Category: Statements

The United States Library of Congress – Hebraic Section

Presented by His Imperial Highness Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie, President of the Crown Council of Ethiopia,

Good afternoon friends, scholars, and distinguished guests. It is my great honor and privilege to be with you today, here in the renowned Hebraic section of the United States Library of Congress, African and Middle Eastern division.

To begin, I will share with you an ancient Ethiopian saying…

“…We must study the past and understand the present to charter a better future for us all…”

I must tell you that I am not a theologian, and make no pretense at being so. Indeed, some, perhaps many of you, already possess extensive knowledge of today’s subject – the origins and religious symbolism of the Lion of Judah. Consequently, I will initially introduce the subject and hopefully end with a robust Q&A period, which I anticipate will prove enlightening and entertaining for us all…  

It is with great reverence, humility and some concern that I come before you to discuss and explore our topic. My concern springs from the certain and harsh knowledge that wherever the poetry and magic of myth is interpreted as biography, history or science, it is frequently mortally wounded. The living images become only remote facts of a distant time or sky, and it is never difficult to demonstratethat as science and history, mythology is in large part absurd. Thus, when a civilization begins to reinterpret its mythology in this way – as biography, history or science – the life goes out of it, temples become museums or tourist attractions, and the link between the two perspectives is dissolved. In modern times, arguably, such blight has even descended on the Holy Bible and a great part of the Christian movement.

The late and renowned American mythologist, writer and lecturer, Joseph Campbell, has observed that symbols are simply the vehicles of communication; and that they must not be mistaken for the final term, the tenor, of their reference. Thus, no matter how attractive or impressive symbols may seem, they remain but convenient means accommodated to the understanding. Hence the personality or personalities of God — whether represented in Trinitarian, Dualistic, or Unitarian terms, pictorially or verbally, as documented fact or apocalyptic vision — no one should attempt to read or interpret as the final thing.

The abiding challenge of the theologian is to keep his symbol translucent, so that it may not block out the very light it is supposed to convey. “For then alone do we know God truly,” writes Saint Thomas Aquinas, “when we believe that He is far above all that man can possibly think of God.” Thus mistaking a symbolic vehicle for its tenor can lead to spilling not only of valueless ink, but of valuable blood as well.

To bring the images back to life, one must seek, not interesting applications to modern affairs, but illuminating hints from the inspired past. When these are found, vast areas of half-dead iconography disclose again their enduring and permanently human meaning…

THE JEWS:

In the Jewish tradition, the earliest reference to the Lion of Judah comes from Genesis which is the first book of both the Hebrew Bible (Torah) and the Christian Old Testament. The book of Genesis is generally conceded as having been written sometime between 1400 and 1440 B.C. In Genesis 49:9 when blessing his son Judah, the Jewish patriarch Jacob refers to Judah as a “Young Lion”. Thus here we first note the lion’s becoming metaphorically and symbolically paired with Judah and the Jews. It is also from this text that the Lion of Judah further evolves into a titular station or office – defender and leader of the Jewish Tribe, which itself subsequently becomes the basis of considerable messianic expectation and speculation in early Judaism.  Indeed, King David the Jewish Messiah becomes inextricably and historically linked in the Judaic and Christian traditions as the reference for the Lion of Judah.

We frequently find lion gates in archaeological ruins, from Israel to the gates of Ethiopia’s Axumite empire’s palaces and temples to the Hittite sites in Turkey to the Babylonian and Persian sites in Iraq, or the Assyrian and Egyptian sites. It was a widespread and popular symbol of royalty, as the lion was seen by many as the king of the predators, or even the king of all beasts. In fact we know that Ramses II kept live lions, as did successive Ethiopian Emperors up until the time of my late grandfather, the last Christian Emperor, His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie.

In ancient Jewish art, we often find lions depicted in a protective role, guarding the Ark of the Covenant or at chapel entrances, as in the sculpture of the ancient synagogues at Sardis (in Asia Minor), Horazin and Bar’am (in Palestine), and in many mosaics dating from the early Byzantine era (330ad – 700ad). In medieval Jewish art, the lion pair is commonly depicted leaning up on either side of the Tree of Life, next to the crown; thus is the heraldic shield replaced by a symbol of God, and the lions are seen as serving the King of all Kings.

In modern times the Jewish heraldic representation of the city of Jerusalem remains the venerable Lion of Judah.   

THE CHRISTIANS:

In the subsequent Christian tradition the lion allegory persists in the  New Testament Book of Revelations 5:5; “And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to open  the seven seals thereof.” Although the dominant image of Jesus in Revelation is the slain, but now triumphant lamb, the Apostle John continues to employ the powerful and traditional lion symbol. Revelations 5:5 proclaims that the lion of the tribe of Judah has already triumphed, not through final judgment on the wicked, but rather through his atoning death which opens up the possibility for all to be saved. Christ, therefore, is worthy to unseal the judgment scroll because he has already achieved salvation through his death as the slain and sacrificed Lamb of God who takes away the world’s sin. Theologians generally concede that the symbol is read and understood as a direct reference to Jesus, where he is regarded as the ‘lion of the tribe’ and ‘Root of David’

In Christianity, the Lion of Judah symbol is commonly used to refer to Jesus Christ. In fact, many Christian ministries use the symbol as their emblem or a prefix to their names. The Bible further reveals other instances when Jesus was referred to as the Lion of Judah:

• Gen 49:8-9: The Lion of Judah, a strong fighter against the enemy.
• Hebrews 7: 14: It is evident that our Lord has risen out of Judah concerning which tribe Moses spoke nothing about priests.

Christians believe that while the ancient tribe of Levi prepared priests, that of Judah was the tribe of the Kings. Jesus is believed to be a descendant of the Tribe of Judah. Jesus is commonly referred to as the ‘overcoming one’ and ‘the one qualified to open the scrolls and seven seals’. According to the Book of Revelations 5:5, Jesus was the ‘sacrificial Lamb’ and the ‘Lion of Judah’. The prophecy of the coming of the Lord to ‘judge the world’ as the Lion of Judah is clear all through Revelations 5:1-5.

Is it then correct to portray Jesus as the lion of Judah? Yes, with the critical distinction that Christ’s triumph comes through his sacrificial death, not primarily through final judgment retribution. We must also remember that Revelation was written for a relatively young and evolving Christian sect under extreme social and political persecution that encouraged its adherents to follow the path of non-violent and sacrificial death, as did Jesus. This is arguably why Revelation’s most powerful image is Jesus the slain lamb, not Jesus the lion.

THE ETHIOPIANS AND THE KEBRA NAGAST:

As the Earth’s oldest independent nation, Ethiopia traces its unbroken history back more than 5 millennia. The earliest records of Ethiopia – around 3000 BC, just prior to the Egyptian Old Kingdom period (2650- 2134 BC), come from Egyptian traders who refer to lands south of Nubia (or Cush) as Punt and Yam. The first known Egyptian voyage to Punt occurred in the 25th century BC under the reign of Pharaoh Sahure. The most famous Egyptian expedition to Punt, however, comes during the reign of Queen Hatshepsut probably around 1495 BC, as the expedition was memorialized in intricately detailed carved reliefs on the temple of Deir el-Bahri at Thebes. The inscriptions depict a trading group bringing back myrrh trees, sacks of myrrh, elephant tusks, incense, gold, various fragmented woods and exotic animals. The Egyptians sometimes called Punt land Ta-Netjeru, meaning “Land of the Gods,” and considered it to be their place of origin. There are also numerous references to Ethiopia in the Old Testament of the Hebrew and Christian Bibles.

