On March 1, 2016, Addis Abeba based Sheger FM Radio, traveled to Yekatit 23 Secondary School in Addis Abeba to investigate if there was anything in the school that shows or remembers its own name, Yekatit 23 (March 1) 1896, the day Ethiopia defeated Italy at the Battle of Adwa securing its independence and sovereignty in Africa. The Radio had also asked the students of the same school why their school was named Yekatit 23 or what it means, the majority of the respondents did not know anything.

This year on the same day, the Radio journalist traveled to the school to revisit if there was any change. Yes. This year, an Adwa Park has been founded in the school, Emperor Menelik II’s photographs have been erected, and the students interviewed were able to define and explain the day as well as the naming of their high school.

Kudos to Sheger FM!

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Protesters storm Burkina Faso’s parliament

Basia Cummings,  theguardian.com, Thursday 30 October 2014 13.44 GMT

After two days of protests in Burkina Faso the president, Blaise Compaoré, has reportedly abandoned plans to amend the constitution to allow himself a further three terms in office.

Followed on Twitter by journalists and protestors, and with live reports streaming on Radio Omega FM Ouaga’s online station, this “revolution 2.0” has been called a victory by the Burkinabè opposition.

Communications minister, Alain Edouard Traore, announced the move in a hurried statement after the parliament, national TV and radio buildings were stormed, and statues were toppled in the country’s second largest city, Bobo Dioulasso.

Communications minister, Alain Edouard Traore, announced the move in a hurried statement after the parliament, national TV and radio buildings were stormed, and statues were toppled in the country’s second largest city, Bobo Dioulasso.

At 12.15pm, Compaoré took to Twitter to appeal for “calm and serenity” as protests continued to rage outside government buildings.

French media also reported that the president’s brother was arrested as he tried to flee the country, and statements by the army’s Général Kouamé Lougué have fuelled speculation that the army are poised to remove Compaoré from power.

At 1.40pm Reuters photojournalist Joe Penney tweeted: “People marching towards presidency led by General Kwamé Lougé. About to meet presidential guard loyal to Blaise. Final assault #burkina.”

Compaoré, 63, has been president for 27 years since seizing power in a military coup in 1987.

Despite already being reported as a victory for the Burkinabè people against Compaoré’s “constitutional coup d’etat”, protesters say they continue to face rounds of live ammunition from the security forces even after the announcement, as governments buildings continue to burn:

Update 3.53pm:

On Twitter, journalists and protesters have been following events using the #lwili hashtag, named after the traditional Burkinabè Lwili Peendé cloth being worn by many in the protests.

Now dubbed Burkina’s “revolution 2.0”, a reference also to the country’s popular movement led by Thomas Sankara in 1983, the announcement suggests a promising break with the trend set by various African rulers finding elasticity in constitutional limits, including Chad, Gabon, Guinea, Namibia, Togo and Uganda.

Commentators have also been linking Burkina Faso’s protests to a wider recent history of revolution and unrest. Opposition activist Emile Pargui Pare told the AFP news agency: “October 30 is Burkina Faso’s Black Spring, like the Arab Spring.”

Protesters storm key buildings in the capital

Reports continue of fighting in the capital, and images emerge from inside the state TV station, stormed by protesters earlier today.

Général Kouamé Lougué has also delayed his statement by over two hours, leaving protestors and observers unsure of the military’s aims.

Authorities at Dakar airport have also apparently confirmed that Compaoré arrived in Senegal this afternoon after fleeing the country.

Update 5.43pm

Earlier reports that Compaoré had fled the country now seem false, after the president makes an announcement on a local FM frequency.

The opposition leader Zéphirin Diabré has tweeted “We totally oppose a coup in #Burkina #Faso . We must remain democratic. #lwili # bf226” in response to fears that the military are poised to take power.

State of emergency declared

A communique read on Radio Omega at 5pm says Compaoré has “dissolved government”, declared a state of emergency, and has made an appeal to the opposition leaders and to the public to end the protests and “stay calm”.

Here is a text of the address, as reported by Reuters and the BBC:

“A state of emergency is declared across the national territory. The chief of the armed forces is in charge of implementing this decision which enters into effect today. I dissolve the government from today so as to create conditions for change. I’m calling on the leaders of the political opposition to put an end to the protests. I’m pledging from today to open talks with all the actors to end the crisis.”

