Emperor Haile Selassie I Memorial Foundation

እንኳን ለጌታችንና ለመድኃኒታችን ለኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ የልደት በዓል፣ በሰላም አደረሰን/አደረሳችሁ።

ግረማዊ ቀዳማዊ ኃይለ ሥላሴ ቤተ-መንግሥት ወስጥ በልጅ ልጆቻቸው ተከበው ተማሪዎች ያቀረቡትን የገና በዓል ጨዋታን ሲመለከቱ። (ታኅሣሥ 29 1950)

Emperor Haile Selassie I surrounded by his grandchildren watching a nativity play performed by students during celebrations at the Palace on the Ethiopian Christmas Day.(January 7 1958)

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2024

The Emperor Haile Slassie I Memorial Foundation's Friends in America (EHSIMFFA) is a non-profit organization that was formally incorporated in 2020 here in the United States to raise funds towards college student scholarships for Ethiopian students in need. It supports the efforts of the Emperor Haile Selassie I Memorial Foundation in Ethiopia. Please use the following link to see more about this on its web site.

https://friendsofemperorhaileselassie.org/

EHSIMFFA will hold its Inaugural Gala on January 20, 2024. Please explore the above website OR use the following link to secure your ticket for the event.

https://ehsimffainauguralgala.rsvpify.com

Please share this information with friends and family members.

Hope to see you there.

Thanks,

EHSIMFFA Inaugural Gala January 20, 2024 @ 5:00 PM 6801 Georgetown Pike, McLean, Virginia

"ሕይወቴና የኢትዮጵያ እርምጃ"
ቀዳማዊ ኃይለ ሥላሴ ንጉሠ ነገሥት

ይህ መፅሐፍ ግርማዊ ቀዳማዊ ዐፄ ኃይለ ሥላሴ የጻፉት የሕይወታቸው ታሪክ ሲሆን በአማርኛ ቋንቋ ስለራሳቸው ህይወትና የኢትዮጵያ የታሪክ ውጣ ውረዶችን የሚያትት ሲሆን፣ ኢትዮጵያ እንደ ሀገር ፀንታ እንድትቆም ልጆቿና ንጉሰ ነገስቷዋ የተጓዙበትን ረጅም መንገድና የከፈሉትን መስዋዕትነት የሚዘክር ታላቅ መጽሐፍ ነው።

ይህን መፅሐፍ ዳግም እንዲታተም እና ለአንባብያን እንዲደርስ ያደረጉት ጋዜጠኛ ጥበቡ በለጠ ሲሆኑ የመፅሐፉ ገቢም ለግርማዊ ቀዳማዊ ዐፄ ኃይለሥላሴ መታሰቢያ ፋውንዴሽን ያበረከቱት ነው።

ይህን መፅሀፍ ለመግዛት ወይንም ባሉበት ቦታ ማዘዝ ከፈለጉ በ 0911643757 መደወል ይችላሉ።

ዋጋ - 460ብር

“አባባ ጃንሆይ”

በጌታቸው ተድላ (ዶ/ር) የተዘጋጀና የግርማዊ ቀዳማዊ ዐፄ ኃይለሥላሴን የሕይወት ጉዞ የሚተርክ፤ በምስሎች የታጀበ መፅሐፍ

ከ10 በላይ መፅሐፍትን ለአንባብያን ያደረሱት ጌታቸው ተድላ፤ አብዛኛውን የመፅሐፍ ገቢ ለተለያዩ የበጎ አድራጎት ድርጅቶች ያበረከቱት ሲሆን፤ አባባ ጃንሆይ የተሰኘው የአዲሱ መፅሐፋቸው ገቢም ለግርማዊ ቀዳማዊ አፄ ኃይለሥላሴ መታሰቢያ ፋውንዴሽን ያበረከቱት ነው።

ይህን መፅሀፍ ለመግዛት ወይንም ባሉበት ቦታ ማዘዝ ከፈለጉ በ 0911643757 መደወል ይችላሉ።

ዋጋ - 500 ብር

Commemorating the Anniversary of the Coronation of Emperor Haile Selassie I

On the 23rd Day of the Month of Tikimt, 1923 on the Ethiopian Calendar, and November 2, 1930, on the Gregorian Calendar, Emperor Haile Selassie I was crowned King of Kings of Ethiopia at Addis Ababa’s Cathedral of St. George. This year, we celebrate the anniversary on November 3, 2023, due to Ethiopian leap year pushing the calendar one day forward until it readjusts with Gregorian leap year in February. This is a look back on that glorious day.

Commemorating The Anniversary Of The Coronation Of Emperor Haile Selassie I | The Crown Council Of Ethiopia Enkutatash23 Tikimt 2015 / 3 November 2023

Emperor Haile-Selassie I Speech at the unveiling of the statue of Emperor Menelik II. November 1 1930

Your Highnesses, Honourable Foreign Representatives, and Dignitaries:
This day of the er****on of a statue to Emperor Menelik II is a great and a happy day for the entire people of Ethiopia. The life of man is full of many sacrifices. However, after life, there is nothing better one could leave behind, other than a worthy and memorable name for one's performances, and the er****on of this statue today proves that Emperor Menelik II has been blessed to get this well-deserved reward for his efforts.

Although Emperor Menelik II was Emperor of Ethiopia by virtue of his long and traditional royal lineage, all of you patriots and heroes are well aware of the fact that he was fortunate enough to have successfully pursued what Emperor Tewodros and Emperor Yohannes started in the struggle for the unification of all the provinces which were divided and balkanised as a result of the Battle of Gragne during the period of his father Emperor Lebne Dengel.

In all his efforts, with the blessings of God, his success in uniting Ethiopia has made his name renowned all over the world. Besides consolidating the unity of Ethiopia, Emperor Menelik II also established friendly relations with other governments, thus providing for Ethiopia favourable international relations and assuring the orderly progress of her people.

Having been fortunate enough and blessed with a peaceful reign, farmers worked hard and businessmen did their part well and consequently attained great prosperity.

Let history tell what achievements Emperor Menelik II made for his people and his country, for it will be impossible for Us now to enumerate them all here. No matter how intelligent and brave, no one on earth can escape death and Emperor Menelik II had to pass from this world on December 13, 1913 after having worked as much as he could for the growth of Ethiopia and the progress of his people.
Although this statue can in no way stand as a symbolic example for all the achievements Emperor Menelik II made for Ethiopia, We are erecting this statue because as human beings, there is nothing more We can do.