As the Old Testament is to the Hebrews or the Qur’an to Islam, The Kebra Nagast, the Book of the Glory of Kings of Ethiopia, is the ancient and revered repository of our country’s millennia-old national and religious history. More than 700 years old in its present written form, The Kebra Nagast derives from Ethiopia’s millennia-old oral tradition, and details the history and origin of the Solomonic line of Ethiopian Kings. It is also regarded to be the definitive authority on the history of the conversion of Ethiopia to Christianity.

The Solomonic Dynasty of Ethiopia is so named by virtue of dynastic decent from the union of the venerable Jewish Messiah, King Solomon of Israel, and Queen Makeda of Sabae (Sheba), more than 900 years BC. By Ethiopian dynastic tradition, all monarchs must trace their lineage back to Menelik I who was the offspring of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. In 1930, my grandfather, The Last Christian Emperor, took the name Haile Selassie, meaning “Power of the Trinity.” His full title of office was “His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I, King of Kings, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, and Elect of God”. These titles have been traditionally given to Ethiopian kings to recognize the Old Testament emphasis of Ethiopian Christianity and declare the regent’s sacred duty and subservience to God.

That is why frequently Ethiopian monarchs refer to the psalmists quote: “Princes shall come out of Egypt, and Ethiopia shall reach her hand unto God.”

In Ethiopian tradition, Menelik, who had returned as a young man to visit his father, Solomon, in Jerusalem, was regally received. When Menelik departed for Ethiopia, King Solomon, much pleased by the regal manner and demeanor of his royal offspring, ordered the chief priests and advisors of the kingdom to send their first-born sons with him for the benefit of the Ethiopian crown which Menelik was to inherit. Among these was the son of Zadok, the High Priest, who it is claimed, took the Ark of the Covenant with him. The theft was concealed from Menelik, who did not learn of it until the royal party had returned to Ethiopia. The symbolism of the Ark is particularly potent in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Every church in Ethiopia must contain a rolex replica of the Ark before it can be consecrated. One of the most important festivals in the calendar of the Ethiopian Church is that of Timkat, during which the Ark (or a replica) is wrapped in a shroud and carried in a great procession.

The Kebra Nagast relates the marvelous story of how the Ark of the Covenant came to be in Ethiopia, where it is believed to be enshrined in a special treasury – The Chapel of the Tablet – constructed next to the Church of St. Mary of Zion in Axum. It is reported that the Ark was moved from St. Mary’s into the new Chapel of the Tablet because a divine ‘heat’ from the Tablets had cracked the stones of its previous sanctum. Indeed, my grandmother, Emperor Haile Selassie’s wife, Empress Menen, paid for the construction of the new chapel.

The church of St. Mary of Zion in Axum is a venerable icon of Ethiopian religious belief and legend. It is also the most important church in Ethiopia. St. Mary is dedicated to the Holy Mother Mary who in the Christian tradition was the “vessel” of Christ, and thus the fulfillment of religious prophecy. Adherents believe that when Mary was exiled in Egypt that she visited Ethiopia. The original St. Mary of Zion was built in the 4th century AD and has been destroyed and rebuilt at least twice. By Tradition, St. Mary of Zion is the holy place of investiture for all Ethiopian emperors.

Ethiopia was a respected and sophisticated kingdom in the time of the New Testament. In fact, the Ethiopian “eunuch” in the 8th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, returning from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, is the first Ethiopian to be baptized (by the apostle Phillip). We learn that he is the keeper of “all of the treasure” of the Queen of Ethiopia, who is named as Candace (or, more correctly, kandake, which is actually a regal title and not her name). Thus, the “eunuch” is actually identified as the Queen’s bajirond, or treasurer, a position of supreme confidence in the royal household. It is likely that the Queen was told of this unusual religious encounter upon her Bajirond’s return, and thus the news of the Christian Gospel reached Ethiopia long before the official adoption of Christianity as the religion of Rome and the Ethiopian Crown in the 4th century.

Written records from about 800 BC to the first century BC (the “pre-Axumite” period, or the period of the Kingdom of D’mt) are confined to the names of kings found on carvings. However, the Axumite period (from the first century BC to 640 AD) is relatively well documented. The Axumite Kingdom represents a significant peak of Ethiopian civilization, and spans the era of the conversion of the ruling dynasty to Christianity in the 4th century AD. It was considered to be a very advanced civilization by the Roman Empire. In fact, the Roman Emperor Constantine declared that citizens of Axum were to be considered equal with citizens of Rome. Constantine, and Ezana, the Ethiopian “King of Kings” (for that title was in use even then) made Christianity the religion of their kingdoms.

In the ancient and revered tradition of Ethiopian Orthodox Christians, there are three fundamental symbolic demonstrations or manifestations of humanity’s intimate relationship and connection with the Divine, and these are called the Three Zions.

The First Zion is the Temple of Solomon in Israel which according to the Bible was the first temple of Jerusalem’s Jews and is thought to have been constructed around 832 BC. During its history, it was repeatedly attacked and sacked. According to Jewish religious tradition, before its final destruction by Rome in 70AD, the Temple had in Solomon’s time been the repository for the fabled Ark of the Covenant. Subsequent Jewish scriptures say that the Ark will remain hidden until God gathers His People (the Tribe of Judah) together again. Jews today believe that the temple of Solomon will (must) be rebuilt before the coming of the Antichrist (the Jewish Messiah). Indeed, contemporary Orthodox Jews pray three times a day for the restoration of Solomon’s Temple. Adherents of the Orthodox faith in Ethiopia believe that according to prophecy when the Temple is rebuilt again one door is reserved for the Lion of Judah, Christ, to open it again.

The Second Zion which we have already discussed in some detail is Mary and the Church of Saint Mary of Zion in Axum.

The Third Zion is The Lion of Judah who represents the return of Jesus Christ in fulfillment of Biblical prophecy of his coming to rule again.  Since the 4th century AD, all Ethiopian sovereigns give their Crown to the Church of St Mary of Zion in traditional adherence and submission to this belief. In fact, the Ethiopian Imperial Crest depicts an empty throne waiting in expectation for the return of Christ and the rule of right and justice.

RASTAFARIANS:

The Rastafari movement is a contemporary, monotheistic, political-religious movement evolved in the slums of Kingston, Jamaica, from fundamentally Christian roots and culture. In Trenchtown’s mean and overweening environment of poverty, depression, racism and class discrimination, the Rasta message of black pride, freedom from oppression, and hope of return to the African homeland found fertile soil, and it was within this milieu, from the 1930s onward, that the Rastafarian movement developed its distinctive style of language, hairstyle, art and music.

Although popularly believed to have originated on November 2, 1930, with the investiture of the Emperor Haile Selassie I, Rastafari was actually first inspired by a 1920s nationalist movement founded by Marcus Garvey, a Jamaican publicist, organizer, and Black Nationalist considered by his followers a prophet and second John the Baptist.

Though there is significant variation within the Rastafari movement, there is little or no formal organization. Undeniably, some Rastafarians see Rasta more as a way of life than a religion. Rastas do not claim sects or denominations, but encourage one another to seek faith and inspiration within themselves. The central and uniting themes, however, of this highly diverse movement are an enduring belief in the divinity and messiahship of Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I, the influence of Jamaican culture, resistance to oppression, and pride in African heritage.