We’re signing off on this survey of the situation in Burkina Faso. For continued updates, follow the developing news story by David Smith.

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Serving and retired officials of the current ruling Front of EPRDF have gotten their daughters enrolled in prestigious US universities. The two  witnessed their daughters graduate on 23 May, 2014 completing their secondary studies from the International Community School (Addis Abeba). As Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn got the youngest of his three daughters, Bitsit Hailemariam, enrolled at Columbia University, the daughter of the ex-Chief of the General Staff of the TPLF later Ethiopian Defense Forces from 1991 to 2001, General Gebretsadkan Gebretensae, Zebib Gebretsadkan has joined Agnes Scott College in the U.S. Gebretsadkan has been working as an adviser on the SPLA transformation program for the Government of South Sudan (GOSS) since 2006 and is also the Board Chairman of Raya Brewery S.C.

A local newspaper had recently reported that the annual tuition fee to send a student to the ICS Addis Abeba costs close to 40,000 dollars.  The super-rich Ethiopians or members of the diplomatic and international organisations community send their children to this school. Many have wondered how Ethiopian government officials whose gross annual salary is not more than $40,000 are able to send their children to such most expensive schools.

Some of the business people who send their children to this school include Abebaw Desta, shareholder of Star Business Group, whose son Yohannes Abebaw, has joined University of Tampa, USA , and Mezgebu Ukule, Manager of Sky Bus Transport System, whose son Elias Mezgebu, has left for the Vanderbilt University, USA this year.

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August 13, 2014 (SEMERA, ETHIOPIA) – An Eritrean opposition group, Red Sea Afar Democratic Organisation (RSADO) on Tuesday vow to step up military attacks to topple the current repressive rule in the East African nation.

The opposition political organisation held a three day conference in Ethiopia Afar region’s Semera town where participants discussed a framework of government should they succeed to remove the current President Isaias Afwerki led government in Asmara.

RSADO leaders told Sudan Tribune that the armed wing of the group was more than ever strengthened and ready to launch full-scale military attacks to unseat the Eritrean leader and turn the red sea nation into a democratic federal state.

As the ultimate outcome of the struggle, the Semera conference declared to draft a new constitution and establish a federal system of governance in Eritrea which participants’ believed would guarantee democracy, self-governance and equal rights of the different nations and ethnic groups.

The conference agreed on the urgent removal of the ‘dictatorial’ rule calling on other Eritrean opposition groups to collectively launch attacks to curtail the life of the 23 years old regime.

The group, on the other hand, accused the Eritrean government of further intensifying an “ethnic cleansing” strategy against Afar minorities.

The group alleges that thousands of Eritrean Afars had been killed and many others were subjected to extradition and forced displacement.

“RSADO is committed to end the regime’s repression and atrocities right now rather than later” the group said in a communiqué.

The opposition group blamed the international community of giving “deaf ears” to the ongoing atrocities by the regime against the Afars and other Eritreans.

The conference brought together over 500 participants including political leaders, executive members of RSADO, Red Sea Afar youth and women league, elders, representatives of refugees, civic societies, international observers as well as Afar Diasporas.

The ruling People’s Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), is the only legal party in the secretive nation which is functioning since the country proclaimed independence in 1991 after 32-year long civil war with neighbouring Ethiopia.

Afwerki, who assumed power in 1991 remains to be the leader of the country, making him one among the very few remaining dictators in Africa.

The regime has ‘zero tolerance’ to dissent. Any citizen who attempts to criticize the government is considered as traitor or spy of arch foe Ethiopia and will be thrown to indefinite jail term or could be punished by death without court ruling.

On the 23rd independent anniversary celebrated last May, president Isaias Afwerki pledged to draft a new constitution.

However opposition groups have downplayed the pledge saying “business as usual”

RSADO officials told Sudan Tribune that it rather was a start to a second chapter of oppression and dictatorship under the pretext of new constitution.

The group was founded in 1998 to stand for the rights of the Afar people including to the respect of self determination up to secession.

Militarily, RSADO is relatively considered stronger than the other Eritrean rebel groups.

In the past its armed wing has carried out a number of successful attacks against the Eritrean government army.