Many are the Emperors who, in past, worked commendably for their country. However, we know of no king, thus far, who has a statue erected in his name. It was Emperor Menelik II who started and left behind for Us projects which brought Us closer to other countries and it is because of this that We take it upon Ourselves to erect statues as symbolic tokens to Emperors who left behind significant works and, to this effect, We can say that this statue stands to signify the great works of Emperor Menelik II.
Moreover, the presence of so many dignitaries and representatives of foreign governments, who are here for Our coronation and those representing governments that signed friendship treaties with Emperor Menelik II, as well as those of others, to witness the inauguration of this statue and share Our happiness, shows how great indeed he has been.

From now on, We will continue to erect statues, not only for kings, but also for all those patriots who perform or have performed great works for their country, in memory of their name and their works.

Translated by Haile Selassie I Press

Statue designed and made by German Architect “Curtin Specingler”

95 years ago on this day, October 7th, 1928 G.C. Ras Teferi Mekonnen was crowned Negus (King).

The Crowning of Ras Teferi Mekonnen as Negus (King) occurred two years prior to him ascending the Imperial Throne as Neguse Negest (King of Kings/Emperor) Haile Selassie I on November 2, 1930 G.C.

For the New Year, it is Our wish that the Ethiopian people continue to march forward; that peace will be restored in areas that are disturbed by conflict, and that the Almighty will continue to bless all efforts in creating a better life for Our people and all the peoples in the world.

H.I.M. Emperor Haile Selassie I
September 11, 1965

በግርማዊ ቀዳማዊ ዐፄ ኃይለ ሥላሴ መንግሥት የመጀመሪያውን ሕገ መንግሥት ማርቀቅና መታወጅ ።

ከዚህ በታች የሚታዩት ፎቶግራፎች በመጀመሪያው የኢትዮጵያ ሕገ መንግሥት ለይ የሰፈሩት የአርቃቂዎቹ ማህተሞችና ፊርማዎች : እና ይህ ሕገ መንግሥት ጸድቆ የመጀመሪያው ፓርላማ በንጉሠ ነገሥት ቀዳማዊ አፄ ኃይለ ሥላሴ ሲከፈት የተነሱ ናቸው።

ይህ ሕገ መንግሥት እንዴት ሊረቅ እና ሊጸድቅ ቻለ?

መጋቢት ፳፬ ቀን ፲፱፻፳፪ ዓ፡ ም፡ ግርማዊት ንግሥተ ነገሥታት ዘውዲቱ በ፶፫ ዓመት እድሜያቸው እና ከነገሡ በ፲፫ ዓመታቸው ከዚህ ዓለም በሞት ሲለዩ ሳይውል ሳያድር በጥንትዊ ሥርዓታችን መሠረት በቅርብ የሚገኙት መሳፍንትና መኳንት በአስቸኳይ በታላቁ የዳግማዊ አፄ ምኒልክ ቤተ መንግሥት ተሰብስበው የንግሥትን ሞትና የንጉሥ ተፈሪ በስመ ክርስትናቸው ቀዳማዊ ኃይለ ሥላሴ ተብለው በኢትዮጵያ ዙፋን እንደ ተቀመጡ በአዋጅ እንዲነገር ወሰኑ። ከዛች ሰዓት ጀምሮ አፄ ኃይለ ሥላሴ የንጉሠ ነገሥትነትን ማእረግ ይዘው የመንግሥት ስራ በሙሉ በእሳቸው ሥም ይሰራ ጀመር።

የዘውድ ሽግግር ሲደረግ ከጥንት ግዜ ጀምሮ የሚታወጀው “የሞትነው እኛ፡ ያለነውም እኛ።” የሚለው አዋጅ እንዲታወጅ ሲደረግ የአዲሱ ንጉሠ ነገሥት መልዕክት ለሕዝብ እንዲነገር ተደረገ። መልዕክቱም ፥

“ሰው ሆኖ ከሞት የሚቀር አለመኖሩ የታወቀ ቢሆንም፡ ንግሥተ ነገሥታት እናታችን በጥቂት ቀናት ሕመም በድንገት ስለተለዩን፤ በእኔና በመላው የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ ላይ የደረሰው ኃዘን እጅግ የጠነከረ ነው። ይሁን እንጂ፤ የሕዝብ እረኛ የሆነው ንጉሥ ሲሞት፤ ንጉሥ መተካቱ የቆየ ልምድ ስለሆነ፤ እኔም በታጨሁበት በመንበረ ዳዊት ዙፋን ላይ ሆኜ፤ በእግዚአብሔር እርዳታ ሕዝቤን ለመጠበቅ ስለተዘጋጀሁ፤ ገበሬ እረስ! ነጋዴ ነግድ! ሠረተኛ ሥራ! ከአባቶቼ ሲያያዝ በመጣው ደንብ እና ሕግ አሳድርሃለው።” የሚል ነበር።

ባለፈው ክፍል እንዳየነው የንግሥት ሐዘን ለስድስት ወር ተከብሮ ካለቀ በሗላ በሁለት ወሩ፤ ቀዳማዊ አፄ ኃይለ ሥላሴ ግርማ ሞገስ በሞላው ታላቅ ሥነ ሥርዐት የንግሥ በዓላቸውን በገነተ ጽጌ ቅዱስ ጊዮርጊስ ካቴድራል ፈጸሙ። ከዚህ በህዋላ የመጀመሪያ ስራ እንዲጀመር ያዘዙት ሕገ መንግሥት ተረቆ፤ በውይይት እና ክርክር ታርሞና ተስተካክሎ ሥራ ላይ እንዲውል ነበር። ከጥንታዊው ፊውዳላዊና ልማዳዊ አገዛዝ ወደ ዘመናዊና ሕጋዊ የሆነ የዘውድ ሥርዐት አገሪቷን ለማሸጋገር፤ መሳፍንቱ የገነኑበት ሁኔታ አብቅቶ የዘውዱ ስልጣን ከመሳፍንቱ ተጽዕኖ ተላቆ፤ ሕዝብም በመንግሥት ጉዳዮች እንዲመክር ዘመናዊ ሕገ መንግሥት አስፈላጊ መሆኑን ንጉሠ ነገሥቱ አምነውበት ነበር።