For Rastafarians, Haile Selassie is considered to be Jah (God) and is seen as both the reincarnation of Christ and the lion mentioned in the Bible’s Book of Revelation. He is therefore, “The Lion of Judah.” Beyond biblical allegory and metaphor, Rastas also see the lion as being symbolic of strength against the oppression that they have endured. Thus for Rastafarians, the lion is both symbolic and iconic. The lion can be found on the Rastafarian flag, and many other items associated with Rastafari. The name “Rastafari” derives from the pre-regnal title and given name of Emperor Haile Selassie I — the Amharic Ras (literally “Head, or “Leader of Men”) and Tafari, The Emperor’s pre-regnal given name.

Adopting from the heraldic lion symbol of the biblical Tribe of Judah from, which Ethiopia’s Solomonic dynasty is descended, Rastafarians believe that the lion represents the Emperor Haile Selassie as the “King of Kings,” and reveals the unbroken lineage of the Emperor from the Tribes of Israel – The Lion of Judah.

The most famous Rastafari is Bob Marley. Through his unique Rasta perspective and music style, Marley painted compelling utopian pictures of how life should be lived, and how the world could be.

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA:

The late C.S. Lewis, a famous atheist who subsequently became a renowned convert to Anglican Christianity, was an accomplished ‘contemporary’ author. Lewis has made marvelous and inspired use of traditional religious symbols and allegory to produce his iconic seven-book and movies series written between 1949 and 1954 – The Chronicles of Narnia. Lewis has said that the entire Narnia story is about Christ, and that he had offered the lion Aslan (Jesus Christ), “as an answer to the question: What would Christ, the Son of God, be like if he had been born in the land of Narnia instead of being born in Bethlehem?” The Anglican Lewis has richly infused his Narnia series with Christian beliefs. For instance The themes of “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” the third of the books to be made into a film, employs the traditional Christian themes of temptation, sin and redemption.

Through the intricate tapestry of Lewis’s enthralling fiction and theater, we are provided a contemporary interpretation of ancient religious symbols and allegory, which, even uniquely perhaps, provides a perfect example of Joseph Campbell’s thesis that symbols are simply the vehicles of communication.

CONCLUSION:

So… We have finally come to a conclusion. And as I first told you, I have surely attempted to tread as lightly and carefully as possible, while engaging with and conveying my personal appreciation for these cherished and venerable symbols of traditional religious allegory. I pray you will agree that I have done no serious or irreparable damage. Indeed, it is my fondest desire that at least some of you will be motivated to continue to explore these profound and transcendent mysteries, for they are undeniably inspiring and worthy of further consideration and study.

For Christian Ethiopians, our transcendent religious symbols are a links to and constant reminders of our rich Judeo-Christian and Islamic heritage and past. As such, these precious religious icons endure with us today in Imperial iconography and within the holy sanctuaries of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and serve as constant and enduring reminders that we are all spiritual kinsmen with a universal duty and obedience to God.

After all, it is myths that awaken us to the mysteries of the universe and present us with a consistent image of the order of the cosmos. It is also myths that validate and support a specific moral order, inform us of the proper governance and conduct of our lives, and transport us through the passages and crises of life.

Ultimately, we must each find our own path through the forest, and reach for our transcendent personal spirituality by studying the poetry of life. It is only in this way that we come to personal contentment and understanding. “The heart,” as Joseph Campbell has reminded us, “is the beginning of humanity”.

In his comments on Spiritual Kinsmanship, my grandfather once said:

In the mystic tradition of the different religions we have a remarkable Unity of Spirit. Whatever religion they may profess, they are Spiritual Kinsmen. While the different religions in their historic forms bind us to limited groups and militate against the development of loyalty to the world community, the Mystics have already stood for the fellowship of humanity … in harmony with the spirit of the mystics of ages gone by. No one should question the faith of others, for no human being can judge the ways of God.

I would add, that unless and until we have internalized and realized the Emperor’s precepts of Spiritual Kinsmanship, Loyalty, and Unity of Spirit, enlightened governance and leadership will forever remain an illusory and unattainable reality.

Thank you very much for you kind and generous attention.

The President of the Crown Council of Ethiopia, His Imperial Highness Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie, was, at a ceremony in Manchester Cathedral, in the United Kingdom, on October 23, 2010, formally installed as Grand Patron of the Apostolic Order of St. Hadrian of Canterbury. The Lord Lieutenant of Greater Manchester, Warren J. Smith, JP, representing Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, formally invested Prince Ermias with the regalia of Grand Patron at an ecumenical ceremony at the cathedral.

The installation at the Anglican Cathedral was organized by the Presiding Bishop and founder of the Order, Bishop the Rt. Rev. Dr. Doyé Agama, and the Apostolic Pastoral Association, and involved bishops and clergy from a number of Christian churches in the UK and United States, including the Ethiopian Orthodox, Pentecostal, Anglican, Roman Catholic, and other churches. What was especially important for Prince Ermias was the fact that St. Hadrian of Canterbury, known as “St. Hadrian, the African,” has come to represent the work of uniting African and European Christianity. The role of the Grand Patron was designed to bring an African figurehead to the ecumenical work of the Order.

Bishop Agama and other bishops accompanied Prince Ermias — who was accompanied by his Agafari (Chief of Protocol) and Strategic Advisor — on a number of meetings to religious and community leaders in the UK. The (Anglican) Lord Bishop of Blackburn hosted the delegation at a special lunch at the House of Lords in London, and Prince Ermias was also received by the Lord Mayor of Manchester, Councillor Mark Hackett, and the Anglican Lord Bishop of Manchester, the Rt. Rev. Nigel McCulloch.

Two senior Bishops from the US, the Rt. Rev. Benjamin Terwood Douglass, of Cleveland, Ohio, and the Rt. Rev. Kevin K. Dickerson, of Irving, Texas, also participated in the activities; both of them representing the Joint College of African-American Pentecostal Bishops as well as their home denominations.

The Order of St. Hadrian was founded by Bishop Doyé Agama, to uphold the memory of St. Hadrian (The African), of Canterbury through his tenets of exemplary humility, excellence in service; and training up new generations to serve the church and community. The Order works ecumenically to research and celebrate the contributions of both ancient and modern African Churches, and other Churches “birthed” outside Europe; to global Christianity. The Order also particularly recognizes outstanding community service by Christians from black and other minority ethnic backgrounds in the UK and beyond.

An Ethiopian Orthodox Church choir from the area sang as part of the Manchester Cathedral service, and its members met after the event with Prince Ermias.

Prince Ermias also invested Bishop Agama as Grand Cross of the Order of the Star of Ethiopia for his work in helping to bringing African and non-African Christians together.

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Presented by His Imperial Highness Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie, President of the Crown Council of Ethiopia, to the United States House of Representatives

In an age of democratic government and the rule of law, it is easy to forget that leadership and governance are not always synonymous terms, and that leadership is not merely the function of elections. Leadership is a quality which is created by the sense of duty; the development of respect; and the ties of honor, kinship, and geographic identity of the chosen representative of a society. The history of humankind has shown that successful, durable societies have always been led by individuals and institutions which have deep roots and abiding mutual love and trust with and within their communities.

No monarch or traditional leader — nor any elected government — long remains in office without the trust and respect of society. Thus, while it is easy to think of “traditional leadership” as unelected rule, the reality through history has been that traditional leaders must embody the interests and welfare of their society even more in many instances than elected leaders. Traditional leaders undertake a commitment for life, often without formal recompense, and they also often assume these duties because they were born to the task of being the servants of their societies.