(ST)

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The Ethiopian government has today charged the publishers and media outlets of five magazines (Lomi, Fact, Addis Gudaye, Jano, Enku) and one newspaper (Afro Times), local state media reported citing the Ministry of Justice. All the print outlets were published in Amharic language.

According to local state media outlets, the prosecutor charged the publishers on suspicion of “calling for violence, disseminating false information,  calling for the violent removal of the constitutional system and making people not to trust the government”.

The Ministry also warned that it will continue to charge publishers and media outlets that “trespassed and continue to trespass the law”.

The Ethiopian government had detained dozens of bloggers and journalists in the past three months alone for having a role in “terrorism”. This new charges could leave the Ethiopian media scene fully dominated by state owned media outlets.

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July 14, 2014

De Birhan 

Andargachew Tsige is an exiled Ethiopian-British national, who heads one of the strongest and possibly most feared – by the Ethiopian government- opposition Movements. He has played a key role from founding to firming Ginbot 7 Movement for Justice, Freedom and Democracy, which he leads as the Secretary General. Two weeks ago Andargachew disappeared. He was kidnapped by Yemeni authorities while he was transiting via Sanaa International Airport and was handed over to Ethiopia denying him access to counselor advice from the UK Embassy in Sanaa and despite his previous death sentences by Ethiopia. He is now possibly going through one of the harshest times of his life bearing the physical and psychological abuses that an Ethiopian security officer and prison could give to one of the country’s most feared critic and political rival. Ethiopians, international rights organisations, diplomats and concerned individuals are now voicing their concern and are calling for his immediate release with no success so far.

Andargachew received good though not very sufficient coverage in international media since his disappearance was made public two weeks ago.

Graham Peebles wrote on July 12, 2014-07-14, on mwcnews.net,

The arrest of Andargachew Tsige is part of a government strategy to undermine any movement for change, to create an atmosphere of fear amongst those who are brave enough to speak out against the regime, and cultivate a false impression, presumably aimed at Ethiopia’s principle donors (Britain, America, the European Union), that there is some kind of terrorist plot at work, and they are the righteous ones fighting alongside their Western allies against extremism.

He added and said,

Social revolution and collective action is often triggered by a catalyst, an event that demands action – a final straw that breaks the back of apathy and complacency. The arrest of Andargachew Tsige is such an event. Now is the time for the Ethiopian people to unite, and, overcoming the fear that has inhibited them for so long, demand an end to tyranny and their right to justice, freedom and fundamental democratic change.

Daniel Finnan of the the RFI radio did an interview with Ephrem Madebo, PR of Ginbot 7 Movement on July 08, 2014 and quoted the PR Head as saying “UK must ‘stand up’ for Ethiopia opposition leader extradited from Yemen.”

Martin Plaut wrote on the Guardian on July 4, 2014 a news story titled “UK stands accused over extradition of Ethiopian opposition leader.” The report begins with a sentence that focuses on the UK’s Home Office “The Foreign Office has been accused of failing to act to prevent the extradition to Ethiopia of an opposition leader facing the death penalty.” This is perhaps one of the first few news reports that may have led the UK to put pressure on the Ethiopian regime which led the regime to admit Andargachew’s capture and briefly show him on TV few days later.

Aljazeera also reported on July 05, 2014 quoting ‘agencies’ that an exiled Ethiopian opposition leader with British citizenship, who was sentenced to death in absentia, has been extradited to Addis Ababa.

The Economist’s news article “Justice and politics in Ethiopia: Snatched” posted on Jul 9th 2014 probably gave a detailed look into the current state of justice/injustice in Ethiopia and the case of Andargachew than other reports written in recent days on the topic by international media.

 There are concerns that Yemen’s government did not follow the correct procedures for extradition. It is believed that Andargachew was arrested and flown to Addis Ababa without British officials being formally alerted. According to Anand Doobay, an extradition expert at Peters & Peters, a law firm, under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations the British embassy should have been notified that one of its citizens was being detained and given the chance to visit him. “Sometimes there is no legal extradition process and then there is a risk that rendition can take place following informal contact between police forces,” he says.