ይሄም ምኞታቸው እንዲሳካ በነገሱበት ሰሞን መሳፍንቱን፤ መኳንንቱን፤ ሚኒስትሮች፤ የጦር አለቆች፤ ጳጳሳቱን ፤ ታላላቅ ካህናት እና ሊቃውንትን ሰብስበው ንጉሠ ነገሥቱ ስለ ሕገ መንግሥት አስፈላጊነት ለማስረዳት እና ለማሳመን ሞከሩ። ቀዳማዊ አፄ ኃይለ ሥላሴ የተሰበሰቡትን ሰዎች ሲያናግሩ የጠቀሱት በዓለም ዙርያ የነበሩ ነገሥታት ሕዝባቸውን ያለ ሕገ መንግሥት በዘፈቃድ ሲገዙ ኖረው በዘውድ እና በሕዝብ ፤ በሕዝብ እና መሳፍንት፤ በዘውድ እና በመሳፍንቱ መካከል አለ መግባባትና ቀጥሎም ሁከት ስለ ፈጠረ ሕገ መንግሥት እያረቀቁ በስራ ላይ በማዋላቸው ስርዓት እና ደንብ በሞላበት አሰራር ተማክረው በሰላም አገሮቻቸውን አሰልጥነው ለትልቅነት አብቅተዋል። ኢትዮጵያም በዚሁ መልክ በምክር እና በመወያየት ሕገ መንግሥት አርቅቃ ወደ ስልጣኔ መንገድ እንድትገባ ምኞታቸው መሆኑን ለተሰበሰቡት ገለጹ ። ኢትዮጵያ የስልጣኔ መንገድ ለወደፊት ነጻነቷ ዋስትናዋ መሆኑንና የውጭ ጠላቶችም ሗላ ቀር አድርገው እየተቹ ለመውረርና ነጻነቷን ለመንጠቅ ሰበብ አድርገው እንዳይጠቀሙበት ይህ ሕገ መንግስት ስርዓት ወሳኝ መሆኑን ለማስረዳት ሞክረዋል።

የንጉሠ ነገሥቱን ንግግር ሰምተው ሐሳባቸውን የተቀበሏቸው በጣም ጥቂቶቹ ነበሩ። አብዛኞቹ ይህ የፈረንጅ ስርዓትንና አሰራርን እየኮረጁ እነሱን ለመምሰል መሞከር ከንቱ ልፋትና ከአገራችን ልምድ እና ታሪክ ጋር የማይስማማ አድርገው አጣጣሉት። መሳፍንቱም “ሕዝባችን ኑሮው የሰላም እና የጸጋ እንዲሆንለት፤ ፍርድ እንዳይጎድልበት ፤ እንዳይታረዝና እንዳይራብ፤ የምናስብለትና የምንደክምለት እኛ ስለሆንን፤ ወደፊት መንግሥትን የሚያማክርለትና ችግሩንም መንግሥት እንዲያውቅ የሚያደርግለት ከእኛ የቀረበ ማን አለውና?” ብለው ከበድ ያለ ጥያቄ አቀረቡ። ከዛም አልፈው “ይህን ደግ የሆነውን ሕዝባችንን •••ሳይወድ በግድ በተንኮል የተመረዘውን የፈረንጆች ጠባይ ካልተቀበልክ ብለን እንዳናበላሸው በብርቱ መጠንቀቅ ያስፈልጋል።” ብለው ተቃወሙ። አገሪቱን እስካሁን ድረስ ነጻነቷን ሳናስንካ በሰላም፤ በራሷ ስርዓትና ባሕል ነው ያቆየናት። ይሄው መቀጠል አለበት አሉ። ንጉሡም ወደነሱ አስተሳሰብ ለማግባባት ብዙ ጣሩ። ግን ከመሳፍንቱና ከመኳንንቱ ወገን ቁልፍ የሆኑ የሃሳቡ ድጋፊዎች ንጉሠ ነገሥቱ በሃሳባቸው እንዲጸኑና አላማቸውን ወደግብ እንዲያደርሱ ደግፈው አበረታቷቸው። እነሱም ልዑል ራስ እምሩ ኃይለ ሥላሴ (በዛን ግዜ የወሎ እንደራሴ)፤ ፊታውራሪ (በሗላ ራስ) ብሩ ወልደገብርኤል (በዛን ግዜ የጦር ሚኒስትር) ጸሐፊ ትዕዛዝ ወልደመስቀል ታሪኩ (የጽሕፈት ሚኒስትር) ብላቴን ጌታ ሕሩይ ወልደሥላሴ እና ፊታውራሪ ተክለሐዋርያት ተክለማርያም ነበሩ።

ብላቴን ጌታ ሕሩይ በቤተ ክህነትም ሆነ በዘመናዊ ትምህርት በጣም የደከሙና አዋቂ በመሆናቸው ሐሳባቸው በብዙዎች ተደማጭ ነበር። በውጭ ጉዳይ ሚኒስትርነት ስራቸው እና ባደረጉት ሰፊ ጥናት፤ የጃፓን ንጉሠ ነገሥታዊ ስርዓት ከኢትዮጵያ ስርዓት ጋር በመመሳሰሉ፤ ባሕላቸውም በብዙ ነገሩ ስለሚመሳሰል፤ የጀመሩት መሻሻልና የእንዱስትሪ መስፋፋት፤ ለኢትዮጵያ ጥሩ ምሳሌና ንድፍ ይሆናታል ብለው ያምኑ ነበር። በዛ ምክንያት የጃፓን ሜጂ ኮንስቲቱሽን ይባል የነበረውን ሕገ መንግሥታቸውን ለአዲሱ የኢትዮጵያ ሕገ መንግሥት ምሳሌ እንዲሆንና አንድአንድ ሃሳቦችን እንዲዋዋስ አቅርበውታል። ዋናው የሕገ መንግሥቱ ጸሐፊ ግን ፊታውራሪ ተክለሐዋርያት ነበሩ። እኒህ ታላቅ ምሁር በወጣትነታቸው በራስ መኮንን አማካኝነት ወደ ሩስያ ለትምህርት ተልከው ነበር። የዘመናዊ የጦር ስልት በሚማሩበት ግዜ በአንድ ታላቅ የመሳፍንት ቤተሰብ ሞግዚትነት ነበር ሩሲያ የኖሩት። “አያቴ” የሚሏቸው የሞግዚታቸው እናት ልዕልት ቮልኮንስካያ (Princess Volkonskaya) ይባሉ ነበር። የእኚህ ትልቅ ሴት አባታቸው ልዑል ቮልኮንስኪ (Prince Volkonsky) ይባሉ ነበር። በሩሲያ ንጉሠ ነገሥት ዛር ኒኮላይ ቀዳማዊ ዘመን የጦር መኮንኖች አመጽ ውስጥ የተሳተፉ ነበሩ። የጦር መኮንኖቹ የመሳፍንት ወገን ቢሆኑም የ Septembrist ንቅናቄያቸው በሩሲያ የሕገ መንግሥት ስርዓት እንዲመሰረትና የንጉሱ ስልጣን በሕግ እንዲገደብ ነበር። ንቅናቄውና አመጹ ቢከሽፉም ስለ አላማቸውና አስተሳሰባቸው ከልዕልቲቷና ከልጆቻቸው ፊታውራሪ በሰፊው ተምረዋል። ፊታውራሪ ተክለሐዋርያት ወደ ኢትዮጵያ ከተመለሱ በሗላ የኖሩባት ሩሲያ ያ የሚያስፈልጉ የአስተዳደር መሻሻሎች ስላላደረገች ሰፊ የሕዝብ አመጽ ተነስቶ ንጉሠ ነገሥቱ ዛር ኒኮላይ ዳግማዊ ከዙፋኑ ወርዶ ቦልሼቪክ የተባሉት ኮሚኒስቶች ስልጣን ይዘው አገሪቷ በደም ታጠበች። ኒኮላይ ዳግማዊም ከነ ቤተ ሰባቸው ተረሸኑ። ፊታውራሪ የሚወድዋቸው የሞግዚታቸው ቤተሰቦችም ከአገራቸው ተሰደው ብዙ መንገላታት ደረሰባቸው። በዚህ ምክንያት ይህ ሁሉ በኢትዮጵያ እንዳይደገም በማሰብ ጠንካራ ሕገ መንግስታዊ ስርዓት መትከል አስፈላጊነቱን አመኑበት። በዚህ ምክንያት ለኢትዮጵያ የተረቀቀው ሕገ መንሥት የጃፓን ሜጂ ኮንስቲቱሽን እና የሩሲያ Septembrist አስተሳሰቦች ሚና ተጫውተዋል። ይህንን ሕገ መንግሥት አጥንቶ፤ መርምሮ፤ አርሞ፤ አስተካክሎ ለንጉሠ ነገሥቱ እንዲያቀርብ የታዘዘው ባለ 11 አባል አርቃቂ ኮሚቴ ነበር። እነሱም፤

