Native Colonialism

Preface

BY Professor Ephraim Isaac*

M
any books have been written about education in Ethiopia. Yet,
they mostly focus on a one-sided consideration of modern
education, its methodology, relevance, and use. Few have seen
the need to critically evaluate the development of modern education in
Ethiopia. In particular, they neglect an important component: the role
of tradition.
Since the late 19th century, Ethiopia simply duplicated western educa-
tion to modernize without due consideration of the importance of tradi-
tional learning. Some, including myself, have at times expressed concerns
regarding the indiscriminate adoption of modern western education in
Ethiopia. What some call modernization has come at the cost of a total
neglect of traditional learning – or, the lack of balance in incorporat-
ing traditional humanistic Ethiopian teachings and the important and
valuable aspects of western scientific education. Yirga is the first person
I know who has systematically analyzed the problems created by this
shortsighted educational philosophy in modern Ethiopia.
Traditional education has a long history in Ethiopia going back to the
time of the translation of the Bible into the Ge’ez language in the fifth
century. Ge’ez (Classical Ethiopic) is one of the first seven languages of
the world into which the Bible was translated (see my article “The Bible in
Ethiopia” in New Cambridge History of the Bible, Richard Marsden, et. al
eds. Cambridge Univ. Press, 2012). Ethiopia has a veritable traditional
educational system based on a wide range of ancient Hebrew, Aramaic,

* Dr. Ephraim Isaac’s latest book is The Ethiopian Orthodox Tawahido

Church, 2013, Trenton, N.J: The Red Sea Press, Inc.
Native Colonialism

Greek, Syriac, and other literary works. Their total neglect in modern
Ethiopia has created some confusion among the youth who are proud to
be Ethiopian, on one hand, but confused about its culture, on the other.
In other words, almost all Ethiopians feel proud of their history, but at
the same time they look down upon their traditional culture and values.
This is what the author rightly defines as centerlessness, a form of alien-
ation where one feels isolated from their tradition but is not granted a
place in the new western system.
This book makes a unique contribution to the fundamental problems
facing the Ethiopian educational system, past and present. The author
has an excellent grasp of the system of modern Ethiopian education. He
also has a firsthand knowledge of traditional Ethiopia learning systems.
Dr. Yirga’s book is based on an extensive examination of relevant tradi-
tional literature and ethnography. His examination of Ethiopic literature,
particularly the Kebra Nagast with additional references to other impor-
tant works like the Hate taZe Zara Yacob, in analyzing the relevance of
modern Ethiopian education is an original and creative idea. His inter-
view with traditional teachers and religious leaders in Lalibela augments
his knowledge of the primary literature and understanding of Ethiopian
educational problems.
To my knowledge this is the first extensive analysis of the history of
education in Ethiopia and a rational and balanced account of tradition
vs. modernization. Directly or indirectly, this book challenges the phi-
losophy of the Ethiopian Ministry of Education. The author does not
deny the importance of western education for Ethiopia. To the contrary,
he has himself benefitted from it. But his critical analysis of the pros and
cons of the value of western education points to a much-needed reform
in Ethiopia. Yirga indirectly calls on Ethiopian educators to examine the
nature, purpose, and extent of traditional Ethiopian education and the
need for its incorporation in the educational system.
In short, I commend this book enthusiastically. It is an original work
with many creative ideas for change. In this respect, it is a work relevant
for use by leaders and educators of Ethiopia, for whom it should be re-
quired reading.

vi
 Acknowledgement

I
would like to express my deepest respect and appreciation to my col-
leagues at the Centre for Human Rights Education at Curtin Uni-
versity. I appreciate the incredibly enabling and congenial academic
space created for study and research at the Centre. In particular, I thank
Caroline for believing in me when I first joined the Centre as a student
and for guiding me through my PhD journey, together with Dr Karen
Soldatic and Associate Professor Mary Anne Kenny. I also thank Profes-
sor Baden Offord for the insightful conversations, suggestions and unre-
served support all throughout the period I was writing this book.
I would like to acknowledge the traditional school teachers and their
students at Lalibela who taught me so many great lessons. I am grateful
to Professor Ephraim Isaac who inspired me to value traditions ever since
my years at Addis Ababa University and while working with Afroflag
Youth Vision. I am also thankful for his constructive feedback and for
encouraging me to write this book.
I thank my friends in Ethiopia and Australia for their encouragement
and support. I am especially grateful to Feker Beyene, Monika Sommer,
Eskedar Almaw, Dr Anteneh Mesfin, Dr Ainalem Nega and my beautiful
twins Selam and Mihret.
Last but not least, my special love and thanks goes to my partner Dr
Rebecca Louise Higgie for her patience in editing the manuscript and for
having fruitful conversations on its content.
 Contents

Prefacev
Acknowledgementvii
Introduction 1
Reflection and Book Summary 5

Chapter 1: Colonialism Without Colonization9

Epistemic Violence  10
Epistemic Location 12
The Narrative of Traditionalism and Globalism 15
Elitdom as Native Colonialism 20

Chapter 2: K
 ebra Nagast: Place and Covenant in Traditional
Thought
Introduction23
Place and Covenant 27
The Notion of the Ideal King Rule 32
The Notion of the Messianic Destiny of Ethiopia 33
The Notion of Center 40
Wisdom and Knowledge  42
The Meaning of Wisdom 42
The Source of Wisdom 46
Wisdom and the Non-Essential Other 47
Humility of the Soul as an Attribute of Wisdom 51
Conclusion55
Native Colonialism

Chapter 3: T
 raditional Schooling and Indigenous Knowledge
Production57
Introduction57
Traditional Education, Traditional Scholars and the Church 58
Education in the Traditional School System 61
Ordinary Level of Study in the Traditional Education System 63
Nibab Bet 63
Kidassie Bet 67
Higher Level Study in the Traditional Education System 70
Zema Bet 70
Qine Bet 75
Metsehaf Bet 77
The Legacy of Interpretative Tradition 80
Literary Tradition 82
Fisalgwos83
Metsehafe Felasfa Tebiban, The Book of the Wise
Philosophers84
Zena Skendes Tebib, The Life and Maxim of Skendes 86
The Ethiopic Versions of the Books of Alexander the Great 88
Critical Philosophy: Hateta Ze Zara Yacob 89
Conclusion92

Chapter 4: The Rise of Epistemic Violence Against Traditions95

Introduction95
The Rise of Tewodros: ‘It is possible to make everything
in Habesha’ 96
The Meqdalla Effect: Locating the Turning Point  99
The Imitation of European Laws 102
Centralization and Elite Absolutism 109
The Emergence of the Imitative Education System 112
The Emergence of Modern Education 114
The Post World War II Education Period 120
Conclusion125

Chapter 5: The Rise of Elite Messianism127

Introduction127
Missionarism as an Effect of Western Knowledge 128

x
 Contents

The Development of Student Messianism 132

Campaign136
Organization of the Masses 143
Physical Violence 145
The Red Terror: ‘Revolution Eats its Own Children’ 147
Lessons of Violence 150
Conclusion151

Chapter 6: Elitdom and Centeredlessness153

Introduction153
Critical Analysis of the Ethiopian Education and Training
Policy (ETP) 155
The Cult of English as a Medium of Learning 156
Quality Education as a Mask to the Question of Relevance 161
The Cult of Technology 164
The Construction of Student Self-identity and Schooling 168
Perceptions of Modernity and Tradition 171
Alienation from Elitdom 176
Sources of Powerlessness 176
Concern over Academic Results 178
Concern over Job Prospects 183
The Use of Violence Against Dissent 185
Sources of Meaninglessness 186
Centerdlessness as the Effect of Western Education in Ethiopia 190
Conclusion192

Conclusion: Theoretical Lessons and Methodological Insights195

Bibliography 211

Index231

xi
 Introduction

We do not live in space, we live in places. To live is to live locally, and to

know is first of all to know the places one is in (Casey, 1996, p. 18).

T
here is no exaggeration to the saying that when an old person
dies in Africa, a library burns down to the ground. The proverb
implies that African educational institutions have little or no
record of the wisdom and experience of their traditional scholars. The
proverb also applies to the current Ethiopian condition where traditional
scholars are excluded from the formal system despite long years of study
in the intellectual legacy of their country. Growing up in the historic town
of Lalibela, I had the opportunity to closely observe the lives of these
scholars. They are the cultural leaders of the people. They spend decades
of learning in places like Gondar and Gojam, studying in the traditional
education system which is just one of many rich indigenous knowledge
traditions in Ethiopia. In the community, they resolve conflicts, advise
the young, comfort the sick, and pray for the dead as well as the living.
They give shelter and free education for students who come to study with
them, as they were received by others before them. Inside the 13th century
monolithic churches of Lalibela, their singing and dancing seem to bring
the beauty and wisdom of the past into a simultaneous existence with the
present. Yet, these cultural leaders, like all other traditional leaders in the
country, are not active participants in the political and economic life of
the country. There is a strange aloofness between culture and politics in
Ethiopia. In a country where more than 85% of the people live according
to the dictates of local tradition, traditional scholars are not active par-
ticipants in contemporary decision-making processes.
In an effort to encourage intergenerational dialogue between el-
ders and youth, Afroflag Youth Vision, a local NGO, initiated a series
Native Colonialism

of conferences in 2006. The action was inspired by Professor Ephraim

Isaac’s advice that the new Ethiopian millennium, which would be cel-
ebrated in 2008 (2000 according to the Ethiopian Calendar), should be
an opportunity for the country’s renaissance through the active inclu-
sion of its traditional wisdoms. However, in 2008, the celebration of the
Ethiopian Millennium was dominated by an interest to renew Ethiopia’s
image in the eyes of the world. It focused on activities that would please
tourists and the diaspora, including a paid concert by American singer
Beyoncé Knowles rather than the voice of traditional wisdoms and el-
ders. The events show that elites and policy makers consider Ethiopia’s
indigenous traditions, calendar, language, and history to be cultural rel-
ics, not dynamic forms of knowledge that could inspire change and en-
rich the education of its current generation. Afroflag’s conferences gener-
ated ideas that questioned the relevance of Ethiopia’s current education
system to the tradition and way of life of the people. One participant
questioned its contribution, saying “education should study and improve
the tools with which we do things. But, throughout my life, I haven’t
heard of any contribution of such kind from our universities. Can you
tell us what universities teach our children to improve our lives?” Such
critical questions are important in light of the degradation of the lives
of most rural communities in the country and their environments. My
own recent observation of the places around Lalibela speaks to this deg-
radation. Much of the landscape is now robbed of its greenery, many of
the small rivers that once threaded through the surrounding gorges have
dried up, the few big trees that stood once at the places called guro, erigu
shola and metafet have perished, and the land is scarred with haphazardly
built houses that suggest high population growth. Elders, orphans and
disabled persons do not have any support from the state. Despite the lack
of meaningful contribution to local life, state education is still celebrated
because it is a supposedly “good thing” in and of itself, not because it has
brought good things to the poor who make up the majority of Ethiopia’s
population.
The education system has been significantly expanding in recent
years, though research suggests that it is also heading “from crisis to the
brink of collapse” (Negash, 2006). Education is always linked in positive
ways to the lives of the people, to their future and destiny. This book
attempts to show that beneath the good name of education, there is a

2
 Introduction

constant violence against local traditions that perpetuates the degrada-

tion of the lives of the majority whose survival depend those on traditions.
The belief in the redemptive power of western education is informed by a
colonialist worldview that local traditions and people are primitive. It is
also an indictment that privileges westernized elites to speak and act for
the rural majority without the latter’s consent. Through a critical analy-
sis of historical, archival and empirical sources, including rare interviews
with traditional and western educated scholars, and a critical-reflexive
approach towards my own position as an individual who benefited from
the formal education system, this book presents a theory that explains
the violence of modern institutions. The central thesis of the book is
this: Ethiopia has never been colonized by an alien political power, but
a political system similar to colonialism has been institutionalized in the
country by native colonizers. The western political ideology of the elite
class has become the source of economic, political and social policy. Po-
litical parties determine development processes, and modernization is
seen as a government-sponsored project rather than an evolutionary pro-
cess that emerges from people’s local experiences. Education has played
a central role for the emergence and expansion of native colonialism. It
promotes a worldview and culture that produces colonial consciousness.
This book critically articulates the historical emergence, ideology and ef-
fect of native colonialism. It also attempts to present an interpretation of
Ethiopia’s rich legacy of traditional philosophy and wisdom as a source of
insight for the production of relevant education for the future.
The book follows one of Ethiopia’s indigenous knowledge traditions
that survived for thousands of years through the education system of the
Tewahido Church and traditional life of the people. In addition to the
contribution of the church, some Ethiopians and foreign scholars have
made great efforts to save the wisdom of our ancestors from the native
colonialist drive of our own elites. For example, Aleqa Asres Yenesew,
who is one of the prominent scholars of the traditional school, has docu-
mented the principles and values of Ethiopian identity from the Tewahi-
do Christian tradition and the danger of mental colonization by the West
(1959 [1951 EC]-a). In a similar vein, Claude Sumner’s interpretation of
Ethiopian philosophy, including that of the 17th Century philosophers
Zara Yacob and Walda Hiwot, is a tremendous work that invites readers
to the rich legacy of traditional philosophy in the country (1976). The

3
Native Colonialism

work of Asmarom Legesse on the Gada system of the Oromo is a notable

example that shows the rich diversity of indigenous knowledge in Ethio-
pia (1973). Kidanewold Kifle, Desta Teklewold, Hiruy Woldeselassie,
Haddis Alemayehu, Tekletsadik Mekuria, Richard Pankhurst, Getachew
Haile and Abera Jembere are among the few scholars who have written
on Ethiopia’s diverse indigenous conceptions, stories and language. In
addition to providing an in depth understanding of Ethiopia’s ancient
knowledges, Professor Ephraim Isaac has been a practitioner of tradition-
al wisdom and methods. He has been engaged in teaching young people
and attempting to reconcile radical political opponents using traditional
methods. The contribution of these and many other scholars and elders
on the history, philosophy and tradition of Ethiopia provide indispens-
able context to closely examine the relevance of western knowledge and
education from the perspective of Ethiopia’s tradition and culture. I fol-
low some of the interpretations and suggestions offered by the above
scholars, together with empirical information gathered in Ethiopia, to
present my arguments on native colonialism in Ethiopia.
My effort is to provide a critical reading of the metaphysical empire
of western knowledge that has been imposed upon Ethiopia in the name
of education. The best way to show the violence of this empire is not to
reason based on its own rationalities. This is what most commentators
did when they criticize the quality or relevance of the education system.
They often start from the education system, not from the meaning of
education. They focus on evaluating the performances and activities of
the education system based on the goals and theories set by it. They fo-
cus on issues such as coverage, access, and resources, and measure the
relevance and quality of its practice to a set of fixed objectives by the
system. Although these may have positive outcomes, it presents the edu-
cation system as a self-contained metaphysical entity whose relevance
and significance is beyond question. Consequently, it pays little atten-
tion to the relevance of the content, process, outcome and vision of the
education system itself to the knowledge, experience and interest of the
local people concerned. It fails to consider whose knowledge is being
packaged for distribution through the education system. This failure
contributes to the continuation of the metaphysical empire of the West
and its violence against local traditions. I argue that the best way to show
this violence is to commit oneself to an earnest endeavor to enter and

4
 Introduction

stand on the epistemic fields that are suppressed by its violent presence
with a reflexive practice that recognizes the shortcomings of this entry.
Presenting the intimate experiences and knowledges of others in this way
could be seen “as putting oneself into someone else’s skin” (Geertz, 1983,
p. 56). However, my claim of entry is not to represent the exact words
and experiences of those suppressed knowledges but to critically and
adequately inform my own interpretative perspectives and experiences
with theirs while writing on the topic. In the process of doing this, I
have taken the time to get the perspectives, experiences, knowledges and
suggestions of so many people in Ethiopia including traditional scholars,
students and teachers as presented in the book. Yet, I consider it to be
important that the common myth of objectivity as a disconnection be-
tween the author’s own experience and his/her work should be avoided.
While objectivity could become the aspiration of any genuine scholar-
ship, the author cannot interpret social reality without referring back to
his/her own subjective experiences and values. Therefore, it is important
to provide readers with a short reflection of my experience in relation to
the topic.

Reflection and Book Summary

My view on the relationship between tradition and education developed
through lived experience and research. I was born at the town of Lal-
ibela where I started my educational journey with the study of numeracy
and literacy at a traditional school (Nibab Bet) from the late Seregela
Abate. Then, I studied in the government school from elementary to
grade 10 during the previous Derg period, and from grade 11 through
to my undergraduate degree in Law during the current EPRDF rule.
During my early school years, I grew up in close relationship with rural
life and places with practical exposure to farming and related activities.
Although I did not complete a higher level of study in the traditional
school, I became an active leader in the youth Sabbath schools and my
leadership role and personal interest created a desire to learn the scrip-
tures and language of the Tewahido tradition. I still have memories of my
classes on the interpretation of traditional scriptures, tirguaamme, with
the late Aba Zekarias Wassie; the study of local history with Afememihr
Alebachew Reta; my late-night Ge’ez reading and rehearsing classes with

5
Native Colonialism

Merigeta Mekonin; scripture Sabbath classes with Aba Ketsela and the
late Merigeta Gebremariam and others. The great melodist and vocalist
the late Riese Debir Gebre Maskal Amagnu and the passionate teacher
Lique Kahinat Kassie Setegne were sources of inspiration and passion
for my interest in traditional knowledge. Before I finished high school,
this interest took me to the Monastery of Daga Estifanos at the island of
Lake Tana where I spent a brief time of communal living with the monks
there. Later, after finishing year 10, I was trained as a Health Assistant
and worked at remote rural clinics, an opportunity that enabled me to
work at one of the country’s rural villages. These experiences informed
my extra-curricular activities when I later joined the Law faculty of the
Addis Ababa University. I started to work at the students’ clinic provid-
ing first aid and referral services during non-office hours. My role as the
Chairman of the literature club for two years following the 1999 student
protest and later as Director of Afroflag Youth Vision, a national NGO
working to enhance the civic engagement and leadership role of youth in
the country, enabled me to be actively engaged with the ideas, passions
and challenges of my generation.
It was during my legal training and my teaching career as a law lec-
turer that I dimly started to perceive the strange contradiction between
university education and rural culture in Ethiopia. Although Ethiopian
laws are legislated and applied in Amharic, Ethiopian lawyers are trained
in English. While English, French or Latin philosophical sources are
referenced and the history of Europe is emphasized, Ge’ez or Oromo
sources of Ethiopian philosophy and history have been neglected. Both
in the first year of university and at law school, western philosophers
were presented as biblical figures who spoke universal, neutral and
objective truths. My travel to join my family in Australia gave me a
comparative perspective and reflective space to critically engage with
my own assumptions. In particular, my Masters training at the Centre
for Human Rights Education at Curtin University encouraged me to
draw insights from a range of critical theories that ultimately led me to
conduct a PhD study on the relevance and significance of education in
Ethiopia. My ongoing teaching and research experience, which involves
interaction with several colleagues and postgraduate students, gave me
the privilege of accessing information that facilitated the production of
this book.

6
 Introduction

This book, though informed by my own experience, is the product

of significant empirical research and an examination of Ethiopian his-
tory, literature and philosophy. The empirical research took place from
2010-2014 and involved observation of traditional schools, high school
and university classes, and interviews with teachers and students in both
the state and the traditional Ethiopian school systems. The book starts by
examining the legacy of traditional knowledge in Ethiopia. In Chapter 1,
it presents a theoretical reflection on the meaning of epistemic location
and epistemic violence and a brief observation of how the literature ap-
proaches the relevance of tradition to education. Chapter 2 presents the
conceptual and traditional basis of political and social life in Ethiopia
based on the Kebra Nagast. It demonstrates that covenant and wisdom
provided a theory of place and knowledge that guided political and social
life for several centuries in Ethiopia. Chapter 3 examines the traditional
education system and the intellectual legacy of the country. It presents
the process of education and tirguaamme, the indigenous methodol-
ogy of knowledge production. Both Chapter 2 and 3 demonstrate that
Ethiopia has indigenous sources of knowledge that could have been used
for making state education relevant to the lives of its people. Chapter
4-5 examine the process of westernization and the institutionalization
of violence against tradition across two historical periods. Chapter 4
presents the beginning of Ethiopia’s transition from kingdom to Elitdom
(a system of elite autocracy) through epistemic violence against tradi-
tion. It examines the onset of a western consciousness of power as the
precondition for violence against tradition from 1860s to 1960s. It also
presents the imitation of western laws and western education as instances
of epistemic violence during this period. Chapter 5 critically examines
the occurrence of radical violence against tradition from 1960s to 1990s.
Beginning with the rise of student missionarism and messianism, it looks
at the rise of violence as a means of perpetuating state messianism by sup-
pressing dissent. It argues that epistemic and physical violence produced
native colonialism in Ethiopia.
Chapter 6 then looks at the effect of the western education system on
the lives of Ethiopian students today. It shows that Ethiopian students
experience a deep sense of double alienation, from tradition and from
the system of power, Elitdom. The chapter demonstrates that centerdless-
ness is the outcome of double alienation and violence against tradition,

7
Native Colonialism

which contributes to the perpetuation of native colonialism. Finally, in

the Conclusion, I draw theoretical lessons on the nature of education and
present methodological insights for relevant education as well. Although
the sources of my analysis for this book is heavily drawn from the Ethio-
pian Orthodox Tewahido tradition, I acknowledge the existence of other
traditions such as the Gada system of the Oromo and the Muslim tradi-
tion as equally important sources of knowledge that need to be studied in
order to make education relevant to the people in Ethiopia.

8
 chapter 1

Colonialism Without
Colonization

Colonialism is first of all a matter of consciousness and needs to be defeated

ultimately in the minds of men (Nandy, 1983, p. 63).

I
n Nguigu wa Thiong’o’s acclaimed novel, Devil on the Cross, protago-
nist Jucinta Wariinga dreamed about the crucifixion of the devil. The
Devil had robes that disguised its cunning nature of doing good in
plain sight and evil in disguise. One day, the poor people in Africa cru-
cified him on the cross and left him to die. After three days, men who
wore suits and ties raised him up from the cross and begged him to give
them a slice of his robes of cunning. When the Devil gave them what
they wanted, they inherited all the evils of the world and started to snig-
ger at the poor (1982, pp. 13-14). The story is a metaphor of the trans-
fer of power from white administrators to African elites after the end of
European colonization. The symbolism behind the robes of cunning also
suggests that the mental effect of colonization is more powerful and en-
during than its physical power. The continuation of a colonial type domi-
nation after the end of European colonial rule led to the rethinking of the
relationship between Western and non-western countries. Some scholars
emphasize the distinction between colonization and colonialism. Colo-
nization is the creation of a physical empire at a definite time and space
but colonialism is the creation of a metaphysical empire that transcends
both (Ndlovu-Gatsheni, 2013). Others emphasize on a distinction be-
tween internal and external colonialism. While external colonialism is
a partial or full loss of national sovereignty due to the domination of a
Native Colonialism

country by a foreign power, internal colonialism has many features that

depend on power distributions across political, economic, racial, cultural
and other factors within a country (Pinderhughes, 2011). It also explains
the condition where the ruling elites of Southern countries colonize their
own people using the same processes used by European colonizers in the
past (Calvert, 2001).
The direct application of theory regarding internal colonization or
colonialism to Ethiopia may create a dilemma due to the absence of a
history of European colonization that resulted in a legacy of colonial
culture and institutions being inherited to the current ruling elite in
the country. However, despite the absence of such a colonial legacy,
the Ethiopian state has imitated foreign ideas and created internal
processes that resemble colonialism. Therefore, the term colonialism
is important to show the epistemic and structural dependence of the
state on foreign powers. Unlike in other countries where colonial vio-
lence is well known from the history of colonial rule under Europeans,
in Ethiopia colonial violence is hidden in the history of independence
that is used by elites to mask their own imitated ideas and practices as
initiatives inspired by “native” factors. I use the term native colonialism
to explain the development of a colonial consciousness that alters tradi-
tional and historical processes through epistemic and physical violence
in Ethiopia.

Epistemic Violence
The first and most distinguishing mark of colonialism is the creation of
colonial consciousness (Nandy, 1983). Colonial consciousness is first cre-
ated and maintained through violence on indigenous knowledge. As the
seminal work of Edward Said showed, western knowledge invented the
concept of the orient using languages, concepts, beliefs, values and emo-
tions that are internal to its own, western tradition (1978). Yet, in this
act of invention, although the tradition of the colonized people is muted,
objectified and interpreted based on the knowledge of the colonizer, it
also undergoes its own internal processes of constructing new meaning
as it encounters the power of the colonizer. It is at this level that colonial-
ism starts to set its roots deep into the culture of the colonized. It cre-
ates a way of educating, acculturating and domesticating the colonized. It

10
 Colonialism Without Colonization

invents norms, rituals, hierarchies and new interests both from the colo-
nizing and the colonized traditions, and brings them together to provide
a new ideology that serves the colonial system. This process of colonizing
minds and bodies takes place through two interrelated violences.
The first one is the epistemic violence that involves the deployment of
knowledge which gives rise to a new vision of the world. Spivak defined
epistemic violence as “the construction of a self-immolating colonial sub-
ject for the glorification of the social mission of the colonizer” (Spivak,
1999, p. 127). She also refers to it as “a set of human sciences busy es-
tablishing the ‘native’ as a self-consolidating other” (1999, p. 205). Epis-
temic violence involves reshaping the mind of the colonized to accept
the worldview of the colonizer. It involves the reordering, reprioritizing,
disregarding, and appropriating of local traditions. It produces knowl-
edge that universalizes the ideology of the colonial system and particu-
larizes the colonial people’s traditions. As Nandy observed, this process,
“helps generalize the concept of the modern West from a geographical
and temporal entity to a psychological category. The West is now every-
where, within the West and outside; in structures and in minds” (1983,
p. 11).
The second major aspect of colonialism is the institutionalization
of violence against dissent. As colonialism is not a system of consensus,
its sustained dominance requires a mechanism for the deployment of
force. To this end, it creates institutions, employs individuals and creates
a system of reward and punishment, inclusion and exclusion, laws and
procedures including the use of physical violence, based on the interest
of those in power. It creates structural and economic dependency with
dominant metropolitan powers and transfers raw materials and resources
in exchange for manufactured goods, expertise and aid. While epistemic
violence attempts to achieve a complete dominance of the colonial ideol-
ogy, the institutionalization of violence addresses resistance against this
domination. Both epistemic and physical violence produce a cultural
praxis that perpetuates the colonial system. Then, “the violence insinu-
ates itself into the economy, domestic life, language, consciousness”; it
becomes omnipresent, ubiquitous and productive, making it “a spirit of
violence” (Mbembe, 2001, p. 175). Even those who oppose the colonial
system start to frame their resistance within the logic set by colonial
consciousness.

11
Native Colonialism

Epistemic Location
The history of epistemic violence in Ethiopia masks the existence of
multiple epistemic locations within the country. The period of Emperor
Haile Selassie between 1960s and 1970s is a pivotal time in the rise of
native colonialism not just due to the replacement of Haile Selassie by
military leaders in 1974 but more importantly due to the high level of
epistemic and physical violence that produced the dominance of western
epistemology in the country. Literature on Ethiopian history, education,
culture, and politics has been dominated by the views and actions of the
students of that period. Many of the scholars who write about this time
in Ethiopia’s history focus on either the self-criticism or validation of the
ideology and action of Ethiopian students during and after the fall of the
monarchical system. Their choice of analytical social groups and theo-
retical and methodological frameworks are self-referential, as they center
their analysis on western educated students which represent less than 1%
of the population. Their works utilize western conceptions of modern-
ization and progress rather than a deeper appreciation of the traditional
knowledge and philosophy of the country. This has made it difficult for
the current generation of Ethiopian students to question the dominance
of western epistemology and historiography based on Ethiopian philoso-
phy and traditions.
Despite this, there are notable scholars whose works contribute to a
good understanding of the western education system. Among the various
authors, the works of Teshome Wagaw (1990) and Randi Balsvik (1985)
provide a good account of the development of higher education and the
rise of modernist consciousness among the students. The historian Bahru
Zewde’s writings on Ethiopia’s modern history provide a detailed account
of the rise of western educated intellectuals as “pioneers of change” dur-
ing the monarchical period and their tragic fate during the Derg (2002,
2010). Zewde’s diagnosis of the Ethiopian Students’ Movement attempts
the impossible task of objectivity in his detailed historical account of one
of the most controversial periods in the country’s history. Another no-
table work is Messay Kebede’s interpretation of the history of western
education and the role of radical elites in the country (1999, 2008b).
Kebede’s appreciation of the importance of culture and the effect of cul-
tural dislocation in modernization is a critical source of insight for my

12
 Colonialism Without Colonization

own work. Kebede is exceptional in being unapologetically critical of his

generation’s infatuation with Marxism-Leninism and the consequence
of radicalism due to their separation from tradition. Tekeste Negash is
another notable critic of the Ethiopian education system who considered
low quality and inefficiency as a sign of deep crisis in the country’s educa-
tion (1990, 2010). His provocative criticism of the structural failure and
the “curse of English as a medium of instruction” provides an important
critical voice to the field.
This book takes relevant information and lessons from the above and
many other authors of the Ethiopian education system, but differs in its
methodology and conclusion by putting the center of the analysis outside
the western school system. In particular, it starts with an interpretation
of Ethiopia’s traditional self-conception and knowledge, and analyzes the
rise of epistemic violence against tradition since the last decade of the 19th
century. Thus, the fundamental departure in this work is the question of
epistemic location: where does the researcher endeavor to stand while
speaking about his/her topic? (Mignolo, 2003, p. 5). This question is per-
tinent in my study because most studies on Ethiopian education so far as-
sumed a neutral, objective and universal position while their social group
and epistemology were driven only from a single source (the West). It is
therefore important to consider the notion of epistemic location vis-à-vis
other types of locations such as social, economic and political. Epistemic
location emanates from a shared worldview that directs the selection, orga-
nization and interpretation of meaning and reality from one’s perspective.
Failure to recognize the existence of multiple epistemic locations leads to
the adoption of a God’s viewpoint on all aspects of reality and the dismiss-
al of epistemological, cognitive, spiritual and creative diversities (Santos,
Nunes, & Meneses, 2007). Western knowledge serves as a dominant
epistemic location for Ethiopian elites to present their ideas as universal,
neutral and objective truths, simultaneously ignoring the fact that western
knowledge is itself local (not universal) and promoting western epistemol-
ogy as the only basis of knowledge. Moving the center of the analysis from
the western epistemic location to Ethiopian epistemic sources provides
significant difference in terms of how concepts such as tradition, educa-
tion and the role of the elites are interpreted in Ethiopia’s modern history.
This approach is not intended to draw comparison between Ethio-
pian traditions and the West as such comparison implies the conceptual

13
Native Colonialism

dependency of the former on the latter. The purpose of the book is to

show how and at what cost western knowledge became hegemonic in
Ethiopia. Before the rise of western knowledge as a source of scientific
truth, political and social status was largely justified on the basis of tradi-
tional beliefs and practices. This does not mean that the country had pure
and innocent traditions or political power always required traditional
acceptance. There is no question that the traditional leaders were privi-
leged and had significant power, but largely they did not have a different
epistemic location from their people. The use of violence against their
political rivals was often motivated by the desire to maintain economic
and political dominance rather than an ideological or epistemic one. It is
true that their ideology was driven largely from the indigenous Tewahido
Christianity, but they were not always motivated by a puritan vision of
converting the entire population to their own faith. Although exceptions
exist, such as the attempt to forcefully convert Orthodox followers to
Catholicism during Susneyos (1607-32) and the forceful conversion of
the Wollo Muslims during Yohannis IV (1872-89), such incidents were
either discontinued or suggest political motives more than epistemic
ones. This conclusion is supported by the protection given to Islam by
the Ethiopian emperors before it was established in Mecca and the so-
cial ties that developed between followers of the two religions. This does
not suggest the existence of a just and non-violent epistemic order dur-
ing the monarchical periods. Instead, it simply shows that the boundary
between the rulers and the ruled is not demarcated purely on the basis
of epistemic antagonism between the two. Within differentiated social
locations there were plural worldviews that were not reduced into fixed
and antagonistic binaries.
I argue that a distinct epistemic location emerged with the imitation
of western ideas and institutions, especially the western education sys-
tem since the late 19th Century in Ethiopia. This new development can
be related to the rise of a western epistemic order, a global hierarchy in
terms of knowledge, language and place that gives superiority to west-
ern knowledge, the English language and urban areas over non-western
knowledges and rural communities (Grosfoguel, 2011). What is unique-
ly important about the western epistemic order is its expansion to the rest
of the world through colonialism and imperialism, and its institutional-
ization through state structures and policies. In particular, the western

14
 Colonialism Without Colonization

epistemic order colonized the production of knowledge, alienating stu-

dents of poor countries from the identities and worldviews of their local
communities. Although students may share the same social location of
their local communities, this does not mean that they also share a simi-
lar epistemic location with them. Among Ethiopians trained in western
knowledge and language, many adopted the epistemic location created
by the western epistemic order. This process gave rise to epistemic vio-
lence that links the experience of Ethiopian students with other students
in the non-western world.

