were few) to attend. Throughout the
conference in Addis Ababa I was beside him working for unity final victory was
achieved. My love and respect for the Emperor is everlasting.” What he told
us is most probably true, more because nothing in writing is found in the files
of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding these negotiations. Some of those
involved are still alive. I hope any one of them could write about.  Since Dialo Telli of Guinea was elected
to become the first Secretary General of OAU what Seku Toure said gives added
credence.  The next day Dialo Telli
came to visit us together with his two children, a boy and a girl, who had
grown up in Addis Ababa and spoke impeccable Amharic. Diallo was a Minister of
Justice then and his two children were with us until we left. They have such a
love of Ethiopia which is not even found among Ethiopians of comparable
age.  I was also glad to meet the
incomparable Maria Makeba and her husband the fire brand American revolutionary
Kwame Toure (formerly Stocky Carmichael). They were political exiles in Guinea.

Another
final note about how African leaders love and respect Emperor Haile Selassie.
The year was 1973 and the OAU Conference of Heads of States and Government was
held in Rabat, Morocco and I was a member of the Ethiopia delegation. At this
meeting Emperor Haile Selassie was nominated unanimously to be called the
FATHETR OF AFRICAN UNITY. I have written about this elsewhere and I am not
writing about that now.  King Hassan
of Morocco held a Garden Party partly in honor of the Emperor for his recent
elevation and partly for the Heads of States during their weekend. It was in
one of the magnificent palaces of the king in the outskirts of Rabat. ONLY FOUR MEMBERS FROM EACH COUNTRY WER
INVITED TO THE PALACE. The Emperor and his party have already left and some
of us, junior members of the delegation, were at the hotel lobby just talking.
Then one of us brought an idea. Why can’t we four pretend to be from an
African country and go to the party? We encouraged each other, summoned the
delegation car with a flag and four of us (F.T.; H.W.G., K.B.B.; and myself) went
to the Palace, our limousine flying the Ethiopian flag.  We were greeted at the top of the palace
stairs by the powerful Interior Minister and Chief of Security, who murmured
that we were very late and ushered us in. It was an impeccable garden and the
food was sumptuous and exquisite. The others have already finished eating and
were congregating on one side of the garden. We could see that the Emperor was
the only one sitting and the only one formally attired with his military
uniform all the others were in casual attire.

After
we ate we went closer to the Heads of States to see and listen. The leaders
were urging him to take off his jacket which was richly decorated with military
ribbons, as it was a hot summer day. He politely demurred. General Gawain mockingly
proceeded to help him in taking off his coat. The Emperor gamely resisted. Then
King Hassan offered a compromise and said he would loosen the tie of the Emperor
and unbutton the top buttons of his shirt. The Emperor relented all the while
speaking in impeccable French as well as in English. We were astonished. We
have never seen (nor has any Ethiopian ever seen to our knowledge) the Emperor
so relaxed, so charming and at the same time so majestic. Some of the leaders
were sitting on the grass before his chair. All roared in laughter whenever he spoke.
He gamely smiled and was polite and captivating. I think that our curiosity has
got the better of us and we inched closer to his chair. Then out of the blue
our Foreign Minister Dr. Minasse Haile came and summoned us to follow him. He asked
us how dare we came, how we were able to pass security, that we have brought
shame to our country. What will Tshafe Tezaz say if he saw us (he was referring
to Tefera Work  Kdane Wold, the
Minister of the Palace) He then told us to go out immediately and we did. There
is wisdom, a charm, a fascination and above all unreserved love and respect
which other Africans see in the Emperor which has escaped Ethiopians. The love,
affection and respect these African leaders showed to the Emperor is a
testament to the reverence he enjoys in the rest of Africa.

Now
the present crops of African leaders, who are also keptocrats like Meles and dictators
to boot, have slighted the Emperor in not having his statue but that of
Nkrumah.  As the Bible says
“no prophet is welcome in his hometown” Mengistu Hailemariam one of
the most brutal murderers of the 20^th Century is reputed to have
stifled the life out of the feeble and old Emperor and had him buried in the
lavatory next to his office in Menelik’s palace so that he could sit over him
every time he goes to the toilet. It is a macabre and bizarre voodoo magic
practiced by a brute who professed to be a follower of Scientific Socialism (or
Marxism-Leninism.) This evil vermin and alley rat is thumbing his nose at us
from his comfortable exile in Zimbabwe a fugitive from justice. The other
little man who drove Mengistu away, the tin pot dictator Meles, has no regard
to Emperor Haile Selassie whom he hates vehemently. When this monstrous
building of the AU was inaugurated he never mentioned the Emperor. His Deputy
Prime Minister was only interested in the nomination one Hodam Amhara for one
of the seven vacant posts of Assistant Secretary General. The African Union
building is 99.9 meters high signifying the date, and year (September 9, 1999)
when the OAU voted to become the AU.

Without
the presence of the statue of Emperor Haile Selassie we can justifiably call
this ugly building the sarcophagus of Africa. It is built by China with 200
million dollars, which African countries could easily afford but did not want
to spend. They were not even able to fully utilize their yearly AU budget year after
year and could have used that. But they are thoroughly incompetent and inefficient.
Most posts in AU are vacant. 
However,   Africans are beggars, led by the beggar
par excellence, the leader of Ethiopia. The amount of money these kleptocratic
leaders amass from Equatorial Guinea to Ethiopia is known to the Western World
who do not even stop them from begging but happily comply by feeding their
habit. And hiding their loot.  After
all they do not expect Africans to behave like themselves and be responsible. Meanwhile,
the musical merry go round continues. Africa is dying “a little every
day” –  a
phrase of that giant African Revolutionary, the Algerian leader Ahmed Ben Bella,
when he implored African leaders at the OAU conference in 1963, to do so if
they want  to make themselves free.
This African death is the opposite of that. Africa is dying by its blood
sucking vermin, its unelected leaders.