1) ልዑል ራስ ካሣ ኃይሉ (የቤጌምድርና የሰላሌ ገዥ)

2) ልዑል ራስ ሥዩም መንገሻ (የምዕራብ ትግራይ ገዥ)

3) ልዑል ራስ ኃይሉ ተክለሃይማኖት (የጎጃም ገዥ)

4) ልዑል ራስ ጉግሣ አርዓያ (የምስራቅ ትግራይ ገዥ)

5) ልዑል ራስ እምሩ ኃይለሥላሴ(የወሎ እንደራሴ)

6) ፊታውራሪ (በሗላ ራስ) ብሩ ወልደገብርኤል (የጦር ሚኒስትር)

7) ደጃዝማች ወልደጻድቅ ጎሹ (የአገር ግዛት ሚኒስትር)

8 ) ደጃዝማች ይገዙ በሀብቴ

9) ጸሐፊ ትዕዛዝ ወልደመስቀል ታሪኪ (የጽሕፈት ሚኒስትር)

10)ብላቴን ጌታ ሕሩይ ወልደሥላሴ (የውጭ ጉዳይ ሚኒስትር)

11)በጅሮንድ (በሗላ ፊታውራሪ) ተክለሐዋሪያት ተክለማርያም

ነበሩ። ልዑል ራስ ካሣ በሊቀ መንበርነት ኮሚቴውን መሩት።

በወግ እና የጥንቱን ልምድ አጥባቂዎች እና በ”progressive” የሆኑት ሹማምንት መሃል ከፍተኛ ክርክር ተደርጎ በሁለቱ ጎራዎች መካከለኛ የሆነ አስተሳሰብ ያዘለ ሕገ መንግሥት ተዘጋጅቶ ለንጉሠ ነገሥቱ ቀረበ። በአሁኑ ዘመን አይን ስናየው ይህ ሕገ መንግሥት ትልቅ እርምጃ ላይመስለን ይችላል። ነገር ግን በብዙ መልኩ በጣም ትልቅ እርምጃ ነበር። መጀመሪያ ይህ ሕገ መንግሥት በሕዝብ ጥያቄ ወይም አመጽ የመነጨ ሳይሆን በንጉሠ ነገሥቱ በቀዳማዊ አፄ ኃይለ ሥላሴ አነሳሽነት ነው የተቀመጠው። በዓለም ታሪክ ያለ ሕዝብ ጥያቄ ወይም አመጽ ለዝሕባቸው ሕገ መንግሥት በራሳቸው አነሳሽነት የሚሰጡ ገዢዎች እጅግ ጥቂት ናቸው። እርግጥ ይህ ሕገ መንግሥት ተራማጅ (Progressive) መኳንንቱ የፈለጉትን ያህል የህዝቡን የስልጣን ድርሻ አልጨመረውም። ግን የመሳፍንቱን ስልጣን ገድቦ የዘውዱን ስልጣን በመጨመሩ የጥንት ፊውዳላዊ አሰራርን በማድከም የአገር አንድነትንና ዘመናዊ አስተዳደርን አጠንክሯል። ከሁሉም በላይ የሕዝብ የማይደፈሩና የምይሻሩ መብቶች ምን እንደ ሆኑ፤ ግዴታዎቹም ምን እንደ ሆኑ፤ የገዢዎችም ሃላፊነቶች እና ግዴታዎች ምን እንደ ሆኑ፤ የሹማምንት ስልጣን ገደብ እንዳለውና የሕዝብን መብት መተላለፍ እንደማይችል በዚህ ሕገ መንግሥት በኢትዮጵያ ታሪክ ለመጀመርያ ግዜ ተረጋግጧል። በተጨማሪም አንድ ለዘመናችን ትልቅ ምሳሌ አለው። ሁለት በፍጹም የማይጣጣሙ ሃሳብ የሚያራምዱ የወግ እና ልምድ አጥባቂዎች (Conservative, Traditionalist) የሆኑት መሳፍንት እና በአሁኑ አነጋገር ተረማጅ ወይም ለውጥ ፈላጊ (Progressive) የሆኑት ሹማምንት አንድ ላይ ተቀምጠው በስርዓትና ጨዋነት የሀሳብና የአመለካከት ክርክር እና ውይይት አድርገው ሁሉም ለአገር ሲሉ የሌላውን እያዳመጡና እየተቀበሉ መካከለኛ የሆነ compromise ላይ ደርሰው በስምምነት ሓላፊነታቸውን ተወተዋል። ለአሁኑ ለማንደማመጥና ምንም የሌላውን አስተያየት ለመረዳት ለማንፈልገው ትውልድ ምሳሌ ሊሆኑ ይገባል።

ለዚህም እርምጃ የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ ለዐፄ ኃይለ ሥላሴ ትልቅ ውለታ አለበት። የሕጋዊ ስርዓት መጠናከር ለሕዝብ ኑሮ መሻሻልና ለአገር አንድነት ትልቅ አስተዋጾ ከፍሏል።

ሐምሌ ፱ ቀን፤ ፲፱፻፳፪፫ዓ፡ ም፡ በታላቁ የዳግማዊ ዐፄ ምኒልክ ቤተ መንግሥት ውስጥ፤ ንጉሣዊ ቤተሰብ፤ መሳፍንቱና መኳንንቱ፤ ጳጳሳትና ታላላቅ ካህናት፡ ሚኒስትሮችና የጦር አለቆች በተሰበሰቡበት፤ ግርማዊ ንጉሠ ነገሥት ቀዳማዊ አፄ ኃይለ ሥላሴ በፊርማቸው የመጀመሪያውን የኢትዮጵያን ሕገ መንግሥት አጸደቁ።

የዚህን ሕገ መንግሥት ማርቀቅ እና ዝርዝር ታሪክ ለማንበብና ለመረዳት የአምባሳደር ዘውዴ ረታን “የቀዳማዊ ኃይለ ሥላሴ መንግሥት” እና የፊታውራሪ ተክለ ሐዋርያት ተክለ ማርያም “ኦቶባዮግራፊ (የሕይወቴ ታሪክ)” በሚሉ አርዕስት ያጻፏቸውን መጻህፍትን ያንብቡ።

Why Ethiopians should mark Emperor Haile Selassie’s Birthday.