The Narrative of Traditionalism and Globalism

In Ethiopia, the western epistemic location provides two narratives to
justify modernization through the imitation of western knowledge and
the leadership role of its students. These can be regarded as the narrative
of traditionalism (not tradition) and globalism. The narrative of tradi-
tionalism portrays Ethiopian traditions as static artefacts in two impor-
tant ways. The first portrayal provides traditions as innocent and genuine
artefacts that should pass from one generation to another throughout the
history of a nation. This romantic imagination is often produced using
sources that are not part of the living tradition and practice of the people.
For example, Ethiopia’s glorious image is often produced based on Greek
writers such as Homer, Herodotus and Diodorus, European historians
who visited the country, or local scholars who selected specific histori-
cal events to glorify or denounce the present. The common misgiving of
this approach is essentialism, a perspective that disconnects the histori-
cal record of the tradition from its living legacy among the people now.
Instead of using the Ge’ez texts, oral stories, lived experiences and current
practices as interconnected witnesses of local knowledge, many authors
presented them as disconnected evidences that explain preformulated
ideological or theoretical assumptions. The narrative of traditionalism in
this approach is only partially related to the historical and current lives
of the people.
The second portrayal of traditionalism presents traditions as primi-
tive ways of life. This approach is the most common among Ethiopian
intellectuals who justified the imitation of western education and the
removal of the monarchical system through revolutionary violence.

15
Native Colonialism

This narrative proposes that the existence of a feudal and brutal politi-
cal system ruling over a static and primitive traditional culture before
1974 necessitated the rise of radicalized ideas and measures to end it.
The students were determined to liberate their people from the bond-
age of oppressive regimes and customs through a popular revolution.
As the book will show, this self-centered analysis mimics foreign con-
cepts to selectively interpret Ethiopia’s past only in relation to its own
rationalities. For instance, despite the fact that the social, economic and
political realities in Ethiopia were different from medieval Europe, the
term “feudalism” and “peasant societies” were imported to describe the
monarchical history of the country (Cohen, 1974; Ellis, 1976). Here,
I am not attempting to defend the monarchical system. My focus is to
draw attention to the foreign epistemic sources that objectified local tra-
dition and to clarify how I approach the difference between tradition
and traditionalism.
The book makes an important distinction between the two. Jaroslav
Pelikan suggested that “tradition is the living faith of the dead, tradi-
tionalism is the dead faith of the living” (1984, p. 65). I view tradition
as a society’s immediate source of meaning, like culture but with deeper
roots in history. It grows in the experience of people, in their memories,
in their historical records, daily practices, fears and aspirations. It is a
context for the dialogue between past and present lives. Tradition gives
historical sense, spiritual meaning, a worldview to interpret the present
and the future. But, traditionalism is the imagination of the past from
an epistemic location that objectifies tradition either as the romantic or
barbaric past.
Based on traditionalism, Ethiopian elites imported epithets such as
“feudal” and “peasantry” to decontextualize and freeze aspects of tradi-
tions either as resistant or complementary to their project of modernism.
This process invented the past as a legitimate ground for the civilizing
role of western educated intellectuals. It also pushed traditional leaders
and institutions away from the present and into the remote past as irrel-
evant. The construction of the past as barbaric also extends to the entire
history of the country. For example, Mammo portrays the image of per-
petual warfare and barbarism of three thousand years only by selecting
the 11 years of Zemene Mesafint, which was a civil war among the nobil-
ity to become king makers. He alleges:

16
 Colonialism Without Colonization

From time immemorial to the present, the people of Ethiopia have al-
ways been at war among themselves, on the one hand, and against for-
eign aggressors, on the other. In the country’s long history it is very
difficult to find a single decade devoted to peace and civil economic ac-
tivities. One historical account may illustrate this point clearly. In what
is known as the Era of the Princes, (locally referred to as Zemene mesaf-
fint), the monarchy and the nobility were continuously engaged in civil
wars (Mammo, 1999).

Mammo travels wildly to the vast field of Ethiopian history only to select
troubled events and practices that would construct the writer’s image of a
barbaric past. A similar description of history goes: “Generally kings and
emperors claimed to have been chosen by ‘God’ to rule, not by the people.
The political culture of Ethiopia emanates largely from the hoary history
of its culture of political violence” (Ayele, 2010, p. 219). Such descrip-
tions contradict even the account of modern historians such as Zewde’s
observation that “although war was common it was often resorted to only
after negotiation and mediation had failed” (2010, p. 432). It also shows
the acceptance of western historiography as a universal and valid method
of writing history. The Western method of writing history is associated
with historicism which according to Foucault means “the link, the un-
avoidable connection, between war and history, and conversely, between
history and war” (2004, p. 172). When they write history, most western
historians excessively focus on war. They often create a connection among
disconnected historical events across space and time using the theme of
war, in order to present modernism as the higher stage of human civiliza-
tion. This makes war and history synonymous. As Foucault argues, “war
is waged throughout history, and through the history that tells the his-
tory of war” (2004, p. 173). This concern is clear from the way Ethiopian
history has been, intentionally or unintentionally, narrated as a history
of war by several western educated historians. According to Schaefer,
the emphasis on incessant war in Ethiopia came from a counterfactual
analysis by European travelers and diplomats who went to the country
during the Zemene Messafint (2006). These Europeans were interested
in warfare and skirmishes to write fascinating stories that fit the racial ste-
reotypes of the 18th and 19th Century in Europe: “Cruelty elicited much
commentary by most travellers for it complemented their thesis that

17
Native Colonialism

Ethiopians were barbarous” (2006, p. 350). For example, Samuel Gobat, a

European traveler in Ethiopia during the Zemene Messafint, demonstrat-
ed how the evidence of war is often collected. Gobat asked Ethiopians
about their practices of war presenting various leading questions such as
whether prisoners of war would be mutilated or not, and tried to connect
disconnected and exceptional incidents to prove the thesis of barbarism.
Seeing the reaction and response of his respondents he wrote:

Though I have heard of some acts of cruelty, the Abyssinians cannot be

regarded as a cruel people, especially in the interior of the country. Even
during the ravages of war, they are rarely disposed to slay an enemy, when
he can be taken prisoner; and when they see the scale of victory rising in
their favour, they are far more inclined to spare their foes who are still
defending themselves with resolution and bravery, than to wreak their
vengeance in unmerciful butchery (1850, p. 463).

Gobat’s story corroborates with the tradition of reconciliation (irq) and

the limit of violence. The depiction of Ethiopian history as the history of
barbarism and warfare has little to do with the reality of war, but more
with the motive and ideology of the authors. My argument here is not to
support the opposite claim that Ethiopia’s history was peaceful. The past
is rich enough to supply writers with the evidence to write it as the period
of warfare or peace. Instead of the general conclusions of traditionalism,
one has to focus on the epistemology that drives the interpretation of
historical reality. My interest is to show how elite ideology selects simi-
lar events from the past to create a homogenous space that supports its
claims. Traditionalism is often presented to make an ideological state-
ment about the present. But as a historical construction, it hides certain
“truths” about the present too.
Several scholars who wrote about the Ethiopian Student Movement
(ESM) presented a violent and repressive traditional context as a cause
for the necessity of radical change in Ethiopia. Without rejecting or con-
doning this claim, it is important to note how this claim casts the monar-
chical system as primitive and those who rally against it as progressive,
regardless as to what they bring to replace it. It fits with the assumption
that modern history is progressive despite the reality of the post 1974
period being a time when a large number of people have been brutalized,

18
 Colonialism Without Colonization

starved, repressed, displaced, dispossessed, jailed and murdered in masses

while secularized radical political forces were competing for power. If the
cruelty of the monarchical system was the only cause of radicalism and
violence, why did the students remain radical and violent to each other
before and after the fall of the monarchy? The bitter antagonism among
various political groups irrespective of power differences show that
achieving epistemic dominance is the hidden goal of political struggle.
It is commonly held that the student-led revolution of 1974 failed
because it was hijacked by the military. A close reading of the ideas and
activities of the students show that the notion of a hijacked revolution is
untenable. The revolution was never hijacked of its ideology or episte-
mology. As far as epistemic location is concerned, the difference between
the military and the students was the answer to the question who had the
gun to shoot first? Both the military and the students were trainees of
Haile Selassie’s elitist institutions. Both followed western epistemology
and also believed in the cult of violence. The cult of violence was even
first propagated by the students, not the military (M. Kebede, 2008a).
If the students’ resentment of Haile Selassie was the absence of a demo-
cratic space for reformation, it is instructive to look into the space they
created for dialogue among different student political groups. As Zewde
noted, the students were engaged in a verbal violence that led to physical
violence later (2010). The students’ rejection of the 1972 Education Sec-
tor Review, which aimed at Ethiopianizing the curriculum by changing
the medium of instruction from English to the national language and
by focusing on agriculture and vocational training, shows the distinction
between the epistemic location of the students and their people (Paulos
Milkias, 2006). It is true that Ethiopian students did more than chant-
ing the “Land to the Tiller” slogan in support of the rural majority dur-
ing the monarchial period. However, there is little intellectual resistance
now against the “Land to Investors” program which results in the transfer
of about several million hectares of land to foreign and local investors
(Rahmato, 2011). Rahmato argues that the misery of rural people in-
creases as the predatory hands of the state reaches to their villages (2009).
This is not to argue that the revolutionary students were motivated by
Ego-Politics of power; rather, I argue that they were motivated by an ide-
ological vision created by the epistemic location they adopted in relation
to the rest of the society. As Paulo Freire argued, even the most ardent

19
Native Colonialism

revolutionaries could become as dangerous as the oppressor so long as the

revolution is conceptualized and directed by ideas that make the people
ignorant (1970).
The narrative of globalism provides the existence of an international
order that requires irresistible compliance at a local level. This narrative
hides the western epistemic location and structural dependence of Ethio-
pian elites by presenting the global as a homogenous entity with superior
and rational principles that necessitates the integration of local econo-
mies and traditions. This narrative uses globalization to justify the imita-
tion of western curriculum and language in higher education. It also pro-
vides a justification for the power of western educated Ethiopians to act
in the name of a higher goal. Globalism contributes to the high privilege
and status given to intellectuals educated in western countries over those
educated within Ethiopia. This is not to deny that the global context does
not have compelling pressures that require local responses; however, I ar-
gue that it is the epistemic location of the leaders that determine the qual-
ity of the response to those pressures. It should be remembered that the
Berlin Conference of 1888 and the entire period of colonialism was an
irresistible international context that pressured the country to submit to
European superiority. But, Ethiopian leaders of that time did not accept
the global consensus over their destiny. To their credit, they saved the
people from the violence of European colonization and left an uplifting
psychological platform for a united action in the country. However, the
acceptance of globalism means Ethiopian leaders are inclined to submit
to globalization and serve as intermediaries between the local and the
global.

Elitdom as Native Colonialism

The narrative of globalism and traditionalism provided above is not
merely an example of elite ideology. It is a discourse produced and dis-
tributed by and through institutional power and resources. It results in
epistemic violence by allowing the exclusion of indigenous knowledges
from education, the devaluation of local identities, and the creation of
new hierarchy, identity and interests. The narrative of globalism and tra-
ditionalism contributes to the colonial character of Elitdom as it dismiss-
es the dynamism and relevance of existing local knowledges to political

20
 Colonialism Without Colonization

and economic processes. In short, it creates a mechanism or a system for

an elite privileged few to rule society. As provided in the forthcoming
chapters, I argue that a new political system called Elitdom has been cre-
ated in Ethiopia since 1974 through epistemic violence against tradition
and the suppression of dissent. The term Elitdom is used to contextualize
how power operates on the basis of one’s relevance to institutions rather
than society or culture. According to Hartmann, elitism suggested a du-
alistic view of society as a binary of elites and non-elites, or elites and the
masses: “In this debate elite and mass represented two sides of the same
coin: elite was the positive concept, mass the negative” (2004, p. 5). Shils
argues that in most Asian and African states, elites were disposed to act
on behalf of the population. They advocated for change, called for the
“dethronement of the rich and the traditionally privileged from their po-
sitions of pre-eminent influence”, and considered the diffusion of science
to the masses as a means of changing society (1960, p. 266).
Elitism among western educated Ethiopians shares the above features
at the epistemic or ideological level. But elite status emanates from at-
tachment with the power of the state, not from excellence in local life.
Because of this, elites continue to enjoy the privilege while disregarding,
violating or even attacking traditional values and practices. This means,
elitism is not just a privilege but also power, a license to dominate local
worldviews or invalidate others’ meanings. Unlike the older justification
of power as a gift of the divine, the power of Elitdom is created through
a process that produces the ignorance of the masses using ideas that are
alien to local experiences. If one is able to use the term kingdom as a col-
lective name to the country under the reigns of several kings before 1974,
one can also use the term Elitdom to refer to the country under the rule
of elite rulers since then. Like colonialism, Elitdom is a political system
that dominates mental spaces and physical bodies, individuals and ter-
ritories through institutionalized violence against tradition.

21
 chapter 2

Kebra Nagast
Place and Covenant in Traditional Thought

There is a book called ‘Kebra Nagast’ which contains the law of the whole of
Ethiopia and the names of the shums (chiefs), and churches, and provinces
are in the book. I pray you find out who has got this book, and send it to me,
for in my country people will not obey my orders without it.
Yohannis IV, King of Zion, Emperor of Ethiopia

Introduction

O
f all the books and artifacts which the British looted from
Ethiopia, the loss of the Kebra Nagast caused particular anxi-
ety for the authority of the Ethiopian empire. In 1872, Emperor
Yohannis IV wrote a letter to the British government that contained the
above sentences. The letter moved people in the British Museum who
returned the book to the king in 1873 (Isaac 1971).
Modern Ethiopian scholars have hardly made any attempt to inter-
pret the significance of the Kebra Nagast. Any reference to the book
reduces it to the mythical ideology of divine rule. No doubt the monar-
chial system had used part of the story in the book to justify the rule of a
Solomonic bloodline in the country. However, as this chapter shows, the
Kebra Nagast is not a mere political statement. It embodies metaphysi-
cal, epistemological and axiological concepts that inform the lives of a
significant number of the population. As we cherish Plato’s The Republic
without taking his belief in the Greek Gods seriously, we could also learn
from the Kebra Nagast without accepting the divinity of past emperors.
Native Colonialism

The common narrative about the Kebra Nagast focuses on the story
of the Queen of Sheba meeting King Solomon of Israel and the coming
of the Ark of the Covenant. The Ethiopian Queen of Sheba heard the
wisdom of King Solomon and travelled to Jerusalem to visit him. During
her stay she was tricked into sleeping with King Solomon. On her way
back to Ethiopia, she gave birth to a boy, Menelik I. Later, the young
Menelik travelled to Israel to visit his father in Jerusalem. King Solomon
rejoiced and wanted Menelik to succeed his throne in Israel after him.
However, Menelik refused the offer out of his love for Ethiopia, and
wanted to return home. Solomon then ordered the noble men of Israel
to send their firstborn sons to serve Menelik in Ethiopia. The sons of
the noble men abducted the Ark of the Covenant from the Temple of
Solomon and brought it with them to Ethiopia. It is believed that the
true Ark of the Covenant is still in the Axum church of Zion Maryam.
From that time onwards, Ethiopia became the chosen nation of God, and
Menelik I became the founder of the Solomonic dynasty in the country.
Several scholars believe that this story had significant influence in the
formation of a national Ethiopian culture. Jones and Monroe noted that
“belief in the legend has continued to flourish down to modern times”
(1955, p. 20). They also emphasized that “the royal copy of the Kebra
Nagast came to be regarded with superstitious reverence” (1955, p. 20).
Buxton witnessed that it “became a national saga of the country, in which
every citizen believed implicitly” (1970, p. 130). Sylvia Pankhurst’s ob-
servation suggested dual purposes of the Kebra Nagast (1955, p. 100).
On the one hand, it aimed at consolidating the existing historical and
religious beliefs in Ethiopia into a single authoritative text that anchored
the destiny of the people. On the other hand, it established core ethical
values that would guide the action of the King and his followers. Kebede
considered that “the Kebra Nagast is a national epic” that anchored the
unity of church and state, as well as the synthesis between the secular and
the religious, as the best guarantee for “the survival of Christian Ethiopia
in a hostile environment dominated by heathen and powerful Muslim
countries” (2006, p. 7). Since it became the basis for a “nationalist ide-
ology,” it served to establish the source, legitimacy and validity of state
power in Ethiopia (M. Kebede, 2008b, pp. 168-169).
Donald Levine argued that the Kebra Nagast was an established
source of national identity. It was “the foundation of the nation of

24
 Kebra Nagast

Ethiopia with particular significance and destiny” and the means of “de-
fending the worth of the national identity” (Levine, 1974). According
to Levine:

Its appeal transcends the claims of any parochial loyalties in Ethiopia.

It glorifies no tribe, no religion, no linguistic group, but the Ethiopian
nation under her monarch. It declares this nation superior to all others...
provides a mandate for the Ethiopian kingdom to expand its dominion
in the name of the Lord of Hosts (1974, p. 107).

Jones and Monroe identified three possible reasons for the motive behind
the writing of the book. The first was the desire of Ethiopians to claim
their ancient existence. They argue that “Parvenu peoples, like parvenu
individuals, hanker after ancestors, and peoples have as little scruple in
forging family trees as have individuals” (1955, p. 16) . Like the Romans
who crafted themselves as the cultural successors of ancient Greece when
confronted with its legacy, the Ethiopians invented the Kebra Nagast to
claim an ancient, divine heritage at a time when they came into contact
with the Christian East.
Secondly, Jones and Monroe argue that the book was written so that
Ethiopians could claim for themselves the alluring promise that God
made to Israelites. Just like the Saxon’s claimed heredity from Isaac to
create a mythical link between the British Empire and the promised land,
Ethiopians “moved by the same desire, concocted a legend which is at
any rate more plausible than the theories of the British Israelites” (1955,
p. 17). The third reason behind the book’s creation was “the desire of the
royal house of Abyssinia to assert their divine right to the throne” (1955,
p. 18). Russell made similar remarks regarding the book (1833). He ac-
cepted the internalization of the Kebra Nagast by the people but rejected
the truthfulness of its story.

It [the Kebra Nagast] is regarded indeed by the natives as a faithful re-

pository of their ancient history; though the slightest attention to it
will convince the reader that it is the production of an ignorant monk,
who used the Septuagint translation of the Bible as the groundwork of
a ridiculous fable, with the sole view of ministering to the vanity of his
countrymen (1833, p. 91).

25
Native Colonialism

What is commonly recognized among these authors is that the book

served as an instrument of self-definition for Ethiopians in relation to the
world. As witnessed by Ullendorff, the Kebra Nagast “is the repository
of Ethiopian national and religious feelings, perhaps the truest and most
genuine expression of Abyssinian Christianity” (1965, p. 144). However,
two important remarks should be made on how the story of the Kebra
Nagast is presented above. First, there is controversy over the historicity
of the facts in the book (Munro-Hay, 2001). Secondly, the Kebra Nagast
was evaluated from the perspective of western scholars who focused on
the state and its use of religious ideology more than on the cultural lives
and philosophical perspectives of the people. This disproportionate focus,
mainly due to the academic preoccupation of the authors, gave little in-
sight into the social and spiritual meanings the people attached to the text.
Jones and Monroe’s consideration of the book as a mere concocted
legend sheds little light on the reason why, as they rightly indicated,
the “Kebra Nagast came to be regarded with a superstitious reverence”
(1955, p. 20). Jones and Monroe simply considered the text in terms of
how Ethiopian monarchs used it to define the country as a nation in or-
der to protect themselves from the foreshadowing threats of the Judaic
religion and the Byzantine Empire (Levine, 1974, p. 104). In addition, as
argued by Crummey, “class and cultural prejudices are rampant through-
out [ Jones and Monroe’s] book manifesting themselves in a rich variety
of pejorative adjectives” (1979). While considering the importance of the
book to the formation of indigenous national identity in Ethiopia, my
interpretation of the text focuses on the values that sustained social and
political relationships among the people. For this reason, the academic
controversies surrounding the origin of the book or the truthfulness of
the story of Queen of Sheba and the Ark of the Covenant are not con-
sidered relevant here. What is considered important is the significance of
the book in framing social consciousness and organizing political life in
Ethiopia. In this regard, I concur with Wagaw’s position that:

Whether this tale [the story in the book of the Kebra Nagast] has some
factual basis or not is a moot question; what is important is that the work
was believed by the leaders and the led alike, and provided some guid-
ance and served as the foundation for legitimizing the beliefs and actions
of state, monarchy, and church until recent times (1990, p. 50).

26
 Kebra Nagast

Whether the reader believes the story of the coming of the Ark of the
Covenant (tabot) to Ethiopia or not, the tabot has been the center of
social and spiritual life for several centuries. Its presence and significance
has been settled through more than two thousand years of religious and
cultural practice. If the Ark of the Covenant was a legend designed only
for political legitimacy, as some authors claim, it would have been dis-
carded with the fall of the Monarchial system in 1974. On the contrary,
the tabot has been deeply rooted in the social lives of the population. It
has been replicated and placed at the center of every Orthodox Tewa-
hido church throughout the country. Individually and as a group, mem-
bers of the community draw meaning and identity from the tabot. The
Kebra Nagast is one of the most important textual sources that contain
insights into the meanings attached to the significance of the tabot. As
will be shown, its most important suggestion is the establishment of
Ethiopia as a special place in the world: The land is believed to have
gained divine destiny, giving the King and the people a pious purpose
in the world.

Place and Covenant

Ethiopia is often referred to as a covenant land (የቃልኪዳንሃገር). Although
in modern times, this concept has been decontextualized and often asso-
ciated with Orthodox Tewahido spirituality, it contains important philo-
sophical concepts that show the significance of place (land) and covenant
in Ethiopia’s traditional thought. The notion of a covenant land provided
a sense of belonging to a sacred place. This imagining has various inter-
nal and external sources. For example, the Black Diaspora since slavery
referred to biblical and Greek sources to advocate for the existence of
Ethiopia as a sacred place that would restore the pride of black people in
the world. An example of such sources could be Juan Latino’s poem that
reflects on the racial pride this imagining created among the black com-
munities in North and South America during slavery:

Aurora birthed him– like the blessed kings of Arabia she dedicated to
God as first fruits of the pagans.
And if my black face displeases your ministers, o King, a white one is not
pleasing to the people of Ethiopia.

27
Native Colonialism

There, the white man visiting Aurora is the sullied one.

Officials are black, and the king there too is dark (qtd. in Seo, 2011, p. 269).

Similarly, the imagining of Ethiopia as the place of deliverance from Bab-

ylon (the West) ignited the Back to Africa movement, the movement of
Ethiopianism, which was the precursor of Pan-Africanism, and Rastafari-
anism. These movements looked to Ethiopia as a source of spiritual mean-
ing and a place to be. Marcus Garvery declared, “We Negroes believe in
the God of Ethiopia, the Everlasting God…we shall worship him through
the spectacles of Ethiopia” (qtd. in Nelson, 1997, p. 69). However, the
inaccessibility of local Ethiopian sources of knowledge due to linguistic,
epistemological and historical barriers limited these imaginings only to
western and secondary sources, creating a significant disconnect between
the Ethiopian sense of place and the diasporic.
Insights into the Ethiopian notion of place and covenant can be drawn
from the interpretation of the Ark of the Covenant, as contained in the
Kebra Nagast and practiced in daily life. The Kebra Nagast presents the
Ark of the Covenant as a physical entity and a word that expresses eternal
will or agreement or law. As a physical entity, the Ark of the Covenant is
presented as a holy seat, or a place that inhabits the glory of God: “It was
made by the mind of God and not by the hand of the artificer, man, but
He Himself created it for the habitation of His glory” (Kebra Nagast,
1932, p. 12). This physical entity or place is not without content. The
Kebra Nagast describes the visible and invisible qualities within it, such as
the diversity of colors, and the existence of objects that resemble marvel-
ous stones. It adds,

It is a spiritual thing, it is full of compassion; it is a heavenly thing and

is full of light; it is a thing of freedom and a habitation of the Godhead,
Whose habitation is in heaven, and Whose place of movement is on
earth, and it dwelleth with men and with the angels, a city of salvation of
men, and for the Holy Spirit a habitation (Kebra Nagast, 1932, p. 12).

Here the Ark of the Covenant appears as a microcosm of the good things
in the world. It is filled with precious stones which look like jasper and to-
paz; it is a place full of compassion and freedom. The imagining of place
with such intrinsic substances suggests a perspective on the relationship

28
 Kebra Nagast

between the corporeal and the incorporeal, place and time, or the physi-
cal and the spiritual. It signifies the possibility of complex, infinite, and
indeterminate webs of relationships, which form multiple realities inhab-
iting place.
Another important point is the imagining of place as origin. The
Kebra Nagast presents the Ark of the Covenant as the Original Place, the
first to be created:

Behold now, we understand clearly that before every created thing, even
the angels, and before the heavens and the earth, and before the pillars of
heaven, and the abysses of the sea, He created the Tabernacle of the Cov-
enant, and this which is in heaven goeth about upon the earth (Kebra
Nagast, 1932, p. 7).

Unlike the first verse of the Book of Genesis in the Bible which declares,
“in the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth,” the Kebra Na-
gast declares that God first created the Tabernacle of the Covenant for his
own habitation. The view of the Ark of the Covenant as the original place,
the seat of God and his qualities of mercy, compassion and freedom reso-
nates with the philosophical perspectives that give primary importance
for place. For example, based on the analysis of western and non-western
sources, Edward Casey held that the idea of place is inseparable from cre-
ation because creation must take place somewhere, saying, “if it is true that
in the beginning was the Word, it is also true that in the beginning was
the place” (1993, p. 18). From this perspective, place is the only origin and
constant. The Hebrew word Makom, which means Place, used to refer to
God. God, by his ability to carry the world, is a place for the world. In
Ethiopia, the equivalent name for God is Egzia’biher which means Lord
of country or place. The Ark of the Covenant is believed to be that place
where God chose to emplace himself in order to give his law and mercy
to the world. This notion of place challenges the anthropocentric view of
reality by giving place its own metaphysical significance. Place becomes
the seat of God, and God becomes the seat of place. Imbued with sanctity,
meaning and purpose, place becomes not a tabula rasa or an object of hu-
man desire, but the source of principles, values, identities and meanings.
The second important aspect of the Ark of the Covenant is the no-
tion of Covenant, the word that expresses the divine will. Covenant

29
Native Colonialism

(ቃልኪዳን) expresses consent and unbreakable promise. The Kebra Nagast

emphasizes consent or the will of God (ፈቃደእግዚአብሔር) as the basis for
the creation of place:

For the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit1 with good fellowship and
right good will and cordial agreement together made Heavenly Zion to
be the place of habitation of their Glory... and with ready agreement and
good will They were all of this opinion ... and this common agreement
and Covenant was [fulfilled] in Zion, the City of their Glory (Kebra
Nagast, 1932, p. 1).

Here, the idea of consent introduces an important relationship between

thought and action, or will and performance. It suggests a mode of real-
ity that presents consent or “cordial agreement” as the basis of the act of
creating. During Kidassie (mass), the priest recognizes this in his prayer,
saying “who by word of Thy covenant hast created all things, for in him
Thou art well pleased” (Rodwell, 1864, p. 28).
Covenant as a divine promise (ቃልኪዳን) suggests the notion of being
chosen in the imagining of place. The Ark of the Covenant gave a sancti-
fying power to the land rather than the people. The people are regarded
blessed for being in the land and for receiving its blessings. The Kebra
Nagast provides:

The chosen ones of the lord are the people of Ethiopia. For there is the
habitation of God, the heavenly Zion, the Tabernacle of His Law and
the Tabernacle of His Covenant, which He hath made into a mercy-seat
through [His] mercy for the children of men; for the rains and the waters
from the sky, for the planted things... and the fruits, for the peoples and
the countries, for the kings and nobles, for men and beasts, for birds and
creeping things (Kebra Nagast, 1932, p. 144).

The promise of being chosen, which should be interpreted in relation to

wisdom as humility, does not provide a superior quality to the people.

1. Although the Trinity is commonly regarded as a New Testament (Christian)

concept, the Kebra Nagast introduces the concept of Trinity in the Old Testa-
ment, making the Father, The Son, and the Holy Ghost parties for the creation
of Covenant.

30
 Kebra Nagast

There is no notion of a chosen people but a chosen place. The story of

how the Ark of the Covenant moved from Israel to Ethiopia due to the
“sin of the people” shows that the attributes of place flow into human be-
ings as long as they keep the sanctity of place. The Ark of the Covenant
was first given to Israelites through Moses. It was seated in “the land of
inheritance, which is Jerusalem, the City of Zion” (Kebra Nagast, 1932,
pp. 12-17). Seating at the city of Jerusalem, in the great temple made by
King Solomon, the Ark became the promise of Israel’s messianic destiny,
and its mark of being the chosen place of God. However, according to
the Kebra Nagast, God’s will changed in favor of Ethiopia and allowed
the son of the high priest of Israel, together with the male firstborns of
the noblemen of Israel, to move the Ark of the Covenant to Ethiopia.
The people of Israel cried for several days and told their King, “Zion has
taken up her abode with thy firstborn and she shall be the salvation of the
people of Ethiopia forever” (Kebra Nagast, 1932).
The coming of the Ark of the Covenant marked the elevation of the
land of Ethiopia to the favor of God. The Ethiopian Queen accepted the
Ark of the Covenant, outlawed pagan beliefs, and installed the Ten Com-
mandments as the law of the nation. On the other hand, Solomon, the
King of Israel worshipped the idols of Egypt. Moreover, in the New Tes-
tament, God foresaw that unlike Ethiopians, Israelites would reject Jesus
without whom they would cease to become the chosen people of God.
Due to this, Ethiopia became The Second Israel – the place of habitation
for the sacred Ark of the Covenant. The great Ethiopian composer of
the 6th Century Yared, referred to the country as “ጽዮንሐዳስሃገረአምላክነ”
“The new Zion, the land of our Lord” (Keleb, p. 126). Similarly, in the
Hagiographic book of King Lalibela, God was quoted to have told the
king: “ወአንትሙሂፍቁራንየህዝብዘምክህዘትሰመዩእስራኤልሐዲሳን,” which means
“you [Ethiopians] are called the new Israelites, the people I love and am
proud of ” (Gedle Lalibela, 2001, p. 10).
The meaning of Covenant as a promise given to the people establishes
a sacred relationship between human beings and the imagining of place
provided above. As a spiritual teacher in Lalibela suggested, it links the
spiritual and the physical worlds:

The Ark of the Covenant is the testament of God’s existence among us.
His very transcendental existence gained a concrete form and expression

31
Native Colonialism

through the Tabernacle of the Covenant. God created it to occupy a

place, to dwell among us. He embodied himself in this Covenant and
brought his own presence and his gifts of wisdom, protection and for-
giveness near to human experience. The Tabernacle of the Covenant be-
came the holy seat of His glory and the sign and the seal for His presence
in our land as the center of the earth (Interview, 24 April, 2011).