The unnamed writer of the Economist cities similar cases of trans-border extrajudicial that the Ethiopian regime has embarked upon recently,

In recent years Ethiopia has conducted several extraditions with varying degrees of legality. Recently Okello Okuway, a Norwegian national, was arrested in South Sudan and extradited to Ethiopia. In June he was brought to court and faces terrorism charges. Prior to that Kenya detained and extradited two Ethiopian members of the Oromo ethnic group accused of having links to Oromo rebels, who were then sentenced to life in prison. One of them died in 2013 serving his term. Kenya also detained and sent a Canadian passport holder back to Ethiopia, where he faces terrorism charges for alleged links rebels from the Ogaden region. Human Rights Watch states that various other political refugees have been sent back from neighbouring countries.

The report quotes Andargachew’s wife Yemi Hailemariam, who is based in the UK,

Now that Andargachew is on Ethiopian soil, where he is considered a terrorist, his fate remains uncertain. His wife has called on the British government to step up their efforts. “If the British government allows Ethiopia to get away with kidnapping its citizen in international territory and stands by as they continue to torture, detain, and potentially execute my husband, then it sets a very bad precedent for the security of any Brit travelling abroad,” she says. British diplomats say they are demanding access to Andargachew, so far without success.

Agence France-Presse  on July 7, 2014 reported that “An Ethiopian opposition leader with British citizenship faces the death sentence after being extradited to Addis Ababa” the report heavily depended on a statement that Human Rights Watch published on the same day.

BBC’s French Service BBC Afrique and BBC Africa also reported the disaperance, Ethiopia’s confirmation of his capture and the statement of Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalgen on July 4, 9 and 11, 2014.

Europa Press,a privately held Spanish  news agency, also reported on July 9, 2014 about Andargachew’s extradition from Yemen. The news report was written in Spanish language. The report covered the announcements of the Ethiopian government mainly quoting the state television, ETV.

On the same day, Reuters published news item titled “Yemen extradites Ethiopian opposition official to Addis Ababa –govt”. Most of the first paragraphs of the News report were direct translations of the government’s announcement that was aired on the state Tv, ETV, a day earlier. However, at the bottom the news an opinion paragraph is included. It reads,

Rights groups say Ethiopia regularly uses security concerns as an excuse to crack down on dissent and media freedom. The Ethiopian government denies the charge.

Associated Press reported on July 7, 2014 titled “Ethiopia urged to protect opposition leader”. The report heavily quotes HRW’s statement that was published the same day earlier. AP’s report was republished by other international media outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post, the Huffington Post, Daily Mail UK and various other local media outlets.

In addition to the above titles, over a dozen of other regional, local and international media outlets have reported Andargachew’s case. To mention some the Voice of America Amharic and English services, the German International Broadcaster, Deutche Welle (DW) Amharic service have also reported about it. For example, during a radio discussion that DW Amharic held with opposition politicians, lawyers and human rights activists last night on the same topic, the journalist asked Dr. Tadesse Biru, the senior official of Ginbot 7 Movement, if he thinks the U.K. government was complicit in the arrest of Andargachew Tsige, as is being alleged. Tadesse said that it is very less likely since Andargachew stood for what the U.K. or the West in general stands for i.e. “Democracy, freedom and justice”.

As is the case of in many other issues, the international media had failed in providing balanced, detailed and follow up reports on the abduction and extradition of an Ethiopian- British politician. Has it got to do with the culture of media lacklustre or the origins of Andargachew? That will be left for time and researchers.

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Muscat: Oman is planning to increase its non-oil exports to Ethiopia by 15 per cent as it seeks to expand into new markets in Africa, according to the consul of Ethiopia in the Sultanate.

“Our target for 2014 is 15 per cent, and in 2015 the amount of our exports will increase by 25 to 30 per cent,” Fahmy Said Al Hinai told the Times of Oman on the sidelines of a workshop held here on Wednesday about opportunities for Omani exporters in Ethiopia, the second largest country in Africa.

Products identified
As per the 2012 statistics, he noted that the value of Oman’s annual exports to Ethiopia was around OMR7 million.

The workshop was held to present the findings of an extensive market study conducted by Ithraa, which highlighted a range of opportunities across the Ethiopian food, stone, pharmaceuticals, cables, aluminum and plastic sectors.

The study identified 59 products with the potential to meet the demands of one of Africa’s fastest growing economies. It was conducted by Advanced Business Consultants in association with the Addis Ababa based Sub-Saharan Africa Research and Training Center.