My late and beloved Grandfather, His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I, understood the modern world, and moved to create a separation between the duties and obligations of the traditional leadership of the Solomonic dynasty on the one hand, and the role and duty on the other of an elected government which the people would put in place to administer the nation. Traditional leadership was always there to unite the people under a common identity, and a common set of values, and to ensure that there was always a champion for protection under a formal Constitution. It was there to ensure that there was continuity of society for the long history of a nation, in order to allow the governments to change to meet the changing wishes of society. So “traditional leadership” is not something which takes away from modern, elected governance, it is something which adds to it, and actually makes modern government more feasible, giving the population a sense of belonging with, and pride in, their civil institutions.

Traditional leadership has several key functions:

• To unite;
• To heal and reconcile;
• To inspire;
• To give prestige and honor to a society, in the eyes of that society and the world;
• To offer protection as a defender of Constitutional rights and values;
• To focus light on areas of need and to inspire compassion and contribution;
• To facilitate dialog between societies in a non-political framework;
• To sustain the great historical span of continuity of society so that government can reflect the day to day needs and aspirations of that society;
• To reflect ethical and spiritual values which make societies capable of hope, innovation, and productive service;
• To encourage a synergy of Consensus and Competitive Governance; and
• To encourage the efforts of the public and private institutions currently at play in the country and the diaspora.

So in an age where increased awareness of our common humanity is taking place, a greater knowledge of the role of traditional leadership needs to be more deeply examined.

Traditional leadership has been widely practiced around the world for millennia. In Africa, in particular, traditional leadership in its varied forms has been both temporal and spiritual. This great heritage has often kept societies united; often ruling or influencing by consensus, arbitration, and inspiration.

Today, unlike in the past, the role which traditional leadership provides has evolved. In an age where democracies are taking root, traditional leadership has been able to take a non-political role, often providing a sense of continuity and stability at grassroots level.

Today, I wish to examine in particular the role of traditional leadership as it pertains to Ethiopia, my homeland. Ethiopia today is more than a country or nation state in the sovereign sense. In the past 36 years or so, the Ethiopian people — with a history spanning some 5,000 years — have spilled over their borders. Today, because of civil war and strife, the Ethiopian diaspora has placed millions of Ethiopians in various countries around the world. And yet all of us in the Ethiopian diaspora retain strong cultural and human ties with our homeland. The Ethiopian people are increasingly becoming a “world people”, carrying with them traditions, language, religion, and values forged through the tenure of one of the oldest civilizations in the world.

Ethiopia is itself an icon. It is a state which was never submerged into a colonial entity, despite attempts to conquer it. Therefore, it has been a beacon of hope for many other states in Africa and elsewhere. It has been an immense pleasure to hear Ethiopia described by many Africans today as being “the property and pride of all Africa” because of the unique strength of its traditions.

Successive Ethiopian Emperors strove to make Ethiopia a nation-state in the modern, Western sense, yet without abandoning the wide range of cultural, linguistic, and religious traditions of the peoples of the Empire.

The Ethiopian revolution of 1974 had left many of us traumatized and polarized. I believe the foremost role of traditional leadership must be to heal these festering wounds. Without overcoming the legacy of the bitterness of the revolution we cannot move forward. Traditional leadership could become a vehicle and provide leadership whereby reconciliation can take a firmer root. A sense of trust, an anchor is important to guide a polity through difficult and unchartered waters without worrying about power and the next elections. Hence, its non-political role can be one of the engines which can move forward a sense of forgiveness, tolerance, and can build an impetus of common purpose for unity, mutual respect and prosperity.

The other role traditional leadership must play is also to become both a guardian and bridge to a nation’s history. History requires education. Children are not being taught in schools about their own history. This is a great disservice for future generations. Teaching history will give balance and understanding of one’s predicament. How can we expect the young generation to have identity and pride if they are not taught their own history. In a sense traditional leadership can be one vehicle whereby history can also come alive by inspiring the young to learn about themselves. Traditional leadership must inspire future generations to learn from their past. There is a great deal of wisdom from our traditions, oral history, and customs that can serve us well in conceiving a firmer and clearer future for ourselves.

We cannot underestimate the role which traditions, pride, inspiration, and example give to individuals and to their society. They give not merely a sense of belonging; they give a sense of pride, and — to use the term coined by my colleague, Gregory Copley — “identity security”. It is this identity security — the knowledge of who we are and where we belong, and why — which is given to us by the traditional and benign hierarchies which we create in societies. It is this which makes us productive and secure.

At the end, perspectives and perceptions at individual and collective level matter.

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His Imperial Highness Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie, President of the Crown Council of Ethiopia has sent New Year’s Greetings to all Ethiopians and friends of Ethiopia. The Ethiopian New Year, bringing in the year 2003 in the Ethiopian (Julian) calendar, falls on Meskerem (ነሐሴ) 1, equivalent to September 11, 2010, in the Western calendar.

In his New Year’s Message, His Imperial Highness said: “The Crown of Ethiopia has been with the global diaspora of the Ethiopian Peoples since 1974 (1966 in the Julian calendar). In this time, as with the late Emperor Haile Selassie I’s brief exile in Britain during the war with Italy, we have seen that the long history of the Ethiopian Crown — the Solomonic dynasty and culture — represents the single unbroken historical ‘genetic chain’ of Western civilization, from pre-Christian times until today. It is also the great link between Western civilization and Africa, the font of all humanity.”

Prince Ermias continued: “Serving the global diaspora, and Western and African civilization, as well as the People in Ethiopia themselves, has shown that the Ethiopian Crown has a duty which is wider than mere national geography. At the same time, we are immensely proud of the progress made by the Ethiopian People and their Government in Ethiopia since the removal of the illegal Dergue which attempted to destroy our history and which engaged in regicide, murder, and tyranny. Ethiopia and Ethiopians are today marching forward, and three millennia of Solomonic values have tied us into the global civilizational mainstream as well as placing us firmly in the historical roots of modern civilization.”

He particularly thanked those Ethiopians and non-Ethiopians honored over the years by the Crown for their service to the Crown, to Ethiopia, and for their commitment to the values and humanitarian endeavors for which the Crown works.

 “We are immensely proud of the fact that The International Society for the Imperial Ethiopian Orders has now been formed to bring together the Ethiopian and international communities of those who have worked to preserve our values and to protect humanity. Those invested with Orders and Honors of the Ethiopian Crown include a number of world leaders, and other distinguished individuals from Ethiopia and around the globe. We thank you all for your good works and look forward to working with you over the coming years for the good of humanity and civilization.”

On Sunday August 1, 2010, Voice of America (VOA) Amharic Service broadcast a report on the events in the Washington, DC, area, marking Celebrations of the 118th Birthday of the late Emperor Haile-Selassie.

Although the event was covered by numerous media outlets, VOA was able to conduct the interview with members of the Royal Family and others who participated in the event.

The reporter began the interview by stating that until his ouster on September 12, 1974, the Emperor had ruled Ethiopia for more than 50 years. Following the overthrow of the Emperor, the incoming military summarily executed the Emperor, and other members of the Royal Family, as well as high government and military officials. Others were forced into exile, including young members of the Royal Family.

The VOA interview focused on members of the Royal Family and their life in exile, to outline what had happened to the former First Family of Ethiopia following the overthrow of the Emperor and the Monarchy.