The translation of the notion of a covenant land into social and political
life could be established from three interrelated practices. These include
the notion of the ideal king rule, the notion of the messianic destiny of
Ethiopia, and the notion of center.

The Notion of the Ideal King Rule

Ethiopia is sometimes regarded as hegere nigusse, the land of the king.
Although the practice of the kings may be inconsistent with the theory,
the king is imagined as a representative of the divine authority and the
virtuous characteristics of God on earth. This is illustrated in the corona-
tion ceremony of a new king:

The ceremony of inaugurating a new emperor was purely religious and

liturgical. It opens with the reading of Psalm 122. Then the Patriarch, in
the presence of leading ecclesiastics, places the crown upon the monarch,
seated on a throne, and says: “May God grant that this crown be a halo
of holiness and glory. May you be pure in heart even as this gold is pure.”
To this blessing, the emperor replies, “Amen.”…The emperor is given a
sword known as the “Sword of Solomon,” with the exhortation: “By this
sword execute true justice, protect the Church, the widows, and the or-
phans, restore that which needs to be restored, chastise the wicked, ren-
der honour to the righteous; and with it serve our saviour Jesus Christ”
(Ephraim Isaac, 2013a, p. 137).

As noted above, Covenant underscored the importance of consent, the

deliverance of God’s laws and mercy to his subjects. The King partici-
pates in divine authority by keeping the ethical standards attached to his
power. As God has given his people law and mercy through the Cov-
enant, so was the king expected to administer the people based on justice
and compassion. To carry out his function, the ideal king was expected

32
 Kebra Nagast

to display his life at the intersection of vertical and horizontal virtues.

Vertically, he was expected to remain connected with the power and the
promise that the Covenant symbolized. Horizontally, he was expected to
pursue and maintain wisdom in his relationship with his subjects. This
implies that the “divine power” of the king was not synonymous with un-
limited power. The exercise of power was subjected to predictable ethical
principles without which the king would be regarded as a tyrant and evil.
The Kebra Nagast underscores virtue as a condition of the King’s
power by presenting the main figures of the ancient world in the Bible
as Kings who set exemplary leadership for succeeding kings. The book
presented two types of Kings. The first were those who did not transgress
the commandment of God. Such kings were considered wise, gracious,
and pure in body and soul. Consequently, they defeated their enemies,
rendered justice for their subjects, passed their kingdom to their succeed-
ing generations, and died in honor (Kebra Nagast, 1932, p. 10). Those
rulers who transgressed the commandment of God were cursed, lost their
legitimacy to rule, and their children became “leprous and scabby,” and
suffered various consequences. The message behind the text was intended
to show that the King was anointed to rule in the likeness of God. The
source of his authority was God (Sumner, 1981, p. 39), and he was re-
sponsible to rule in accordance with the laws and values of Covenant for
he was regarded king only through God. This, at least in popular belief,
subjected the power of the king to the traditional rules that were consid-
ered sacred.

The Notion of the Messianic Destiny of Ethiopia

This subsection will consider the basis of the belief in the messianic des-
tiny of Ethiopia to show its ideological contribution to the independence
of the nation as the only African state that successfully defended its free-
dom from European colonial administration. As shown above, the belief
in the coming of the Ark of the Covenant to Ethiopia created the notion
of a covenant land. The main idea behind this belief was articulated by a
traditional education scholar whom I met in Lalibela:

The conception of Ethiopia’s messianic destiny could be contrasted with

the apocalyptic destiny of the world. While other nations in the world

33
Native Colonialism

may wallow in despair and confusion, we believe that Ethiopia will re-
main forever because she holds in its soil the Ark of the Covenant, which
is the most powerful assurance of God’s protection till the end of the
world (Interview, 14 April, 2011).

The view of the external world as dangerous, cruel and destined to an apoc-
alyptic end is part of the classic view of eschatology which Ethiopia de-
veloped based on Christian Millenarianism (M. Kebede, 2008b, p. 118).
Frost considered eschatological thought as “a form of expectation which
is characterized by finality” (1952, p. 70). The most important element in
eschatology is the endlessness of the end. It is the view of a time process
devoid of unfolding events; a time “beyond which the faithful never peers”
(1952, p. 70). What is emphasized in Millenarianism is “the ultimate
transformation of the world in a sense that no further improvement could
be made” (Hamilton, 2001, p. 12). Hence, Millenarianism is characterized
by an eschatological view of time: the conception of salvation character-
ized by absolute finality and total redemption from the evil in the world.
Marxists interpreted this Millenarian belief as an expression of the
resistance of the oppressed peoples of various cultures against the op-
pressive rule of the Roman Empire (Hamilton, 2001, p. 16). What has
called upon the belief of these people in Millenarian salvation was their
total and seemingly unending depredation under the power of an enemy
against which they had little hope to revolt and win by their own means
(Hamilton, 2001, p. 16). Thus, absolute salvation is a conception that
is believed to follow its absence; it comes in the aftermath of absolute
domination. However, until salvation is unfolded on a plane of eschatol-
ogy, the world remains in the infernal circuit of opposing forces: good
and evil, life and death, slavery and freedom, poverty and riches. Change
in this context is simply an exchange between opposite categories.
Kebede articulated this change in terms of reversal, “what appears as
new is actually nothing more than how opposites alternate” (M. Kebede,
2008b, p. 117). You may be rich but it is nothing because you will un-
doubtedly become poor one day, you may be healthy but you will fall
sick, you may be happy but you will undoubtedly be sad, and you may be
alive but you will die. It is the nature of the world, the condition of fate
(yedil guday) for every earthly life to end up in apocalypse. It is within
the context of this depressing view of life that the Ark of the Covenant

34
 Kebra Nagast

becomes a significantly important asset for the protection of Ethiopia.

Kebede argues that

The belief that things are caught in a macabre movement of rotation

highlights the unique role of the Kibra Nagast with its promise of an ex-
ceptional destiny to Ethiopia. The myth protects Ethiopia from the law
of alteration in that it guarantees the final victory of Christian Ethiopia
over all its enemies (M. Kebede, 2008b, p. 118).

Kebede’s emphasis on the fall of time and everything within it under the
apocalyptic fate of the macabre cycle is useful to illustrate the mentality
of Ethiopian elites who enacted Marxist Leninism to act in the eschato-
logical image/analogy of God. Nevertheless, it is also important to exam-
ine to what extent this interpretation leaves room to the rich imagining
of the undetermined middle spaces that exist between and within these
seemingly antagonistic and essentialist categories in the Ethiopian tradi-
tion. The conception of predetermined and irreversible qualities between
good and evil may reflect the mentality of radicalized elites during the
1960s and 70s but not necessarily a messianic belief in the Ethiopian
traditional thought. The Ethiopian tradition provides various rituals for
individuals to move in contradictory, alternating, compromising, oppo-
site and overlapping spaces. God may not be called upon to change the
macabre nature of the world, but he could certainly be asked to grant
protection, strength or willpower to society or the individual in the face
of ongoing alterations. Angels, holy persons, magicians, priests and elders
mediate the individual from various spaces that are not neatly demarcat-
ed from one another. The individual or society at large should observe
certain rituals such as prayers, sacrifices, confessions, fastings, feeding the
hungry in the name of holy persons, observing holydays, rendering justice
and so on in order to avoid disastrous consequences (meqisefit) or to gain
certain blessings and outcomes (Interview, 20 April, 2011). Within these
practices, we find the rich legacy of traditional knowledges, rituals and
myths that could become rich sources of insight. Therefore, myths and
the observance of certain rituals could be considered as attempts to invite
the Divine to intervene on one’s behalf.
Myth in its earliest conception was considered as a form of specu-
lative thought that asserts a certain truth beyond the foreseeable realm

35
Native Colonialism

of human experience (Frost, 1952, p. 70). It can be translated into vari-

ous types of rituals that allow human beings to perform their part in the
smooth running of the cycle of life. Although that cycle is destined to
an apocalyptic end as the Christian belief in the end days of the world
suggests, human beings nevertheless have a fundamental role to play to
“lubricate its motion” (1952, p. 71). Hence, whether one believes the true
faith or not, whether he/she prays or not, gives alms to the poor or not,
sins or not plays an important role in the movement of alternates. In the
Kebra Nagast, there are reasons provided as to why Ham was cursed, why
Adam had fallen, and why the Kingdom of Israel and Rome lost the fa-
vor of God. Lamenting on the departure of the Ark of the Covenant to
Ethiopia, Solomon blamed the role Israelites played to their own disgrace
as: “Of our own free will we have polluted our life. He made us very wise,
and of our own free will we have made ourselves more foolish than the
beasts” (Kebra Nagast, 1932, p. 80).
Similarly, Hubbard refers to the Samaritan and Jewish traditions
which describe the disappearance of the Ark due to the sin of the people
and its future return “when God pleases” (1956, pp. 326-327). For Ethio-
pians, the Kebra Nagast was regarded as a messianic truth that enabled
their kings to act in order to keep the promise that they were given by
God. The possession of the Ark of the Covenant by Ethiopia, and the
learning and practicing of wisdom by the King and his people, was con-
sidered significantly important to keep the good favor of God to act on
behalf of the nation and its people. In this situation, although death and
the apocalyptic end of the earth are unavoidable, they can nevertheless be
delayed for a long time. The macabre cycle stops only with the end of the
world, and the dawning of heaven with absolute finality.
Here one should take caution on how the notion of the chosen people
could be regarded as threatening to the equality of the nations and of the
cultures within the nation. In fact, some countries had applied it to em-
phasize God’s role in politics, and to justify sufferings, losses and atroci-
ties in the name of a higher destiny. In Germany, the protestant belief in
the Covenant between God and the German nation was used to justify
“the annihilation of those labelled by the Nazis not fit to be proper or
healthy members of the German nation” (Lehmann, 1991, p. 270). Simi-
larly, early Afrikaners believed that the Boers were a chosen people who
shared an identity inherited from the Old Testament type Calvinism with

36
 Kebra Nagast

“a mandate to smite the heathen” (Du Toit, 1983; Moodie, 1980, p. 3).
In Ethiopia too, it is impossible to rule out the contribution of the belief
in a covenant land to the expansion of the empire to the southern parts
of the country (Levine, 1974). There are stories of forceful conversions
of the Wollo Muslims into Christianity during the Reign of Yohannis
IV, and instances of severe repression of southern resistances against the
supremacy of the central imperial state. However, it is important to con-
sider that the conception of covenant was primarily related to the land
rather than the people. Covenant was presented as a practice of wisdom
– interpreted in the Kebra Nagast as humility, compassion and justice –
rather than a license for the free exercise of brute force. Due to the role
that it played to maintain diverse ethnic groups within a larger empire,
the Ethiopian claim for messianic destiny was significantly different from
the German and Boer claims of being the chosen people. It didn’t actually
involve the destruction or death of those who were different in tradition
or race, but rather the bringing of a common religion and sense of a sin-
gular nation. A good example is to see how Islam had been treated by the
official Christian Ethiopian Empire.
With the exception of the 14 years of the jihad war of Ahmad Gran to
destroy the Solomonic Empire (1529–1543), and the forceful attempt to
convert the Wollo Muslims to Christianity by Yohannis IV, the social rela-
tionship between followers of Orthodox Christianity and Islam in Ethio-
pia could generally be considered as peaceful and tolerant (Abbink, 1998).
Long before his followers were accepted as refugees in Axum, the Prophet
Muhammad was said to have spoken of Ethiopia as “a country where no
one is wronged, a land of righteousness” (R. Pankhurst, 1993, p. 21).
When his followers were prosecuted, the Prophet Muhammad advised
them to flee to Christian Ethiopia because “it is a land of righteousness
where God will give you relief from what you are suffering” (qtd. in Trim-
ingham, 1965, p. 44). The Adulis inscription which was written in Greek in
150 A.D in Ethiopia confirms that territorial expansion was based on the
restoration of local leaders to power subject to the payment of tribute to
the central state (Tamrat, 1993, p. 40). The devout Christian King Amda
Zeyon, whose name could be translated as the pillar of Zion, was reported
to have said, “I am the emperor of all the Muslims in the land of Ethiopia”
(1993, p. 41). Kaplan noted that, the conversion of the ethnic minorities
to Christianity emphasized “continuity rather than dramatic change”:

37
Native Colonialism

Converts were expected to accept a new religion which was more pow-
erful than their previous faiths but didn’t claim to differ from them in
essence. No attempt was made to change their political system or reform
their social customs. Neither did Christianity represent a foreign culture
or bring with it disruptive changes (1984, p. 124).

Traditional scholars believe that the wisdom of the Kings to spare rather
than to destroy, to include rather than to isolate non-orthodox believ-
ers in their empire enabled the people of Ethiopia to develop tolerant
views towards Islam (Interview, 20 March, 2011). Still today, there is a
considerable cultural practice that unites more than divides Christian
and Muslim believers in the country. Followers of both religions practice
burial ceremonies, wedding ceremonies, equb (traditional saving) and co-
operate in social and cultural life together. Despite the existence of toler-
ance and cooperative spirit in social life among the population, it should
be admitted that Ethiopian rulers treated Islam as an inferior religion to
Orthodox Christianity (Abbink, 1998).
Another contribution of the Kebra Nagast is its significant role to
mobilize Ethiopians to form a sacred covenant or agreement for the de-
fense of their nation. The feeling of Ethiopianism was expressed in culture
such as poetry, music, dance and so on. Ethiopia has been surrounded by
powerful Muslim rivals and European Christian colonialists for centu-
ries. Since the rise of Mehemet Ali in 1805, Ethiopia had to battle against
Egyptian expansionist interests who sought to control the source of the
Blue Nile. This was significantly important especially with the opening
of the Suez Canal in 1869 where Khedive Ismail of Egypt tried to invade
Ethiopia with the support of American and European officers, and was
defeated at the battle of Gundet and Gura in 1875 and 1876, respectively.
The belief in the covenant land was effective not only against Muslim
invaders but also against Christian colonizers. Ethiopia had been defiant
of the European scramble for Africa. European “cosmopolitan adventur-
ers who tried to trick the natives …found themselves tricked” (Waugh
& Hamilton, 2007, p. 34). The King of Ethiopia “was no savage chief to
whom any white face was a divine or a diabolic portent” (2007, p. 19).
The psychological uplifting that the Kebra Nagast promoted was so im-
mense that the Ethiopians never looked upon other nations as superior to
theirs. This attitude was contemptuous to European superiority.

38
 Kebra Nagast

The essence of the offence [committed by Abyssinians] was that the

Abyssinians, in spite of being by any possible standard an inferior race,
persisted in behaving as superiors; it was not that they were hostile [to
Europeans], but contemptuous. The white man, accustomed to other
parts of Africa, was disgusted to find the first-class carriages on the rail-
way usurped by local dignitaries; he found himself subjected to official
and villainous-looking men at arms whose language he did not know,
who showed him not the smallest reluctance to using force on him if he
became truculent (Waugh & Hamilton, 2007, p. 35).

In 1896, the declaration of war against Italian colonial expedition called

the entire population to fight for the sake of place, family and faith. The
tabot (the replica of the Ark of the Covenant) was carried to the war front
with the army. The victory of Ethiopia over Rome (Italy) was prophesized
and believed based on the status of the Ethiopian church and King against
the Roman church and leader. In the Kebra Nagast, although the Roman
Empire was recognized as a counterpart of the Ethiopian Empire, it is
presented as disgraced for accepting the false teachings of Nistros, making
only Ethiopia the bearer of the true belief in Christ. Therefore, before the
battle had begun, the war was considered as a battle between the holy em-
pire of Ethiopia and the fallen empire of Rome. The following prophetic
poem (Qine), translated into English by Sylvia Pankhurst, was sung in Ad-
dis Ababa for Menelik as victorious and “a saviour of the world”:

Gomorrah and Sodom, lands of retribution, shall find pardon on the ter-
rible day of battle. But you, base city of Rome,
That has come up on you which did not come upon Sodom;
For Menelik, saviour of the world,
Has sent you swathed in blood to visit Dathan and Abiram in the grave;
And he will not leave even one of your seed to bear your name;
for remembering the counsel of Samuel of old,
And knowing that the punishment of Saul was due to his disobedience
in sparing Agag;
He has sworn that the sword in his hand shall exterminate every grain of
your seed (qtd. in 1955, p. 258).

The above poem shows that the victory of Ethiopia over Italy was certain-
ly believed and was even celebrated before the war took place at Adwa.

39
Native Colonialism

The Notion of Center

The relationship between the Ark of the Covenant and the notion of cen-
ter as a special location in place is important. Center represents a place
within a place, a location of prime significance, a source of moral power
and ideals. The Jewish legend holds that “the construction of the earth
was begun at the center” (Ginzberg, 1913, p. 38). As indicated in the
Bible, 1 King 6:19, the Ark of the Covenant was placed at the center of
Solomon’s Temple.
A traditional education scholar from Lalibela outlined that during
the Old Testament, due to the existence of the Ark of the Covenant at
the Temple of Solomon, Jerusalem had been imagined as maekele midir
which means the “center of the earth” (Interview, 10 April, 2011). How-
ever, the center moved with the Ark of the Covenant to Ethiopia. In this
regard, it is believed that the building of the monolithic churches of Lal-
ibela was intended to “reproduce” the new holy land in Ethiopia (Kaplan,
1984, p. 20).
In the Ethiopian Tewahido church, which is the social center of life
in most rural villages in Ethiopia, the replica of the Ark of the Cov-
enant (tabot) is placed at the center, in the Sanctum Sanctorum (Holy
of Holies). Center is considered as fullness, and was used to portray the
faces of angels and saints to represent the fullness of grace bestowed upon
them by the divine (Interview, 12 April, 2011). A circular position is also
used to maintain the fullness of participants in a meeting or in sharing a
meal. Most traditional houses are built in a circular shape. At home, at
the center of every center lies the head of the family, or the leader who
is accessible to and connected with everyone who belongs to the group.
The concept of center underscores the notion of belonging. It is
important as a way of showing the need to be rooted in a place, or in a
cultural context and to be connected with the origin in order to draw pur-
pose from it and reach out to the world to nourish the source (Interview,
28 March, 2011). The individual exists as a web of relationships that make
him or her a parent, a relative, a resident within the domain of a particu-
lar tabot or debir (place). Center connects the individual with place and
values that anchor his/her existence. Bearing a name that has some sort of
significant meaning to the family or the community, and observing tradi-
tional practices that are commonly accepted, the individual lives within a

40
 Kebra Nagast

moral universe where social worth is more important than economic in-
terests. Thus, the notion of center is important in political and social life
as it instils a sense of belonging and identity that creates families, commu-
nities, cultures and regions as interconnected parts of a place. Due to the
belief in the presence of the Ark of the Covenant, Ethiopia is imagined
as the center of the world whose interest and values cannot be suppressed
by the interest and values of other nations or entities.
This notion of center can be related to the idea of origin, the idea that
Ethiopians were among the earliest peoples on the earth. In his impor-
tant book, ትቤ፡አክሱም፡መኑ፡ አንተ። Aleqa Asres Yenesew claims that every
nation in the world has two significant qualities (1959 [1951 EC]-a).
These are destiny or purpose, and language or words. A country is said to
have been defeated when an enemy succeeds in destroying or altering its
purpose and language (1959 [1951 EC]-a, p. 63). He argues “language
is the eye of a nation” (1959 [1951 EC]-a, p. 4). A country that loses
its language becomes blind to its destiny. He refers to biblical and local
sources to trace the origin of Ethiopian civilization. Following Genesis
11, he argues that until the Tower of Babel was destroyed there was only
one language in the world. That language was spoken by Noah who sent
his children to different parts of the world after the Great Flood. Kam,
one of Noah’s children, came to Africa and his son Kussa gave birth to
Ethiopis who founded the Ethiopian nation. By the time the languages
of the world were divided into several branches at the Tower of Babel,
Ge’ez had already become a well-established language in Ethiopia. The
famous Ge’ez phrase ኢኮነ ነግደ ወፈላሴ ሃገር ይቶሙ ለቅዱሳን ኢትዮጵያ implies
that the claim of scholars such as Conti Rossini and his followers to as-
cribe a sematic or South Arabian origin of civilization has no traditional
or historical basis.
Asres Yenesew argues that the Ge’ez language is a key to decipher-
ing important philosophical and spiritual mysteries (1959 [1951 EC]-
b). There are 26 alphabets with 7 variations that correspond to the sev-
en days of the week. The total number of syllogism represents equinox
which is 182 days. Each alphabet has a numerical value that ranges from
1 to 5,600. As shown in Figure 2, the 26 letters in the first column start-
ing from ሀ to ፐ have the following numerical values: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
8, 9, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600,
700, and 800 (Bekerie, 1997, p. 87). These numbers could be calculated

41
Native Colonialism

to provide important messages. For example, the name of God, እግዚዓ,

(አ(40)+ ገ(200)+ዘ(80)+አ(40)) equals 360 which represents the days
of a year and degree of a circle. In the same way, the name Zion, ፅዮን
(ፀ(600)+የ(90)+ነ(30) equals 720 degrees. This measure represents the
central 360 degree and external 360 degree angle of a center. As suggested
by Asres Yenesew, only in the Ge’ez language God and his holy seat Zion
are represented with the 360 degree showing the central location of the
Ark of the Covenant (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: Debre Zion as Center Figure 2: Numeric Values of the

(adapted from Yenesewu, 1959 Ethiopic Writing System (Bekerie,
[1951 EC]-b, p. 6) 1997, p. 88)

Ethiopia is regarded as a covenant land, the second Zion, established by

God to become the seat of his glory, mercy and blessings. Although she
lacks in the manufacturing of firearms, she exceeds in wisdom (Yenesew,
1959 [1951 EC]-a). In this way, the Ethiopian traditional thought estab-
lishes Ethiopia not just as a place to live on but as the spiritual center of
the lives of its inhabitants.

Wisdom and Knowledge

The Meaning of Wisdom
The Kebra Nagast provides important insights into the meaning of wis-
dom. In fact, the story of the Queen of Sheba can be regarded as a story

42
 Kebra Nagast

about the pursuit of wisdom. In dialogue with her followers she spoke,
“blessed is the man who knoweth wisdom, that is to say compassion and
the fear of God” (Kebra Nagast, 1932, pp. 24-27). The meaning of wis-
dom is embodied in these two broad concepts: the fear of God, and com-
passion which can also be regarded as humility. These concepts suggest
wisdom as a form of vertical and horizontal pursuits. The vertical purist is
related to the submission of the self to a supreme moral principle or God.
The horizontal pursuit indicates the practice of compassion and humility
in relating to the world. These two conceptions suggest wisdom as a way
of being and becoming in the world. The meaning of wisdom can further
be elaborated from the dialogue between the Queen and her nobles. As
she was preparing to travel to Jerusalem, the Queen spoke:

Hearken, O ye who are my people, and give ye ear to my words. For I

desire wisdom and my heart seekth to find understanding. I am smitten
with the love of wisdom. .... wisdom is far better than treasure of gold
and silver, and wisdom is the best of everything that hath been created
on the earth...It maketh the ears to hear and hearts to understand, it is
a source of joy for the heart, and a bright and shining lamp for the eyes;
it is a teacher of those who learned…As for a kingdom, it cannot stand
without wisdom (1932, pp. 20-24).

Her nobles, slaves, handmaidens, and counsellors answered and said to her:

O our lady, as for wisdom it is not lacking in thee; and it is because of

your wisdom that thou loves wisdom. And to for us, if thou goest, we will
go with thee, if thou sits down we will sit down with thee; our death shall
be thy death, and our life with thy life (1932, pp. 20-24).

In the queen’s speech, wisdom is accorded the greatest significance: the

search for wisdom is seen as equivalent to the search for “the best of every-
thing that hath been created on the earth” (Kebra Nagast, 1932, emphasis
added). The materialist pursuit of wealth such as the “treasure of gold and
silver” are excluded from wisdom. Instead wisdom is what makes the ears
to “hear and hearts to understand” and the eyes to see. It can be regarded
as the trainer of the senses. A similar meaning could be drawn from one
of the maxims of Eskendes the wise, who defined wisdom as follows:

43
Native Colonialism

Wisdom is...the eye of the soul; it sees all that is concealed and secret.
It calls knowledge conscience. It inquiries into the wonders of the High
God light that fills the soul (Sumner, 1981, p. 54).

Thus, wisdom is conceived as an endless journey towards the boundless

knowledge of the creator. When the Queen noted, ‘it is a teacher of those
who learned’, her nobles replied to her saying, “it is because of your wis-
dom that thou loves wisdom”. This implies that the more a person be-
comes wise, the more that person seeks for wisdom. In the traditional
education system, the Queen’s long journey in search of wisdom is seen
as a source of inspiration for the generation of Ethiopian youngsters to
leave their villages and travel long distances in search of wise scholars
who would teach them the great mysteries that are buried in the numer-
ous Ge’ez books of the past. What is significant about this journey is not
the attainment of book learning but the possibility of obtaining light to
the eyes, nourishment to the soul and joy to the heart. In a more general
sense, wisdom is the yearning of the soul.
This view of wisdom is related to the notion of the human being as the
union of flesh and soul that have inconsistent desires. In the traditional
school, students study that the human soul and the flesh were created
with seven characteristics (Wagaw, 1990, pp. 37-38). Four characteristics
belong to the flesh while three are that of the soul. The characteristics
of the flesh include wind, fire, water and soil. The age classification may
vary but on average, from birth to 15 years old a person lives as wind:
fast, wild and less articulate but joyful. From the age of 15 to 30, one
exists as fire: strong, emotional, sexually active, and sometimes danger-
ous. From the age of 30 to 60, the person lives as water: calm, reflective,
witty, and capable of rendering decisions regarding the community. After
the age of 60, the person reaches the soil stage of life, when the person
bends towards the soil showing the great weight of wisdom accumulated
in the soul, and walking on the soil becomes impossible without sup-
port. This teaching is so internalized in social life that even a strong and
angry young person (fire) would calm down to listen to what an older
person (water) has to say. In relation to wisdom, while the flesh provides
the physical timeline of the person’s life with variables that belong to the
earth, the soul is considered to have three important characteristics ob-
tained from God.

44
 Kebra Nagast

The three characteristics of the soul are the quality of being a think-
ing (ለባዊት), speaking (ነባቢት) and everlasting (ህያዊት) being. Wisdom
enriches these qualities of the human soul. It enables the person to prac-
tice the good (to fear God and become empathic); it gives light, under-
standing and joy to the soul. Here an important distinction should be
made between knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge can also be acquired
by the soul but it primarily serves the flesh. It trains the flesh to be suc-
cessful in earthly life but does not necessarily make the soul to see light.
That means, not every knowledge is considered useful. For example, in
the Kebra Nagast, knowledge of cross-fertilization practiced by children
of Cain was considered wrong: “in the greatness of their filthiness they
introduced the seed of the ass into the mare, and the mule came into be-
ing, which God had not commanded” (Kebra Nagast, 1932, p. 4). The
quality of knowledge is determined by wisdom. Wisdom embodies God’s
ethical principles; it serves as a discriminating criterion for truth: it veri-
fies the validity, significance and relevance of knowledge to the good life.
Considering knowledge as the property of the soul, Wagaw maintained:

Knowledge, skill, eloquence, and the gift of prophecy are acquired by

the soul through the spirit of the Almighty. It follows, therefore, that in
the act of learning the teacher plays a vital role as intermediary between
the Spirit of God and the learner. The teacher’s position as a guide, in-
terpreter of wisdom, and an authority are all unquestioned. He is feared,
revered, and even loved. He is addressed as yeneta (Master) by his stu-
dents (1990, p. 38).

The word “fear” in Wagaw’s interpretation of the student-teacher rela-

tionship in the traditional schools does not suggest the use of corporeal
punishment (1990, p. 38). It should be interpreted by taking into account
the humility and respect of both teachers and students to one another as
the norm that guides the practice of learning. Similarly, the fear of God
(ፈሪሃ እግዚአብሄር) and the fear of the human being (ፈሪሃ ሰብዕ) indicate
reverence to the other, or being. Fear is not the emotional reaction of a
threatened being. The person who fears is not an object; rather he/she is
an agent who willfully enacts reverence towards being. In practice, fear
is initiated due to the wisdom of the fearful not the power of the feared
person or being. The view of wisdom as a trainer of the senses, and as

45
Native Colonialism

the practicing of compassion in human social relationships suggests that

wisdom has a supreme source that exists beyond the cognitive faculties of
the human body.

The Source of Wisdom

Ethiopian literary and oral expressions suggest that the originator of
wisdom is God but human beings play a significant role in obtaining it.
God provides not only wisdom but also the desire to know and the abil-
ity to understand. The journey of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon
was presented as a quest for wisdom. It was believed that the initiator of
that quest was God “for God had made her heart incline to go and had
made her desire it” (Kebra Nagast, 1932, p. 19). The Queen said, “I went
in through the doors of the treasury of wisdom, and I drew for myself
the waters of understanding....and not myself only, but all the men of my
country, the kingdom of Ethiopia” (Kebra Nagast, 1932).
Here, wisdom is viewed as a finished product stored in God’s treasury.
It is not the outcome of individual ingenuity alone but a gift only God
can give to those who follow the journey towards him. The view of God
as the source of wisdom is important because God as the highest moral
power makes it impossible for institutions and individuals to become
owners and dispensers of wisdom. According to the Kebra Nagast, Solo-
mon’s wisdom was a gift from God.
That gift was taken away when he was seduced into worshiping the
Egyptian idols by a Pharaoh’s daughter. He was turned from wise to
fool, from rich to poor, and from king to “a man of no account” (Kebra
Nagast, 1932, pp. 66-91). The acquisition of wisdom is not the accumu-
lation of knowledge in the mind, but the ability to submit the senses to
the practice of empathy and love. Knowledge as a raw ingredient needs
to change into wisdom in order to nourish the soul. A wise person does
not own knowledge as a personal property; instead, by recognizing God
as the source of all knowledge, he/she uses it to enhance his/her wisdom
and serve better.
In Arganona Mariyam, a book that praises Mary with a series of meta-
phorical anaphora, the author claims that in order to reveal the glory of
the Virgin he had to surrender his senses and listen to the glory that is
unfolding before him. The glory is already written, the song already sung

46
 Kebra Nagast

long before he became aware of it, and the creator was the giver and the
receiver of that glory. In order to reveal it, the author starts with prayer,
pleading with the divine to open his heart and ears and to enable him to
listen to the glory of Mary from the mouth of the Holy Ghost. Individuals
do not invent or even articulate their own messages. They merely reveal to
the world the knowledge that God had revealed to them in private.
A story about King Lalibela corroborates this interpretation. King
Lalibela used to drink hemlock every Friday to remember the suffering of
Jesus. One day, he drunk a poisoned hemlock and his body remained in
a near death state for three days. During that time, God took his soul to
the heavens and showed him the churches he would build on earth, in the
future. Lalibela was astonished and asked God how he would accomplish
building such a magnificent work. God replied saying, “the churches had
already been built but are hidden till I reveal them through you. It is like
giving you a key to enter a new house. I am the beginner and the finisher
of the work.” (Interview, May 29, 2011). Later, Lalibela became King and
spent 23 years building the churches.

