Former president of Ethiopia Mengistu Hailemariam writes a new book — a memoir — that is expected to be released in a few weeks.
Woyanne journalist and publisher Amare Aregawi is also releasing a new book soon, according to Tesfaye Gebreab. It would be interesting to read what he says about his arch nemesis Al Amoudi.
Mengistu's books is a tell-all account of his 17 years of bloody rule, Ethiopian Review has learned. However, Tesfaye, in his report below, expresses doubt as to how much Mengistu will reveal. We will find out soon.
No matter what, it is a good thing that books and memoirs are being written by Ethiopians who have played a role in shaping the country's history — whether their role was good or bad.
Aregawi Berhe's recently released book, A Political History of the Tigray People's Liberation Front, is one such book.
I recently met with Tesfaye Gebreab in Asmara where he is currently doing research for his new book. It happens that Woyanne has a lot of secrets burried in Eritrea. Tesfaye hopes to release his book, "Ye Derasiw Mastawesha," in January 2010. If you think "Ye Gazetegnaw Mastawesha" was a shocker, wait until you read the new book. It lays bare some of Woyanne's most closely guarded secrets. – Elias Kifle
ዜና መፃህፍት – ከተስፋዬ ገብረአብ
ሁለት ዜናዎች ሰማሁ።
መንግስቱ ሃይለማርያምና እና አማረ አረጋዊ መፃህፍት ፅፈዋል። እንደሰማሁት የሁለቱም መፃህፍት ማተሚያ ቤት ገብተዋል። ድንቅ ነው!
ምን ፅፈው ይሆን?
ኮሎኔል መንግስቱ እንዲያው የአበሻ ነገር ካለሆነበት፤ ያበጠው ይፈንዳ፤ ያላበጠው ይበጥ! ብሎ ሁሉን እንደወረደ ቢነግረን አዲስ የግልፅነት አብዮት ማፈንዳት ይችል ነበር። እንደሰማሁት ከሆነ ግን መንጌ ቴክሱ አሁንም በጥቁር አንሶላ ራሱን ለመሸፋፈን ሞክሮአል። ረቂቅ ፅሁፉን ያነበቡ ሰዎች እንደሚሉት ኮሎኔሉ ከበፊቱ በተሻለ ሁኔታ ግልፅ ለመሆን ቢሞክርም ገና ልቡን ከፍቶ ሁሉን ሊነግረን ዝግጁ አይደለም። የሆነው ሆኖ መፅሃፉ ታትሞ እሳከነበው ቸኩያለሁ።
የቀድሞ ወዳጄ አማረ አረጋዊም እንዲሁ፤ “አደገኛ መፅሃፍ ፅፌያለሁ” ብሎ ለጋራ ወዳጃችን ነግሮታል። አማረ እንደተናገረው ሁሉን ፍርጥርጥ አድርጎ ፅፎ ከሆነ፣ ሊደብቀን ካልፈለገ በቀር፤ ብዙ ምስጢርና አዲስ ነገር ሊነግረን እንደሚችል ተስፋ አለኝ። ምክንያቱም አማረ ከህወሃት ነባር ታጋዮች አንዱ የነበረ፤ በፕሮፓጋንዳው ክፍል ከመለስ ዜናዊና ከአለምሰገድ ገብረአምላክ ጋር በተመጣጣኝ አቅምና ስልጣን ላይ የነበረ፤ አሁንም ከህወሃት ያሻውን መረጃ ማግኘት የሚችል በመሆኑ ብዙ ያውቃል ብቻ ሳይሆን ሁሉን ያውቃል! ጥሩ የስነፅሁፍ ችሎታ እንዳለውም አውቃለሁ። በአናቱ ደግሞ ፈሪ አይደለም።
የሆነው ሆኖ በቅርቡ ሁለት መፃህፍት የምናገኝ ከሆነ ጠቃሚ ነው። መልካም ንባብ ለሁላችን!
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Mengistu writing a book! What is it about? I killed, and killed and killed Ethiopian people for 17 years or is it gonna be I did not kill more than you know who I am talking about? I can not finish a paragraph of his book before my eyes are filled with red tears remembering the intelligentsia Mengistu swallowed. I am not politically affiliated but I am looking for a day we in the dispora rally in front of the white house for the hand over of him not to Wayne but to The Hague.