Prince Ermias began the interview by stating that he was the son of the late Prince Sahle-Selassie, who was the youngest child of the late Emperor.

Prince Tafari Makonnen stated that he was the fourth son of the late Duke of Harar, Prince Makonnen, the second son of the late Emperor.

The interviewer continued by stating that apart from the fact that the late Emperor’s relatives were living abroad, not much was known by the public about the present circumstances of the Royal Family.

Prince Ermias said that although none of the Emperor’s children were alive today, his grandchildren and great-grandchildren survived them and were currently residing in Ethiopia, and in different cities in the United States and Europe.

Prince Tafari said that he was a married man and a father of three children, one of whom was attending the University of Indiana, while the others were residing with him.

The next question focused on the role of the Crown Council. Prince Ermias responded by stating that the Crown Council — the sole surviving Imperial Ethiopian Constitutional institution — was a non-political organization which had, in principle, focused on Ethiopia’s history, culture, and future development. He said that the Ethiopian people, who were now a young generation [since the Emperor’s generation], for the most part were unaware of their own history. The presentation of Ethiopian history had been tainted by propaganda, and even that had mainly focused on hatred and division. “The future generation of Ethiopians must be able to examine both the good and the weak side of their own history in order to be able to move forward,” he said.

The interviewer continued by stating that for many years the former Military Government (Dergue) had tarnished the image of the Emperor through propaganda, and also that neo-nationalist historians had viewed the Emperor’s governance in a bad light. How, he asked, do you view the establishment of a Constitutional Monarchy in Ethiopia such as one in the UK, and what could it contribute to Ethiopia’s future?

Prince Ermias stated that it was his and the Crown Council’s belief that history was a principal pillar of any civilization and as such also a bridge into the future. To say this was not to claim that all which had transpired during the Imperial era was all correct. Rather, it was vital to distinguish that for the most part all those who served their country were patriots who, to the best of their abilities, knowledge, and the given challenges of the historical periods in which they lived, contributed to developing and safeguarding Ethiopia. On the question of reconstituting a Constitutional Monarchy in Ethiopia, it was, Prince Ermias said, unequivocally the decision of the Ethiopian People. Having said that, a Constitutional Monarchy could serve the Ethiopian People by being a uniting factor, an institution which could serve to enhance reconciliation and become an historical bridge for future generations. He continued that keeping these attributes in my mind would serve Ethiopia’s future development by contributing both to Ethiopia’s historical prestige and building common ground and unity for future development. “A common history built on knowledge, tolerance, and mutual respect between our diverse comunities, will unite us in outlook to continue building a strong nation,” he said.

The reporter asked about their livelihoods and how they live?

Prince Ermias said that he was now engaged in private business and had worked in other jobs just as all Ethiopians were doing, living in the Diaspora. He acknowledged that there had been considerable fallacious propaganda that the Emperor had amassed a vast fortune at the expense of the Ethiopian people and that, as a result, the Royal Family were living in luxury.

Prince Tafari, for his part, said that he worked in a government job, and reiterated that the Royal Family led a life no different than any other Ethiopians and that he welcomed any Ethiopian to visit him and witness it for themselves.

The reporter then asked about how the new generation of members of the Royal Family were raised. Were they are aware of their identity and culture?

Prince Tafari said that his children were aware of their identity and heritage. However, since they had not lived during those times, it was, to them, more history then reality.

Prince Ermias continued that his children were also aware of their identity and heritage. He said that, as all Ethiopian know, it was difficult raising children in two cultures, and that it was his wish that his children would know that they had relatives and countrymen in Ethiopia and become familiar with their country.

The reporter then asked the identity of the current Crown Prince.

Prince Ermias said that, according to tradition and law, the current Crown Prince during the present interregnum was Zera Yacob Asfawossen, and that the Crown Council was a rallying point for the Crown with specific Constitutional rules and obligations.

In concluding the interview, the reporter remarked that he had witnessed a representative of the Ethiopian Government at the event, and asked what the current relationship was between the Government of Ethiopia and the Crown Council.

Prince Ermias responded by saying that the current government had made it clear that the Crown Council, like all Ethiopian organizations, had the right to establish itself legally in Ethiopia. He continued by saying that it was his wish to see the Crown Council established on the ground in Ethiopia soon, and for the organization to become an institution which would serve as a force of healing, reconciliation, and unity, and contribute its share for the development of our Nation.

A Commemoration Mass was held on Sunday, July 25, 2010, at the Medhanialem Orthodox Church in Maryland, in the US, to celebrate the 118th Birthday of the late Emperor Haile-Selassie I. Members of the Royal Family, the Clergy, representatives of the Ethiopian Government, former Imperial Body Guards, and other relatives and supporters attended the celebration.

The late Emperor’s Birthday had been celebrated throughout the world from 1975 onwards, most notably by the Rastafarian Community and others who have held the Emperor in high esteem. Since the year 2000, celebrations have also been held in Ethiopia.

This was the first time it has been formally celebrated amongst Ethiopians in the Diaspora. In welcoming the participants, Prince Tafari Makonnen thanked the Medhanialem Church, the Congregation, and all those in attendance for their participation.

In noting the event, Crown Council President Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie remarked that although the Royal Family had celebrated this occasion with different communities in the past, this celebration, in prayer and meditation amongst our own community abroad, was a special honor.

Following the Service, a luncheon was held as part of the Birthday Celebrations. Following the luncheon, prominent Ethiopian artists, members of the Rastafarian Community, and others made brief remarks in commemoration of the occasion. The program also included a short biographical film on the late Emperor’s life and his legacy. This was followed by a slide representation of the Late Emperor’s special relationship with the United States spanning a period of over 30 years.

All those in attendance commented that the event was a healing experience and one that had to be held.

The President of the Crown Council of Ethiopia, HIH Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie, has expressed the Council’s deep grief over the murder of so many Ethiopians and others in three bombing incidents by the Somali al-Shabaab terrorist group in the Ethiopia-town area of Kampala, Uganda, on July 11, 2010. “The Crown Council not only expresses its grief and outrage over this cowardly attack on innocent civilians, but also sends its profound condolences to the families of the victims,” Prince Ermias said.

“This was a pointed attack on Ethiopia and Ethiopians,” Prince Ermias said, “and no-one in the civilized world will tolerate this kind of behavior. The act was designed to target not only Ethiopians, but to shake the foundations of trust between Ethiopia’s Christian and Muslim communities, which have historically lived in trust and mutual respect.”

“It was also an attack on the African Union, coming as it did just before the AU summit in Kampala, and on the AU’s attempts to restore stability in Somalia.”

Prince Ermias said that the Crown Council supported the Ethiopian Government’s repudiation of the threats which al-Shabaab and other radical groups have made against Ethiopia’s integrity. “We must see the martyrdom of the Ethiopians in Kampala as a rallying cry to ensure that all Ethiopians stand up against terrorism, so that their deaths will not have been in vain, as tragic as their loss is to us all.”

The Ethiopian Crown Council offers Our most sincere and tender condolences to the families and friends of the ill-fated crew and passengers of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409. For Ethiopians in particular, both at home and abroad, this has been a truly shocking and galvanizing calamity.

While we grieve together in our collective and profound loss as Ethiopians, we also recognize and mourn for the tragedy that has equally befallen our dear friends of other nationalities – the people of Lebanon most directly, with whom we have enjoyed a long and abiding affection and history.

We pray that God will lighten the darkness of this terrible moment for those most directly effected, and with knowledge certain of brighter days to come, together, we will see this matter through.