Wisdom and the Non-Essential Other

The relationship between wisdom and the conception of good and evil
reveals the purpose of knowledge and the ethical values that should guide
the process of its acquisition. The view of wisdom as the pursuit to know
the good and to practice it presupposes the existence of multiple objects
of knowledge including good and evil. Reflecting on some aspects of
western dualism could help exemplify the conception of good and evil
in Ethiopian traditional thought. The dominant western philosophical
tradition absolutizes the dichotomy between self and other, or good and
evil. Using its own epistemological and intellectual tradition, it depicts
and invents the identity of the colonial other (Said, 1978). Bhabha’s sug-
gestion of “fixity,” which “connotes rigidity and an unchanging order as
well as disorder, degeneracy and daemonic repetition” illustrates the po-
sition of the other (1994, p. 66). Similar to how Foucault analyzed the
comparison between the savage and the barbarian in the work of Boulai-
nvilliers, in order for the self to create and remain in an established civili-
zation (2004, pp. 194-197), the other has to always be defined as the em-
bodiment of the self ’s opposite qualities, and stay outside the civilization

47
Native Colonialism

so established. This can also be related to what Harvie Ferguson observed

about modernity. He argued, “modernity as a break from the past...
gained meaning only in relation to non-modern societies and cultures,
so that any understanding of experience in terms of modernity is always
liable to provoke a contrary perspective” (Ferguson, 2000, p. 3). The
Ethiopian notion of good and evil cannot be seen as opposite or identical
with the western conception of dualism. Dichotomist and antagonistic
frames are commonly casted in understanding a given reality. However,
it can be argued that the Ethiopian conception of dualism presupposes
a non-essentialized and flexible other, and a compassionate self or soul.
These two concepts are embodied in the idea of irq, which presupposes
the possibility of negotiation and reconciliation between good and evil.
Initially, the Kebra Nagast appears to give opposite qualities for good and
evil. On a subsection about “the Kingdom of Adam,” the Kebra Nagast
mentions the birth of good and evil at the time when Adam was driven
out of the Garden. It says,

At that sorrowful moment Cain was born, and when Adam saw that the
face of Cain was ill-tempered (or, sullen) and his appearance evil he was
sad. And then Abel was born, and when Adam saw that his appearance
was good and his face good- tempered he said, “This is my son, the heir
of my kingdom” (Kebra Nagast, 1932, p. 3).

Abel and Cain became the first “seeds” of good and evil. Abel was de-
scribed as God fearing, without envy, and good-tempered while Cain was
a person who did not fear God. He was described as hot-tempered and
envious, whose progeny lived “without law, without measure, and with-
out rule” (Kebra Nagast, 1932, p. 4). Then, out of the matrimonial union
between Abel’s and Cain’s children, those who believed in God and those
who denied him, came the offspring of the good and the evil seeds. Here,
it is possible to see that good and evil had the same sources. Symbolized
by the brotherhood of Abel and Cain, both could stand in parallel, oc-
cupying the opposite realms of goodness and evil. Unlike the western no-
tion of dualism that classes the two as complete opposites, the separation
between good and evil was never considered absolute. In the Ethiopian
tradition, it is possible to bring the two together through the process of
reconciliation, irq, or forgiveness, yiqirta.

48
 Kebra Nagast

This view implies that reality is not a combination of irredeemable

opposites that never change their position. There is a window for hope:
a possibility that evil is redeemable. An interesting example of this pos-
sibility was presented in the hagiography of Kiristos Samra, an Ethiopian
woman (she is consecrated as holy) who attempted to reconcile Satan
with God. She prayed for several years asking God to forgive Satan and
to end the war between good and evil. Her hagiography states that God
actually listened to her prayer and allowed her to go and bring Satan if he
wishes to reconcile with God. She went to Sheol and asked Satan to come
out with her and make peace with God. Though Satan refused, she took
numerous condemned souls out of Sheol to paradise. Then, God gave her
the power to redeem numerous other souls from Sheol to heaven till the
end of the world. The story is well known among Ethiopian Tewahido
believers, and the possibility of condemned souls to be transferred from
damnation to heaven is not contrary to the common belief of the popula-
tion. Its significance indicates that in the general conception of dualism
in Ethiopia, evil does not have unalterable essence; there is the assumption
that through mediation it is possible to turn the bad into good, or to
influence evil to become good.
Traditionally, holy persons are always regarded as mediators between
good and evil. In one of the Miracles of Saint Mary, an ‘evil person’, who
had killed and eaten seventy people, gave a few drops of water to a leper
when he was asked in the name of Saint Mary. The murderer who is com-
monly known as belaae sebb, the cannibal, died and appeared before the
throne of God where Saint Mary appeared and casted her shadow in favor
of him. Consequently, he was delivered from damnation. Kaplan (1984,
p. 83) noted that “Like the angels, the monastic holy man was recognized
as a mediating figure capable of reaching and influencing a distant God”.
Here, Kaplan’s reference to the mediating monks as ‘men’ should be con-
sidered to include females. Female saints such as Kiristos Samra, Arsema,
Maskel Kibra and others are said to have played significant mediatory
roles between the holy and the sinful (Interview, 14 April, 2011).
It is important to notice the parallel development of political me-
diation along with the belief in spiritual mediation. Kaplan noted that
“with the consolidation of the Solomonic rule [in Ethiopia] there arose
in the religious sphere a pattern of lord-mediator-client relations which
paralleled those of the political system” (1984, p. 83). This philosophical

49
Native Colonialism

and cultural tradition has been reflected in reconciliation ceremonies be-

tween a murderer and a victim’s relatives; or in the tradition of pardon-
ing rebels (shifta) by traditional leaders. A recent practice of the Addis
Ababa University students’ protest against the government presupposed
the existence of a sacred ground between opposing forces. During the
1993 university students’ protest in Addis Ababa, the students decided
to shelter in the Saint Mary Church of Amist Killo. The assumption was
that the government forces would never take brutal measures in the com-
pound of the church. A student mentioned to me how thousands of stu-
dents gathered and sat peacefully in the church, and how he felt that the
only safe place to be at that time was the church of Kidane Mihret, the
Covenant of Mercy, which is also next to the residence-office of the Pa-
triarch of the Orthodox Church. However, the traditional expectation
was dashed, and government forces took the advantage to surround the
church. They entered the compound without resistance, forced the stu-
dents into military trucks and took them to a detention center outside
the capital. As will be shown in later chapters, as the country moved from
traditional sources of knowledge and power to western sources, the con-
cept of dualism also radically shifted towards not just antagonistic but
also essentialist and instrumentalist bifurcation between what is regarded
as good and evil. Under this conception, the possibility of irq, reconcilia-
tion, has hardly been possible.
In the Ethiopian tradition, good and evil are viewed as conflicting
differences with possible spaces of negotiation rather than as essential
qualities of a singular reality. Consequently, the resolution of differences
is not preempted by violence. There are relational spaces that allow for
coexistence or mediation. For example, although those who practice sor-
cery and magic are disapproved, they are accepted to live in the com-
munity and play social roles as healers and reconcilers. Blacksmiths are
often feared for having “evil eye” /buda/. Asres Yenesew, argues that the
association of evil with blacksmiths was not part of the Ethiopian tradi-
tion (1959 [1951 EC]-a). Italians and foreign missionaries introduced
the idea of evil eye in order to discourage the production of military and
farm equipment by local artisans and smiths so as to make the country
a weak pray for European colonialism. Despite this radical othering of
skilled persons from the rest of society, blacksmiths still play indispens-
able roles in the production of farm and household equipment such as

50
 Kebra Nagast

ploughshares and knives. The primacy of wisdom over knowledge, its

conception as compassion, and the framing of the other as a dynamic
and flexible agent allows ethical and relational spaces to emerge within
and among seemingly antagonistic differences and diverse identities. It is
important to understand the differences between Ethiopian traditional
thought and the modernist conception of dualism which is introduced
largely through the western education system. Traditionally, the meaning
of wisdom is not the acquisition of knowledge or skill with the view to
control, eliminate, or become superior over the seemingly opposite or
different others. As the world is believed to inhabit various forces that are
not essentially antagonistic and doomed to resolve through conflict, wis-
dom is qualified by the fear of God, the practice of compassion and the
self-humility of the individual. To be wise is not to exceed in knowledge
but to guide one’s life towards the Covenant.

Humility of the Soul as an Attribute of Wisdom

Within western notions of the self and other, humility is often under-
stood as a lack of self-esteem or confidence. This individual-centered
approach accepts no higher value or greater power above the interest of
the self. As the self is imagined to be the superior center of one’s being,
its humility before anything diminishes its worth and power. Senghor
attempted to reject this conception by proposing humility as the self ’s
method of knowing the other:

The Negro African does not draw a line between himself and the ob-
ject; he does not hold it at a distance, nor does he merely look at it and
analyse it....he takes it vibrant in his hands, careful not to kill it or fix
it....He touches it, feels it and smells it...the Negro African sympathises,
abandons his personality to become identified with the Other, he dies to
be reborn in the Other (1964, pp. 72-73).

In the Ethiopian tradition, one cannot find an exact equivalent of the

term self. However, the soul appears to include many of the attributes
commonly given to the self by modern western philosophy. The soul ex-
ists in reverence to the supreme moral being, which is also the moral es-
sence of everything. In order to be closer to God – to receive wisdom or

51
Native Colonialism

to learn – it searches for the moral essence in everything: it thinks about,

communicates with and lives through compassion and humility.
From this perspective, the interest of the self (soul) is not to ensure
the preservation of life (flesh) but the subjugation of the latter to fulfill
the highest ideal (covenant). Humility, modesty, fear and respect are im-
portant qualities. The Kebra Nagast commends the importance of humil-
ity as follows:

All the arrogant among men walk in [the Devil’s] way and they shall be
judged with him. And God loveth the lowly-minded, and those who
practice humility walk in His way, and they shall rejoice in His kingdom
(1932, p. 24).

Further, the Kebra Nagast regards the wise person as analogous to a

person who has water for the thirsty, food for the hungry, healing for
the sick, and apparel for the naked (1932, p. 18). This has important
implications in setting a moral standard for the behavior of leaders and
the expectation of their people. The king was expected to be wise. He
was expected to manifest kindness to the people, and respect the laws
of God.
The view of the king as a wise “shepherd of his people” (Molvaer, 1980,
p. 30) who is kind and caring, enabled him to exercise patronage on mat-
ters that came into his attention. It also required the absolute obedience
and submission of the people to his will. This submissive effect that the
Kebra Nagast promoted among the population cannot be defended. In
practice, many Ethiopian Kings and their dignitaries subjected the popu-
lation to various forms of repressions (Tibebu, 1995). However, at least
in theory, the conception of wisdom as humility and compassion tem-
pered the absolutism of the King. God is imagined not just as a powerful
master but more importantly as a merciful father (Interview, March 20,
2011). Likewise, the king had to rule in the likeness of God to maintain
his power without resorting to coercion. The Kebra Nagast provides “In
what way is the king superior if he hath not done good upon the earth to
the poor?” (1932, p. 99).
The chronicles of several Ethiopian Kings explains their humility as
the source of their strength. Islamic sources attest that when the King
of Ethiopia received the messenger of Prophet Muhammad, “he came

52
 Kebra Nagast

down the throne and sat on the ground to show his humbleness and re-
spect for Allah’s Apostle, our Master Muhammad” ( Ja’far al-Tayyar). In
the chronicle of Emperor Yemrehanna Kiristos, the King was reported
to have prayed:

Oh my Lord, how could I reign over your people? I am deficient in intel-

ligence and inferior to all people. Consider carefully whom do you make
reign over your people, for you my Lord know the littleness of my heart.
Could I ever be in charge of the affairs of the kingdom or could I declare
the laws right? (Krawczuk, 1934, p. 11).

The response to his prayer God replied:

There is no victory in battle for worriers and there is no race for the swift,
there is no wealth for plunderers and there won’t be food for the learned
nor kingdom, nor governship for the wise – [if it is] without my spirit…
Now then I shall make you intelligent and give you wisdom... I shall en-
lighten your heart with a torch of wisdom (1934, p. 11).

The above quotes underscore humility as an important principle that

guided the moral discourse of power in tradition. Several chronicles and
manuscripts consistently underscore the fallibility of the Kings rather
than their invincibility. According to Kaplan the model of the ideal King
was a monk: “When [King] Lalibela had assumed the throne, he submit-
ted himself to a fast more severe than that of the monks, because to him
the kingship appeared as a monastic life” (1984, p. 12). Moreover, King
Yikuno Amlak “would bow several times praying wearing sack” (1984,
p. 13). King Kaleb, King Susneyous, Motalame, and many other political
figures gave up their power becoming monastic hermits. Emperor Zara
Yacob’s letter to Jerusalem reflected the significance of humility: “My be-
loved, do not you offer to say, Light descended only upon us, that glory-
ing in yourself be not in vain; since you know that evil attends glorying
and blessing humility” (qtd. in M. Russell, 1833, p. 226).
What the above analysis shows is that irrespective of the historicity of
the great qualities of the kings, humility, justice, and spirituality are wide-
ly regarded as political and social virtues. Traditionally, these virtues are
regarded as the qualities of all educated persons. The common Amharic

53
Native Colonialism

proverb yetemare yigdelegne which literally means “let my death be caused

by a learned person” indicates the respect and trust an educated person en-
joys in the Ethiopian tradition. The proverb implies that a learned person
is wise; he/she cannot harm without justice, or he/she is not cruel enough
to kill you even if you wanted him/her to kill you. The Kebra Nagast sup-
ports the innocence and harmlessness of the wise person as follows:

The honouring of wisdom is the honouring of the wise man, and the lov-
ing of wisdom is the loving of the wise man. Love the wise man and with-
draw not thyself from him, and by the sight of him thou shalt become
wise; hearken to the utterance of his mouth, so that thou shalt become
like unto him (Kebra Nagast, 1932, pp. 20-24).

The influence of this view is quite visible in traditional schools where

greater respect is awarded for teachers. Teachers are called yeqelem abat
/ pen father/, in the way a priest is called yenefise abat / soul father/. It
is important that the character of the teacher should reflect the lived
meaning of humility without which such reverence may not be awarded
(Interview, April 13, 2011). For example, prospective students who want
to study Qine in the school of poetry would travel to the teacher’s home
which often would be far away from their own residence. On their arrival,
they may not be readily accepted until their stamina and manner is noted
and their previous study verified. Once their background and resilience is
checked, often through meticulous questioning rather than documenta-
tion, the teacher would perform the ceremony of acceptance. He would
kneel in front of the new students and wash their feet as a sign of registra-
tion in his school. This practical lesson in humility orients the manner
and tone of the relationship that would guide schooling for the years to
come. Humbled by this act of extreme humility, the students remain vigi-
lant and faithful to their tasks (Interview, April 13, 2011). Every day, at
the end of their classes, the students bless their teacher with the following
metaphorical expression of wisdom:

May God cause thy word to be heard, and make thee to arrive at the earth
in Debra Libanos and to be evergreen like the cibaha! May he broaden
thee as the sycamore [Warka] and cause thee to shine as the moon! (qtd.
in S. Pankhurst, 1955, p. 522).

54
 Kebra Nagast

The above interpretation does not mean to suggest that knowledge is

inversely related to the exercise of power. Although knowledge is con-
sidered to be the gift of God, the capacity to be heard and to influence
the views and activities of others, or the ability to put it to good use, is
related to one’s level of learning in the traditional school system. Students
at the lower level of their studies obey their seniors (Interview, March 21,
2011). However, the seniors had to be wise enough– humble and com-
passionate– to earn the respect of their juniors. Here, while knowledge
augers the widest possibility for the exercise of power over the less knowl-
edgeable ones, the honoring of wisdom as humility limited the manner in
which that power could be exercised. In general, the significant influence
the Kebra Nagast places among the students of the traditional education
system, which will be discussed in the next chapter, was summarized by
Kebede:

The impregnation of students with the spirit of Kebra Nagast enabled

them to see the world from the viewpoint of Ethiopia. In a word, the dis-
course centered Ethiopia by endowing it with a specific mission, which
became the repository of its national identity (2006, p. 51).

Conclusion
By creating the imagination of Ethiopia as the center of the world, the
Ark of the Covenant gave a supreme validating power to Ethiopia’s na-
tional interests. This chapter shows how this belief helped Ethiopia ex-
ist as a nation. It argued that the Kebra Nagast contains political and
social values that created vertical and horizontal relationships in the
country. The concept of covenant created the imagination of a chosen
nation ruled by the ideal king who governs in the moral likeness of God.
The king was considered superior and the nation was regarded sacred.
Socially, the Kebra Nagast provided values that guided the ethical basis
of right conduct. The conception of knowledge as a gift from God, and
wisdom as a discriminating criterion between good and evil, suggests the
significance of relevance and ethics to knowledge. In the Kebra Nagast,
wisdom was considered as the fear of God and the practice of compas-
sion, implying vertical and horizontal connectedness. Vertically, wisdom
connects the person with the highest ideal; horizontally it relates the

55
Native Colonialism

person to others through compassion and humility. In this regard, the

ideal self (soul) is not an independent, self-centered and self-motivated
individual. It is instead a being with a vertical connection with covenant,
and a horizontal connection with society. Wisdom as the trainer of the
senses helps the person achieve, maintain and expand his/her relational
identities. The concept of irq is one way of expanding this connectedness.
By drawing good and evil on opposite but non-fixed planes, the concept
of irq emphasizes the various possibilities through which evil could be ac-
cepted or reconciled with the good rather than abandoned or destroyed.
The privileging of western philosophy in Africa is often justified by an
apparent absence or primitivism of African philosophy, something that
this chapter clearly contests. The existence of Ethiopia with “historical
continuity and political independence, written language, and written
philosophy” (Sumner, 2005, p. 15) disproves the Hegelian assertion that
Africa “is no historical part of the World; it has no movement or de-
velopment to exhibit” (Hegel, 1956, p. 99). It also offers an indigenous
insight to the conjecture that “the great danger that threatens Africa is
the absence of ideology” (Fanon, 1967, p. 186). The above thesis of the
absence of indigenous political thought in Africa has been blamed on
colonialism. However, as will be demonstrated in the forthcoming chap-
ters, Ethiopia, being the only uncolonized African country, has fallen un-
der the same thesis of primitivism and absence. The Kebra Nagast, as one
source of national ideology, and the traditional intellectual legacy of the
country as presented in the next chapter, shows that the dismissal of tra-
dition and the imitation of western systems was motivated by the power
interest of political leaders and not by the requirement of modernization.
The dismissal of tradition is a form of violence that allowed the creation
of institutions, systems and structures that have excluded the intellectual
legacy of traditional scholars and the cultural experiences of the majority
of Ethiopians, just as colonialism did to indigenous populations in other
parts of the world.

56
 chapter 3

Traditional Schooling and

Indigenous Knowledge
Production

“Sovereignty profiteth nothing without purity, and judgment profiteth

nothing without justice, and riches profiteth nothing without the fear of
God” (Kebra Nagast, 1932, p. 60).

Introduction

E
thiopia’s intellectual legacy developed under the purview of the
key principles of the Kebra Nagast. Such key principles as cov-
enant and wisdom provided a sense of direction and purpose to
traditional education, and enabled Ethiopian scholars to interpret rather
than imitate knowledge from international sources. These values were
ingrained in the daily lessons of the students of the traditional school
system, and in the minds of traditional scholars who translated various
books from Greek, Hebraic, and Arabic sources. This chapter will exem-
plify the interpretative mindset the Ethiopian education system upheld
among its students by examining the process of traditional schooling, tra-
ditional literature and philosophy, and the role of traditional scholars in
society. The chapter will show the existence of an indigenous epistemo-
logical tradition that utilized an interpretative paradigm to evaluate the
relevance and significance of knowledge, one which was later supplanted
by new models imitated from the West without any consideration of the
rich heritage that already existed in the country.
Native Colonialism

Traditional Education, Traditional Scholars and the

Church
Traditional education in Ethiopia had a school system that could be
regarded as the intellectual core of Ethiopians’ self-understanding and
self-knowledge (Ephraim Isaac, 1971). The traditional schools became
centers of learning for sixteen centuries until they were progressively sup-
planted by westernized government schools since the middle of the 20th
century. Nevertheless, the schools are still important, especially in the
lives of the rural Christian majority. Aklilu Habte considered that the
exact number of Ethiopian traditional schools is not known but mod-
est estimates suggest that there are about 30,000 to 35,000 traditional
schools still operating in the country today (2010). It has also been esti-
mated that 25 per cent of the Ethiopian male population are ecclesiastics
(Tamene, 1998, p. 96). These numbers suggest that traditional education
still plays an important part in contemporary Ethiopian society. This is
consistent with my research in the town of Lalibela and the surrounding
areas, where traditional scholars and their students are active participants
in social and cultural life. They uphold nationalistic perspectives, play
spiritual and secular roles, and promote a cultural life through intellectu-
al activities that are centered on the beliefs and philosophies of Orthodox
Church tradition.
The most important contribution of the traditional education system
is the consolidation of a social, political, and cultural center in the coun-
try. The church has been the major agent in this process. Its traditional
school system produced scholars who played pivotal roles in the lives of
their society by acting as spiritual fathers, exorcists, preachers, hymnists,
healers, mediators, counselors, judges and so on. The detailed fields of
study and the average years of completion of each field is provided in the
table below.

Field of Study Average Time

of Completion
Nibab Bet (House of Reading) 2 years
Zema Bet (House of Hymn): tsome deggwua, mierraf and 4 years
deggwua

58
 Traditional Schooling and Indigenous Knowledge Production

Field of Study Average Time

of Completion
Kidassie Bet (House of Holy Mass): kidassie and seatat 6 months
Zema Bet: zimare and mewasit zema 1 year
Zema Bet: akwakwam 3 years
Qine Bet (House of Poetry) 5 years
Metsehaf Bet (House of Books): biluy and haddis 4 years
tirguamme
Liqawunit (interpretation of the books of scholars and 3 years
monasticism)
Merha Ewur (mathematical computation of time) 6 month
Yetarik Tinat (the study of history) 1 year
Yetegibare’ed timhirt (art and handicrafts, such as the art 4 years
of painting, writing manuscripts on leather, sculpture,
religious artefacts, binding books and so on)
Masmesker (certification) 2 years
Total years of study in the traditional education system 30 years

Table 1: Fields of study in the traditional school system (adapted from

Kalewolde, 1965, pp. 1-2).

However, based on their spiritual and intellectual roles, one can observe
two groups of scholars in the traditional education system. The first
group are graduates of the School of Holy Mass, Kidassie Bet, and the
School of Hymn, Zema Bet, whose function concentrated mainly within
the confines of the Orthodox Church, giving religious services to believ-
ers. The second group are graduates of the School of Poetry, Qine Bet and
the School of Books, Metsehaf Bet. These scholars are commonly known
as dabtaras and their functions address religious and secular life tran-
scending religious, ethnic and other divides in the country.
According to Shelemay, the multifaceted role of dabtaras as healers,
magicians and counselors created a deep interaction among several belief
systems in Ethiopia (1992). The dabtaras used “words-of-power” derived
from the three most important religions of the country, namely Christi-
anity, Islam and Judaism, to produce their books and scrolls, called kitabs.

59
Native Colonialism

In addition to Ge’ez, Hebraic, and Greek names, “the Arab names of God,
Allah, and ‘Muhammad’ and ‘Nabi’ (prophet), and ‘Rasul’ (messenger)
were treated as magical names and are often found in the amulets, and
also transcripts of Greek forms of the names and titles of Christ” (Budge,
1928, p. 598). The dabtaras still use these names in their kitabs for spiri-
tual healing (Interview, March 13, 2011). In a country where the majority
of Ethiopians (80%) live in remote rural villages and hamlets without ac-
cess to public services, the role of traditional scholars is still of paramount
importance. In these villages, as is visible in the surroundings of Lalibela,
secular life is connected to religious life, and this intermix is sustained
through the teaching of traditional scholars whose function concentrated
around the provision of secular and religious services near the church. The
Ethiopian Orthodox Church could be regarded as the center of social and
cultural life, and the scholars of the church as the coordinators of that life.
Often built with a circular architecture, at the most exalted place in
the village or town, the church represents the central point with which
the surrounding life is deemed connected (Interview, May 21, 2012).
It embodies the highest moral authority, and is a sacred ground where
individuals cannot enter without removing their shoes. Activities in the
house and on the field are dictated by the regulations of the church. Social
customs and individual behavior such as marriage, burial, farming, eating
and singing are regulated by established religious customs that could be
traced to the daily teachings of the church. Most national holydays, such
as the founding of the True Cross (Meskel), Christmas (Lidet), Epiphany
(Timket), Good Friday (Siklet) and Easter (Tinsae), are attributes of the
church to the national holidays of the country. By addressing the country
as a single entity, by training its scholars with a perspective that perceived
the land as a covenant nation, and by promoting wisdom – adherence to
higher values of spiritualism, humility, service and honor – the church
imparted a national consciousness among a large section of the Ethio-
pian population. It produces scholars whose knowledge and vocation is
deeply grounded in the cultural life of the people. Thus, the development
of a national culture in Ethiopia is closely associated with the intellec-
tual contribution of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. As Isaac argued,
“as well as being the institution through which religious continuity was
maintained, the Ethiopian church school served as the main instrument
for the development and propagation of a national culture, and for the

60
 Traditional Schooling and Indigenous Knowledge Production

creation of a national literature” (1971, p. 10). He further emphasized

the role of the schools in maintaining a strong link between the culture
of the people and religion.

The purpose and content of education are religious, but it must be noted
that since in Ethiopia religion and life are intricately tied together, the
learned man is not required to be a priest. Nor can the society function
in the traditional sense without the enlightenment and guidance of the
men of learning – all students of religion (1971, p. 14).

For Isaac, it is “alienation from the church on the part of the many educat-
ed people” that “retarded [Ethiopia’s] fuller participation in modern edu-
cation” (1971, p. 15). Because traditional scholars understand the philos-
ophy, language, literature, history, and tradition of the people better than
those educated based on the European model of education in Ethiopia,
until now the former have influenced the lives of the people more deeply
and directly than the latter. Consequently, “university trained people to a
certain extent lag behind the traditional scribes in producing substantial
works of literature and scholarship” (1971, p. 15). Isaac stressed the inclu-
sion of traditional knowledge, especially Qine, in the modern Ethiopian
system of education without which “Ethiopian self-understanding and
national consciousness” could not be maintained (1971, pp. 1-16). So
far, I have stressed the role and contribution of traditional scholars, es-
pecially dabtaras, as promoters of national consciousness among diverse
groups in the country, with the Orthodox Church as a social and cultural
center. The process through which these scholars were trained shows the
existence of a national intellectual legacy that developed and passed from
generation to generation for several centuries, long before an imitated
form of western education was transplanted into the country.

Education in the Traditional School System

The Ethiopian traditional education system has a well-developed cur-
riculum, text books and method of instruction. There are two levels of
study which include the ordinary and advanced level of studies (Wodajo,
1959). The ordinary level of study includes the House of Reading (Nibab
Bet), and the House of Mass (Kidassie Bet). The advanced level of study

61
Native Colonialism

includes the House of Hymn (Zema Bet), the House of Poetry (Qine
Bet), and the House of Books (Metsehaf Bet). Each school has multiple
stages and branches of learning that enable students to develop religious
and secular skills and knowledge. It is hardly possible to complete study-
ing the entire content of the education system. However, about twenty-
eight years of study may enable a person to learn most of it and gain the
rare title “arat ayina,” which literarily means the “Four Eyed” (Wagaw,
1990, p. 31). The title suggests the completion of the four fields of study
in the House of Books (see below) and refers to the ability of the scholar
to see the past as well as the future. In addition to literary, linguistic and
liturgical skills, students internalize key principles that help them under-
stand their role in society and guide their action.
Students, except those in the house of reading, view their intellec-
tual journey as a spiritual experience or destiny. A typical explanation
from one dabtara summarizes the key values and principles internalized
among the students:

When I realized that I was chosen by the will of God to serve Him by
praising His name, I made a solemn covenant to follow my calling to the
end. Then, I wandered for Fifteen years across Gondar, Gojam, Shewa
and Wollo learning from respected scholars, meditating the mysteries in
the great books, practicing the right standing and singing, and praying
to become wise. Now, I feel like I am a tree whose leaves never wither. I
am planted here, in the House of God, to serve His will. May glory be to
Him, Amen! (Interview, March 12, 2011)

Choiceness or calling, covenant, wisdom, centeredness (to be “planted”),

and service represent some of the key qualities that are promoted through
long years of education. As shown in the previous chapter, the coming of
the Ark of the Covenant is regarded as an expression of divine choice
to make Ethiopia the center of the world. Choice expresses the will of
God that transcends human understanding. In the act of choosing, the
individual is regarded as an object, not a subject. It is God who chooses
the destiny of the individual. This is illustrated by the common Amharic
proverb, “ke’enchet merito le’tabot, kesewu merito leshumet” which means
as a tree is chosen from trees for tabot (to make a replica of the Ark of the
Covenant), a man is chosen from men for an office.

62
 Traditional Schooling and Indigenous Knowledge Production

Choice or God’s Will may be inferred from a sign such as a dream or

from the fulfilment of a wish, or from the personal disposition of the in-
dividual. It is believed that the individual would be naturally inclined to-
wards a certain destiny, enjera, and one can understand his/her destiny by
looking at the various skills and interests he/she already has. Traditional
scholars argue that God’s choice cannot be inferred from circumstances
that do not reflect His qualities (Interview, March 15, 2012). The search
for wisdom through prayer, fasting and the practice of humility enables
the person to fulfil the will of the creator.
The person who believed or accepted the will of God makes cov-
enant, a solemn promise, to follow his/her calling. Referring to the harsh
student-life, such as the need to sustain oneself at school by begging for
food in the village, one student remembered, “without the view of one’s
calling as a covenant between the Almighty and oneself, the ordeal of
going through extreme poverty for the sake of education is unthinkable”
(Interview, March 12, 2011). What is learned in this process is wisdom.
As shown in the previous chapter, to be wise is to enrich the soul at the
expense of the flesh; to accumulate in order to distribute; to have in order
to give and serve. Thus, the learned man manifests a deeper sense of hu-
mility known in Ge’ez as “atihitote-ries,” which means the humility of the
self (Interview, March 15, 2011). During an interview, a church scholar
emphasized that, “a learned man is like a tree that never stops yielding
fruit. His life is centered at the intersection of vertical and horizontal axis
of service: vertically reverence to God, and horizontally service to God’s
creation” (Interview, May 22, 2011). The metaphor of the tree expresses
the need to be centered on something more important than oneself, to
have roots in society. Brief analysis of the major schools of the traditional
education system reveals the above key axiological imperatives.

Ordinary Level of Study in the Traditional

Education System
Nibab Bet
The first level of study in the traditional education system is the Nibab
Bet, which can be translated as the House of Reading. It focuses on the
development of skills that enables the student to read and understand key

63
Native Colonialism

social and religious concepts. In addition to reading, the student learns

simple writing with arithmetic. To graduate from this level of study, the
student has to practice “correct reading of Ge’ez” through six successive
stages. Here, reading skill is not equated with the capacity to identify the
words in a text. “It involves knowledge of the right tone and letter that
should be used in a particular text” (Interview, May 19, 2011). Depend-
ing on the context used, words or letters that sound the same could have
varying meanings or characters.
Learning the right reading at the Nibab Bet takes place in four suc-
cessive levels. First is fidel gebeta, which is simple counting of the 270 let-
ters from right to left, then from top to bottom, with slow and medium
rhythmic dictation followed by fast counting in the same fashion. The
student also learns the Ethiopian numerals. Once tested and passed this
stage, the student will start the next stage of counting, which is called
a-bu-gi-da. At this stage, the alphabets are all mixed up, making it diffi-
cult for the student to identify them by their positions in the fidel gebeta.
The teachers believe that the mixing up of the alphabet in the a-bu-gi-da
helps to reduce the effect of rote learning (Interview, May 19, 2011), for
which the Nibab Bet is often criticized (Wodajo, 1959). Then, a student
who could correctly identify the letters passes a-bu-gi-da, and is provided
with a text from the Epistle of St. John to start the third level of reading.
Reading at the third stage comprises four modes of reading. These
are reading with kutir (counting each letter in each word), ge’ez or ne-
tela nibab (reading with slow rhythmic chanting of each word), urd ni-
bab (reading with faster rhythmic chanting of each phrase), followed by
nibab (fast and loud reading). The fourth and fifth stages of the Nibab
Bet are devoted to strengthening the reading abilities of the student by
providing him/her with more texts from the Acts of the Apostles, and
from the Gospels. The six and last stage is the practice of reading using
the Book of Psalms and other biblical songs. The student reads the Psalm
with the three sounds called tire-nibab, urd, and nibab, paying attention
to sounds that need stress intonation, rhythm, and speed. The 150 chap-
ters of the Psalm are divided into each of the seven days. Once the stu-
dent is able to read the Psalm together with the Songs of Solomon and
the Songs of other Prophets in the Bible with a fast and loud voice, he or
she would graduate from the Nibab Bet. The time required to complete
studies at Nibab Bet depends on the ability of the student to learn fast.