Al Hinai said, “The Ethiopian market is a huge market, but unfortunately we have not covered it. Omani products are there, but they have been mainly re-exported from other countries to Ethiopia. Why should we not be exporting directly?”

There is demand for Omani products in Ethiopia, he said, adding that he, as a consul, would do his best to arrange visits by Omani exporters to the African country so that they can become familiar with the market in this landlocked country.

“We are trying to take a trade delegation from Oman to Addis Ababa in the next two or three months, and next year we will hold Omani Products Exhibition (OPEX) in the Ethiopian capital.”

He also noted that the volume of imports from Ethiopia is not very high and therefore the Sultanate invites businessmen from Ethiopia to come and assess the Omani market.There is great potential in other large African countries as well and their markets will definitely be studied in the near future, said Al Hinai.

Sixty exporters
Taleb Saif Al Makhmari, director of Export Development at Ithraa, said that the study began in late 2013 and a similar workshop was held in Sohar last week to inform businessmen of export opportunities.

About 60 exporters attended the meeting in Muscat, he said, adding that a similar workshop is scheduled to be held in Salalah on June 9.  He also said that a matchmaking process is planned in the future during which Omani exporters would make a trip to Ethiopia.

With a population of almost 85 million people, Ethiopia is the second largest country in Africa and is undergoing an extensive infrastructure boom which is seeing the development of industrial zones.

In 2012-13, its economy grew by 9.7 per cent, representing the tenth year in a row of solid growth.
Agriculture, which accounts for 42.7 per cent of GDP, grew by 7.1 per cent, while industry, accounting for 12.3 per cent of GDP, rose by 18.5 per cent and services, with 45 per cent of GDP, increased by 9.9 per cent in 2012-13.

Source: http://www.timesofoman.com/News/34452/Article-Oman-sets-sight-on-15-per-cent-growth-in-non-oil-exports-to-Ethiopia?#

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De Birhan has also learnt that journalist Tesfalem Waldyes has also been detained this afternoon. 

Journalist Tesfalem

We believe members and friends of Zone Nine have nothing to do with illegal activities and we request the government to release them immediately.

From left to right blogger/activist Atnaf Brhane, Mahlet Fantahun, Zelalem Kibret, Befeqadu Hailu, Nathnael Abera and Abel Wabella

ዛሬ አርብ ሚያዝያ 17 ቀን 2006 አመሻሹ ላይ 11፡20 ገደማ ስድስት የዞን ዘጠኝ ጦማርያን አባላት የሆኑት ጓደኞቻችን በመንግስት የጸጥታ ሀይሎች ከያሉበት ተይዘዋል፡፡ እነርሱም ናትናኤል ፈለቀ፣ በፍቃዱ ሀይሉ፣ አጥናፍ ብረሀነ፣ ማህሌት ፋንታሁን፣ ዘላለም ክብረት እና አቤል ዋበላ ናቸው፡፡ ጦማርያኑን ጓደኞቻችን ለማሰር የመጡት አካላት የማሰሪያና የመፈተሻ የፍርድ ቤት ፈቃድ የያዙ መሆናቸውን ሰምተናልአ መደበኛ የሆነው “ዞን 9” የጦማርያን ስብስብ አባላት ሚያዚያ 15፣2006 በዋጣነው መግለጫ ላለፉት ሰባት ወራት የዞኑ አባላት ከፍተኛ የሆነ ክትትል ሲደረግባቸው እንደነበር በጠቅላላው የተጠቆመ ሲሆን ክትትሉ የተወሰኑ የቡድኑን አባላትና የቅርብ ወዳጆችን ጭምር ያካተተ ነበር፡፡ አሁን በመንግስት የተወሰደው እርምጃ የዞኑን ተመልሶ ወደ ስራ መግባት ተከትሎ ሊሆን እንደሚችል ይገመታል ሆኖም የዞን 9 አባላትና ወዳጆች በምንም አይነት ህገ ወጥ ተግባር ላይ ተሰማርተው እነዳልነበር ለማረጋገጥ እንወዳለ፡፡ በመሆኑም የታሰሩ የዞኑ አባላትና ወዳጆች በአስቸኳይ እንዲለቀቁ እንጠይቃለን፡