131 years ago, Ras Makonnen Wolde Mikael of Harrar and Woizero Yeshimebet Ali welcomed the only child born to their marriage that would survive to adulthood. Lij Tafari Makonnen as he was known then, would grow up to be a transformative leader for his country, continuing the legacy of modernization and development begun by Emperor Menelik II.

When Emperor Haile Selassie was born 131 years ago, Ethiopia was still essentially a medieval state. The monarch presided over provinces ruled by powerful feudal aristocrats who were rulers themselves, appointing and removing local officials as they saw fit, and leading their own armies. The country was landlocked, surrounded by colonial powers who cast a covetous eye on her territories. You could count the number of paved roads, modern schools, hospitals, banks,telephone and telegraph lines in one hand. The railroad to Djibouti was still under construction and wouldn’t be complete until Lij Tafari was an adult. There were no universities, government ministries were embryonic, and taxation and tariffs were haphazard and at the whim of local officials.

By the time Emperor Haile Selassie died Ethiopia was a different place. While the nobles retained their power and influence until the end of his reign, young humbly born western educated men had taken the forefront in power, taking the key positions and furthering the Emperor’s desires for a modern state. Both the central government and provincial administrations were filled with professional civil servants. The nobles had been stripped of their regional armies, and Ethiopia had a fully professional,well equipped military. The country was no longer landlocked. Ethiopia had an Imperial Army, an Imperial Navy, an Imperial Guard and an Imperial Airforce, a real power in the region. Ethiopia had two respected high quality Universities. Roads had been built across vast expanses, telephone and telegraph lines had been expanded, factories and commercial farming greatly expanded. Above all public primary and secondary schools were expanded across the land and often reluctant parents encouraged to educate their children. In the first decades of his reign the Emperor himself was minister of education, handing out school prizes, visiting schools constantly and giving out sweaters, fruit and cakes to students on certain holidays to encourage education. Ethiopia had a successful Airline, a successful Shipping Line, a modern postal service, and its economy once based on very rudimentary trade in raw materials was beginning to shift and its economy had grown massively from the time of the Emperor’s birth. All this was accomplished with what little Ethiopia could scratch together, and some modest foreign grants, without incurring massive debts. A modern system of taxation and tariffs was set up and a government coffers audited and maintained professionally. Corruption was relatively minor in those days, and the rule of law was generally respected in a way that it hasn’t been since.

This is not to say there were no problems. centralization caused regional resentments. A focus on urbanization and industrialization neglected rural areas and agriculture which took a serious toll. Land reform was a bitter pill the nobility could not swallow and thwarted every attempt at reform by the Emperor and his ministers. The prime minister and his cabinet were responsible to the Emperor who appointed them rather than the parliament which prevented true Constitutional Monarchy from developing. While democratic elections had been introduced in 1955, political parties were not allowed. When near the end amid political upheaval, the Emperor authorized political parties, he expressed his fear that political parties might evolve into ethnic ones. His fears have been realized as we see the explosion of strife led by ethnicist political parties today.

The Emperor began his reign regarded by those close to power as a dangerous radical set on changing the way things had always been done. He ended his reign being vilified by the people he had raised up and educated as being too backward and traditional. It is the ultimate irony. However when evaluating Emperor Haile Selassie’s reign, one should consider how the Emperor found Ethiopia when he assumed state power in 1916 as Crown Prince and Regent, and how he left it when he was removed from the throne by a group of junior military officers in 1974. How was the country run during the 58 years between 1916 and 1974 (even including the Italian Occupation and various regional rebellions and one serious coup attempt) compared to the past 47 years since the Emperor fell? Much of his reign was spent building new institutions and strengthening old ones, while much of the reigns of the two succeeding regimes that followed him were devoted to gutting most of them completely.

The fact is that Emperor Haile Selassie presided over a long and relatively prosperous and peaceful reign. He worked exceedingly hard to better the lot of his people, and ultimately accepted his removal from power without causing bloodshed. Ethiopians during his reign could hold their heads up high all over the world. When social unrest and economic stresses combined and caused conditions that led to the Derg taking advantage to seize power, the crowned and anointed leader quietly stepped down rather than cause the bloodshed of the subjects he had sworn to defend. Neither the Derg or the TPLF has shown even a fraction of this concern when compelled to leave power, choosing bloodshed which continues today. For all of that Emperor Haile Selassie I is owed a great debt.

May his memory be eternal.

✍🏾 Solomon Kibriye

ለመላው የእስልምና ሐይማኖት ተከታይ ወገኖቻችን እንኳን ለኢድ አል-ፈጥር በዓል በሰላም አደረሳችሁ!!

ኢድ-ሙባረክ!!

69 years ago today on June 7, 1954 Emperor Haile Selassie I was awarded with a honorary Civil law degree by the University of Michigan from University Vice-President Marvin L. Niehuss (right). Dr. Warner G. Rice (left), chairman of the U-M English department, and Dr. George G. Cameron, chairman of the department of Near Eastern Studies, assist in the presentation.

59 years ago today Emperor Haile Selassie was made an elder and Masai Warrior during his state visit to the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar. Photo Shows: Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia wearing his Masai warrior's dress while president Nyerere hold his shield for him, in Dar Es Salam. (June 06 1964)

60 Years ago Today On May 25, 1963 the Organization for African Unity (OAU) was established with a permanent headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. H.I.M. Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia, was selected as the first President of the OAU. His acceptance speech appears below.

This is indeed a momentous and historic day for Africa and for all Africans. We stand today on the stage of world affairs before the audience of world opinion. We have come together to assert our role in the direction of world affairs and to discharge our duty to the great continent whose 250 million people we lead. Africa is today at midcourse, in transition from the Africa of Yesterday to the Africa of Tomorrow. Even as we stand here, we move from the past into the future. The task on which we have embarked, the making of Africa, will not wait. We must act, to shape and mould the future and leave our imprint on events as they slip past into history.