INTRODUCTION

Distinguished members of the Order of Saint Lazarus. It is a pleasure to be with you today and to offer a few remarks on an issue in which we all share a common interest – water availability on the African continent.

Africa’s water resources are scattered throughout the continent, with some areas receiving more than enough water, and others experiencing virtually constant drought. The Horn of Africa and the Namibian Desert, for example, receive almost no rainfall, but the western region of the continent near the equator, receives as much as 158 inches of rainfall annually. Consequently, regional droughts on the African continent lasting up to 5 years are a common and historic problem.

For the vast majority of Africans, 75% of the population, ground water is the primary water source –that is, ponds, pools, creeks, streams and rivers etc. Yet ground water is not always available and accounts for only 15% of the continent’s water resources.  As noted earlier, there are also serious concerns about the quality of the groundwater.

A term in common use among water professionals, governmental and otherwise, is “Water Stress”. It is useful to think of “Water Stress” as being the collective symptoms of a lack of water supply – the disease itself. Water stress occurs when water supply is inadequate, and reveals itself in the human, environmental, social and economic costs of unmet water needs. Lack of water and proper sanitation has crucial and far-reaching social implications. Women and children spend several hours each day fetching water.

The time spent in this activity could be used to care for children in the home, rest, or employment in income generating activities. For girls, the task of carrying water combined with lack of sanitary facilities in schools often stands in the way of their education, and traveling long hours to remote sources exposes girls to increased rates of abduction and rape. Not much imagination is required to envision the downwardly spiraling health consequences  for the bone development of a young child burdened with a daily routine of multi-mile treks hauling 40 pound water-filed containers.

Lack of water supply is most frequently caused by drought, contamination, or a disruption of some sort in the channel of water distribution. A direct consequence of Africa’s ever-present lack of effective water supply, and the consequent water stress, is that Africa has been unable to effectively develop its rich natural resources – the most valuable of course, being its own people. Though approximately 4 trillion cubic meters of water are estimated to be available every year, only about 4% of that is used.

Lack of water access is a larger problem in Africa than anywhere else on the planet.  Of the 25 nations in the world with the greatest percentage of people lacking access to safe drinking water, 19 are in Africa. About 328-million of Africa’s 964-million have no access to clean water and sanitation.

Simply put, the continent and its people lack the technical knowledge and financial resources needed to access and harness their water supplies. Sustainable financing for scaling up infrastructure and service delivery in Africa remains a key challenge.

WATER CONFLICT

The UN Development Programme (UNDP) has previously predicted that the main conflicts in Africa during the next 25 years might be over water, as countries fight for access to scarce resources. Potential ‘water wars’ are likely in areas where rivers and lakes are shared by more than one country, according to the UN report, with possible “flashpoints” being the Nile, Niger, Volta and Zambezi basins.

With water issues, history matters as Mark Giordano of the International Water Management Institute notes. “When colonial boundaries were drawn, residents were separated from resources, especially water. With the manifestation of colonialism emerged the concept of the nation-state, and national boundaries were arbitrarily drawn creating transboundary waters as a byproduct. For example, the Niger basin became transboundary in the colonial period because both the French and British empires shared the water resources, whereas the Senegal river basin was solely under French colonial rule until Guinea gained independence in 1958, which internationalized access to the Senegal river basin.”

Giordano believes that transboundary water laws contribute to a history of conflict and resolution in sub-Saharan Africa; “There are still agreements in place which emanated from earlier governments (colonial or minority rule),” he says, “which could be argued to exacerbate tensions between states.” Possible examples of agreements that might be argued to have fostered later conflict to include those in the Nile Basin (1929 and 1959) and between South Africa and Lesotho (1986). The 1959 Nile Basin agreement preserved British colonial interests in Sudan after Egyptian independence in 1922 and declaration of the Egyptian Republic in 1953, but Egypt and Sudan are the only actors with power in the allocation of Nile resources. The agreement neglects the role of Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, and Rwanda in the governance of transboundary Nile resources.

Successful transboundary water laws have historically been multilateral and focus on joint management and development of resources. Bilateral agreements—such as those in the Nile, Orange, and Inkomati river basins—have proved to be less effective solutions because they focus on water allocation and how to divide limited flows. Allocation is a process of dividing water supplies as opposed to developing and maintaining sustainable water resources for future use. Historically, multilateral agreements further development of sustainable water resources: Such laws govern the Lake Chad, Niger, Okavango, Senegal, and Volta basins and include most or all riparian states (of, on, or relating to the banks of a natural course of water) with the intention of promoting economic development through investment to reduce economic water scarcity.

EGYPT, ETHIOPIA, SUDAN

The combined population of the three countries through which the Nile runs – Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt – are predicted to rise from 150 millions today to 340 millions in 2050. If such a population increase is realized, there could be intense competition for increasingly limited water resources.

Indeed, water is already a catalyst for regional conflict, with strained diplomatic relations between Egypt and Ethiopia over Ethiopia’s dam building projects. Ethiopia accounts for fully 85% of the Nile river flow and the Ethiopian government has constructed dams for hydro electric power and commercial exploitation.

There is also another potential for water based conflict  in Southern Africa involving Botswana, Namibia and Angola. The River Cuito which begins in Angola before heading through the Caprivi strip in Namibia and ending in the marshlands of the Okavango Delta in Botswana runs through an area that is no stranger to tensions and conflict between neighbours.

ETHIOPIA

We are sad to inform you that Ethiopia ranks among the lowest nations on Earth in access to water and sanitation. Government statistics indicate that only 31 per cent of households have access to safe water, and a meager 18 per cent of households have access to sanitation facilities.

The quality of water is a key problem, as evidenced by frequent outbreaks of water related epidemics in both rural and urban areas. Contamination of water supplies by cattle dung and human excreta is common and high fluoride levels in water are a particular problem in Our country’s Rift Valley regions. Primary health issues from Our country’s unrelenting water stress results in increased susceptibility to water-borne diseases such as diarrhea and dysentery, water-washed diseases such as trachoma and scabies, water-based diseases such as schistosomiasis, and water-related insect vectors including malaria. In Ethiopia, fully three-quarters of all health problems of children and communicable diseases, originate from the environment.

WHAT TO DO?

While the financial requirements are obvious, increasing access to quality water is a long-term, systemic goal that requires more than charitable funding. Here are a few observations:

• Better donor emphasis and recognition of the systemic nature (and infrastructure implications) of water source development is crucial. Management of the water facility and community involvement and awareness are absolute and continuing necessities. For example, We were recently discouraged to read that 50,000 new African wells have become inoperable due to a mélange of social, technical and economic problems.
• We must also recognize and become sensitive to the fact that relatively arcane and far-ranging global environmental issues are upstaging Africa-specific issues of water development.
• Within those transnational “Water Basins” that We have earlier mentioned, where water conflict could occur, direct, governmental trust building and diplomatic efforts to develop water treaty arrangements are absolutely crucial. In every instance, the national and human tragedy of open conflict and warfare is to be despised and avoided. Transnational water treaties are crucial to this purpose and there is some encouraging history that water agreements have cultivated international cooperation and lessened the opportunities for conflict.
• Due to sub-Saharan Africa’s extreme climate variability, a substantial water storage capacity must be developed. While there is some debate concerning the efficacy of regional dams, and an attendant concern for the trans-regional political sensibilities that We have earlier discussed, these matters must be rigorously engaged, explored, the truth discovered and the most immediate, reasonable and logical steps taken.
• Water soil and agriculture are intimately related. The collection of water in shallow wells, drip irrigation for crops, the use of pumps, and other technological innovations show promise for small-scale agricultural improvements and reducing water stress. Ninety-six percent of agriculture in Africa is rain-fed, but soil nutrient depletion is a more pressing problem than drought in sub-Saharan Africa. Development of soil nutrients as opposed to only allocation of water resources to supply agricultural production is the most effective means to relieve agricultural water stress in the long-term.