November 29th, 2009 at 12:17 AM
We have to stop saying anything good about woyane and its army of cadres. Case in point Amare Arogawi. Tesfaye tells us Arogawi feri aydelem. My suspicion is Arogawi is feri, if not that he is senef. We shouldn't have an ounce of respect for any woyane functionary
November 29th, 2009 at 2:06 AM
I suppose he is going to say "I didn't even kill a fly"! Hiding in a tank when it comes to his own life! The big coward and lier that he is.
I agree with Mezo above that Mengistu should be handed over to The Hague. He can't get away free after murdering hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians.
November 29th, 2009 at 2:12 AM
elias?where did you get this info about mengestus new book? you forgot to mention, even if its a hearsay. Well.. we have heard Mengistu talking one to many times he is still not taking responsibility for what he did. If his book is just a repeatition of what he has been saying so far….I feel sorry for the paper to be wasted.Lets not have a short memory, evnthough woyane is the one dismantling the country, it wouldnt have been possible for them to grab power if mengistu was a little bit human, if he really believed in the people he should have given up power after the temp phase…alas I can go on and on…
November 29th, 2009 at 8:45 AM
Dead Man Walking! Its time for him to pay for what he did!
Isnot this guy sentenced to death? What is woyanne doing to bring him to justis? any deplomatic efforts to execute the justice with zembabwe? or are they just shading their corocodile tears
November 29th, 2009 at 8:49 AM
There is a mob mentality around the governerance of Mengistu era. EPRP, understandably, released all sorts of propaganda and later on aided by EPLF and TPLF propagandists to paint the country in a very negative image. The western media went along because of their resoective governements hat of the Ethiopian government at the time. Mengistu's regime has had carried out a lot of human rights violations and the same or more is going on right now. I just hate about Mengistu's human rights violations leaving out what Woyane has done for the last 20 years. We should have everything in perspective.
November 29th, 2009 at 10:52 AM
So mengistu is writting a book…BIG DEAL!?
I dont agreee with you for saying "No matter what, it is a good thing that books and memoirs are being written by Ethiopians who have played a role in shaping the country's history — whether their role was good or bad." This guy will write history only,and only from his perspective and it will not have any historical value. It shoild be time for him to pay for what he did to the country and the people. I conclude by quoting my grandmather.." Yekefu sew edmew rejim new" I agree with her based on this guy
November 29th, 2009 at 11:17 AM
bekdmiya selam wegenoch endemin senbtachiwal?
mengstu yestafew mesthaf ywuta ena enanibew kedmen kemefredachin befit, keza yerasachin wusane ynorenal bye ew yemaminew slezih negern ayten dasen sanimeremir endiyaw bedefenaw weym beyhonal mewesenu melkam aymeslegnim. ke ykrta gar. mesthafu be-cher ywutalin ena enwekew,
November 29th, 2009 at 12:29 PM
I hope that Ethiopian review will indicate us details how to buy these books online when the books are ready for sale.
Please don't wait to inform us till some guys put it in pdf freely on the internet
November 29th, 2009 at 12:57 PM
It is good that Mengistu writes a memoir. Mengistu is for sure a killer but Meison and EPRP and others should also share the blame not only Mengistu.
Mengistu was undoubtedly an Ethiopian who wanted to do good for his people and country unfortunately did not succeed due to one reason or another.
Meles is equally a killer and does everything possible to disintegerate the country.
We should all struggle to build an Ethiopia free from tyrany and poverty. I hope Meles will be the last tyrant in Ethiopian history.
November 29th, 2009 at 2:39 PM
WAW, Mengistu writing his memoir! I lost many family members during his time in power, but I still want him to live a healthy life so that he can write. I desperately want to know more about Eritrea from him- the games played, the battles fought, the personlities involoved, mistakes made, opporunities lost, foreign influence, any regrets…? Eye for an eye leaves us all blind. If Mengistu dies or suffers from age related memory loss, we'll lose valuable information that he has. However skewed it maybe, it is only good such people write, as Elias Kifle mentioned. I hope Isaias and Meles also follow Mengistu in writing their memoirs before alzheimer's sets in.
November 29th, 2009 at 5:50 PM
It is good to hear that Mengistu is writing a book covering his 17 years of rule. I hope we will gain a lot of concrete and contraversial information as he will be remembered as the guy who dismantled the ugly reactionery faudalist system. He made history by making Ethiopia a repbulic at a price.
His time is characterised as a period of blood shed which was the consequence of the class struggle – he has no choice but to eradicate the sponsors of the feudal system who were fighting to death to keep the abhorant system.