Source: http://zone9ethio.blogspot.com/

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Many Christians consider the Easter season to be the holiest season of the Christian faith. Easter is a special time of celebration for millions of Christians around the world. It is believed that Christ’s crucifixion, death and resurrection happened around that time. The Easter weekend (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Saturday and Easter Sunday) is supposed to be a time that Christians commemorate the culminating event of their faith. Some Christians believe that it is a time that proclaims God’s purpose of loving and redeeming the world through Christ’s supreme sacrifice. However, in the eyes of some, not all Christians are created equal.   Easter of 1868 was an especially brutal time for Christian Ethiopians living in Maqdala. Over the three day Easter weekend of 1868 a group of White Christian men slaughtered a group of Christian Africans in Ethiopia. On Easter Monday, 1868, after three days of fighting that began on Good Friday when the British attacked, the Ethiopian Emperor Tewodros II committed suicide rather than allow his enemies to capture him. On that Easter Monday of 1868 after the British captured the fortress of Maqdala, which was Emperor Tewodros’ mountain capital in north-west Ethiopia, the British soldiers celebrated by desecrating the body of the Ethiopian monarch looting everything of value and burning the town.   The British “expedition” was led by Robert Napier who had been promoted to Lieutenant General and given command of 32,000 men.   Clements R. Markham, who has been recognized as the leading British historian of the time was part of the expedition. Markham wrote that Napier’s men, on entering the citadel, swarmed around the body of the deceased monarch then: “gave three cheers over it, as if it had been a dead fox, and then began to pull and tear the clothes to pieces until it was nearly naked”.   British journalist Henry Morton Stanley who wrote glowingly about the British “victory” at Maqdala corroborated Markham’s account of the events. In the 1874 book, “Coomassie And Magdala: The Story Of Two British Campaigns In Africa” (reprinted in 2009) Stanley wrote of the scene where the Emperor’s desecrated body lay: “mob, indiscriminate of officers and men, rudely jostling each other in the endeavour to get possession of a small piece of Theodore’s blood-stained shirt. No guard was placed over the body until it was naked, nor was the slightest respect shown it. It lay subjected to the taunts and the jests of the brutal-minded”.   These good British Christian soldiers swarmed the area and looted not only the Emperor’s treasury but also the Christian church of Medhane Alem, including its store house, “constituting a gross act of sacrilege”.   Describing the scene of the British soldiers dividing the property they looted from the Ethiopians Stanley wrote: “The perambulatory roll of the drum which in all well governed and systematically military encampments announces a new move or new event, assembled all the officers and crowds of on-lookers around the piled trophies of Magdala which covered half an acre of ground. Fathoms of finest carpets of all countries were spread about, and all the paraphernalia of a thousand churches glittered in the morning sunlight.”   Stanley described the British soldiers at the scene who were covetously waiting to take some of the loot back to Britain in this manner: “and jostling each other in the characteristic confusion of mobs (and the most belligerent mob in the world is an English one)”.   The religious manuscripts, crosses and other ecclesiastical objects stolen by the British troops, today grace museums and some private collections in Britain. Sir Richard Rivington Holmes who was Assistant in the British Museum’s Department of Manuscripts, wrote in an official report that at dusk, he met a British soldier who was carrying the crown of the Abun, the Head of the Ethiopian Church, and a “solid gold chalice weighing at least 6 lbs”. Holmes bought the crown and the chalice for “£4 Sterling.”   Not satisfied with looting the treasures of the Ethiopian people, the British destroyed Maqdala. The well planned and executed arson attack began with destroying the fort/citadel. The palace and all other buildings, including the church of Medhane Alem, were also set on fire.   The British journalist, Stanley, reporting on the destruction: “The easterly wind gradually grew stronger, fanning incipient tongues of flame visible on the roofs of houses until they grew larger under the skillful nursing and finally sprang aloft in crimson jets, darting upward and then circling round on their centres as the breeze played with them. A steady puff of wind leveled the flaming tongues in a wave, and the jets became united into an igneous lake! The heat became more and more intense; loaded pistols and guns, and shells thrown in by the British batteries, but which had not been discharged, exploded with deafening reports. Three thousand houses and a million combustible things were burning. Not one house would have escaped destruction in the mighty ebb and flow of that deluge of fire”.   