We seek, at this meeting, to determine whither we are go and to chart the course of our destiny. It is no less important that we know whence we came. An awareness of our past is essential to the establishment of our personality and our identity as Africans.

This world was not created piecemeal. Africa was born no later and no earlier than any other geographical area on this globe. Africans, no more and no less than other men, possess all human attributes, talents and deficiencies, virtues and faults. Thousands of years ago, civilizations flourished in Africa which suffer not at all by comparison with those of other continents. In those centuries, Africans were politically free and economically independent. Their social patterns were their own and their cultures truly indigenous.

The obscurity which enshrouds the centuries which elapsed between those earliest days and the rediscovery of Africa is being gradually dispersed. What is certain is that during those long years Africans were born, lived, and died. Men on other parts of this earth occupied themselves with their own concerns and, in their conceit, proclaimed that the world began and ended at their horizons. All unknown to them, Africa developed in its own pattern, growing in its own life and, in the nineteenth century, finally re-emerged into the world’s consciousness.

The events of the past 150 years require no extended recitation from us. The period of colonialism into which we were plunged culminated with our continent fettered and bound; with our once proud and free peoples reduced to humiliation and slavery; with Africa’s terrain cross-hatched and chequer-boarded by artificial and arbitrary boundaries. Many of us, during those bitter years, were overwhelmed in battle, and those who escaped conquest did so at the cost of desperate resistance and bloodshed. Others were sold into bo***ge as the price extracted by the colonialists for the ‘protection’ which they extended and the possessions of which they disposed. Africa was a physical resource to be exploited and Africans were chattels to be purchased bodily or, at best, peoples to be reduced to vassalage and lackeyhood. Africa was the market for the produce of other nations and the source of the raw materials with which their factories were fed.

Today, Africa has emerged from this dark passage. Our Armageddon is past. Africa has been reborn as a free continent and Africans have been reborn as free men. The blood that was shed and the sufferings that were endured are today Africa’s advocates for freedom and unity. Those men who refused to accept the judgment passed upon them by the colonisers, who held unswervingly through the darkest hours to a vision of an Africa emancipated from political, economic, and spiritual domination, will be remembered and revered wherever Africans meet. Many of them never set foot on this continent. Others were born and died here. What we may utter today can add little to the heroic struggle of those who, by their example, have shown us how precious are freedom and human dignity and of how little value is life without them. Their deeds are written in history.

Africa’s victory, although proclaimed, is not yet total, and areas of resistance still remain. Today, We name as our first great task the final liberating of those Africans still dominated by foreign exploitation and control. With the goal in sight, and unqualified triumph within our grasp, let us not now falter or lag or relax. We must make one final supreme effort; now, when the struggle grows weary, when so much has been won that the thrilling sense of achievement has brought us near satiation. Our liberty is meaningless unless all Africans are free. Our brothers in the Rhodesias, in Mozambique, in Angola, in South Africa, cry out in anguish for our support and assistance. We must urge on their behalf their peaceful accession to independence. We must align and identify ourselves with all aspects of their struggle. It would be betrayal were we to pay only lip service to the cause of their liberation and fail to back our words with action.

To them we say, your pleas shall not go unheeded. The resources of Africa and of all freedom-loving nations are marshalled in your service. Be of good heart, for your deliverance is at hand.

As we renew our vow that all of Africa shall be free, let us also resolve that old wounds shall be healed and past scars forgotten. It was thus that Ethiopia treated the invader nearly 25 years ago, and Ethiopians found peace with honour in this course. Memories of past injustice should not divert us from the more pressing business at hand. We must live in peace with our former colonisers, shunning recrimination and bitterness and forswearing the luxury of vengeance and retaliation, lest the acid of hatred erode our souls and poison our hearts. Let us act as befits the dignity which we claim for ourselves as Africans, proud of our own special qualities, distinctions, and abilities. Our efforts as free men must be to establish new relationships, devoid of any resentment and hostility, restored to our belief and faith in ourselves as individuals, dealing on a basis of equality with other equally free peoples.

Today, we look to the future calmly, confidently, and courageously. We look to the vision of an Africa not merely free but united. In facing this new challenge, we can take comfort and encouragement from the lessons of the past. We know that there are differences among us. Africans enjoy different cultures, distinctive values, special attributes. But we also know that unity can be and has been attained among men of the most disparate origins, that differences of race, of religion, of culture, of tradition, are no insuperable obstacle to the coming together of peoples. History teaches us that unity is strength, and cautions us to submerge and overcome our differences in the quest for common goals, to strive, with all our combined strength, for the path to true African brotherhood and unity.

There are those who claim that African unity is impossible, that the forces that pull us, some in this direction, others in that, are too strong to be overcome. Around us there is no lack of doubt and pessimism, no absence of critics and criticism. These speak of Africa, of Africa’s future and of her position in the twentieth century in sepulchral tones. They predict dissension and disintegration among Africans and internecine strife and chaos on our continent. Let us confound these and, by our deeds, disperse them in confusion. There are others whose hopes for Africa are bright, who stand with faces upturned in wonder and awe at the creation of a new and happier life, who have dedicated themselves to its realization and are spurred on by the example of their brothers to whom they owe the achievements of Africa’s past. Let us reward their trust and merit their approval.

The road of African unity is already lined with landmarks. The last years are crowded with meetings, with conferences, with declarations and pronouncements. Regional organisations have been established. Local groupings based on common interests, backgrounds, and traditions have been created.

But through all that has been said and written and done in these years, there runs a common theme. Unity is the accepted goal. We argue about means; we discuss alternative paths to the same objective; we engage in debates about techniques and tactics. But when semantics are stripped away, there is little argument among us. We are determined to create a union of Africans. In a very real sense, our continent is unmade; it still awaits its creation and its creators. It is our duty and privilege to rouse the slumbering giant of Africa, not to the nationalism of Europe of the nineteenth century, not to regional consciousness, but to the vision of a single African brotherhood bending its united efforts toward the achievement of a greater and nobler goal.

Above all, we must avoid the pitfalls of tribalism. If we are divided among ourselves on tribal lines, we open our doors to foreign intervention and its potentially harmful consequences. The Congo is clear proof of what we say. We should not be led to complacency because of the present ameliorated situation in that country. The Congolese people have suffered untold misery, and the economic growth of the country has been re****ed because of tribal strife.