In closing, We wish to thank you for your warm and generous hospitality and your kind and continuing interest and attention.

May God bless The Order, Ethiopia and Africa. HIH Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie Chairman – The Crown Council of Ethiopia

By the beginning of World War I in 1914, initial African resistance to the invading European colonials had been effectively crushed and the whole of Africa had been colonialized – with the exceptions of Liberia and Ethiopia. Over the next decade, as colonial rule became more institutionalized and heavy-handed, African resistance to colonialism reappeared, becoming increasingly focused and intense.

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, new mass-based political parties appeared in virtually every African colony. Unlike earlier African political organizations, these parties were not restricted to the educated African elites, and actively recruited the support of the masses, even as the cause itself was re-focusing. Expanding beyond traditional African political demands for more opportunity and an end to discrimination, the continent’s central demands were for complete political freedom and an absolute end to colonial rule.

The dynamic and speedy re-emergence of African nationalism took European colonial powers by surprise. The Italians and the British, followed by the French and then by the reluctant Belgians, eventually responded to the call for independence.

Libya (1951) and Egypt (1952) were the first African nations to regain independence. Ghana (Gold Coast) in 1957 was the first country south of the Sahara to become independent. 1960 was a banner year for African independence as fourteen African nations gained their independence; and by 1966, all but six African countries had become independent nation-states.

THE PROMISE OF INDEPENDENCE

Independence was supposed to bring with it legitimacy and accountability as well as the establishment of a new social contract between African citizens and the state. The institution of the state as a ruling body was adopted in Africa as a useful residual remnant of the colonial system of governance. The State structure was adopted by all former colonies as a viable and effective mechanism for the efficient exercise and administration of supreme political authority. Of course, ostensibly, the supreme, absolute, uncontrollable power – the complete right to govern – was ultimately vested in the people. Sovereignty, therefore, implied the necessary existence of the state for the legitimate application and exercise of the power, in implementing the public will in civil and political matters.

THE REALITY OF INDEPENDENCE

In the near half-century following independence, it has become increasingly evident that the promise of the three fundamental human rights of safety, liberty and property, that independence was meant to confer on the former colonies, has not been realised. For Africans in general, the power of being able to enjoy a permanent well being, irrespective of the disposition of those from whom Africa calls itself independent, has yet to be realised. Many post-colonial African economies are yet to be democratized and history in this regard is important. The baggage of the past – institutions, customs etc. – tends to distort the manner in which Africans respond to the economic opportunities available to them. It is an unarguable truth that the contemporary identity of Africans has been largely shaped by its colonial past and the Soviet/U.S. Cold War contention that followed.

Africa’s collective understanding of the challenges and opportunities of independence are largely shaped by Africa’s unfortunate and frequently brutal past. Race too is a major factor in shaping the worldview of many Africans, to the extent that any failure to seize opportunities has been blamed on the historically defined racial architecture. It has been easy, for example, to allege (with cause) that white people in Africa were enriched economically by the politics of their day. It was, therefore, justifiable for many Africans to claim that whites were rich because Africans were poor and whites had to be rich because they controlled the colonial state. Fair enough as far as it goes, but one would have naturally expected that the advent of independence would diminish the pace of wealth accumulation by non-Africans. However, the fact is that the post-colonial era has strengthened, rather than weakened, the economic power of non-Africans and the political apparatus of the state has become monopolized by a few Africans in a system where cronyism and political patronage still flourish. Indeed and unfortunately, it is a common African perception – perhaps not all that unlike the impressions of Europeans and Americans – that the most certain and speedy path to personal prestige, wealth, influence and independence is via the capture, by hook or crook, of high political office.

Candidly speaking, the transfer of state control from white Europeans to Africans has not yielded the intended economic benefits for the majority of Africans, and the link between the nuances of economic and political power must be better understood if Africa’s prospects are to improve.

THE COLD WAR AND AFRICAN INDEPENDENCE

Though Africa is far removed geographically from Washington and Moscow, the continent has unfortunately provided a perfect “arena” for these two politically and economically contending superpowers to embroil their willing African “gladiators” in constant rounds of seemingly endless proxy wars. These Cold War confrontations have proven disastrous for African development, and by manipulating and accentuating ethnic rivalries have played a major and continuing role in the continents civil wars – Congo, Angola, and Sudan for example, and rampant coup d’états in Ghana (1966) and Congo (1960) – Somalia, Eritrea and Ethiopia present day.

In Africa (as in Latin America and South Asia), the American/Soviet Cold War struggle for dominance precipitated a series of devastating consequences – e.g. colonialism, “artificial” national borders, Inter-Africa rivalry for land and political power, etc. The calculus of great power contention pitted unwitting African ethnic groups against each other and African nation against African nation – Angola vs. South Africa vs. Namibia, for instance.

The abrupt end of the Cold War (1989-1991) was both as unanticipated as it was unprecedented; no one expected matters to end when and in the manner they did.

The African conventional wisdom had been that the end of the Cold War marked the end of Africa’s victimhood as pawns in Washington and Moscow’s proxy battles. Finally, it seemed, the stage was set for Africa to concentrate on securing its rightful place in the world and creating a better life for its people. Unfortunately, however, the war’s ending was to be something quite different, the unleashing of civil strife unmatched in the history of contemporary Africa. The war’s end marked the outbreak of even more civil wars, strife and general political chaos. West Africa in particular literally went up in flames: Liberia burned; Sierra Leone imploded and the Ivory Coast went helter-skelter. In the Eastern and Central Africa, Uganda, Congo, Rwanda, Burundi too were caught up in savage conflagrations. The southern region of Africa witnessed growing wars in Angola and Mozambique, while fighting escalated in the perennial hotspots in the Horn of Africa—Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia.

During this same period, and from my personal perspective as an Ethiopian, few tragedies in the history of nations compare to the communist coup that led to the 1974 arrest, and subsequent death by torture, of my grandfather The Last Christian Emperor, His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I.

In 1974, Washington and Moscow’s ubiquitous Cold War contentions on the African continent converged to precipitate a collateral calamity of epic proportions for the Ethiopian people and their venerable and millenias old Empire. By deposing, torturing and murdering the Emperor Haile Selassie, the Derg, a communist military junta led by a brutal ideologue and revolutionary, Mengistu Haile Mariam, had destroyed the Emperor’s passionate and relentless drive for modernity and stifled a benevolent and progressive governance. Once known as the “conscience of the world”, Ethiopia, was quickly engulfed by a brutal and propagandizing communism that transformed our respected nation into a tragic collection of warring factions and fractious ethnic states, with little unity, crumbling infrastructure, crushing poverty, and frequent bouts of famine and disease. Indeed, during the 1980s, the name of Ethiopia became synonymous with human misery.