I don't subscribe to the demonisation of Mengistue and Mele because they are the vanguards of objective change in Ethiopia. Mangistu created centralised an overdue Ethiopian Republic and by extention federalrepublic is the next objectice step no matter who is the leader.
If this federal system fails then we should not doubt that Ethiopia will disentigrate.
November 29th, 2009 at 8:25 PM
He was a leader of a country for 17 years. So he can write differnt books about his experiences. But the point is we all know what he will tell us in his book.
Mengistu was a dictator,a layer, and he was not not capabble to speak the truth and he will not tell us something worthy in his book.
Probable meles will write a book after this next term. And I think he has also written a book before, I am not sure. But every body knows what meles would say if he writes a book. A book is nothing but it is the personal reflaction of the author.
November 29th, 2009 at 9:34 PM
wow. it took him 20 years to write his memoir! Probably he went to school to learn how to write, and that is why it took him this much.
Dictators are the same, and for me there is no any difference whether meles or mengistu write a book. They are going to distort facts
November 30th, 2009 at 4:06 AM
I love it can't wait, I don't care what you Fools say about him, at least he loved his country unlike these pigs. I will definitely buy his book
November 30th, 2009 at 8:58 AM
we all know mengistu will not give us any solution for ethiopia we also know he loves ethiopia(nationalist) therfore,not a bad idea to read his book.
November 30th, 2009 at 9:41 AM
Thanks Tazabi for your straitening up the stereotype and misconception that some our Ethiopian non Muslim brothers have. Please let us not be eager to throw religions hate. Ideas reflected on this website is read by many and let us not disseminate comments that create more cleavage than bondage, we have enough divide please!!!!!
If he would write the book sincerely and with regret then I would very much share with what Eritrea said. But I do not think Dictators will learn from their mistakes and may be the book could be about justifying what he did and rationalizing his failure in terms of factors beyond his control. I do not forget the Friday when all offices were closed to hear his speech at the last minutes of his rule. Even at that late time he wasted the time by talking about all nonsense. It was that time most people who viewed or listened his speech realized the hopelessness of the man and the country's future as it become evident when he fled to save his life (Feri-Dinkem Theowedros!) and the country lost the war to BANDAS
Any ways let's wait and see the book release!
November 30th, 2009 at 10:56 AM
Shasho! a nationalist? My ass. He is a power monger who loved his power like the 'Katikala' he used to drink in the Mesheta Bets. The other thing, I don't think this guy knows how to write. The only thing he knew was only how to kill people. He is the worst DENKORO Ethiopia ever had. In case somebody writes his garbage for him, what would be the title of his garbage pile? I guess "Ethiopiana yene Ferteta"
November 30th, 2009 at 11:29 AM
This butcher wiped out a generation and still living freely instead of facing justice for the horrendous crimes he committed against innocent and some of them even naive youths not fully understanding what they were doing. My classmates; neighbors; friends and relatives are among the perished at the hands of this cannibal and his associates. The sad thing is: one butcher is replaced by an other and the cycle of violence continues unabated to this day, albeit in a systematic way.
November 30th, 2009 at 5:55 PM
everybody who loves his country loves menge!!! that is a fact
i cannt wait till i get that book – God bless Ethiopia
December 1st, 2009 at 9:04 AM
Here you go again!!!
"I did not do it…they force me to do it…. I do not know about it…. I never killed anyone…. I have never even killed a bug…..so on."
This is a season for all to show off. Gebru, Seye, Negasu and now Mengistu. Who else? I do not trust them all.
Is Mengistu planning to form his own party? Don't be surprise. Just wait…we may hear it one day.
December 1st, 2009 at 9:12 AM
As soon as the book are on the market , I will put the PDF version on the market . I will make sure him and his publishers won't get any money out it.
December 1st, 2009 at 10:10 AM
As far as I remember, during my brief stay in Addis working as EDU representative I found Amare Aregawi to be one of the very few TPLF cadres who sincerely wanted to bring about democracy and equality to Ethiopia. I am sure whatever he writes would reflect to the most part the interest of Ethiopian people. Talking to some of the other top leaders of TPLF including Meles and Eseye, I was wondering how Amare would servive in such very blindly-hostile environment. Except during the 1997 election his paper to this day seems to be, for most part, fair and balanced. So I am, to certain degree, happy with what he is doing in Ethiopia. I am looking forward to read his book.
December 2nd, 2009 at 10:34 AM
We will buy this book as soon as the book are on the market, I don't think this is not a crime, may we know some thing.
December 9th, 2009 at 10:16 PM