64
 Traditional Schooling and Indigenous Knowledge Production

But, the average student takes two year to read fluently both in Ge’ez and
Amharic (Interview, May 19, 2011). Graduation ceremonies vary from
place to place. Often, the ceremony includes the invitation of the teacher
to the home of the student, gifts given to the teacher by the parents, and
the preparation of feasts and invitation of neighbors.
The second goal of the Nibab Bet is socialization. At the school,
stories, proverbs, jokes, manner of sitting, speaking, walking, the Ten
Commandments of the Old Testament, and the Six Commandments of
the New Testament are repeatedly explained to the students in plenary
sessions. Respect to elders, parents, and anybody older in age is always
emphasized. Although the Kebra Nagast is not used as a textbook, the
story of the Queen of Sheba and the coming of the Ark of the Covenant
to Ethiopia are among the stories told to the students. At this stage, the
student starts to become familiar with the various spiritual and mate-
rial concepts of society. For example, through the study of the Mystery
of Creation or Miestre Fitret, students start to understand the creation-
ist concept of the origin of life. They also study the “five pillars of the
church” which include the Mystery of Trinity, Mystery of Incarnation,
Mystery of Baptism, Mystery of Holy Communion, and Mystery of Res-
urrection. The teaching of most of these concepts takes place in the form
of questions and answers. An example of the teaching on the Mystery of
Trinity takes place in a question and answer method as follows:

Questioner: Who created you?

Respondent: Silasee, /the trinity/
Question: How many are Selassie?
Respondent: One and three.
Question: What makes them one, and what makes them three?
Respondent: They are three in name, in task, and in person. They are
one in divinity, in power, in glory, and in similar things of this sort they
are one.
Questioner: Can you give me an example.
Respondent: The sun has shape, light and heat. But I say one sun not
three…

The learning process allows the student to participate, however, the ideas
spoken are not theirs. Students have to memorize each of the questions

65
Native Colonialism

with their corresponding answers word for word. The practice of mem-
orization is important for the student as study by memorization is the
dominant mode of learning in the traditional school system. The method
has been criticized as a form of ‘rote’ learning. According to Wodajo,
“there is hardly any place for understanding or for the cultivation of a
creative imaginative mind”(1959, p. 25). Moreover, most texts used to
practice reading are in Ge’ez, the old Ethiopian language used only in the
churches. Students in the Nibab Bet hardly understood the significance
of the concepts. They simply aim at impressing their teacher, their par-
ents, and other audiences by reading the Ge’ez scriptures fast and without
committing any mistakes. The social incentive of appreciating good read-
ing as “yibel” by church scholars at a church festival is a great source of
pride for a graduate of the Nibab Bet.
Despite the criticisms of this form of learning, the traditional school
teachers consider rote memory as essential instrument for the training of
the mind. A traditional school teacher thinks the act of teaching through
memorization is similar to the act of farming.

The farmer ploughs the land to bury the raw seed under the soil. The seed
eventually dies in the soil and grows up as a plant after it elapsed a certain
period of time. Likewise, rote learning is similar to sowing the raw seed
of knowledge in the mind of the student to allow it to grow at the later
stages of his/her education (Interview, May 23, 2011).

The argument of the traditional school is that rote learning at the earli-
est age will plant the most essential beliefs and values of society in the
mind of the student. At the primary level, these values and beliefs do
not require critical reflection. They need to be “inherited” as treasures
of the forbearers’ long years of spiritual and intellectual tradition. Thus,
they are destined to the realm of the heart (lib), memory. Furthermore,
the mind requires initial content on which to exercise critical reflection.
Whether rejected or accepted, what is provided at the earliest stage serves
as a starting point of intellectual inquiry, and the Ethiopian traditional
school system should orient the direction of that inquiry at the earliest
possible age. The study of the dogmas and values helps students to utilize
Ethiopia’s religious and cultural traditions as the starting point of their
future intellectual growth.

66
 Traditional Schooling and Indigenous Knowledge Production

Another argument regarding the lack of detailed critical study and

reflection comes from the claim that the detailed content of the lessons
are too complex to explain to the students at their lower stage of learning.
This is especially true in relation to the numerical computation of various
Ge’ez concepts, names and time. For example each of the Ge’ez alphabets
is invented with corresponding numerical values. These values extend to
cover a complex calculation of time from the beginning to the end of the
world. Students are taught to identify the Ge’ez numerals without learn-
ing their relationship with the alphabets. At the higher level of the edu-
cation system, interested students could study the computation of time
from specialized teachers of merha ewur. The interrelated nature of the
various schools suggests that the Nibab Bet is merely the beginning of a
rich and complex intellectual journey.
In summary, the House of Reading teaches key skills, values and dis-
positions to the student. The student acquires the skill of reading Ge’ez
texts and the Ethiopian writing system, which is the authentic and in-
digenous invention of ancient Ethiopian scholars (Bekerie, 1997). He/
she also learns metaphysical concepts that define the meaning of exis-
tence and provide the intellectual framework and context for thinking.
The process of learning also helps to develop cooperative and integrative
social dispositions. Students who complete reading will have the option
either to go to the public school or to continue in the subsequent level of
studies within the traditional school system. Several teachers claim that
students who attended the House of Reading become more successful
when they join the public school (Interview, March 12, 2011). Most of
them passed two semester classes in one semester, and were able to so-
cially integrate well with others. Students who prefer to advance their
intellectual pursuit within the traditional education system continue to
the next level of study in the traditional school system, the Kidassie Bet.

Kidassie Bet
The second level of study in the traditional school is the study of liturgy in
the House of the Holy Mass. This is a speciality reserved primarily for the
training of priests and deacons but students who do not want to become
priests could go to other schools of their choice. The training in the func-
tion of deacons is called gibre dikuna, and that of priests is called gibre

67
Native Colonialism

kissina. Ethiopian church tradition provides that Kidassie came from the
Ge’ez verb “kedesse” which means amesegene or “to become thankful” (In-
terview, March 15, 2011). There are twenty Anaphors used during the
holy mass of Kidassie. Most of these Anaphors are dedicated to saints, as
the Ethiopian monks who produced them never used their own name to
express ownership over their intellectual work. (Ejigu, 2004). Priests and
deacons study the texts and hymns for the Mass and other services. The
reverence to Kidassie is so important that all able-bodied persons around
the church remain standing from the beginning to the end. This normally
takes from 2 to 3 hours. According to Priest Kassie:

Once the Kidassie is started, heavenly angels would descend and fall
on the unoccupied floor of the church, in front of the Ark of the Cov-
enant. People who enter or move inside the church at that time risk
bringing upon themselves meqsefit, a punishment for contempt as they
could be stepping on the angels that fall in front of the tabot (Interview,
March 19, 2011).

The tabot is the replica of the Ark of the Covenant which is placed at the
center or the sanctum sanctorum of the church. By studying the various
Anaphors and related hymns, students of Kidassie Bet prepare themselves
to render regular spiritual services to the public by singing and perform-
ing rituals in front of the tabot. Graduation from this school will lead
to eligibility for ordinance as a priest or a deacon. The authority of the
priests is believed to be equivalent to the authority of the twelve disci-
ples of Jesus in the Bible (Interview, March 19, 2011). Kassie noted that
“Priests are like shepherds; they hold the key to open the gates of heaven.”
Deacons are generally assistants for the priests. They read the holy manu-
scripts of the church to the public during the Holy Mass, and assist in the
preparation of the Eucharist. Priests function as confessors and are called
nefis abat (soul father).
Every Orthodox household in Ethiopia is expected to have one nefis
abat. The nefis abat would regularly visit the home of his soul children,
help them resolve issues within the family, remind them of monthly and
annual observations of fasting, and impose penances for confessions.
A priest leads regular prayers and any person meeting him on the road
would bow while approaching to kiss the cross in the priest’s hand saying

68
 Traditional Schooling and Indigenous Knowledge Production

“yiftugne abate” which means “set me free my father”. The priest would
respond “em’maesere hatiyat Egziabher yifta” which literally means “may
God set you free from the bondage of sin”. This and similar functions of
the priest and deacon are pivotal in the cultural life of the people of Lal-
ibela, and other parts of the country in Ethiopia.
With the replica of the tabot at its most inner center, the Ethiopi-
an Orthodox Church is called bete kirstian, which literally means “the
House of Christians”. Only priests are allowed to touch or carry the tabot.
According to Lisanework Gebre Giyorgis, tabot means medicine, as it is
considered to be a holy vessel that carried the medicine that healed the
world (1997, p. 78). It is also regarded as medagna, a means of salvation,
a source of divine providence. In the Kidassie, the Mother of Jesus, the
Ark of Noah, and the Tablets of Moses are frequently analogized. Mary is
like “the Ark of Noah through which he [Noah] was saved from the evil’s
destruction” (Daoud & Wolde-Kirkos, 1959, p. 76). The following song
in the Kidassie also reflects the same perspective:

Mother of martyrs!
A pure palace, beauteous and fair!
Ark which contained the law,
Fair in raiment of gold, clad with divers colours (Rodwell, 1864,
pp. 89-90).

A High Priest in Lalibela believes that as Noah was protected from the
destruction of the world by his Ark, likewise, Ethiopia is protected by
the Ark of the Covenant (Interview, April 26, 2012). The priests use the
Ark of the Covenant interchangeably with the name of the Virgin Mary
in their prayer for the Kings. In one of the books it says, “A miracle of
Our Lady, the holy twofold Virgin, the Ark of the Holy Spirit, Mary,
Mariham, may her intercession be with our king Lebna Dengel” (Haile,
1983, p. 31).
The previous chapter highlighted that the Kebra Nagast presents the
existence of the Ark of the Covenant as proof that Ethiopia is a sacred
place in the world. Here, it can be observed that it is the church and its
schools that made this conception part of the living tradition of the peo-
ple, and the occasion of Kidassie is the most sacred expression of that
belief. As provided in the previous chapter, the Kebra Nagast presented

69
Native Colonialism

the Ark of the Covenant as the mercy seat that God used to emplace
himself in order to create the world. Likewise, Jesus’ mother Mary, like
the Ark of the Covenant, carried the word in her womb to become His
mercy seat for the salvation of the world. The Ark of Noah can also be re-
garded as a place that protected those sheltered in it from the destruction
outside. Likewise, it is believed that Ethiopia is a covenant land where the
true faith and wisdom is preserved. This teaching expands further in the
higher level of study where the training of the dabtaras – who are referred
to as “the learned Doctors of the church” – is one of its major contribu-
tions (S. Pankhurst, 1955, p. 242).

Higher Level Study in the Traditional Education System

Higher level of study in the traditional education system comprises the
study of liturgical chant and movement, the study of the art of compos-
ing poetry using highly regarded stories and events, and the study of com-
mentaries on various books of religion, law, and time. These three major
areas of study are provided under the schools the Zema Bet, Qine Bet, and
Metsehaf Bet.

Zema Bet
Zema simply means hymn or song. Zema Bet is the House of liturgical
chant with the following sub-specialities:

• The study of Deggwua (antiphonal hymns for the whole year)

• Tsome Degwua (antiphonal songs for Lent)
• Zimmare and Mawaset (hymns in honor of the Eucharist and another
antiphonary)
• Aquaquam (the study of dance with the right use of the prayer stick,
sistrum and drum).

In addition to the above sub-specialities, Kidassie and Se’a’ta’t (Holy

Mass and Horologium) are regarded as Zema studies (Interview, Sept 18,
2011). The Zema Bet is the outcome of the development of hymns with
a musical writing system that went down through generations of church
scholars starting from the time of the great Ethiopian composer Yared

70
 Traditional Schooling and Indigenous Knowledge Production

in the 6th century A.D up to the time of Giorgis Zegascha in the middle
of the 15th century. There are two important aspects that link the train-
ing in the Zema Bet with the interpretative perspective on knowledge in
traditional education in Ethiopia. The themes of the songs studied in the
Zema Bet reflect the belief in the Ark of the Covenant and its symbolic
meanings. Second, the seasonal arrangements of the songs reflect the cul-
tural and geographical features of the country. This makes the study of
Zema relevant to the circumstance of life in the country.
Sound, movement, dance, and percussion are the four important study
themes of the Zema Bet. For example, Tsoma Deggwua, the antiphonary
for lent, is one of the most admired studies in the Zema School. The songs
during this long fasting and prayer season are sung with the three major
melodies: ge’ez, ezil and araray. The instruments used to sing the songs
include the sistrum, the drum and the prayer staff, which are partly related
to the Old Testament tradition. Deggwua is both a field of study and a text
book for the Zema Bet. The musical signs written on top of the words in
the Deggwua book have names such as merged, Nius-merged, Abiye-Tsefat
and Tsefat. When studied, the songs can be sung with the correct rhythm,
melody and harmony (Interview, May 16, 2011). The composer of the
songs, Yared, was born in Axum in 505 A.D. He started his career as a dea-
con, and then became a priest and a treasurer (gebez). According to Ethio-
pian tradition, it is believed that Yared was led to Heaven by three birds
to hear the heavenly songs of angels, and seraphim and cherubim (Gebre
Giyorgis, 1997). It is believed that he also had obtained inspiration from
listening to nature, from the sound of birds, wild beasts and other natural
sounds. Inspired by what he saw, he arranged and composed hymns for
each season of the year, for summer and winter, and spring and autumn,
for festivals and Sabbaths, and for the days of the angels, the prophets, the
martyrs and the righteous. His songs were later developed by other Ethio-
pian hymnists such as Yohannis of Gebla in Wollo and Tewanei of Deq
Istifa in Gojam. Additional hymns were later contributed by the Shoan
scholar Aba Giorgis Zegasicha, who had literary and composition skills
that were parallel to that of Yared’s. The tradition of improving the system
continued with the expansion of the musical shorthand from two during
Yared, to ten later on (Gebre Giyorgis, 1997, p. xviii).
The content of the songs of Yared reflect the significance of Cove-
nant, as symbolized by the Ark and the Virgin Mary. Yared was serving

71
Native Colonialism

as a treasurer at the Zion Church in Axum where the original Ark of

the Covenant was believed to have been kept. Sylvia Pankhurst observed
that Yared “composed a cycle of songs in honour of the ancient church of
St. Mary of Zion at Aksum” (1955, p. 239). In his songs, he made several
allusions to the Virgin Mary who is symbolized by the Ark of the Cov-
enant. The typical Judo-Christian tradition that involves the Ark of the
Covenant and the Virgin Mary as the two Zions that embodied divine
providence with special favor and protection to the people of Ethiopia is
an important theme of the songs. For example, the following hymn for
June 6th, or Sene 12th according to the Ethiopian Calendar, the Ark of the
Covenant that carried the Laws of God was symbolized with the Virgin
Mary who carried in her womb the baby Jesus. The poem and its transla-
tion by Lee Ralph goes:

መኣዛ ኣፍሃ ከመኮል፣ከመ ቅርፍተ ሮማን፤

ኣስተማሰልክዋ፣ሰረገላተ ኣሚናዳብ።
ከመ ማህፈደ ዳዊት ክሳዳ፣
ወፅላታኒ ዘኦሪት፣ስብሃት የዓውዳ።
Her mouth is like apple; like the skin of a pomegranate
I compare her to the chariot of Aminadab
Her neck is like the Tower of David
Her tables [are] of the law
Glory surrounds her (2011, p. 225).

The study of the Deggwua assists in preserving the notion of a covenant

land through uninterrupted reverence to the Ark of the Covenant and
the Virgin Mary, Christian salvation symbols that embodied God’s
protection of Ethiopia. As mentioned previously, it is a mandatory re-
quirement for every Ethiopian Orthodox Church to possess a replica of
the Ark of the Covenant - the tabot. Placed at the center of the Holy of
Holies where no one except priests and the king are allowed to enter, all
church services are centered around the tabot as the most sacred object
in the Ethiopian Orthodox faith. The dabtaras, which include graduates
of the Zema Bet, sing and dance in front of it, the priests prepare the Eu-
charist on it, and people swear to the truthfulness of their testimony by
it. A person who gives his/her word in the name of the tabot vouches for
its truthfulness. During celebrations the tabot is carried by chosen priests.

72
 Traditional Schooling and Indigenous Knowledge Production

The scholars of Zema Bet and the congregation all accompany it with
songs and dances. The colorful expression of honoring the tabot can best
be observed during epiphany, timket, at Lalibela when the singing and the
dancing around the tabot is observed day and night. During a sermon, a
preacher in Lalibela once noted that the two hands of Ethiopia that are
stretched out to God, as stated in Psalm 68, Verse 31, are the Ark of the
Covenant and the Virgin Mary. This interpretation shows how all ideas
are used to affirm the notion of a covenant nation as provided in the pre-
vious chapter. The preacher also noted that the rigorous melodious songs
of the Zema Bet are the sacred offering the nation presents every day be-
fore the throne of the Trinity (Interview, March 19, 2011)
The Deggwua songs are tailored to change with the weather season
of Ethiopia, and with the celebration of festivals and holydays. The
Deggwua is divided into three major seasonal parts. The first is Yohannis,
which comprises the collection of songs appropriate for the period be-
tween September or Meskerem, which is the beginning of Ethiopia’s New
Year, and the end of November or Tahisas. These songs start with the
story of John the Disciple, and continue to the New Testament teachings.
There are 3572 songs in this section. The second part is called astemihiro.
These are songs that focus on the teachings of Jesus. They are prepared for
the period between December or Tahisas, and March or Megabit. There
are 3474 songs in this section. The third is called Fasika, which means
Easter, designed for the period between April or Miaziya, and September
or Meskerem. These are a collection of 3462 songs.
The songs resonate with the change in the weather system, with the
custom and tradition of the people. They suggest the integration of edu-
cation with cultural life and natural circumstances. The ensemble and
dance Zema students and graduates present in front of the tabot is often
performed with twenty four dabtaras, to represent the twenty four heav-
enly priests that are believed to have been singing in front of God’s throne
in heaven. Twelve dabtaras stand on the left led by gira geta (leader of
the left), and another twelve on the right led by kegn geta (leader of the
right). The merie geta is the master of the choir. A typical song is per-
formed in four modes of chant and dance. The first is the kum zema, a
form of hymn sung without the use of instruments. The second is zima-
mee, a form of hymn with the swinging of the prayer-staff and the body.
Third is the meregid, a form of singing with more rapid movements, and

73
Native Colonialism

with a special use of the sistrum, the drum, and the staff. Meregid has sub-
divisions from one to three levels, depending on the speed of the hymn
and the accompanying use of instruments and types of movements. The
fourth is chebchebo or tsehifi’at, which is a song liked by youth and or-
dinary people who participate in the dance with handclapping and the
happy chant of elilita. Zema Bet students attend the above services as
they need to observe, practice and sing with other dabtaras.
The school of the Zema Bet has developed through centers of excel-
lence that are established by famous teachers in various regions of the
country. The teachers do not have land or a separate building, or income
for their work. Students from all over the country travel to the private
homes of these teachers and make their own small hut around the house
of the teacher. “Student life is very harsh. The students must find their
own food by begging in the village or doing manual labor, and study day
and night without exercise books, or pens and pencils. They have to re-
member everything by heart” (Interview, May 21, 2011). A dabtara from
Lalibela recounted his memory of hunger and disease in his struggle to
learn the Deggwua. Leaving his parents at a very young age, and suffering
from diseases such as scabies, the only means of survival he had was the
name Kidane Mihret which means Covenant of Mercy. He had to beg
for food using this name in the village where he was repeatedly bitten
by dogs. Tibebu recognized the struggle between dogs and traditional
school students which are also known as qolo temari:

It is astonishing how developed the senses of dogs are when it comes

to identifying qolo temari. A calm dog lying down on the ground and
letting people pass by suddenly bursts off with anger the moment a qolo
temari abounds the corner (1995, p. 100).

At the end of their training, Deggwua students are expected to travel to

the few centers of excellence where the most famous scholars reside. In
order to verify their knowledge and receive certification, Zema students
are expected to write their own copy of the entire Deggwua book using
ink and animal skin. At the ceremony a Deggwua graduate is awarded the
name meri-geta, master of choir, lead scholar, or teacher.
The complete neglect of the traditional school system by post 1974
governments has led to the decline of the Zema Bet and other schools

74
 Traditional Schooling and Indigenous Knowledge Production

of the traditional education system. Wodajo lamented this decline even

before the beginning of the Marxist-Leninist era in 1974, saying, “It
is a source of sorrow to see the decline of the ‘Zema Bet’ without any
worthwhile substitute in the government schools” (Wodajo, 1959, p. 26).
While the Zema Bet is known for spiritual melody and dance, another
school called the Qine Bet is famous for the study of logical reasoning,
critical thinking, and the composition of poetry.

Qine Bet
The Qine Bet involves the learning of the Ge’ez language and the com-
position of poetry. The student who studies Qine requires a thorough
knowledge of the Ge’ez language, a fine understanding of the history
of the country, a critical understanding of the Bible and other histori-
cal and religious texts (Wagaw, 1990). Although poetry is the main me-
dium through which students present the core message of their ideas, the
Qine Bet has many more attributes than writing poems. First, it involves
the study of Ge’ez. A student who joins Qine Bet should come with a
good familiarity with Ge’ez. In the Qine Bet the student further studies
the language in order to express complex concepts using rhyming poems
that could be turned into songs. This is important because a Qine poem
should “be rich in content, revealing a deep knowledge of Bible, of Ethio-
pian history and of the stories and legends which have gathered during
the centuries around the great personalities and events of religious and
national tradition” (S. Pankhurst, 1955, p. 245). Secondly, the student
needs a good knowledge of the psychological, social and cultural features
of the people, their emotional appeals, moral precepts, and aspirations.
Bale Qine, someone who possesses Qine, or can create one, is a person
deeply rooted in the cultural life of the people. He can understand the
challenges of the people and translate them into timeless songs. The fol-
lowing Qine poem was presented in October 12 at the celebration of the
Archangel Michael, and it expresses a political message regarding the ac-
cumulation of significant wealth by the greedy few at the expense of the
death of the majority poor.

Michael you sorrowed for the hungry full forty years,

And, in obedience, you dug Moses’ secret grave;

75
Native Colonialism

But the wealthy rejoices when he hears tidings of famine,

And, he digs a grave for his gold, while the body of his fellow man lies
outside (S. Pankhurst, 1955, p. 258).

The training in the art of poetry in Qine Bet illustrates the interpretative
spirit the Ethiopian education system embodied. What a student has to
put in his Qine is boundless. In fact, what is admired is the ability to trig-
ger new insights, to elicit a vast array of imagination in order to signify
an important point from diverse perspectives. The student should master
how to invent a melodious pun out of the deep and wide context of reli-
gious and cultural knowledge. The invented poem, to bear credibility and
win admiration, should be pregnant with the voice of the voiceless. With
a clever use of irony, sarcasm or satire, it should comment on injustice,
or express the moral precept of the people. For example, Asare negus is
a type of Qine poem presented in praise of a king. However, clever Qine
scholars have used it to point out injustice without inducing the wrath of
the King. The following poem presented before Emperor Bakuffa points
to the injustice of that time:

Impartial justice is practiced, O Bakuffa, in your reign.

While the poor man says,
What we have heard, we have heard;
Let your justice shine like the sun
For all office and honour under the sky
Is for those who have money (S. Pankhurst, 1955, p. 259).

Like in the other traditional schools, student life in Qine Bet is massively
implicated by the need to find food for one’s maintenance. To overcome
this challenge, the students have to share what they get from begging
(Interview, May 12, 2011). Student who accomplished their Qine study
would normally travel to certify their knowledge by comparing it with
the teaching of a different scholar at one of the famous centers of excel-
lence of Qine in the country. Pankhurst mentioned two major centers of
excellence: Bethlehem and Wadla (1955). The first focuses on “beauty of
melody and rhythm, of phrase and allusion and upon clarity of expres-
sion.” Wadla focuses on “subtlety of meaning, allusion and construction,
combined with adherence to strict grammatical rules” (1955, p. 247).

76
 Traditional Schooling and Indigenous Knowledge Production

The poems are often presented with the metaphor of Wax and Gold, sem
ena worq. While the Wax represents the obvious meaning of the poem,
the Gold is the hidden meaning that can only be found with deeper in-
vestigation (Levine, 1972). The contribution of Qine Bet to the interpre-
tative perspective in Ethiopia is as important as it is a school of critical
thinking and innovation. It furnishes fresh insight and dynamism into
the various aspects of life and the numerous possibilities of creating fresh
perspectives out of old texts.

Metsehaf Bet
Metsehaf Bet, the House of Books, is the highest level of study in Ethio-
pia’s traditional education system. There are four special fields of study
under it. The first is Biluy Kidan, or the study of the Books of Old Testa-
ment, which comprises the first forty-six Books of the Ethiopian Bible.
The second branch is Haddis Kidan, or the study of the New Testament,
which comprises the remaining thirty six books of the Bible. Here, what
is studied is not just the text of the books in the Bible but the interpreta-
tion of the text as provided by church scholars. During class, students
enter the room with bare foot, and sit surrounding the teacher. Then
they read a text from the Ge’ez Bible. The teacher first translates the
text into Amharic, then provides the application of the text in various
life contexts. The emphasis is on how the meaning of the text should be
understood in relation to other texts, or in relation to different histori-
cal and social circumstances. In this way, “when each sentence or phrase
of a text is interpreted, depending on the content, theological, moral
and historical questions are raised, discussed, and developed” (Hable-
Sellassie & Tamerat, 1970). The teacher jumps from one meaning of
the text into another using the word andimm which amounts to saying
“on the other hand.” This method of interpretation is called andimmta
tirguamme.
Tirgumm could mean interpretation or the interpretation of the inter-
pretation, and tirguamme is the process of doing either or both of these.
Although it is a dominant methodology in Metsehaf Bet, tirguamme also
occurs in popular culture and other fields (see below). In Metsehaf Bet
what is usually interpreted thorugh tirguamme is not just the text but the
meaning of the text (Interview, March 15, 2011). There are three types

77
Native Colonialism

of doing tirguamme or interpreting a text. The first one is ye’andimta

tirguamme, which is interpretation by enumerating the possible and al-
ternative meanings of the text as exhaustively as possible. The second is
netela tirguame, which is a singular interpretation of a text that requires
no further interpretations. The third one is yemister tirguamme, which is
the idiomatic interpretation of the text using analogies, heteronyms, and
the meaning of other texts. Yemister tirguamme focuses on the hidden
meaning and significance of the text by taking into account “the general
contextual meaning of the whole sentence or paragraph” ( Jembere, 1998,
p. 35). Often, the meaning of the text is compared with real life circum-
stances, or with the meanings of other texts to avoid contradiction in the
overall understanding of a particular concept.
Excessive use of memory is the biggest challenge that students face
in Metshaf Bet (Interview, Sept 18, 2011). Traditionally, lack of written
materials has been the main reason for this. However, there is also the
desire to maintain tradition, and to curb the infiltration of other reli-
gious views and ideologies (Interview, March 15, 2011). This is especially
important given controversies over religious matters fissured the unity
of church and state in the past (Tamrat, 1993). In the previous chapter,
I have shown that, based on the Kebra Nagast, Ethiopians viewed their
country as a covenant land, and an island of Christianity. Historically,
this belief enabled the country to remain as a predominantly Christian
nation although it was surrounded by Muslim countries. Although exter-
nal political and economic relations were severed, religious inspiration
continued to stir cultural dynamism, one influencing the other, ultimate-
ly evolving into an indigenous Christianity that blended Judaic, Syriac,
Byzantine, Arabic and Greek texts with indigenous beliefs and values.
Metsehaf Bet played a key role in this process by weaving the various bib-
lical texts with the cultural, historical and traditional life in the nation.
Students and scholars alike did this by using metaphors, proverbs, and
other attributes of culture to make sense of religious texts and vice versa.
Commenting on the process of education in Metsehaf Bet, Hable-Selassie
and Tamerat emphasized that,

Historical interpretations are mixed with legendary tales and special

natural events, all considered to be miracles, and even concrete phenom-
ena are given symbolical meanings. The expressions are vividly illustrated

78
 Traditional Schooling and Indigenous Knowledge Production

with parables, analogies, proverbs, and popular wisdom. Parallels are

quoted from the history of the country while interpreting the passage
on the Holy Land. Generally, the approach to reality is well mixed with
mythical attitudes (1970).

The two other branches of the Metshaf Bet are called Liqawunit and
Menekosat. Liqawunit includes the study of the writings of church fa-
thers, the study of ecclesiastical and civil law, and the study of the compu-
tation of time and calendar under the name Bahire Hasab. In the school
of Liqawunit, Fetha Nagast or the Judgment of Kings is a vital source
of the study of law ( Jembere, 1998). Initially, the book was drawn from
various apostolic canons and laws. Budge thinks that it was translated
with “an Ethiopian flavour” from an Arabic text by a priest called Abra-
ham (1928, p. 568). The Fitha Nagast, along with the entire Ethiopian
customary laws, was dismissed from public use through the 1930 Penal
Code and the 1960 Civil Code of Ethiopia ( Jembere, 1998), as will be
discussed in Chapter 4. Menekosat or the School of Monasticism is the
study of monastic literature such as Rules of Pachominus, Aregawi-Men-
fesawi or Spiritual Precepts, Lidete-Menekosat or genealogy of monks and
others (Wagaw, 1990, p. 39).
The traditional education system presented so far is not an exhaustive
presentation of the entire system. Yet, it is indicative of the indigenous
knowledge that has been preserved in a system of education for centuries.
It cements the spirit of connection between the present and the future
generations. In this regard, it would have been instructive for Ethiopian
leaders to give heed to Isaac’s recommendation:

If Ethiopian self-understanding and national consciousness are to re-

main, a major portion of the subjects of traditional learning in the three
levels of study must be retained. Much broader contact between the uni-
versity and the church, in particular between its scholars, will be needed
(1971, p. 1).

However, as will be demonstrated later in this book, Ethiopian elites ig-

nored such recommendations from prominent figures and traditional el-
ders, and adopted a new system that triumphs by destroying rather than
preserving tradition.