In their cynical ideological tumbles across the African continent, the contending Cold War superpowers had manipulated, exploited and exacerbated Africa’s tender and extant Post-Colonial ethnic, religious and regional rivalries. Consequently, ethnic and religious differences became increasingly focused and intransigent – inevitable flash points for violent conflict. But while the African proxy wars of Washington and Moscow had inflamed the continent, ironically, it would be the eruption from the fall of the Berlin Wall that showered fiery embers of discontent, conflict, social upheaval, traumatized refugees, displaced populations, massive arms flows, mismanagement, public corruption and general unrest across the width and breadth of Africa. The confident optimism that had greeted the Cold War’s end and the widely held belief that the decade of the 90s heralded a new future for Africa revealed itself as sheer fantasy.

THE PRESENT SITUATION

Will Africa get it wrong again? The encouraging spread of democracy and fall of military juntas and dictators—historically the scourge of Africa’s progress— portends a better future. At present, there are more African democracies than ever before including – Benin, Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and others. This has already reaped huge economic benefits for the continent as many African countries (Ghana, South Africa, Botswana, etc) and what I term the nascent Democracies – Ethiopia in particular – are registering economic growth rates of 5% or higher. The fall of military dictatorships suggests that an increasing number of African nations are now better governed and more politically transparent.

The present concern is can the institution of democracy peacefully prosper in Africa without confrontation and conflict. Democracy is a recent phenomenon on the African continent, and there are significant political remnants from the previous era that benefit from historic systems of corruption and tyranny. Moreover, even the system of democracy itself has its own flaws that in many instances tend to accentuate fundamental and already existing differences.

During this hopeful moment for Africa, a period of relatively increasing peace and domestic harmony, major continent wide problems remain concerning de-militarization, integration and assimilation of large, poorly educated and semi-nomadic populations into stable political entities and civil society. Also, instilling habits of stability building social values, respect for the rule of law, free elections and human rights will not be easy. Add to this the fundamental African issues of persistent and widespread poverty, little or no education, lack of health care and food shortages etc. and the challenges remain sobering.

THE FUTURE: ETHIOPIA SPECIFIC

Experience and common sense inform us that generalizations can be deceiving and that the perfusion of rich regional cultures and diverse historic experiences of the African people defy neat categorization. I agree and in my comments, I have used generalizations, but only insofar as they are accurate and pertinent, and now I will address the specific future, as I see it, for my country, Ethiopia, and its nascent democracy.

Increasingly, Ethiopia is being acknowledged as the genesis and true cradle of human civilization. African cultural diversity flourishes in our country in an exotic profusion of unique and extraordinary beauty, and sometimes-deadly passion. Thus, there is the immediate necessity to develop an encompassing, Pan-African culture of “Bridge Building” promoting understanding and tolerance between people – not by edict and force, but through enlightened agreement and consensus: one-on-one diplomacy.

Enlightenment, of course, derives from education, which requires good health, which requires dependable food supplies, which requires stable economics – and thus, the challenge and promise for the new African Millennium become clearly framed:

• Culture,
• Education,
• Health,
• Food and
• Economics.

ECONOMY

While it is well known that the African continent with its roughly 680MM inhabitants is the only region in the world where the number of extreme poor has actually risen over the past fifteen years, it is less well known that prior to the current global economic downturn, African countries were experiencing major improvements in key development fundamentals.

Still, poverty persists at the core of Africa’s problems. Moreover, and due to the current global economic malaise, some Sub-Saharan countries are anticipated to suffer economic instability, as 2009 economic growth rates are projected to decline 50% on average. Most of Sub-Saharan Africa is already in the World Bank’s lowest income category of less than $765 Gross National Income (GNI) per person per year, and I am unhappy to report that Burundi and Ethiopia are among the region’s worst performers with a disgraceful $90 GNI per person.

On a more encouraging note, and though peace remains fragile in some regions of the continent, overall, Africa is experiencing a decline in political conflicts and wars – especially in West and Central Africa – and after all, all wars inevitably obey the same brutal economic rubric:

War equals destruction, equals impoverishment, equals social disruption, equals out-migration… Our own Ethiopian Diaspora being a specific case in point.

HEALTH:

Unfortunately, Ethiopia’s health issues are typical of Sub-Saharan Africa. Our population has reached more than 77 millions inhabiting a landlocked area slightly less than twice the size of the U.S. state of Texas. As is usual for most of Africa, HIV/AIDS is an enormous problem, as are many other infectious diseases such as diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, typhoid fever and malaria. First and foremost, we must educate our children, and through them, their parents, to improved hygiene, health care and nutrition.

As I have earlier noted, unless a person is healthy and fed, she has no energy or enthusiasm for anything else.

Governments have recently been joined by a long list of private donors and dynamic advocates such as Bill and Melinda Gates, Warren Buffett and Bono whose contributions and commitment to Africa’s war on poverty and disease are both inspiring and humbling. Thanks to their efforts, there are now billions of dollars becoming available for health spending — with thousands of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and humanitarian groups vying to spend it.

Unfortunately, decades of neglect have rendered local hospitals, clinics, laboratories, medical schools, and health talent dangerously deficient and much of the cash now flooding the field leaks away without substantive result.

Few of today’s well-intentioned donors seem to appreciate that Africa’s health care problems are a long slog, and will require at least a full generation (if not two or three) to substantially improve — and that efforts should focus less on particular diseases than on holistic measures that affect entire populations’ general well being.

EDUCATION:

As I noted earlier, Education is surely the single most effective and immediate way to improve the lives of all Africans. As in any nation, our Ethiopian youth represent the country’s best hope for the future.

In concert with this educational focus, we must target our training to prepare Ethiopia and Africa’s youth for the most immediate, practical and productive jobs of the future, with a strong emphasis on technology.

Help in this regard has appeared unexpectedly from the two most revolutionary and empowering inventions for accelerated self-help and social and economic development that the world has ever seen – the Internet and the cheap Net book type computers.

The force-multiplying potential of these two revolutionary devices affords all people (under-developed nations in particular) the opportunity (and ability) to literally leapfrog the traditional business models, timetables and infrastructure costs that “More Developed” nations have taken to industrialization and economic development. In this revolutionary and historic moment, we Africans are realizing that virtually instantaneous and incredibly inexpensive access to the sum total of all human knowledge (and experience) lies immediately at our fingertips via the Internet. Moreover, inexpensive, direct and virtually instantaneous contact with the Global Community can be established cheaply and at will.

Through computerized and Internet distributed remote learning, we can now share information and instruction faster, more efficiently and richly than mankind ever dreamed possible, and this revolution is only just beginning. The implications for bridge-building, cultural development and learning are unprecedented, and encompass every aspect of human endeavor, from healthcare to sophisticated telemedicine and beyond.

Power technologies are also evolving and increasingly decentralized – with semi-autonomous power generation in the forms of solar, hydro, wind and geothermal available and becoming increasingly cost effective.

Today is a time of miracles for humanity and no one can fully grasp the spectra of possibility – but I am convinced that the implications are both revolutionary and unprecedented in human experience. This is our moment, the time when underdeveloped nations can catch up, contribute and fairly compete – even with the most advanced societies, and in a profoundly shorter time span than virtually anyone could have imagined 20 years ago.

Let us all commit ourselves to pray and work for enduring peace, prosperity and good will in the world. Let us also pray that during this new African Millennium, we Africans realize the full promise of our independence by finding the wisdom to consolidate our victories and banish forever the unwanted baggage of colonialism, Cold War, underdevelopment, poverty, cultural malaise and disease from our lives.

May God bless Ethiopia and Africa.

Thank you for your warm hospitality, kind attention and interest. HIH Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie Chairman – The Crown Council of Ethiopia