But while we agree that the ultimate destiny of this continent lies in political union, we must at the same time recognize that the obstacles to be overcome in its achievement are at once numerous and formidable. Africa’s peoples did not emerge into liberty in uniform conditions. Africans maintain different political systems; our economies are diverse; our social orders are rooted in differing cultures and traditions. Furthermore no clear consensus exists on the ‘how’ and the ‘what’ of this union. Is it to be, in form, federal, confederal, or unitary? Is the sovereignty of individual states to be reduced, and if so, by how much, and in what areas? On these and other questions there is no agreement, and if we wait for agreed answers, generations hence matters will be little advanced, while the debate still rages.

We should, therefore, not be concerned that complete union is not attained from one day to the next. The union which we seek can only come gradually, as the day-to-day progress which we achieve carries us slowly but inexorably along this course. We have before us the examples of the U.S.A. and the U.S.S.R. We must remember how long these required to achieve their union. When a solid foundation is laid, if the mason is able and his materials good, a strong house can be built.

Thus, a period of transition is inevitable. Old relations and arrangements may, for a time, linger. Regional organisations may fulfill legitimate functions and needs which cannot yet be otherwise satisfied. But the difference is in this: that we recognise these circumstances for what they are, temporary expedients designed to serve only until we have established the conditions which will bring total African unity within our reach.

There is, nevertheless, much that we can do to speed this transition. There are issues on which we stand united and questions on which there is unanimity of opinion. Let us seize on these areas of agreement and exploit them to the fullest. Let us take action now, action which, while taking account of present realities, none the less constitutes clear and unmistakable progress along the course plotted out for us by destiny. We are all adherents, whatever our internal political systems, of the principles of democratic action. Let us apply these to the unity we seek to create. Let us work out our own programmes in all fields—political, economic, social, and military. The opponents of Africa’s growth, whose interests would be best served by a divided and balkanised continent, would derive much satisfaction from the unhappy spectacle of 30 and more African States so split, so paralysed and immobilised by controversies over long-term goals that they are unable even to join their efforts in short-term measures on which there is no dispute. Let us give neither comfort nor encouragement to these. If we act where we may, in those areas where action is possible, the inner logic of the programmes which we adopt will work for us and inevitably impel us still farther in the direction of ultimate union.

What we still lack, despite the efforts of past years, is the mechanism which will enable us to speak with one voice when we wish to do so and take and implement decisions on African problems when we are so minded. The commentators of 1963 speak, in discussing Africa, of the Monrovia States, the Brazzaville Group, the Casablanca Powers, of these and many more. Let us put an end to these terms.

What we require is a single African organisation through which Africa’s single voice may be heard, within which Africa’s problems may be studied and resolved. We need an organisation which will facilitate acceptable solutions to disputes among Africans and promote the study and adoption of measures for common defence and programmes for co-operation in the economic and social fields. Let us, at this Conference, create a single institution to which we will all belong, based on principles to which we all subscribe, confident that in its councils our voices will carry their proper weight, secure in the knowledge that the decisions there will be dictated by Africans and only by Africans and that they will take full account of all vital African considerations.

We are meeting here today to lay the basis for African unity. Let us, here and now, agree upon the basic instrument which will constitute the foundation for the future growth in peace and harmony and oneness of this continent. Let our meetings henceforth proceed from solid accomplishments. Let us not put off, to later consideration and study, the single act, the one decision, which must emerge from this gathering if it is to have real meaning. This Conference cannot close without adopting a single African Charter. We cannot leave here without having created a single African organisation possessed of the attributes We have described. If we fail in this, we will have shirked our responsibility to Africa and to the peoples we lead. If we succeed, then, and only then, will we have justified our presence here.

The organisation of which We speak must possess a well- articulated framework, having a permanent headquarters and an adequate secretariat providing the necessary continuity between meetings of the permanent organs. It must include specialised bodies to work in particular fields of competence assigned to the organisation. Unless the political liberty for which Africans have for so long struggled is complemented and bolstered by a corresponding economic and social growth, the breath of life which sustains our freedom may flicker out. In our efforts to improve the standard of life of our peoples and to flesh out the bones of our independence, we count on the assistance and support of others. But this alone will not suffice, and, alone, would only perpetuate Africa’s dependence on others.

A specialised body to facilitate and co-ordinate continent-wide economic programmes and to provide the mechanism for the provision of economic assistance among African nations is thus required. Prompt measures can be taken to increase trade and commerce among us. Africa’s mineral wealth is great; we should co-operate in its development. An African development programme, which will make provision for the concentration by each nation on those productive activities for which its resources and its geographic and climatic conditions best fit it, is needed. We assume that each African nation has its own national development programme, and it only remains for us to come together and share our experiences for the proper implementation of a continent-wide plan. Today, travel between African nations and telegraphic and telephonic communications among us are circuitous in the extreme. Road communications between two neighbouring States are often difficult or even impossible. It is little wonder that trade among us has remained at a discouragingly low level. These anachronisms are the remnants of a heritage of which we must rid ourselves, the legacy of the century when Africans were isolated one from the other. These are vital areas in which efforts must be concentrated.

An additional project to be implemented without delay is the creation of an African Development Bank, a proposal to which all our Governments have given full support and which has already received intensive study. The meeting of our Finance Ministers to be held within the coming weeks in Khartoum should transform this proposal into fact. This same meeting could appropriately continue studies already undertaken of the impact upon Africa of existing regional economic groupings, and initiate further studies to accelerate the expansion of economic relations among us.

The nations of Africa, as is true of every continent of the world, from time to time dispute among themselves. These quarrels must be confined to this continent and quarantined from the contamination of non-African interference. Permanent arrangements must be agreed upon to assist in the peaceful settlement of these disagreements which, however few they may be, cannot be left to languish and fester. Procedures must be established for the peaceful settlement of disputes, in order that the threat or use of force may no longer endanger the peace of our continent.

Steps must be taken to establish an African defence system. Military planning for the security of this continent must be undertaken in common within a collective framework. The responsibility for protecting this continent from armed attacks from abroad is the primary concern of Africans themselves. Provision must be made for the extension of speedy and effective assistance when any African State is threatened with military aggression. We cannot rely solely on international morality. Africa’s control over her own affairs is dependent on the existence of appropriate military arrangements to assure this continent’s protection against such threats While guarding our own independence.

Africa has come to freedom under the most difficult and trying of circumstances. In no small measure, the handicaps under which we labour derive from the low educational level attained by our peoples and from their lack of knowledge of their fellow Africans. Education abroad is at best an unsatisfactory substitute for education at home. A massive effort must be launched in the educational and cultural field which will not only raise the level of literacy and provide the cadres of skilled and trained technicians requisite to our growth and development but, as well, acquaint us one with another. Ethiopia, several years ago, instituted a programme of scholarships for students coming from other African lands which have proved highly rewarding and fruitful, and We urge others to adopt projects of this sort. Serious consideration should be given to the establishment of an African University, sponsored by all African States, where future leaders of Africa will be trained in an atmosphere of continental brotherhood. In this African institution, the supra-national aspects of African life would be emphasised and study would be directed toward the ultimate goal of complete African unity. Ethiopia stands prepared here and now to decide on the site of the University and to fix the financial contributions to be made to it.