The looted treasures of Maqdala were transported to the Dalanta Plain on 15 elephants and 200 mules. The stolen goods were shipped to Britain from the Dalanta Plain. On April 20 and 21, the British military held a two-day auction to dispose of the stolen Ethiopian property. The British coveted the many “richly illuminated Bibles and manuscripts” and other property of the Ethiopian people and wanted them as souvenirs of the horror they had visited upon the Ethiopian people.   The British Museum, now the British Library, benefitted from the auction and received 350 Ethiopian manuscripts, many of them “finely illuminated”. The Royal Library at Windsor Castle received six “exceptionally beautiful specimens”. Some other recipients of the stolen Ethiopian manuscripts were the Bodleian Library in Oxford, Cambridge University Library, the John Rylands Library in Manchester, the Royal Library in Vienna, the German Kaiser and the Biblioltheque Nationale in Paris. Several of these manuscripts contain extensive archival material, including Tewodros’s tax records and other data essential for the study of Ethiopian history. The stolen property also includes two of Emperor Tewodros’ crowns and a royal cap, his imperial seal, the golden chalice and 10 tabots from the church’s altar. Several beautifully decorated processional crosses were given to the South Kensington Museum, the name later changed to the Victoria and Albert Museum; two of the Emperor’s richly embroidered tents are now in the Museum of Mankind, London.   The barbarity of the British knew no bounds as they also stole locks of Emperor Tewodros’ hair, some of it displayed in the National Army Museum, London.   Not content with looting and destroying Maqdala, the British took the widowed Empress Tiruwork Wube and her son, the seven-year-old Ethiopian prince, Dejazmach Alemayehu Tewodros, prisoner. While the Empress and prince were being taken away from their home, the Empress transitioned and the prince was orphaned. Prince Dejazmach Alemayehu was taken to England where he transitioned in 1879 when he was 18 years old. His remains are buried in a crypt beside St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle. Over the years his tomb has been visited by numerous Ethiopians including His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I.   Beginning with Emperor Tewodros’ successor, Emperor Yohannes IV, there have been numerous requests to the British monarchy and government for the return of Ethiopia’s stolen property. On August 10, 1872 Emperor Yohannes IV wrote to Queen Victoria and the British Foreign Secretary, Earl Granville, requesting the return of a Kebra Nagast and an icon, the Kwer’ata Re‘esu. Since they possessed more than one stolen copy, the British Museum very generously returned one copy of the Kebra Negast to Ethiopia. On 18 December, 1872 Queen Victoria replied to the Emperor declaring: “Of the picture (icon) we can discover no trace whatever, and we do not think it can have been brought to England.” The icon was indeed part of the looted property that was taken to England but was not publicly acknowledged until 1890, a year after Emperor Yohannes’s death. In 1905 a photograph of the icon appeared in The Burlington Magazine, a British art journal.   Since the return of the Kebra Negast in the nineteenth century there has been great resistance to return Ethiopia’s property. An English woman who had in her possession a collection of Ethiopian manuscripts from Maqdala had several of them published in London, with translations by Sir Ernest Wallis Budge. These manuscripts were seen by Emperor Menelek’s envoy, Ras Makonnen (Emperor Haile Selassie I’s father), who was in England in 1902 for the Coronation of King Edward VII. In January 1910, perhaps in an attack of conscience, the woman who possessed the Ethiopian manuscripts bequeathed them in her will to Emperor Menilek. The Times reporting this, stated that “envoys from the Emperor were sent over to arrange for their [the manuscripts’] recovery, and it is believed that the present bequest is the fulfillment of a promise then given”. The English woman died on 20 December 1910 but the powers that be refused to honour her bequest to return the manuscripts to the Ethiopian people.   The Ethiopian president made a formal request to Queen Elizabeth II for the remains of Prince Alemayehu to be returned to Ethiopia in time for the celebration of the Ethiopian Millennium (September 12, 2007.) In an article published on Sunday, June 3, 2007 the BBC News reported: “The royal household at Windsor Castle, where Prince Alemayehu was buried, is said to be considering the request.”   Like the looted treasures of his homeland, the remains of the teenage prince who was taken prisoner after being orphaned by the British, are still in Britain seven years after that request was made.   tiakoma@hotmail.com

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