79
Native Colonialism

The Legacy of Interpretative Tradition

This section will focus on Ethiopia’s tradition of knowledge production
through novelty of interpretation of local and the synthesis of external
sources. The Ethiopian indigenous methodology, Tirguamme, provides
a valuable insight for the production of relevant knowledge. Tirguamme
ትርጓሜ is simply the art of giving meaning to reality or text. It is a process
that searches for meaning by focusing on the multiplicity, intention, iro-
ny and beauty of a given text. As a cultural practice, tirguaamme occurs
in the form of popular wisdom such as Wax and Gold (ሰም እና ወርቅ), alle-
gorical puzzle games (እንቆቅልሽ - ምን አውቅልሽ), the art of judicial debating
(እሰጥ ፧ ዓገባ), storytelling (ተረት ተረት) and so on. In the traditional educa-
tion system, tirguaamme is a process of inquiry into the hidden essence
of a text or reality based on the principle of ንባብ ፡ይቀትል ፡ወትርጓሜ ፡የሃዩ
። which literally means, text kills; but meaning heals. It is applied in three
interrelated fields of knowledge. First, tirguaamme appears as the study
of the interpretation of texts in Metsehaf Bet and serves as a context for
producing witty, satirical and complex poems in Qine Bet (see above).
In order to produce a glorious poem that can be celebrated with a chant
of admiration, ይበል!, by the audience, the student needs to understand
the literal meaning of the raw text (የጥሬ፡ትርጉም), its multiple meanings
(የሚ ስጥር፡ትርጏሜ) and its idiomatic meaning (የሚስጥር፡ትርጏሜ), all stud-
ied in the House of Books. Second, tirguaamme is also a process of incor-
porating foreign texts into the knowledge base, based on the principle
of creative incorporation. This principle is intended to make knowledge
relevant to the notion of covenant and place.
Traditional education in Ethiopia had the purpose of maintaining the
belief in the providential destiny of Ethiopia as a beloved nation of God.
To this end, Ethiopian scholars were determined to introduce, trans-
late, or invent various texts from internal and international sources. In
the process of importing knowledge from sources outside the country,
“the emphasis had always been on incorporating the imported materi-
als into Ethiopian realities as perceived and understood by the scholars
and scribes of the time” (Wagaw, 1990, pp. 47-48). In the process of do-
ing this, Ethiopia’s traditional scholars built a tradition of knowledge
that served as a context for the development of further knowledge us-
ing the church as the center of intellectual life. Ullendorff noted that the

80
 Traditional Schooling and Indigenous Knowledge Production

Ethiopian church tradition served as “a filter through which every facet

of thought, old or new, had to pass to be accepted, rejected, or modified.
How much was suppressed, and lost in this process can never be known”
(1965, p. 139). Ullendorff ’s concern here appears to be on the original-
ity of knowledge, on the ideas that were lost or changed in the process
of passing through the interpretative tradition of the Ethiopian church.
What is neglected in this perspective, however, is an inquiry into the out-
come of the creative blending between the Ethiopian tradition and the
imported ideas, the field of knowledge that emerges out of the process
of adapting “alien” ideas to a dynamic context. It is this field of knowl-
edge which was dismissed as non-existent through the western model of
education.
What drives the process of adapting knowledge was the search for
wisdom in meaning. From the traditional point of view, meaning, which
is “the essence of the text,” is regarded as God’s idea that can be reached
through the guidance of the Spirit of God (Interview, March 19, 2011).
Persons who interpreted texts needed divine support with appropriate
qualification to reveal the meaning behind the text, or to interpret it. In-
volving God in the process of interpretation opened a greater interest in
ethical inquiry and fields of knowledge open to the public. Guided by
the conception of wisdom as discernment and humility, the notion of
intellectual property did not exist. Even today this practice is more or less
intact. A dabtara described his long years of intellectual journey by say-
ing how God was the beginner and the finisher of his journey (Interview,
March 15, 2011). Most of the church authors were monks who lived in
monasteries which were famous centers for intellectual excellence. Based
on the aforementioned maxim “text kills; but meaning heals,” they care-
fully rewrote the various texts they had obtained from outside the coun-
try (Interview, March 19, 2011). In the process, they enriched the scope
of meaning and significance of the original texts. The detailed commen-
taries they wrote on the original texts, including the Bible, show the sig-
nificance of interpretation over translation. The argument advanced here
is that, in Ethiopia, before the beginning of the modern period, relevance
preceded originality. In this section, I will present a brief summary of the
Ethiopian interpretative literary heritage, followed by a more detailed
discussion of five works that belong to the traditional intellectual legacy
of the country.

81
Native Colonialism

Literary Tradition
Ethiopia is often regarded as “the birth place of modern thought in Africa”
(Makumba, 2007, p. 84) not only for the existence of written literature,
but because of a culture that saw learning and intellectual pursuit as
great personal qualities. Intellectual pursuit, which was to be achieved
through the interpretation of life using religious texts and vice versa,
was an important aspect of Ethiopian thought (Sumner, 2005). Isaac
presented a good summary of the body of writing and literature that
developed in the Ethiopian Orthodox church (Ephraim Isaac, 2013a,
pp. 231-276). The Bible is the primary religious text, translated first from
Greek (Septuagint) (Budge, 1928, p. 565). The Ethiopian Bible contains
81 books, 46 of which belong to the Old Testament and 35 to the New
Testament. According to Budge, some of the translated materials mani-
fest clear differences from their originals. For example, the arrangement
of the Book of Ezra is unique, and the Books of Maccabees is “entirely
different from those found in our Bible” (1928, p. 505). The Book of
Enoch and the Book of Jubilees are preserved only in Ge’ez in Ethio-
pia since the original texts have perished (Ephraim Isaac, 2013a, p. 235).
Isaac confirmed that the Ethiopian version is the oldest and most reliable
manuscript of all Enoch texts (1983). Translated around the middle of
the 4th century into Ge’ez, the book became the most widely translated
and highly influential book of all Old Testament books over the New
Testament (Charles, 1912). In addition to the Bible, various books, such
as kerilos – the teaching of Cyril, Serate Paqumis or ascetic rules – and
physiologus or fisalgwos – a book on animals and plants of ancient Greek
– were translated into Ge’ez before the 7th Century. The main text of
Ethiopia’s national epic, Kebra Nagast, was part of the literary fruits of
the 13th century. In the 13th century, detailed chronicles of Ethiopian
kings appeared. These chronicles have been translated into Latin, French,
Portuguese, German, English, Russian and more (Budge, 1928). How-
ever, as will be shown in later chapters, these materials are excluded as
sources for the teaching of Ethiopian history in the modern period.
Universal history was an important field in traditional Ethiopian
education. Summary of General History from Creation to 640 A.D.,
and The Universal History of Al-Makin (1213-1234), History of Al-
exander the Great, and the Book of Abushakir – a book of chronology

82
 Traditional Schooling and Indigenous Knowledge Production

with 59 chapters – are typical examples in this field. There were books
in ecclesiastical and Civil Law that developed from Canons of the Apos-
tles and the Didascalia, there were Apocriphical works, commentaries,
theological books, hymn books, books on calendars and astronomy, bio-
graphical works, books on grammar and many more. Translated from
Hebraic sources, the Sinodos “Synodicon,” Didssqthja “Didascalia of the
Apostles” and Metsehafe Kidan “Testament of Our Lord” were designed
to blend the Old Testament with the New Testament tradition (Haile,
1988, p. 233).
No exhaustive list of the books is known to have existed, nor is it
known how many books were translated into Amharic for the use of
ordinary Ethiopians. Especially since the 19th century, Ethiopia has lost
immeasurable intellectual resources that had been accumulated during
several centuries. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church has saved a consider-
able amount of literature for its own spiritual purposes but other sources
of knowledge that govern secular affairs have been ignored or destroyed.
As will be shown in the following chapters, the neglect of the intellec-
tual heritage of the nation has led to the progressive abandonment of
the internal worldview that Ethiopian pupils could have used to interpret
knowledge. The following short commentary on five works illustrates the
epistemological tradition that the Ethiopian intellectual heritage holds
as a source of knowledge for education.

Fisalgwos
The book of Fisalgwos is one of the earliest texts incorporated from
Greek into Ge’ez, probably around the 5th Century (Sumner, 2005). The
book starts “ድርሳን ዘብፁዕ ፊሳልጎስ ዘደረሰ በእንተ አራዊት ወአእዋፍ …” which
means “this is a book written by holy Fisalgwos about wild animals and
birds”. Although the original Greek text was written in a pagan setting,
Fisalgwos was described as bitsue, which means a holy person according
to the Ethiopian epistemological tradition that presents the author as a
reveler of divine knowledge. The book is an encyclopedia of 48 chapters
on real and imaginary animals. Sumner believed that the particular im-
portance of Fislagwos is “the light it sheds on the Ethiopian medieval
period, its rich symbolism and its rich set of moral values” (2005, p. 329).
The book is important for being the earliest text that set a unique style

83
Native Colonialism

of producing local knowledge by incorporating foreign texts, thereby

explaining domestic realities with new insights. Sumner explained this
methodology as follows:

The author follows these sources step by step; but when the opportunity
of adaptation to his allegories and to his religious speculations is sug-
gested, he does not hesitate to elaborate them without scruple, abridg-
ing them, amplifying them, transforming them radically – a pattern of
development and adaptation from original sources which will flourish in
Ethiopia in the XVI century with the Book of the Philosophers and the
Life and Maxims of Skendes (2005, p. 217).

The interpretative model aimed at reconciling two contrary interests.

On the one hand, the time was a period when Greek philosophy spread
throughout the Mediterranean and West Asian countries, following
the conquest of Alexander the Great. On the other hand, it was also a
time when Hellenistic Christianity was gaining momentum in the world
(McLean, 2002). These two factors – universal philosophy and universal
religion – were considered as centers of civilization that started to pull
the process of “global integration” towards Europe. Hence, Ethiopians
had to respond to the demand of this “global” pull towards “integration”
by interpreting Fisalgwos, one of the most fashionable books of the pe-
riod. Secondly, in Ethiopia, Christianity had already been indigenized
with a national ideology that placed Ethiopia at the center of the world.
Hence, there was the desire not just to preserve what existed but also to
use the new insight to affirm and to exemplify the internal conviction
about the centrality of Ethiopia. It is the wisdom of reconciling these two
interests that the Ethiopian translator of the Fisalgwos was concerned
with: to not be isolated from the world without losing one’s identity and
to relate to the wider world while still grounding oneself on a stable na-
tional center.

Metsehafe Felasfa Tebiban, The Book of the Wise Philosophers

Metsehafe felasfa tebiban, also known as angara falasfa or The Book of the
Wise Philosophers, is a philosophical text that demonstrates the Ethio-
pian knowledge tradition that developed through interaction with an-
cient civilizations. It is believed that the text was incorporated into Ge’ez

84
 Traditional Schooling and Indigenous Knowledge Production

between 1510 and 1522. Sumner believes that the Ge’ez text was trans-
lated from an Arabic text which in turn was a translation of a lost Greek
original (1976). Budge mentions some of the names of the philosophers
mentioned in the book as “Alexander, Aristotle, Democritus, Diogenes,
Galan, Heraclius, Hermes, Hippocratus…Plato, Porphyry, Ptolemy, Py-
thagoras, Sextus, Simonides, Socrates, Themistius, fathers of the Church
like Basil and Gregory” (1928, p. 218). The translation of the Book of
the Philosophers according to Sumner was “the return of African phi-
losophy to its home base” (2005, p. 219). The ideas of the various Greek
philosophers were reconceptualized and incorporated into the Ethiopian
knowledge tradition to provide a philosophical discourse that strength-
ened morality and spiritual life.
The delivery of the content of the book was organized in a way a
parent, teacher or an elder would advise a child, calling him/her “lijie”
which means, “my son/daughter.” The contents are full of memorable
maxims, parables and allegories, prepared in carefully crafted sentences
for oral instruction. Reading the book projects a mental setting where a
caring, wise, and affectionate teacher explains the most important mes-
sages of life and experience to their student. This method of instruc-
tion is popular in Africa and is often described as sage philosophy or
philosophical sagacity (Oruka, 1990). Makumba argued that the Met-
sehafe Falasfa Tebiban is similar to Oruka’s notion of “folk sagacity”
that expresses African philosophical wisdom (Makumba, 2007, p. 84).
The sayings are partly referenced to great philosophers of Greek, and
to Roman figures as well as to Biblical figures, often with little regard
to accuracy. Parts of the text are presented either without reference to
any person or with the phrase “it was said.” The themes raised in the
book are consistent with the concept of wisdom presented in the Kebra
Nagast. Sumner described how wisdom was presented in two senses in
the book:

Philosophy is here understood in a wider sense as ‘wisdom’. Taken sub-

jectively in the person who possesses it, wisdom includes the ability, the
inclination and the steady purpose of putting knowledge to good use.
Taking the term ‘wisdom’ in an objective sense and regarding it in a most
general way, it is the sum total of the things worth knowing and working
for (1998, p. 329).

85
Native Colonialism

This understanding of wisdom as “putting knowledge to good use” or

as “the sum total of the things worth knowing and working for” illus-
trates the ethical and axiological aspect of knowledge in the Ethiopian
tradition. Knowledgeable persons are regarded “wise” if they are able to
renounce the riches of the world in favor of wisdom, which includes the
practice of the good and the virtuous, paideia, even when what is consid-
ered good is in conflict with self-interest.

Zena Skendes Tebib, The Life and Maxim of Skendes

The Life and Maxim of Skendes is what Sumner called “an Ethiopian ver-
sion of the Oedipus story” (1981, p. 330). According to Sumner, the text
of Skendes has five versions: two western, two Eastern and one African
(1981). The western versions are Greek and Latin; the Eastern are Syriac
and Arabic; and the African is Ge’ez. These versions differ in both content
and purpose. For instance, the Ethiopian text was entirely Christian, while
the Greek text of Oedipus was pagan, and the Arabic was neither pagan
nor Christian. The Ethiopian translators introduced minor and significant
changes in the story and ideas contained in the original text. For instance,
Skendes (the Ethiopian version) grew up and studied in Athens and Bert-
tus, but Oedipus (the Greek version) in Corinth. Skendes disguised him-
self as a stranger and sleeps with his mother, but Oedipus meets his father
and kills him and then marries and sleeps with his mother. In both stories,
the mother hangs herself. After the death of his mother, Skendes lives the
rest of his days in silence and wrote 153 maxims and responses to ethical
questions that were presented to him by King Andryanos. However, Oe-
dipus famously gouges out his eyes and disappears inexplicably.
The shocking story of Oedipus is very well known throughout the
world, unlike the Ethiopian story of Skendes. Famous stories, such as Oe-
dipus, often serve as important backgrounds in the construction of new
theories. For instance, Sigmund Freud used the Oedipus story to suggest
that the earliest sexual attraction of a boy is towards his mother, which
results in an unconscious desire to kill his father: “King Oedipus, who
slew his father Laïus and married his mother Jocasta, merely shows us the
fulfilment of our own childhood wishes” (2010, p. 280). He coined the
term “Oedipus Complex” to present a common psychological condition
that occurs at the phallic stage of human development.

86
 Traditional Schooling and Indigenous Knowledge Production

The comparison between Freud’s approach and the Ethiopian inter-

pretation suggests an important insight into the diversity of epistemolog-
ical traditions between the West and Ethiopia. Freud uses the shocking
and widely known story of Oedipus to suggest that “all men are incestu-
ous and parricides in the depth of their psyche” (Sumner, 1981, p. 442).
However, the Ethiopian interpretation bends the story towards the coun-
try’s tradition of searching for wisdom. Skendes deliberately planned to
seduce his mother to disprove the teaching of philosophers that said “all
women are prostitutes.” That means, the Ethiopian translator incorpo-
rated the Greek story of Oedipus by recreating him as Skendes, a Chris-
tian adult man who believed that “the veracity of a statement is in need
of a testing, that is of an experimentation” (1981, p. 28). According to
the Ethiopian translator, the motive of the main character Skendes was
sapiential. Like the Queen of Sheba before him and the great philosopher
Zara Yacob after him, the author saw wisdom as “light” of the soul, and of
reason (Sumner, 1981, p. 54 and 446).
The two interpretations suggest the epistemological tradition of their
authors. The modern reader of Oedipus may follow Freud’s interpretation
and discover the master of accomplishment and the rebel of parental tyr-
anny, or the “solar hero who murders his procreator, the darkness; shares
his couch with the mother, the gloaming, from whose lap the dawn, he
has been born, and dies blinded, as the setting sun” (Rank, Richter, &
Lieberman, 2004, p. 10). The Ethiopian reader of Zena Skendes, on the
other hand, could discover the wise Skendes who took silence, humil-
ity, and repentance as the great qualities of life. The Ethiopian translator
uses the story of Skendes to advise the powerful: “O King, you are a man
just as I am. You depend upon all kinds of appetites just like irrational
animals; ... O Andryanos, be careful and know ... you too have beasts in
your houses, that pursue corruption from passion” (Sumner, 1981, p. 35).
The story of Skendes illustrates the importance of interpretation for
the development of multiple knowledge traditions. In Ethiopia, the story
of Skendes was presented to solidify a person’s determination to endure
ascetic life. The translator may have had this in mind in the admonishing
of women as excessively lecherous, reflecting possible attitudes towards
women at the time (Sumner, 1981, pp. 44-45). However, this injudi-
cious approach implies that interpretations are not necessarily innocent
as they require careful re-examination, as argued in the philosophy of

87
Native Colonialism

Zara Yacob. The Book of Skendes represents a “translation activity that

flourished during the whole span of Ethiopic thought” (1981, p. 437).
The following quote summarizes the traditional Ethiopian methodology
of creative incorporation as exemplified by the Book of Skendes:

A careful comparison between the Ethiopic and the Arabic texts shows
that the Ethiopian translator very often departs from the Arabic original.
He both subtracts and adds…The Ethiopian translator is clearly distin-
guishable as a deeply thinking person with a very sensitive power of per-
ception. He is a man for whom reflection is a habit. He places himself,
as it were, inside the characters he introduces; he feels with them; he
understands clearly and thoroughly their sorrows and their joys. Thanks
to such a fine portraying of moods and temperaments, the story is ethi-
cally deepened, its rather crude and shocking content is ennobled and
made more acceptable so that there can be no doubt: the Secundus story
as it is conveyed in Ethiopic is the most perfect, the most morally exalted
and the most chastened of all the preserved Secundus accounts (Sumner,
1981, pp. 437-438).

This legacy of knowledge production was totally dismissed by modern

Ethiopian elites who chose not to interpret or incorporate but imitate
western texts with complete disregard to the Ethiopian context, as will be
shown in the forthcoming chapters.

The Ethiopic Versions of the Books of Alexander the Great

Further aspects of the interpretative approach to knowledge produc-
tion can be seen in a series of “translated” books regarding the story of
Alexander the Great. The available Ethiopic versions of the story are
contained in six books, and, according to Sylvia Pankhurst, can be re-
garded as “original” works (1955, p. 218). Although the books are not
dated, it is estimated that they were written in Ethiopia in the thirteenth
century. The author/s did not translate the story literally. Instead, they
transformed the story of Alexander to fit the Ethiopian Judo-Christian
precepts and values. What appears to be governing their work was adher-
ence not to the authenticity of the original text but to the centrality of
the context. Hence, fundamental changes have been introduced. In the
words of Pankhurst, “Alexander’s victory in the chariot races described in

88
 Traditional Schooling and Indigenous Knowledge Production

the Greek version of the Pseudo-Callisthenes is discarded. Greek gods

are transformed into Old Testament prophets. Pagan kings and queens
express Christian sentiments” (1955, p. 29).
The book exemplifies wisdom as the cardinal virtue of kings, a theme
repeatedly emphasized in the Kebra Nagast. Alexander was instructed
to write “a book of wisdom” where he gave advice about parents’ re-
sponsibilities to educate their children, kings and governors responsi-
bilities “not to pervert justice, nor to prosecute the poor…but to give of
their possessions to the needy and to the stranger” (S. Pankhurst, 1955,
p. 229). The Ethiopian Ge’ez romance of Alexander as a pious man may
be the reflection of the reign of Zagwe emperors, especially that of King
Lalibela who was both a king and a priest around the same time that the
books were written.
By adopting and incorporating the knowledge of their contempo-
raries, Ethiopian traditional scholars utilized tradition as an engine of
progress. The desire to maintain tradition did not entail isolation from
the external world. Tradition involved the process of analyzing and inter-
preting knowledge from outside, then producing a knowledge that was
better served to the context. As Sumner concluded: “Ethiopians never
translate literally…they add, subtract, and modify…a foreign work be-
comes indigenous not through originality of invention but originality of
style” (1980, p. 396).

Critical Philosophy: Hateta Ze Zara Yacob

The philosophy of the 17th Century Ethiopian philosopher Zara Yacob
disproves the claim that rationalism and empiricism is the tradition of
western philosophy alone. Zara Yacob was a contemporary of Rene Des-
cartes in Europe. Sumner conducted a full investigation of the text of Zara
Yacob and his disciple Walda Hiwot to prove that “modern philosophy be-
gan in Ethiopia at the same time as in England and France” (1976, p. 275).
The philosophy of Zara Yacob can be regarded as a critical inquiry
that belonged to the tradition of the Qine Bet and the Metsehaf Bet. It can
also be seen in light of the Ethiopian tradition of learning as the search
for wisdom, whereby the student endures suffering and practices humil-
ity in search of wisdom. Zara Yacob was a well-known teacher of the
House of Books in Axum at a time when King Susenyos was converted

89
Native Colonialism

into Catholicism and those who did not accept the new religion were
prosecuted. During his four years of study in the Qine Bet and ten years of
study in the Metsehaf Bet, Zara Yacob learned the interpretation of truth
based on various religious books. He fled prosecution and spent two
years in a cave where he meditated on various philosophical questions
while praying using the Book of Psalms in the tradition of the Orthodox
Church.
Sumner identified three fundamental points in the philosophy of
Zara Yacob. These include the need of critical examination of all faiths
and customs, the consideration of reason as “a light” that leads us to truth,
and the goodness of nature (Sumner, 2004, p. 176). For Zara Yacob, the
controversy regarding truth among Orthodox, Catholic, Islamic and Jew-
ish followers shows that these institutions and other people cannot be-
come real sources of truth. His belief in the existence of God as a morally
just being who expresses love, justice, goodness in all created things, and
who shares his intelligence to human beings, is a critical point. Thus, the
proper use of human intelligence is the only path to truth. He wrote, “if it
is truth that we want, let us seek it with our reason which God has given
us so that with it we may see that which is needed for us” (Sumner, 1976,
p. 13). This is because, “we cannot … reach truth through the doctrine
of men, for all men are liars” (1976, p. 13). There is no doubt that Zara
Yacob is committed to human reason above any religious teaching. He
rejected the Bible or the Quran or any other text as a final word on truth.
However, it is important to consider whether this rejection amounts to a
total break with tradition or a process that transforms tradition.
Western Enlightenment is often regarded as a break from tradition.
Scholars associate progress and modernization with the abandonment of
tradition. Instead of studying the histories and literatures of the “fathers,”
Emerson wrote, “why should not we also enjoy original relation to the
universe? Why should not we have a poetry and philosophy of insight
and not of tradition, and a religion by revelation to us, and not the histo-
ry of theirs?” (2001, p. 27). This view of Enlightenment is often accepted
by African scholars who hold essentialist views of tradition and regard
western rationalism as the condition of modernization. The philoso-
phy of Zara Yacob suggests that the neutrality of reason from tradition
could be doubted by considering the close relationship one’s experience
has with their ability to reason. The use of reason, as presented by Zara

90
 Traditional Schooling and Indigenous Knowledge Production

Yacob, is an ongoing inquiry to improve what one perceives or gains from

tradition. Whether rejected or accepted, a proper knowledge of existing
traditions is an essential starting point of inquiry. Zara Yacob was educat-
ed in the traditional education system and developed a deep awareness of
the shortcomings and contradictions of various truth claims. Although
he understands the traditional approach to the questions he was asking,
he kept inquiring, “If God is the guardian of men, how is it that their
nature is this deeply corrupted?” “How does God know? Is there anyone
in heaven who knows? Or if there is anyone who knows why does he re-
main silent on men’s depravity while they corrupt his name and act with
iniquity in his holy name?” This inquiry does not take place in a tabula
rasa mind; nor was there any need for a total departure from tradition.
Zara Yacob had been committed to the prayer of the faithful, constantly
asking God to make him intelligent. Although Zara Yacob refused to
call himself a follower of a particular religion, the knowledge that served
him as a context and source for critical inquiry came from tradition. By
challenging what many took for granted, he did not reject the knowl-
edge he acquired from tradition; rather, he transformed it. Sumner noted
that, “from an intellectual viewpoint, Zera Yacob was a dove, free and
independent, as he soared over the jagged divisions of the earth with its
mountains and chasms huddled one against the other” (2004, p. 195).
However, one should also remember how the relationship between this
“free and independent” mind and the intellectual context in which it op-
erated was established and mediated. Tradition furnishes the breadth of
memory and the stretch of imagination to a scholarly personality. Zara
Yacob’s hatata suggests that traditional knowledge without critical reflec-
tion is static, and critical reflection without traditional knowledge is er-
ratic. This methodological approach provides an interesting insight into
the interpretative model of education that I have sketched so far. What
has been provided so far under the intellectual legacy of Ethiopia is the
wealth of knowledge accumulated from the traditional education system
in which Zara Yacob was an accomplished scholar. Thus, Zara Yacob’s
hatata should be considered not as a negation of Ethiopia’s cultural belief
systems, but as a contribution to it (T. Asfaw, 2004).
In the process of accumulating the wealth of knowledge from various
sources such as Fisalgwos, Oedipus or Skendes, Alexander the Great and
so on, Ethiopia’s traditional scholars used what Sumner called “creative

91
Native Colonialism

incorporation,” the process of subjecting the imported knowledge to do-

mestic beliefs, values and interests (1998, p. 443). What has been brought
from outside was incorporated into the inside, not the other way around.
Zara Yacob appeared to have gone even further by trying to avoid the
prioritization of the inside over the outside; by putting all beliefs, includ-
ing his own, under the critical, rational, intellectual investigation of the
human mind. But, it should be noted that the critical mind is created and
developed through dialogue with the context; it is the constant dialogue
with the context that produces knowledge. Thus, Zara Yacob’s hatata is
not a total negation of traditional or cultural experience. It is an affirma-
tion of faith and of culture by the use of reason- a philosophical method
for the possible fashioning of human experience through the practice of
critical inquiry.

Conclusion
This chapter presented an important aspect of Ethiopia’s traditional
legacy that could have been used as a source of knowledge for educa-
tion today. I focused on two important processes involving in the tradi-
tional education system. The first one is the various levels of schooling or
“Houses” made available through the traditional system. The existence
of such a sophisticated indigenous system provides a background and
context for intergenerational transmission of wisdom and values. It pro-
moted the key axiological imperatives – the notion of covenant, wisdom,
service, and center – that were upheld in the long political and social his-
tory of the country. For instance, the notion of covenant presented in the
previous chapter, is extended here to cover the personal conviction of the
student to pursue wisdom. Believing that students are chosen by the will
of God for a destiny of service, they endure a harsh living condition in
search for wisdom. The free service they give to the people at church and
the daily leftovers they would gather from the public to sustain them-
selves at school rooted them in the culture of the people. In this respect,
the Ethiopian Orthodox church provided a fertile intellectual context for
modern ideas to flourish (Ephraim Isaac, 2013a).
The second important point is the legacy of knowledge production in
Ethiopia. This methodological insight is fundamentally important to the

92
 Traditional Schooling and Indigenous Knowledge Production

African continent as it counters arguments that present Africa as without

any worthwhile knowledge traditions. In Ethiopia, ideas and texts were
gathered from a range of sources, including non-Christian materials, but
they were molded and remade to serve the national precepts and values
at home. This process is known as tirguamme, a method of interpreta-
tion studied at the higher level of education, and employed by Ethiopian
scholars who incorporated books from Hebraic, Greek, and Arabic origi-
nals. The principle of “nibab yiqetil wotirguamme yehayou” – “text kills;
but meaning heals” – means that any text, irrespective of its source, is
considered raw and is thus in need of interpretation. Consequently, even
the Bible had to be translated into the local context and its commentaries
studied by heart in the Metsehaf Bet. The interpreted texts by virtue of
interpretation should be understood as original works, or contributions
to knowledge. The significance of the hatata of Zara Yacob is not due to
its similarity or difference with Descartes but because it is the fruit of the
Qine Bet and the Metsehaf Bet; it exemplifies the dynamism and hope the
interpretative spirit of the traditional system holds for the future.
Currently, Ethiopian church scholars still express national senti-
ments, and uphold the interpretative perspectives discussed in this and
the previous chapter. However, since the middle of the 20th century, there
is a marked decline in this respect. Largely, Ethiopian governments since
then, and to some extent the Orthodox Church Administration itself,
advocated alien ideologies that undermined the principles of the Kebra
Nagast and the interpretative legacy of the traditional education system.
My observations in this chapter should not be seen as some kind of pro-
posal that the modern education system should be replaced by the tradi-
tional school system; rather, I am arguing that relevant education must
consider the intellectual legacy of the country if it is to be relevant to
the people. I am also not promoting a form of uncritical nostalgia with
the past. Instead, I am arguing that Ethiopia has a rich knowledge tradi-
tion with some elements that could enrich the education and life of the
country. In a more general sense, the central argument being advanced
throughout this chapter and book is that people should not be discon-
nected from their traditional experiences because their experiences em-
body the most important resources for their education. Only in this way,
education becomes an internally driven and dynamic cultural experience.

93
 chapter 4

The Rise of Epistemic Violence

Against Traditions

Introduction

T
he chief characteristic of modernization has always been its strong
association with western experience. Three successive stages can
be identified in the history of the introduction of western knowl-
edge which influenced (and continues to influence) how modernization
manifests in Africa. The first one was the stage of optimism where the
soft and friendly gesture of western missionaries and explorers was wel-
comed as a sign of a “benevolent civilizer.” David Livingston, Henry Salt
and many other explorers were welcomed in this spirit of optimism. The
second was the stage of frustration that occurred with the realization that
the “benevolent civilizer” was a powerful master that enforced only its
own interests and ideas through force or coercion. In Africa, the most
important realization of this process occurred through colonialism, a sys-
tem of violence characterized by punitive raids, dispossession of lands,
invalidation of local traditions and a legacy that reproduces violence in
the postcolonial period. In the third stage, the frustration led to the gen-
eration of various discourses and the implementation of practices that
eventually tamed the frustration into submission. Mudimbe argues that
the colonizing structure dominated not just the physical landscape but
most importantly, the mental spaces and the imagination of the people
(1988). Colonialism precipitated the impossibility to imagine modern-
ization without westernization.
Native Colonialism

The Ethiopian experience of modernization differs from the rest of

Africa, given that it was the only African country never to be colonized,
but remarkably it is still heavily influenced by western epistemology.
Ethiopia was initially defiant of the powerful colonial master, both epis-
temologically and militarily. Its indigenous worldview helped mobilize
its people from the vast and rugged plateau land of Abyssinia to stand in
unison and defeat the Italian colonial attempt at the Battle of Adwa in
1896. However, like many other African countries, eventually, Ethiopia
fell victim of Eurocentrism that presents modernization as synonymous
with westernization. The process of this transition involves two types of
violence: epistemic violence against traditions and physical violence to
quell dissent. Epistemic violence involves the suppression of local world-
views, customs, authorities and practices by a new system of knowledge
that is imposed or imitated from an alien source. An alien epistemology
becomes violent when it creates a strong association with power and priv-
ilege, with the consequence of objectifying and suppressing local knowl-
edges. This chapter examines Ethiopia’s transition from a monarchical
system based on the notion of covenant and wisdom to a country ruled
by elitist western institutions and imitated concepts through a critical
analysis of the development of western education and legal systems in the
country. It begins by identifying a critical turning point towards western-
ization in the history of the country.

The Rise of Tewodros: ‘It is possible to make everything

in Habesha’
In Ethiopia, the period between 1800 and 1855 is called Zammana Ma-
safint. The power of the central state was weakened as the country was
divided among regional lords who battled to control the center by put-
ting the Emperor under their influence. The end of this era of unrest was
foretold by the ancient Ethiopian book of prophesy called Fikare Eyesus.
The book can be seen as an attempt to provide guidance and hope to
the people during a time of turbulence. It is a text that comes from the
tradition of creative incorporation. Prophesies about the coming of evil
times were selected from various spiritual texts and were used to warn
the people to remain faithful as a just king by the name Tewodros would

96
 The Rise of Epistemic Violence Against Traditions

come to protect the needy and render justice. According to Wolde-­

Aregay, Zemmana Masafint and the prophesy in Fikare Eyesus were the
two most important factors that facilitated the rise of Kassa Hailu as
Tewodros II, King of Kings of Ethiopia (1990). Kassa was born from
a royal father and a poor kosso (medicinal plant) vending mother. He
started as a low ranking governor at a small province called quara. His
chronicler Aleka Zeneb described him as a pious man with a burning
passion for justice. His ambition was to restore the glory of Ethiopia as
a covenant land and to free Jerusalem from the hands of the Turks. He
mobilized a strong army that defeated the strongest powers of the Zem-
mana Masafint.
In 1861, Tewodros II decided to experiment with the manufacturing
of cannons in Ethiopia. He organized a team of workers that included
Jaquin, a French metal-caster living in Ethiopia who volunteered to make
a mortar, local artisans and European missionaries. A blast furnace was
built and traditional bellows installed to melt the iron. At the first at-
tempt, the furnace melted before the iron reached the melting point.
Frustrated by the failed attempt, Jaquin left the team but the King re-
mained determined to advance the project using the missionaries and lo-
cal artisans as part of the team. After repeated attempts and innumerable
failures, a small sized cannon was manufactured. As reported by one of
the missionaries, Tewodros declared, “Now I am convinced that it is pos-
sible to make everything in Habesha [Ethiopia]. Now the art has been
discovered; God at last has revealed Himself. Praise and thanks be to
Him for it” (qtd. in R. Pankhurst, 1990b, p. 129). The manufacturing of
cannons using traditional equipment signified the birth of a new hope
for an internally driven progress that creatively incorporated local and
external knowledge and skill.
The facility used to manufacture the cannon was the result of tradi-
tional skills. Ethiopians knew how to melt iron and make spears, plow-
shares, knives and other tools. This innovative transformation of the
equipment of Ethiopian traditional artisans into a gun-making factory
was recorded by the British traveler Henry Dufton:

The metal was melted in some thirty crucibles, on fires in the ground,
blown by hand-bellows of the most primitive description – consisting
of a leather bag, the mouth of which is opened on being drawn up for

97
Native Colonialism

the receipt of air, and closed and when the air is to be driven by pres-
sure through the clay tube conducting to the fire (qtd. in R. Pankhurst,
1990b, p. 130).