This is but the merest summary of what can be accomplished. Upon these measures we are all agreed, and our agreement should now form the basis for our action.

Africa has become an increasingly influential force in the conduct of world affairs as the combined weight of our collective opinion is brought to focus not only on matters which concern this continent exclusively, but on those pressing problems which occupy the thoughts of all men everywhere. As we have come to know one another better and grown in mutual trust and confidence, it has been possible for us to co-ordinate our policies and actions and contribute to the successful settlement of pressing and critical world issues.

This has not been easy. But co-ordinated action by all African States on common problems is imperative if our opinions are to be accorded their proper weight. We Africans occupy a different—indeed a unique—position among the nations of this century. Having for so long known oppression, tyranny, and subjugation, who with better right can claim for all the opportunity and the right to live and grow as free men? Ourselves for long decades the victims of injustice, whose voices can be better raised in the demand for justice and right for all? We demand an end to colonialism because domination of one people by another is wrong. We demand an end to nuclear testing and the arms race because these activities, which pose such dreadful threats to man’s existence, and waste and squander humanity’s material heritage, are wrong. We demand an end to racial segregation as an affront to man’s dignity which is wrong. We act in these matters in the right, as a matter of high principle. We act out of the integrity and conviction of our most deep-founded beliefs.

If we permit ourselves to be tempted by narrow self-interest and vain ambition, if we barter our beliefs for short-term advantage, who will listen when we claim to speak for conscience, and who will contend that our words deserve to be heeded? We must speak out on major world issues, courageously, openly, and honestly, and in blunt terms of right and wrong. If we yield to blandishments or threats, if we compromise when no honourable compromise is possible, our influence will be sadly diminished and our prestige woefully prejudiced and weakened. Let us not deny our ideals or sacrifice our right to stand as the champions of the poor, the ignorant, the oppressed everywhere. The acts by which we live and the attitudes by which we act must be clear beyond question. Principles alone can endow our deeds with force and meaning. Let us be true to what we believe, that our beliefs may serve and honour us.

We reaffirm today, in the name of principle and right, our opposition to prejudice, wherever and in whatever form it may be found, and particularly do we rededicate ourselves to the eradication of racial discrimination from this continent. We can never rest content with our achievements so long as men, in any part of Africa, assert on racial grounds their superiority over the least of our brothers. Racial discrimination constitutes a negation of the spiritual and psychological equality which we have fought to achieve and a denial of the personality and dignity which we have struggled to establish for ourselves as Africans. Our political and economic liberty will be devoid of meaning for so long as the degrading spectacle of South Africa’s apartheid continues to haunt our waking hours and to trouble our sleep. We must redouble our efforts to banish this evil from our land. If we persevere, discrimination will one day vanish from the earth. If we use the means available to us, South Africa’s apartheid, just like colonialism, will shortly remain only as a memory. If we pool our resources and use them well, this spectre will be banished forever.

In this effort, as in so many others, we stand united with our Asian friends and brothers. Africa shares with Asia a common background of colonialism, of exploitation, of discrimination, of oppression. At Bandung, African and Asian States dedicated themselves to the liberation of their two continents from foreign domination and affirmed the right of all nations to develop in their own way, free of any external interference. The Bandung Declaration and the principles enunciated at that Conference remain today valid for us all. We hope that the leaders of India and China, in the spirit of Bandung, will find the way to the peaceful resolution of the dispute between their two countries.

We must speak, also, of the dangers of the nuclear holocaust which threatens all that we hold dear and precious, including life itself. Forced to live our daily existence with this foreboding and ominous shadow ever at our side, we cannot lose hope or lapse into despair. The consequences of an uncontrolled nuclear conflict are so dreadful that no sane man can countenance them. There must be an end to testing. A programme of progressive disarmament must be agreed upon. Africa must be freed and shielded, as a denuclearised zone, from the consequences of direct albeit involuntary involvement in the nuclear arms race.

The negotiations at Geneva, where Nigeria, the United Arab Republic, and Ethiopia are participating, continue, and painfully and laboriously progress is being achieved. We cannot know what portion of the limited advances already realised can be attributed to the increasingly important role being played by the non-aligned nations in these discussions, but we can, surely, derive some small measure of satisfaction from even the few tentative steps taken toward ultimate agreement among the nuclear powers. We remain persuaded that in our efforts to scatter the clouds which rim the horizon of our future, success must come, if only because failure is unthinkable. Patience and grim determination are required, and faith in the guidance of Almighty God.

We would not close without making mention of the United Nations. We personally, Who have throughout Our lifetime been ever guided and inspired by the principle of collective security, would not now propose measures which depart from or are inconsistent with this ideal or with the declarations of the United Nations Charter. It would be foolhardy indeed to abandon a principle which has withstood the test of time and which has proved its inherent value again and again in the past. It would be worse than folly to weaken the one effective world organisation which exists today and to which each of us owes so much. It would be sheer recklessness for any of us to.

The African Charter of which We have spoken is wholly consistent with that of the United Nations. The African organisation which We envisage is not intended in any way to replace in our national or international life the position which the United Nations has so diligently earned and so rightfully occupies. Rather, the measures which We propose would complement and round out programmes undertaken by the United Nations and its specialised agencies and, hopefully, render both their activities and ours doubly meaningful and effective. What we seek will multiply many times over the contribution which our joined endeavours may make to the assurance of world peace and the promotion of human well-being and understanding.

A century hence, when future generations study the pages of history, seeking to follow and fathom the growth and development of the African continent, what will they find of this Conference? Will it be remembered as an occasion on which the leaders of a liberated Africa, acting boldly and with determination, bent events to their will and shaped the future destinies of the peoples? Will this meeting be memorialised for its solid achievements, for the intelligence and maturity which marked the decisions taken here? Or will it be recalled for its failures, for the inability of Africa’s leaders to transcend local prejudice and individual differences, for the disappointment and disillusionment which followed in its train?

These questions give us all pause. The answers are within our power to dictate. The challenges and opportunities which open before us today are greater than those presented at any time in Africa’s millennia of history. The risks and the dangers which confront us are no less great. The immense responsibilities which history and circumstance have thrust upon us demand balanced and sober reflection. If we succeed in the tasks which lie before us, our names will be remembered and our deeds recalled by those who follow us. If we fail, history will puzzle at our failure and mourn what was lost. We approach the days ahead with the prayer that we who have assembled here may be granted the wisdom, the judgment, and the inspiration which will enable us to maintain our faith with the peoples and the nations which have entrusted their fate to our hands.