The description fits the most common design of traditional iron-melting

practices in the country. Dufton wrote, “Every encouragement is given
by the king to his people in their endeavors to perfect themselves in the
manufacture of these implements, for he is fully aware that this is the best
way to secure his independence of other nations” (qtd. in 1990b, p. 130).
The production of weapons continued without the support of the British
whom Tewodros first saw as an ally but later as enemy. By 1868, when
the British stormed Tewodros’ fortress at Meqdalla and he committed
suicide to avoid capture, it was discovered that “the Ethiopian ruler had
24 brass cannons, four iron cannons and nine brass mortars, the latter
all made in Ethiopia some with neat inscriptions in Amharic” (1990b,
p. 131).
The industrial initiatives pursued by Tewodros were not limited to
the making of cannons. There were also road and vehicle construction,
and boat building efforts. The road construction was designed to link the
towns of Gondar, Gojjam and Meqdalla. According to a British eyewit-
ness “[the] craftsmen, with Tewodros’ approval, at about this time also
constructed a carriage to travel on these roads, one of the first such ve-
hicles ever seen in the land” (1990b, p. 134). Henry Blanc, one of the
British missionaries who was present at the construction work, observed
that:

From early dawn until late at night Theodore was himself at work; with
his own hands he removed stones, leveled the ground, or helped to fill up
small ravines. No one could leave as long as he was there himself; no one
would think of eating, drinking, or of rest, while the Emperor showed the
example and shared the hardships (qtd. in R. Pankhurst, 1990b, p. 135).

Blanc noted that, the road was admired as “remarkable work” with “a
kingly structure” and was “creditable even to a European engineer” (qtd.
in 1990b, pp. 135-136). Another industrial initiative undertaken by Te-
wodros was the effort at boat building. When the missionaries pleaded
ignorance to this initiative, Tewodros spent almost one month in April

98
 The Rise of Epistemic Violence Against Traditions

1866 attempting to build what he called “an imitation of a steamer”

(1990b, p. 136). Another British observer noted:

Two large boats, sixty feet long and twenty feet wide midships, with
wooden decks, and a couple of wheels affixed to the sides of each to be
turned by a handle like that attached to a common grindstone, were ac-
cordingly constructed (Rassam qtd. in R. Pankhurst, 1990b, p. 136).

Although the effort failed as the material used was of unsuitable quality
to a steam boat, it nevertheless was the first attempt to build a navy in the
country, and challenged the myth of impossibility in relation to indus-
trial innovation in Africa.

The Meqdalla Effect: Locating the Turning Point

Tewodros pursued friendly cooperation with Britain based on the val-
ue of Christian fraternity. Surrounded by Muslim countries, and facing
the threat of Turkish and Egyptian invasions, Tewodros assumed that
he would create a friendly alliance with the British due to his Christian
faith. His letters strongly reflected these sentiments. His letter to Queen
Victoria reflected this as he wrote, “as you are a child of Christ and I am a
child of Christ, for the sake of Christ I am seeking amity and friendship”
(G. Asfaw & Appleyard, 1979, p. 1b).
The relationship he tried to establish with Britain was based on the
principle of searching wisdom through humility as provided in the Kebra
Nagast. In a letter that appears to be exceptionally important, as it de-
tails the date of its authorship to be “7358 years after the creation of the
world, 1858 years after the birth of the Lord, in the year of Mark, in the
month of megabit, on the six day,” Tewodros wrote to Queen Victoria:
“May God having placed in your heart friendship and love for me, grant
that you may open my blind eyes for my sake” (G. Asfaw & Appleyard,
1979, p. 11b). In another letter, he wrote: “Now, what I require is wis-
dom, so that my eyes may be illuminated for I am blind. But now, so that
I may be happy just as you are happy, by the power of God have skilled
men sent to me” (G. Asfaw & Appleyard, 1979, p. 15b).
Tewodros’ adherence to the traditional views of wisdom and humility
as contained in the Kebra Nagast is clear from the conception of wisdom

99
Native Colonialism

as light, ignorance as blindness, humility as virtue, and boastfulness as

vice. In the Kebra Nagast, The Queen of Sheba used the world “light” to
represent wisdom and humility was the method through which wisdom
would be acquired (Kebra Nagast, 1932, p. 20). Humility builds relation-
ships by initiating the mutual moral obligation of the parties concerned
to extend a helping hand to one another. Tewodros’ correspondences
were full of the expression “by the power of God” as an introductory
phrase to almost all promises and actions. He asked for technical skills
or “light” as he called it, from Britain with the greatest possible humil-
ity, calling himself the “untutored Ethiopian” and “a blind donkey” that
needed the sight of technology. Considering that humility is a virtue in
Christianity, he believed his expression would be understood as the sign
of a wise emperor who was clean from the vice of arrogance. However,
Tewodros did not receive responses to the letters he wrote. Even worse,
he learned that the British were actually supporting the expansionist
ambitions of Khedive Ismael of Egypt into the northern territories of
Ethiopia (S. Pankhurst, 1955, p. 509). Infuriated by this neglect, and by
internal rebellion, he started to take harsh measures. He punished his
opponents severely, and imprisoned the British diplomats and few mis-
sionaries, alleging that they “insulted” him (Haile-Selassie, 1996). This
can be seen in the following letter, dated 5 January 1867, from Tewodros
to the head of the British envoy:

In the name of the father and the Son and of the Holy Ghost, one God.
King of Kings Theodore. May it reach Mr. Rassam. …Even Solomon,
the Son of David, the great king, the Creature of God and the slave of
God, had great trouble in building a Temple. He courted Hiram, King
of Tyre, fell at his feet, implored him and, after having received and im-
ported artisans, had the Temple built. But now, as I fell at the feet of
the great English Queen, all her nobles, the people of her country, and
all her armed forces, girding and undoing (my samma), as I was court-
ing them, I discovered that Mr. Stern and his companions were insulting
and humiliating me. Subsequently when I sent a letter of friendship…
the great English Queen, the defender of the oppressed poor…withheld
an answer from me. …Subsequently I heard it said that the English and
Turks had become allies and were hostile to me (G. Asfaw & Appleyard,
1979, pp. 27-28).

100
 The Rise of Epistemic Violence Against Traditions

The British decided to send a heavily armed battalion to capture or kill

Tewodros. With the assistance of powerful Ethiopian allies who wanted
to overthrow Tewodros, the troops arrived at his capital Meqdalla. After
the loss of many of his troops, Tewodros chose to take his own life rather
than to surrender himself to the British. This became a defining moment
in Ethiopian history. The British troops looted and burned several rare
Ethiopian intellectual resources that were gathered by Tewodros for the
National Library he had built at Meqdalla. It was reported that “some
200 mules and 15 elephants were needed to carry the loot down to the
Dalanta plain” (R. Pankhurst, 1990b, p. 224). The entire collection of
royally-illuminated parchments, books, manuscripts and other objects
were left scattered covering the whole surface of the rocky citadel. To add
insult to injury, “the British sappers set fire to all buildings so that no
trace was left of the edifices which once housed the manuscripts” (1990b,
p. 224).
The most significant development from the storming of Meqdalla was
the development of what I call the consciousness of power – the subjection
of consciousness to the disciplinary power of a superior gaze – towards
the West. The destruction of Tewodros’ weapons and technology, his sui-
cide and the looting of the capital’s treasury created an inward looking
policy that made his successors focus on strengthening their internal po-
litical power-base rather than pursuing innovative approaches.
Tewodros’ successor, Yohannis IV, was very suspicious of Ethiopians
educated in Europe, and was interested in religious conversion towards
Orthodox Christianity. He was driven towards developing internal
crafts rather than importing foreign artisans from abroad, and was dis-
interested in sending Ethiopians to study overseas (R. Pankhurst, 1990a,
pp. 256-257). The handcraft work at his court was remarkably well ad-
vanced. A British eyewitness reported the production of tools, jewelry,
embroidery, royal clothing, goldsmiths and silversmiths who produced
“ear-rings, hairpins, bracelets, the lighter ornaments for the shields and
sword-handles and the head stalls of the mule and horses were of fili-
gree; lockets, bosses for the shield, harness and saddle” (S. Pankhurst,
1955, p. 512). According to the eyewitness, the production of Ethiopian
crosses was “much prettier” than anything he had witnessed in Europe
(1955, p. 513). He also saw the leather workers who produced “shields,
scabbards, saddlers, harness, belts…bags of all sizes, bandoliers, cartridge

101
Native Colonialism

belts, pouches and sandals” (1955, p. 513). There were women’s hand-
crafts, such as colorful baskets, grass bottles and bowls that were “perfect-
ly watertight” with the finest embroidery, and “many women wore slip-
pers or sandals, and anklets and bracelets of silver, with silver necklaces
and small circular, square, or triangular lockets, beautifully wrought, with
tiny ear-rings of gold or silvergilt” (1955, pp. 512-515). He emphasized
that, “there is no lack of skill in the country,” and deplored the absence of
commerce between Ethiopia and Europe blaming the Egyptian Govern-
ment for keeping it “entirely locked from the outer world” (1955, p. 514).
Following Emperor Yohannis, Emperor Menelik II focused on re-
unifying and bringing the southern parts of the country into an effec-
tive administrative control. He forged a new era of relationship with the
West that grew into a fully-fledged system of westernization during the
period of Haile Selassie I. Since the storming of Meqdalla, the relation-
ship with Europe was heavily influenced by consciousness of power, es-
pecially manifested in the desire for firearms from Europe. Eventually,
Europe was accepted as a model of progress, a source of modernization,
and a center of knowledge that could be copied through education. This
consciousness of power legitimized the imitation of western systems and
institutions that would go on to produce epistemic violence.

The Imitation of European Laws

Tradition and law are not necessarily antagonistic to each other. In fact,
law could be understood as a refined stage of evolving traditions. One can
trace the origin of European law to Greek and Roman legal traditions.
German Lutheranism and English Calvinism were important traditions
for the development of Civil and Common law systems in Europe. Ac-
cording to Berman, law creates the continuity between the past and the
future; it develops from “conscious reinterpretation of the past to meet
present and future needs. The law evolves, is ongoing, it has a history, it
tells a story” (2003, p. 3). However, Berman’s notion of organic law is not
a common feature of all legal systems. While Europe may have cultivated
its traditions to grow organic laws at home, it has also forced its colo-
nies to abandon their traditions to allow the transplantation of European
laws. In Africa, colonialism obliterated the organic link between law and
tradition. It legalized colonial traditions that subordinated the natives

102
 The Rise of Epistemic Violence Against Traditions

to the settlers, the colonized to the colonizers; it essentialized ethnic be-

longing by transferring the administration of ethnic identity from flex-
ible customary practices to fixed legal rules. Postcolonial elites adopted
the colonial system that “legalized” the absolute power of the leaders
without the consent of the people. Though Ethiopia was the only African
country not to be colonized by Europe, the development of a conscious-
ness of power towards the West, as discussed in the previous section, fa-
cilitated the adoption of western laws and institutions. The legal history
of Ethiopia reveals the emergence of a system of elite rule that based its
justification on the promise of a new beginning.
The concept of addis, the new, is often considered as zemenawi, which
means modern or western. The first modern capital of the country was
named “Addis Ababa,” which means “New Flower.” Since Haile Selassie
came to power in the 1930s, Ethiopian leaders have used popular slogans
vowing for the birth of a new Ethiopia. This notion of the new is always
imagined by its clear distinction from the old. The conception of the
new as a break from the past, from tradition to modernization, led to the
adoption of new laws that invalidated the old and traditional ones. Tra-
ditional and customary laws of the country were scrapped and replaced
with imitated European laws in order to create a new way of ruling so-
ciety. The new laws became instruments of violence against traditions:
they paved the way through which the binding power of custom and
tradition could be obliterated and replaced by strong elitist institutions
and systems in Ethiopia. This section analyzes the transition of Ethiopia
from monarchial to westernized system of rule through the adoption of
western law.
The legal history of Ethiopia reveals a deep antagonism between tra-
ditional and modern conceptions of law. Abera Jembere noted that un-
like European countries that achieved constitutionalism through social
evolution and the influential teachings of philosophers, a move towards
constitutionalism in Ethiopia was introduced by Emperor Haile Selassie I
(1998, p. 166). Using his traditional authority, the emperor granted mod-
ern constitutions to his subjects: the first in 1931, and the second in 1955.
The 1931 constitution created a bicameral parliament with the House
of Senate whose members were appointed by the emperor himself, and
the House of Deputies whose members were elected by the nobility. It
created an executive branch of government with the emperor at the top

103
Native Colonialism

of the executive with specified powers and prerogatives. It stipulated the

rights and duties of the people, the powers of ministers and judges, and
the budget of the government (1998, p. 169). Through the constitution,
obedience to the law became a condition of relating with the state as an ap-
pointee or an employee. Article 19 of the 1931 Constitution sets out the
new rule of relationship between persons and ideas, or individuals and in-
stitutions based on the personification of the law. Article 19 declares that:

All Ethiopian subjects, provided they fulfil the conditions prescribed by

the Law and by the decrees promulgated by His Majesty the Emperor, may
be designated officers of the army or may be appointed to any other offices
or posts in the service of the State (“Ethiopian Constitution of 1931”).

The vocabularies used in the constitution to create new fields for the
exercise of power were hitherto unknown in the country. Parliament,
senate, chamber, ministers, executive, decree, and judiciary allowed the
emergence of new sets of institutions that required new rules of inclu-
sion and exclusion to office, based on new skills, beliefs, and experiences.
The emperor became the Head of the Executive, the “fountain of justice,”
the agent of change, the law-giver, the Commander-in-Chief, and the
defender of the Orthodox Church ( Jembere, 1998, p. 165). He main-
tained the power to decide the organization of the administration, the
constitution of the army, the declaration of war, the signing of a treaty
with foreign powers, and the granting of titles of power, land, or pardon.
Traditionally, most of these prerogatives were not new. However, what
was new was their objectification by means of a written law. Like material
objects, they were extracted from their traditional contexts, turned into
appropriable or deniable goods, and became the exclusive holdings of the
power of the emperor. This totalization and objectification of power sym-
bolized by the constitution became one of the most important aspects of
transition from the monarchial system to Elitdom, a system of political
rule established by concepts and practices that are alien to the beliefs and
experiences of the people. The notion of power that was embedded in
traditional relationships started to move to a new vision of power that
could be controlled only from the center by the use of written alien rules.
The constitution did not guarantee ways through which the nobility
could share in the power of the government ( Jembere, 1998, pp. 167-168).

104
 The Rise of Epistemic Violence Against Traditions

Conflict between members of the nobility and the emperor ensued that
led to a compromise that resulted in the addition of a second part to
the constitution. The addition recognized the rights and privileges of
the nobility, especially their rist gult which is their granted land holdings
(1998, p. 168). However, their independent authority was nevertheless
construed by the unlimited power of the emperor (Clapham, 1969). In
the constitutional document, under the signature of the emperor, a state-
ment was included which reads:

We, bishops, princes, nobles, officials and scholars of Ethiopia have agreed
to be bound by this constitution granted by Emperor Haile Selassie I. To
clarify the first part, we have also reached agreement to the terms of these
specific provisions (Wolde-Meskel, 1970 [1962 EC], p. 58).

For the first time in the history of the country, the source of authority
for leadership emanated from a document written under the influence
of consciousness of power. The symbolic significance of the document is
very important as it moved the source of authority from society, from tra-
ditional relationships of obligation and belonging, to the hands of elites
at the pinnacle of power. It augured the coming of Elitdom. It led to the
triumph of the letter, the written word, as an important means of claim-
ing power over the society. By extracting authority and legitimacy from
traditional sources, and putting them in the hands of the Emperor by
means of a constitution, the central state became the sole justification not
just for the Emperor’s function and power, but also for its own existence.
Article 5 of the 1931 constitution declared the unconditional sanctity of
the power of the emperor as:

By virtue of His Imperial Lineage as well as by the anointment he re-

ceived, the person of the Emperor is sacred, His dignity inviolate and His
power incontestable. He therefore enjoys by right to all honors due him
by tradition and in conformity with the present Constitution. The Law
provides that whoever shall dare to harm the Majesty of the Emperor
shall be punished (“Ethiopian Constitution of 1931 “).

This process of making power its own referent by removing it from its
legitimizing and mitigating contexts in tradition was intensified by the

105
Native Colonialism

second constitution in 1955. The second constitution was initiated by

the federation of Eritrea with Ethiopia ( Jembere, 1998, p. 170). The
drafting process took six years. Three American experts and three Ethio-
pian scholars were active in the process. The American constitution was
its principal source. Jembere noted that important individual freedoms
and rights from the US constitution were introduced, such as habeas
corpus; the prohibition of ex-post facto legislation; freedom of the press
and assembly; protection against searches and seizures, and the taking
of property without compensation; the due process clause and the right
to be confronted with witnesses; and assistance in obtaining witnesses
(1998). Various European constitutions and the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights were also consulted.
The introduction of these greater constitutional guarantees should be
seen hand in hand with the ever growing power of the Emperor. The 1955
constitution made the emperor a Head of State, a Head of Government,
and the overseer of the justice through his Crown Court which reviewed
judgments given by the regular courts. In reality, the King of Kings was
free to rule with more absolute power than any of his predecessors. The
extent to which the constitution contained provisions that allowed great-
er freedoms and rights had little significance to ordinary people who had
no access to the modern courts. The rights provided under the constitu-
tion and other legal regimes were granted from the Emperor; they were
not part of the daily vocabulary of interaction among individuals and,
they did not become part of the living culture of the people (Beckstrom,
1973). The people hardly established their relationships through them
or saw the laws as their absolute guarantors for the protection of their
interests. Also, they seldom were able to exercise accountability over their
leaders using the laws. However, the adoption of western legal and politi-
cal ideas in the society without the peoples’ active participation allowed
elites to lead the people into a process of domestication, a situation that
increased the dependency of the people on elite institutions, and elite
leadership, while alienating them from traditional relationships that had
offered some customary protections.
The reason for the lack of participation was not because the concepts
of law and rights were alien to Ethiopians. Quite the contrary, several cas-
es could be presented to show that in Ethiopia, there was a rich tradition
that upheld law and justice as great ideals. Fitih Fitretawi, which means

106
 The Rise of Epistemic Violence Against Traditions

natural justice, is a well-known concept in the traditional education sys-

tem. The proverb “a chicken lost without justice is more cause for concern
than a mule gone fairly judged” expresses the significance of justice in the
culture of the people ( Jembere, 1998, p. 31). The tradition of the road
side courts where disputing individuals would submit themselves to any
passer-by on the street for arbitration is another example. The passer-by
would hear both parties and give his judgment based on the common
belief which says, “Justice is given by man according to his view and by
God because He is all-knowing” (1998, p. 29). If one or both parties dis-
agree with the judgment of the passer-by, the latter would tie the tip of
the clothes of both parties, and refer them to the nearest authorities. The
proverb, “the law ties together the shabby garment of the poor with the
finest outfit of the rich” reflects the cultural basis of this tradition (1998,
p. 30).
The presentation of law in a written form is not a new experience ei-
ther. In 1450, King Zara Yacob ordered Orthodox Church scholars to
prepare a written law. The church scholars submitted a draft which be-
came a law under the name Fewuse Menfesawi, which means “spiritual
remedy,” or “canonical penances.” The book had 62 articles but its ap-
plication was limited to the reign of Zara Yacob, and it governed spiri-
tual affairs more than secular ones. Another legal document that became
influential in Ethiopia’s legal history was the Fitha Nagast or Justice of
Kings, which governed civil and criminal matters. According to Budge,
the Fitha Nagast was initially drawn from various apostolic canons and
laws and was translated from an Arabic text with “an Ethiopian flavour”
(1928, p. 568). Hence, it belongs to the interpretative and incorporative
tradition of knowledge in the country. However, the new regimes of laws
introduced since Haile Selassie did not consider the importance of these
and other traditional laws.
Imitation, not interpretation, was the principal mechanism by which
the new laws were adopted. Following the constitution of 1955, six codes
were issued. These include a civil code, a penal code, a commercial code,
a maritime code, a civil procedure code, and a criminal procedure code.
“These codes were all either drafted by foreign lawyers or inspired by for-
eign sources” (Vanderlinden, 1966-1967, p. 255). The codification pro-
cess of the 1960 Civil Code of Ethiopia provides a useful illustration.
The Civil Code, composed of five books with 3367 articles, is the biggest

107
Native Colonialism

body of law that regulates large areas of life in the country today. Two ac-
tors took part in the codification process. They included an expert and a
commissioner. The expert was a French jurist called Rene David who was
commissioned to prepare a draft code for Ethiopia. The commission was
comprised of Ethiopian individuals elected to discuss the draft. Accord-
ing to Singer, the expert brought European norms, and the commission
brought the values of the ruling section of the Ethiopian Empire, making
both parties unrepresentative of the values of the majority of Ethiopians
(Singer, 1970). Moreover, the commission was more or less insignificant
as it had “a role little more important than that of a translator” (1970,
p. 51). Commenting on the absence of interaction between the expert
and the commission, Singer argued that:

The interaction between the expert and the Commission would obvious-
ly be crucial to the final working product. But here the expert was given
a special status; though a member of the Commission, he was considered
superior and did not work with the other commissioners, as one would
have expected (1970, p. 50).

The outcome was a code “heavily influenced by the French model, and
that all of the rules examined are products of a single (western) legal
culture, with a common core of categories and history” ( Jembere, 1998,
p. 163). Jembere noted that “the customary law – so to speak, the ‘pure
peoples’ law – was largely scrapped” (1998, p. 39) by the following pro-
vision: “Unless otherwise expressly provided, all rules whether written
or customary previously in force concerning matters provided for in this
Code shall be replaced by this Code and are hereby repealed” (“Civil
Code of Ethiopia, 1960, Negarit Gazzeta, Proclamation no. 165/1960,
19th Year no. 2.,” Art. 3347, 1). The scrapping of traditional laws achieved
by this provision was “unprecedented in Africa and, it seems, without re-
cent precedent anywhere” (Krzeczunowiczi, 1963, p. 175). Criticizing
the sweeping nature of the law, Brietzke observed that “David’s inability
to recognize custom as law contributes to the ‘fantasy law’ atmosphere
of the Codes” (1974, p. 155). He argued that this complete disregard
of Ethiopian traditional laws and custom had a colonial character. By
discarding the traditional and customary laws of the country, the new
regime of laws disregarded the interest of the majority of Ethiopians and

108
 The Rise of Epistemic Violence Against Traditions

“served the interests of those who would preserve the status quo – the
westernized, landed and urbanized elite” (1974, p. 167).

Centralization and Elite Absolutism

The adoption of western laws had the effect of creating institutions that
are violent to tradition. The most significant manifestation of this vio-
lence is the silencing of local histories, knowledges and experiences, while
reinventing the state as a sole source of authority using instruments of
power that are alien to the people. According to Clapham, the Ethiopian
constitution had two purposes: centralization and modernization (1969,
p. 35). Jembere noted that “the most important historical goal that the
1931 Constitution meant to achieve was to break down the powers of
the regional lords, who gradually had become strong, so as to bring them
under the powers of the centralised state machinery” (1998, p. 66). Fur-
thermore, Shiferaw Bekele argued that Ethiopian scholars have been
“militant advocates of centralization…to the extent of counterpoising
the monarchy with the mekwanent (regional lords), the former seen as
persistently fighting to strengthen the central institutions while the lat-
ter were persistently warring to strengthen their regional powers” (1990,
p. 296). This interpretation of western educated intellectuals reflects
their epistemology of power as a struggle of self-interested antagonistic
forces. Bekele stressed that the interpretation of the intellectuals ignored
the role of the traditional institutions which served as “adhesive forces”
between the center and the region (1990, p. 297). Only when one takes
for granted the essential distinctiveness of the regions rather than their
relational existence with the imperial center, and only when power strug-
gle is viewed as the only reality that defines the nature of political actors,
could one justify the attempt of centralization as a form of nation build-
ing. In the same way that Thomas Hobbes presupposed that the natural
order of society was that of competition and war, thereby justifying the
absolute power of the central state, many considered the relationship
between the King of Kings and the regional Kings as a form of power
struggle alone. As noted by Bekele, the regional governors were as im-
portant as the central organs of the empire. The strength of the state was
measured in terms of the strength of the relationship between the center
and the regions, not in terms of the abolition of the power of the regions

109
Native Colonialism

by the central government. Thus, what Ethiopian emperors wanted was

the maintenance of strong ties with regional rulers, the strengthening of
the traditional relationships of loyalty and mutual respect between the
two, not the withdrawal or annexation of the power of the regions by the
Emperor.
In order to strengthen the traditional relationship between the na-
tional and regional centers of power, a family relationship was often es-
tablished between the royal families of the Emperor and the regional
leaders. Moreover, regional lords were expected to participate in the
central institutions of power as regional governors and royal counsel-
ors. For a part of the year they were required to stay near the royal court
and were “obliged to take part not only in royal councils, but also sit on
royal tribunals and to participate in other activities of the King. Very
often, they held court offices in addition to their provincial charges”
(Bekele, 1990, p. 295). In the royal council, the most important deci-
sions, such as measures against rebellion, were decided with the partici-
pation of the regional lords. Bekele noted that “procedurally, the lords
who attended a particular council would all give their opinion starting
from the lowest official and going up one by one to the highest. The last
to speak was the king whose words were final” (1990, p. 295). Allowing
lower level officials to speak before their superiors enabled the former
to express their views without knowing the view of higher officials. For
the Emperor, it provided an opportunity to measure the level of sup-
port he could expect before passing a final decision. This suggests that
Ethiopian emperors had no vested interest in destroying the power of
the regional lords. Rather, they wanted to strengthen their traditional
ties by allowing the latter to participate in the administration of the
empire. This practice of recognizing regional centers of power as part
and parcel of the empire coincided with the religious belief and cultural
practice of the people.
The Ethiopian tradition considered the existence of not just one but
many centers of political and cultural life. The original Ark of the Cov-
enant represented the grand central position in the empire. It is believed
that it still exists at Axum Zion church, which is located at the seat of the
earliest Ethiopian empire. In parallel to this, every Christian church that
exists in the country must have a replica of the original Ark of the Cov-
enant. The site of the Covenant, both the original and the replicas, are

110
 The Rise of Epistemic Violence Against Traditions

considered central points in the social and cultural life of the community
that surrounds them. Prayers, meetings, burial ceremonies, arbitrations,
reconciliations, weddings, festivals and celebrations take place around
the church or under a nearby tree which is considered sacred. Here, what
is important is that the replica in each church enjoys a great deal of rever-
ence as the original Ark of the Covenant in Axum, highlighting the view
of Ethiopia as a multi-centric place.
In the same way, regional lords were important centers of power, and
they assumed that position by virtue of their valid relationship with the
grand central figure at the center of the empire. By virtue of this relation-
ship, they acquired the titles of nigus, which means king, and the em-
peror at the center was called Niguse Negest which means King of Kings.
Their function had no meaning without their relationship to the cen-
ter, and the emperor at the center would not acquire the title of King
of Kings without securing the recognition of the regional kings. At the
center, the King of Kings had no standing army. The army and revenue
were raised by the regional kings. Here, values such as trust and loyalty
were important to maintain the relationship between the center and the
regions. In the Ethiopian tradition, the center and the regions were not
oppositional forces. However, the absolute centralization of power under
the law was informed by a western concept of dualism that negated this
symbiotic relationship.
It is also worth considering how the centralization of power, espe-
cially absolute power under the Emperor involves an aspect of the law-
lessness of law, a situation where the law giver remains above the law by
possessing its source, by becoming the originator of legal rules. This was
clearly evident since the first constitution was issued in 1931. Despite
the constitution, the Emperor “insisted upon the right to rule by decree,
to appoint and dismiss his ministers without reference to parliament,
he could appoint members of the senate, judges, and even the mayors
of municipalities” (Spencer, 1984, p. 257). Law as a license to lawless-
ness for the leader and a prohibition for the rest has become a common
phenomenon in many countries, not just Ethiopia. In this situation, the
sovereignty of the law giver lies in the vulnerability of the citizen, in the
latter’s inability to find protection against the state. Being the only power
that can violate the law without punishment, the leader becomes the only
law unto itself, and its interest becomes the sole prohibition against its

111
Native Colonialism

own action. Because the law is not inculcated in the traditional cultural
life, however liberating its provisions may be, it nevertheless remained
superficial and exterior to daily life. Consequently, the achievement of
centralization involves the process of liberating the law giver from limita-
tions of traditional obligations that would otherwise have offered some
protection to the people. It also contributed to the rising hegemony of
the state at the expense of the increasing vulnerability of the mass popu-
lation, a situation that intensifies what Desalegne Rahmato called “the
rurality of the peasant world…[where] rurality means enduring poverty,
voicelessness, and submission” (2009, p. 284).

The Emergence of the Imitative Education System

Following the historical event at Meqdalla where Tewodros committed
suicide and the Ethiopian national treasury was either looted or burned
by the British army, consciousness of power brought about a contradic-
tion between true loyalty to the Kebra Nagast and acceptance of west-
ern hegemony. While modern European thought espoused the idea
that world history has one destiny or center which is Europe, the Kebra
Nagast’s view of Ethiopia as a covenant place, on the other hand, chal-
lenged the subordination of the land to any earthly power. As witnessed
through the Berlin conference, and the Tripartite Treaty, Europe had a
colonial desire over Ethiopia. Ethiopians, on the other hand, were inter-
ested in acquiring weapons from Europe in order to defend themselves
against it. The hallmark of their diplomatic wisdom rested in dealing
with this contradiction and in attempting to maintain a delicate bal-
ance between friendship and enmity with Europe. The various treaties
between Ethiopian and European powers reflected some level of com-
promise between these conflicting interests. For example, the Wuchale
treaty of 2 May 1889 gave significant concessions to Italy over Ethiopia
as reflected in Article 17, which allowed Italy to play a role in Ethiopia’s
foreign relations. Only when Emperor Menelik and Empress Tayitu re-
alized that the treaty was a pretext for a colonial project that they re-
voked it and declared war against Italy. The Emperor declared that all
able bodied Ethiopians should follow him to the war front to defend
the faith, the family and the land, and all disabled or incapable Ethiopi-
ans should pray for victory. Regional lords galvanized their forces, and

112
 The Rise of Epistemic Violence Against Traditions

priests carried a replica of the Ark of the Covenant for the war front. The
consequence was that an African army of untrained peasants defeated a
modern European Army at the Battle of Adwa on 1 March 1896. Fol-
lowing the victory at Adwa, Italy signed the Addis Ababa Treaty accept-
ing the independence of Ethiopia, and agreed to pay war indemnity in
exchange for prisoners of war. Moreover, most European powers rallied
to start diplomatic relations with Ethiopia by opening embassies in Ad-
dis Ababa, and in 1926 Ethiopia became a member of the League of
Nations.
The development of these relationships with powerful countries cre-
ated an irresistible attraction towards the West. This attraction led to the
imitation of western symbols and styles of government such as the imi-
tation of the western education system. The traditional view of knowl-
edge as a search for wisdom to enrich the soul started to change in favor
of the search for western knowledge for the sake of power. This change
increased the association of knowledge with power and the shift from
tradition to seeing the West as a source of knowledge. Especially since the
period of Haile Selassie, Ethiopia started to disregard the very traditions
that helped it maintain its independence and started importing western
ideas and institutions. This development started the process of alienating
the state from the people.
Forty years after the Battle of Adwa, Italy returned with full military
might to erase the shameful scar it received in Africa. At this time, Ethi-
opia was in a much better military position. There were a constitution
and parliament, a more centralized state and educated bureaucracy, and
a national army with better weapons than in 1896. Italy was also more
prepared and determined not just to win but also revenge the defeat at
Adwa (Scott, 1978). One of the fiercest battles was fought at Maychew
on 31 March 1936, where Ethiopians were heavily defeated and the Em-
peror Haile Selassie left the county to appeal to the League of Nations.
Italy then occupied Ethiopia for five years until the Emperor returned to
his throne in 1941 with the support of the British army. The return of
the Emperor with the support of a European power opened a renewed
chapter when Ethiopia submitted to the institutional and ideological
supremacy and influence of the West. The modernization of the state
or, more strictly, the modernization of the government along the lines
of westernization became the typical feature of Ethiopia after the World

113
Native Colonialism

War II. The most typical instance of this feature was the reform of the
Ethiopian education system.

The Emergence of Modern Education

The development of modern education in Ethiopia can be divided into
two stages. The first stage took place from 1908 to 1935 when modern
education started as a curious experiment towards westernization and
rapidly expanded during the period of Haile Selassie until the invasion
by Italy. The second stage started with the occupation by Italy and en-
compasses the entire period since then as a complete Eurocentric edu-
cation system was implemented in the country. Three important archi-
tects could be identified in the early development of modern education
in Ethiopia. These include the office of the Emperor, western educated
intellectuals, and western missionaries. During the first stage, the growth
of the school was a gradual step by step process that reflected the dilemma
between Ethiocentrism and Eurocentrism.
The first initiative to open a public school was implemented dur-
ing the reign of Emperor Menelik II whose victory at Adwa opened up
broader international diplomatic relationships with Europe. According
to Wagaw, Ethiopian leaders felt acutely embarrassed as a result of a lack
of expertise in foreign language, technology and diplomatic arts, and es-
tablished a school “after the European model, independent of traditional
education institutions” (1990, p. 69). At the initial stage, it can be ar-
gued that Menelik II was not enthusiastic about replicating the European
model of schooling in Ethiopia. Menelik’s idea of education focused on
training translators and building on traditional skills. When the first ini-
tiative to open a school based on the European model was presented to
him by the British educated Hakim Workineh Eshete, the Emperor and
Patriarch of the Orthodox Church, Abuna Mattewos, showed reluctance
due to the perceived danger of exposing the mind of Ethiopian students
to the religion of their foreign teachers. According to Bahru Zewde, “a
compromise between tradition and innovation” (2002, p. 23) was worked
out by allowing only Coptic teachers to be in charge of the school. The
outcome was the opening of the first modern Ethiopian public school
named after the Emperor in Addis Ababa in 1908. The primary goal of
education was to gain language and administrative experts who would

114
 The Rise of Epistemic Violence Against Traditions

serve the government in its international relationships and its “modern”

institutions. This is clear from the subjects studied that, at the beginning,
included French, English, math and drawing and later “Amharic, Italian,
Arabic, Geography, history and sport” (2002, p. 24).
Further declarations issued by Menelik II emphasized the need to im-
prove customary practices and the transfer of traditional skills from gener-
ation to generation. For example, in 1906 Menelik passed a proclamation
declaring compulsory education for young persons (Wolde-Meskel, 1970
[1962 EC], p. 600). Although implementation is difficult to ascertain, the
declaration denounced attitudes that denigrated traditional craftsmanship,
and demanded that parents send their children to school from the age of
six at the pain of losing the right to transfer their properties to their chil-
dren when they die. It also provided that the government would prepare
schools and appoint teachers. Later, a more strict declaration was issued in
1929 where parents were ordered to send their children or face a penalty
of 50 birr. Parents were also ordered to choose a traditional skill and train
their children so as to enable them to earn a living. Failure to do so would
cause a penalty of 50 birr (Wolde-Meskel, 1970 [1962 EC], p. 601).
It is possible to see that this was a period of reforming tradition rather
than abandoning it. Foreign education was desired without foreign ide-
ology, especially religion. Here, western achievement was regarded as a
source of inspiration to upgrade and improve existing socio-political in-
stitutions. The Emperor saw the need to change traditionally stagnant
practices while keeping intact the cultural elements that were perceived
valuable to the political and cultural system. However, western educated
intellectuals felt that the Emperor’s initiative was not enough.
The Ethiopian intellectuals who returned after completing higher
education training from western countries came up with a more radi-
cal approach towards education reform in the country. Zewde consid-
ers the Ethiopian intelligentsia starting from the period of Menelik II
to the period before the Italian invasion as the first and second genera-
tions (2002). The first generation of intellectuals obtained exposure to
western education through fortuitous means, or as protégés of Menelik
II. Other intellectuals obtained western education as self-educated indi-
viduals who created some form of relationship with missionaries in the
country, or as graduates of Menelik’s high school. Members of this group
of intellectuals were concerned with modernization. However, their

115
Native Colonialism

recommendations towards it were far from being unanimous. For exam-

ple, one of the protégés of Menelik II was the Italian-educated Afework
Gebreyesus who opposed the modernizing role of tradition and advo-
cated a colonial model of education in the country. Afework was later to
serve the Italian government during the occupation, and was reappointed
as ambassador by Haile Selassie after liberation. Another Russian-edu-
cated scholar, Tekle Hawariyat Tekle Mariyam, recommended the im-
portation of the Russian education system to Ethiopia. However, while
the above group of intellectuals advocated a western model, there was
another group called the self-educated intellectuals who had a stronger
foundation in traditional education. These were graduates of the famous
Raguel School who presented a strong attachment with the importance
of Ethiopian values (Zewde, 2002, p. 23). As argued throughout this the-
sis, consciousness of power that favors western experiences played against
the search for traditional sources of education.
The reform suggested by the western educated intellectuals was based
on the superiority of the European model of education. However, there
was an attempt to find innovative solutions to the contradiction posed
between westernization and tradition. One of the most advocated solu-
tions in this regard was the recommendation to follow the example of
Japan. Similarities such as Ethiopia’s victory over Italy at Adwa in 1896
and Japan’s victory over Russia in 1905, and the existence of an impe-
rial tradition in both countries generated the passion to make Ethiopia
the “Japan of Africa.” Hence Japanization was conceived as a living solu-
tion to the problem of transition from Feudalism to Capitalism (Zewde,
2002, p. 203). Gebre Hiwot Bayikedagne’s recommendation illuminates
the position of the intellectuals.

The task awaiting the present Ethiopian king is not like that of his prede-
cessors. In the old days, Ignorance had held sway. Today, however, a strong
and unassailable enemy called the European mind has risen against her.
Whoever opens his door to her [i.e., European mind] prospers; who-
ever closes his door will be destroyed. If our Ethiopia accepts European
mind, no one would dare attack her; if not, she will disintegrate and be
enslaved. Hence, let us hope that His Highness Menelik’s heir would ex-
amine and follow the example of Japanese government (qtd. in Zewde,
2002, p. 206).

116
 The Rise of Epistemic Violence Against Traditions

Here, Japanization does not appear as a defense against Eurocentrism. If

considered with Kebede’s critical assessment of Bayikedagne’s Eurocen-
tric proclivities (2006), the latter’s proposal could be regarded simply as
an attempt to persuade the Ethiopian king to adopt westernization. The
Japanese government viewed Eurocentrism as a danger to the national
culture and in 1890 issued the Imperial Rescript to implement the motto
of western skill but Japanese culture while Ethiopians had never thought
of a cultural policy. Therefore, for Kebede, Japanization failed because
unlike their Japanese counterparts, Ethiopian leaders failed to generate
interpretative power from their tradition and culture.
Zewde considers the cultural estrangement of the western educated
students at the individual level but without presenting culture as the cru-
cial point for Ethiopia’s failure to modernize (2002). Considering stu-
dents sent to study abroad, he noted that unlike most Japanese students
who studied technical skills, “Ethiopians preferred social studies” (2002,
p. 79). This suggests that they were apt to make socio-cultural rather than
techno-engineering inquiries. Moreover, he admits that many of them
felt alienated from their society and had difficulties reintegrating them-
selves upon their return.
Another important distinction was that Japanese intellectuals, unlike
their Ethiopian counterparts, promoted the belief in the uniqueness of
Japan. Nihonjinron, which literally means “discussions of the Japanese”,
refers to the vast array of “literature which thinking elites have produced
to define the uniqueness of Japanese culture, society and national charac-
ter” (Yoshino, 1992, p. 2). Japanese intellectuals, journalists, critics, writ-
ers and business elites fiercely competed against each other to dissemi-
nate Nihonjinron among the population. Television shows were used to
intentionally promote Japanese nationalism. Between 1945 and 1978,
more than 700 books were published with Nihonjinron as the title, many
of which saw multiple reprints (Kazufumi & Befu, 1993). For example,
Doi Takeo’s “The Anatomy of Dependence” was reprinted 13 times, and
research shows that the popularity of Nihonjinron still continues to rise
(Kazufumi & Befu, 1993). Japanese elites used a legend that the Ark of
the Covenant was taken to Japan to promote Japanese nationalism, ironi-
cally using the Ark to cultivate more pride than is evident in Ethiopia,
whose history, tradition and religious practices relies so heavily on the
Ark’s journey to and residence in Axum.

117
Native Colonialism

This promotion of national uniqueness can be challenged, however,

when uniqueness is constructed solely by considering external cultural
threats rather than internal experience or dynamism. This can be seen
in Negritude, which is an intellectual construction of African elites de-
signed for the purpose of combating the denigration of western theories
over the latter’s definition of African identities (Achebe, 1975). In the
same way, in Japan, the celebration of Samurai culture in business has
been criticized as a modern invention where a “loyal male subject of pro-
duction is celebrated as a Samurai” (Hiroshi, 1995, p. 103). Hiroshi ar-
gued that, in this self-imposed colonial drama, Japan colonized itself and
the Japanese played the role of the colonizer and the colonized: “From
the standpoint of consciousness such an operation might be repudiated
as self-deception. If we see the whole cultural system as an organism,
however, this operation can be thought of as a strategy for survival in a
difficult environment” (1995, p. 107). In this sense, the Samurai tradi-
tion has helped to bridge the historical gap between modernization and
tradition, to represent the strength of the nation, and to confront the ob-
jectifying gaze of the western subject. Moreover, in light of the philoso-
phy of Nihonjinron, the criticism of self-colonization may strengthen the
fundamental drive towards finding uniqueness from which the Japanese
appear to have derived a great deal of resilience and energy. In Ethiopia,
however, the debate on the relevance of western education fails to even
compare Ethiopia’s unique traditional philosophies, values and realities
with that of the West. Instead, intellectuals focus on comparing one for-
eign model with another. If they compare at all, it is usually by first con-
sidering Ethiopian traditions as backward or irrelevant.
The third group that played a significant role in shaping the coun-
try’s educational journey was western missionaries. Without any large
scale social interaction with the population, this group played a sig-
nificant role through the influence they created in the life of one per-
son, Teferi Mekonen, who later became Emperor Haile Selassie I. In
Ethiopia, there are historical and ideological factors that inhibited the
popularity of Catholic missionaries among the population. First, the
Kebra Nagast considered that Rome or the Vatican had failed to keep
the true faith in Christ. Second, Catholic missionaries in Ethiopia had
been making consistent efforts to convert the Ethiopian state into Ca-
tholicism. Their success at converting King Susnyos caused devastating

118
 The Rise of Epistemic Violence Against Traditions

consequences to the country in 1622. As a result, “to this day in high-

land Ethiopia, the word Catholicism is associated with anti-Ethiopi-
anism” (Wagaw, 1990, p. 71). Due to these factors, the missionaries
focused on using their good relations with the leaders to spread their
ideas rather than directly preaching to the people, especially in the
northern part of the country.
Teferi Mekonen grew up in the south eastern part of the country, in
Harar, and was tutored by French and Ethiopian Catholic priests. Wagaw
mentions an influential incident in Teferi’s youth. He wrote: “Indeed,
one of the people [Teferi] fondly recalled was his teacher, Aba Samuel,
a Catholic priest who lost his life while saving young Teferi’s life in a
boating accident” (1990, p. 71). This experience might have contributed
to Teferi being more sympathetic to foreigners than his predecessors,
including his decision to appoint Catholic Jesuits to positions of influ-
ence in the reform of Ethiopia’s education system. Moreover, Teferi had a
“semi-spiritual and semi-secular communion with Jarosseau,” the Catho-
lic archbishop of Harar (Zewde, 2002, p. 174). In the correspondence
between the two, the fact that “Teferi kept the archbishop informed of
practically all his actions and important events, is…vital in reconstruct-
ing the evolution of Tefari’s career” (Wagaw, 1990, p. 174). In addition,
Teferi’s experience at Menelik II School, where the Coptic teachers ap-
plied strict discipline indiscriminate of social position, might have re-
sulted in additional disenchantment towards the influence of Orthodox
religion in education (Zewde, 2002, p. 24). In any case, in 1925, Teferi
himself opened the second school, the Teferi Mekonen School, where
the French model of learning became predominant. From 1925 onwards,
the French oriented Teferi Mekonen’s model of schooling expanded to
various regions of the country. The interest was so intense that students
were sponsored, meals provided, and even in some cases, like in Sidamo,
students were detained throughout the year because it was feared that
they may not come back to school after vacation (Zewde, 2002, p. 27).
Missionary schools and community schools also expanded dramatically.
Alliance Françoise, with branches in Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa, was
important for training influential figures and for having strong ties with
the Teferi Mekonen School. The Swedish Evangelical School, the Greek,
Armenian, Italian, Zionist, and American schools also expanded. How-
ever, due to the prevalent Eurocentric view of the time, the Ethiopian

119
Native Colonialism

Orthodox Church was excluded from contributing to the expansion of

modern education in the country.
What is clear from the above assessment is that the Ethiopian educa-
tion system that began in the early 20th century developed without the
intellectual legacy of the country, including its traditional education sys-
tem. Instead of applying the interpretative tradition described in Chapter
Three, schools served as places of cultural indoctrination for the building
of a new system of rule. The curriculum, methodology and the major-
ity of the teachers were unanimous in avoiding the Ethiopian tradition,
especially the ideological belief in the Kebra Nagast and the intellectual
legacy of the Orthodox Church. The school became the new intellec-
tual birthplace for the Ethiopian ruling elite. This was especially evident
throughout the long reign of Teferi/Haile Selassie who consistently ex-
pressed unwavering determination to modernize his country using west-
ern ideas, western experts, and institutions imitated from the West. This
is the embryonic stage of Elitdom. Under the heavy shadow of conscious-
ness of power, Eurocentric institutions emerged to pave the way for the
coming of a new breed of leaders from the school.

The Post World War II Education Period

The five years of Italian occupation brought a serious setback in the prog-
ress of the western school. About two thirds of educated Ethiopians were
killed by the fascist forces, especially following the failed bombing at-
tempt on the life of the Italian general Graziani in February 1937. In
1941, after the Italian occupation, the role of missionaries became even
more important in the development of higher education in the country.
The Emperor invited Canadian Jesuits to rebuild the Teferi Mekonen
School. The Jesuits, led by Dr. Lucien Matte, started their work in 1945,
and in 1950 Matte was given a new task of organizing a two year higher
education study program to prepare students for further studies abroad.
The outcome was the establishment of the University College of Addis
Ababa. A few months after the establishment of the college, Matte was
sent to Europe and North America to recruit staff and purchase text-
books and other materials for the college (Wagaw, 1990).
The Emperor emphasized to the people the importance of education
saying, “The salvation of our country, Ethiopia, as We have repeatedly

120
 The Rise of Epistemic Violence Against Traditions

stated to you, lies primarily in education” (Haile Selassie, 1967). However,

if relevance was ever considered for the new college it was its relevance
to the educational standards of Britain, not to the condition of life in
Ethiopia. Wagaw explained that the preoccupation of the founders of the
University College of Addis Ababa was to get international recognition
through affiliation with the British University system (1990, pp. 73-74).
Due to the heavy administrative and financial requirements of the Uni-
versity of London, the aspiration for affiliation was later abandoned.
Through a charter published in 28 July 1954, the University College of
Addis Ababa was established. Another feature of the college was the pre-
dominance of social studies, which made it look like “an undergraduate
liberal arts college” (1990, p. 76). The various colleges established were
modelled by the active involvement of foreign directors, advisors and
teachers who had little information about the Ethiopian experience. For
example, as the national economy and the people’s livelihood depended
and still depends on agriculture, the importance of the field of agricul-
tural studies was axiomatic. However, foreign administrators and knowl-
edges were privileged above Ethiopian expertise even in this vital field. On
15 May 1952, a treaty to establish a College of Agriculture was signed with
the United States. It was agreed that the United States would appoint the
director of the fund for the college. This director would also became the
college’s president, with the power to decide on every aspect of the educa-
tion system including “admission of students, establishment of curricula,
conduct of examinations,” control of financial and other resources, “ap-
pointment and discharge of personnel, and all other administrative roles”
(1990, p. 80). The government of Ethiopia provided the land, and the
United States government contracted Oklahoma State University which
exercised “full control over the operation of the college” (1990, p. 81).
The consultation for the preparation of opening a university started
with the active involvement of the Jesuits with Dr. Matte’s consulta-
tion, but was eventually superseded by a powerful ally, the United States
Government. Following the recommendation of a team of experts from
the University of Utah, an agreement was signed with the US govern-
ment for the establishment of a national university. The Emperor, who
assumed the portfolio of the Minister of Education in 1941, became its
first Chancellor. At the convocation ceremony held on 18 December
1961, the Emperor addressed diplomats, ministers and faculty members,

121
Native Colonialism

and students on the purpose of the University. It is striking to note that

there was a significant rift between rhetoric and practice. The Emperor
spoke about the glory of the Ethiopian intellectual and cultural heritage
and the need to build the future based on the legacy of the past. In his
discourse, the purpose of university education was claimed to be for the
cultural development of the people:

A fundamental objective of this University must be the safeguarding

and developing of the culture of the people which it serves. This Uni-
versity is a product of that culture; it is the grouping together of those
capable of understanding and using the accumulated heritage of the
Ethiopian people. In this University, men and women will, working in
association with one another, study the well-springs of our culture, trace
its development, and mould its future. That which enabled us today to
open a university of such a standard is the wealth of literature and learn-
ing now extinct elsewhere in the world which through hard work and
perseverance our forefathers have preserved for us (Haile Selassie qtd. in
M. Kebede, 2006, p. 15).

Kebede draws attention to the wide gap between rhetoric and practice.
Practically, it is inconceivable to see how the people grouped together
to work in the Haile Selassie I University were capable of contributing
to the preservation and development of the accumulated heritage of the
Ethiopian people. The teaching staff were predominantly foreigners, the
curriculum they used was copied from other countries’ textbooks, and
the medium of instruction applied was either English or French. More-
over, the basic ideological foundation of schooling was left to foreigners.
By detaching education from the traditional ideology and the cultural
values of the people in the name of secularizing it, the government actu-
ally enabled foreign religious groups to inculcate their own worldviews
into the system.
Another example worth mentioning is the role of Protestantism in
mass education. Yemisirache Dimtse Literacy Campaign, which means
the “Voice of the Gospel” Literacy Campaign, started in 1962 under the
Ethiopian Evangelical Church, Mekane Yesus (ECMY). The project was
funded by the Lutheran World Federation. Through the Campaign, “more
than half a million students had been involved up to 1975” (Sjostrom &

122
 The Rise of Epistemic Violence Against Traditions

Sjostrome, 1983, p. 45). The objectives of the campaign include teach-

ing reading, writing, arithmetic, civic education and the promotion of
socioeconomic changes. Despite the secular objectives of the campaign,
the Evangelical Church had a clear spiritual motive for involving itself in
secular activities in the country. The 1958 Constitution of the Church
aimed at preserving and extending “the pure teaching of the Gospel” by
activities such as “[t]he establishment and maintenance of educational,
medical, and theological institutions directly or through affiliated coun-
cils” (1983, p. 166). This aim of spreading religious beliefs using secular
initiatives was clearly stipulated in the Yemisirache Dimtse Literacy Cam-
paign’s Constitution. The purpose of the campaign was “to win for Jesus
Christ those who are without a saving knowledge of the Gospel,” and “to
deepen the spiritual life of existing believers” (1983, p. 166).
It is difficult to measure the impact of the program on the traditional
worldview of the people. However, an evaluation conducted after a de-
cade found that the evangelical church, despite its policy of tolerance to
the imperial and the socialist regime, went even further to become part of
the implementation apparatus of the state. Although it did not operate as
a government department, “it can be argued, however, that ECMY serves
the political power in an indirect way…ECMY sees it as a Christian duty
to obey and cooperate with the secular powers as long as that is compat-
ible with the Church’s creed” (Sjostrom & Sjostrome, 1983, p. 177).
This last observation suggests the attraction of Ethiopian leaders to-
wards non-established religious groups that have strong ideological and
resource backup from outside. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church made
no significant initiatives to incorporate its ideologies into the secular
systems although the Emperor had been its traditional guardian. In
fact, attempts were made to “modernize” the church by establishing a
college in line with western theological foundations. The college was
staffed with foreigners who taught subjects including western philoso-
phy in English to students who would become preachers of the Ortho-
dox Church in Amharic. This is paradoxical when viewed in relation to
the rich intellectual heritage of the Orthodox Church which has been
the center and source of spiritual interpretation and meaning for centu-
ries. Nevertheless, it illustrates the expansion of the Eurocentric view of
the world through every system, new or old, since the 20th century in
Ethiopia.

123
Native Colonialism

It should be acknowledged that there were non-Ethiopian scholars

who advocated for the importance of Ethiopian traditional knowledge
in the development of education policy. Ernest Work was an American
education expert employed by the Emperor to study and recommend an
appropriate model of an educational system for Ethiopia. Work had trav-
elled to many parts of Africa and observed how education had been used
to impose the European hegemony on colonized people, and was anxious
to avoid a similar fate on Ethiopia.

From all sides I was asked what sort of an education system I proposed to
suggest – they hoped it would be French or Italian or English, depending
upon the one asking. They often suggested it would be American since I
came from America. My answer was always that so far as I was concerned
it should be neither French, Italian, English, nor American. That I hoped
it could be Ethiopian (Work, 1934).

Work’s first recommendation was that the national language, Amharic,

with proper simplification and enrichment of its alphabet, numerals, and
words, should be used as a medium of instruction. Secondly, the content
of learning should be Ethiopian. He criticized that the content of text-
books was full of:

Pages about France and Napoleon; Italy and Garibaldi; England and
Gladstone but almost nothing about Ethiopia and Menelik and His
Majesty their most worthy Emperor. This should not be. Ethiopian boys
and girls should be educated in their own language, learn about their
own country and men and interesting things, as well as the world in gen-
eral (1934, p. 67).

Third, Ethiopians should be trained primarily by Ethiopian teachers. To

this end, “one of the most pressing and urgent needs is the establishment
of the foundation of a University of Ethiopia – the first department of
which should be a teachers’ training school” (1934, p. 67). Here, Work
suggested that, at the beginning, American teachers are best suited to
train the future of Ethiopian teachers as Americans are disinterested in
“European grabbling rivalry in African land” (1934, p. 67). Finally, he
recommended an educational program with fields of study relevant to

124
 The Rise of Epistemic Violence Against Traditions

the country. He suggested six years of elementary studies for all Ethiopi-
ans; followed by specialized school training with agriculture, home mak-
ing, trade and industry; then five to six years further training for those
who wished to pursue a business and professional life and finally a uni-
versity training of their choice for those who passed through the above
and still endeavored to study more. Work’s recommendations significant-
ly stressed the importance of Ethiopianizing the education system. He
submitted his recommendations but the only suggestion that gained the
heed of the Ethiopian government was the recommendation to involve
Americans in the founding of a university. The Emperor gave permission
and support for the establishment of the University of Haile Selassie I
under the management of the Americans (Caulk, 1975).
The above historical examination focused on showing the inherent
rift between Ethiopian tradition and Ethiopian education. Starting from
its inception, education was separated, even antagonized with tradition.
The main reason for this, as explained above, is the ideological commit-
ment of the architects of modern education, both foreign and Ethiopian.
They did not take the national ideology and the intellectual legacy of the
country seriously. In the way that the colonial structure that transformed
the natives’ mind was established in Africa by western missionaries and
colonial masters (Mudimbe, 1988), in Ethiopia as well, similar structures
were built by western missionaries who were supported by native leaders.
Under the heavy influence of consciousness of power, institutions were
imitated from the West to create the system of Elitdom. The consequence
of this tragic development manifested in the activities of the products
of the education system, namely the Ethiopian students, which shall be
discussed in the next chapter.

Conclusion
The chapter showed the unfolding of massive change in Ethiopian soci-
ety since the period of Tewodros II. As Joseph Tubiana observed, “The
death of Emperor Theodoros [Tewodros] in 1868 marks the end of an
important period, a period when Ethiopia could dispense with giving
attention to the policy of the European Powers” (1965, p. 164). This
study considers the suicide of Tewodros and the burning and looting

125
Native Colonialism

of Ethiopian intellectual objects at Meqdalla as a historical event that

marked the birth of consciousness of power towards the West. This con-
sciousness gained its ideological and institutional makeup through the
creation of imitated institutions and structures from the West. The oc-
currence of various historical events, especially the consequence of Ital-
ian invasion in 1935 and the influence of western countries that aided
the restoration of Haile Selassie after World War II, played a significant
role in the process of westernization. In any case, the establishment of
alien rules and institutions without major conflict and resistance within
Ethiopia demonstrated the consequence of the consciousness of power
that developed since the historical event at Meqdalla. Further events in-
creased this consciousness.
The establishment of the first public western school occurred in 1908,
and a system of power based on European ideals and traditions started to
gain momentum through the progressive displacement of the traditional
beliefs and cultural legacies of the people. The imitation of western laws
was carried out with utter disregard of the established customary and tra-
ditional laws of the country. This process became robust, especially after
the end of the Italian occupation, when Emperor Haile Selassie allowed
the creation of institutions and laws using foreign experts without suf-
ficient regard to their relevance to the Ethiopian tradition and society.
Consciousness of power facilitates the irrelevancy of tradition to mod-
ernization because it projects the West as an essential model of progress.
In this context, the Ethiopian higher education institutions were created
with complete dependence on western institutions and experts, and the
question of the relevance of the imitated education system to the tradi-
tion of the country was not considered. Like anywhere else in colonized
Africa, western missionaries and western scholars became the intellectual
“fathers” of the Ethiopian education system.

126
 chapter 5

The Rise of Elite Messianism

What the Ethiopian revolution actually entailed was countlessly repeated

uprooting of social relations, in thousands of local communities, in millions
of lives (Donham, 1999, p. 35).

Introduction

I
n the previous two chapters, I followed historical event analysis to
highlight how consciousness of power facilitated the development of
western institutions in Ethiopia. During the period of Haile Selassie,
the ideological and institutional foundations for “modernization” were
put in place, and a system of Elitdom eventually took over the rule of the
kingdom. This chapter focuses on the consolidation of Elitdom through
western knowledge, messianism, and violence. The first section focuses
on how western knowledge imparted antagonistic dualism as the basis
for the construction of students’ perceptions of social roles and identity
in contrast to their tradition and society. Students who acquired west-
ern knowledge saw themselves as missionaries of reform who endeavored
to guide their society in accordance with western theoretical blue-prints.
This is an approach I define as “missionarism.” The second section focuses
on how students expressed their role as agents of radical change through
political activism and participation in mass education campaigns. I define
this process as “messianism.” It involves a strong belief in a single accurate
path towards progress, and the necessity to take radical action in order
to realize it. Through messianism and to a lesser extent missionarism,
the students of 1960s and 1970s became the masterminds of the Ethio-
pian revolution that overthrew Emperor Haile Selassie I from power on
Native Colonialism

12 September 1974. The third section will show how the state used vio-
lence to crush the messianic role of the students in order to assert itself as
the center of national life. The outcome of these three processes, which
will be discussed in detail in the next chapter, was the creation of native
colonialism through the suppression of tradition as a basis of organizing
social and political relationships within the country and the consolida-
tion of Elitdom as the embodiment of knowledge and power driven by
political intolerance, suppression of dissent, and monopoly over national
resources.

Missionarism as an Effect of Western Knowledge

Historical events in Ethiopia brought about change through the develop-
ment of a consciousness of power towards the West. However, conscious-
ness of power that leads to change does not emerge only from historical
events. Knowledge, which is never neutral or benign, is a key factor in
supplying information for new ways of looking at oneself and the world.
The introduction of western knowledge to Africa brought with it new
types of teachers who referred to the history, tradition, and experience of
Europeans to educate Africans. Similar to other African countries, west-
ern missionaries in Ethiopia were authorized to establish and manage the
Ethiopian higher education system. As the content and method of teach-
ing was imitated from the West, the education system produced a type of
identity defined here as missionarism.
The goal of the missionary is to convert others to their way of life,
with the converted giving up everything that they have known locally.
An example of missionarism could be drawn from the activity of Belgian
missionaries in the Congo from which Mudimbe drew three conversion
stages (1994). First there is a “referential symbol.” The referential symbol
“speaks in the name of political power and absolute truth.” Second, there
is a speech that communicates this with an “edifying style.” Although it
may refer to a political or religious truth, it “ascribes itself into a style,
which makes the speech specific, seducing, and thus spells out its power.”
Third, there is a process of alienation “where the convert, individually
a ‘child’, assumes the identity of a style imposed upon him or her to the
point of displaying it as his or her true nature” (1994, p. 109).

128
 The Rise of Elite Messianism

In the case of the Congo, the referential symbol who speaks in the
name of absolute truth was the colonizer, in this case a Belgian mission-
ary. In Ethiopia, the founders of the Ethiopian modern school, which
included western missionaries, western educated Ethiopians and politi-
cians, established the “modern” school as a referential symbol of western
power. By imitating the content, style, language, and administration of
the western model, the school facilitated what Kebede called the “be-
lated colonisation of Ethiopia” (2008b, p. 45). Thus, the identity of mis-
sionarism could be regarded as a style of knowledge that was obtained
from the school, which imparts an identity upon students, a style that
the converted considered was “an expression of his or her true nature”
(Mudimbe, 1994, p. 109). Through missionarism, students were regard-
ed as change agents who would be sent out as colonial missionaries to
free their own people from the bondage of backward customs. This was
done despite their age and lack of experience, which would make them
ineligible for social leadership according to Ethiopian tradition.
The above approach considers missionarism as a socio-cultural prac-
tice inherited from western missionaries and transformed into belief in
the leadership qualities of western educated intellectuals to change the
backwardness of their country. This belief confers upon students not just
the position of intellectual superiority in society but, more importantly,
it leads them to internalize an identity of being a missionary of change.
Western educated Ethiopians were and still are considered as intellectual
missionaries, and the Ethiopian tradition is regarded as an empty space
for the execution of their mission. This attitude among intellectuals and
students exists today, especially in how they see their fellow countrymen
and their culture.
Missionarism involves the acquisition of a wide range of ideas from
the western school in the country. These ideas create impressions and
opinions that are forwarded to interpret the social, economic and po-
litical life of the country. Although every idea of missionarism cannot be
regarded as antithetical to the Ethiopian tradition, there are important
ways through which it contributes to the dissipation of tradition. First,
due to the western content of the curriculum, foreign teachers and the
use of English as a medium of instruction, students obtain superficial
knowledge about the history of their country and the concern of their
people. This lack of accurate and deep knowledge about their country

129
Native Colonialism

and society reduces the opportunity to make education a concerted ef-

fort to utilize tradition as an engine of progress.
Second, western knowledge has the epistemological drive towards the
bifurcation of reality into opposite polarities. It divides the social world
between urban and rural, modern and traditional, literate and illiterate,
intellectual and ignorant, and so on. This process of antagonistic bifurca-
tion is essential for the creation of the missionary identity of the student,
whose role is to help the local people “jump” from the second to the first
set of categories. This role situates the educated individual as an autono-
mous source of meaning whose intellectual authority is free from valida-
tion and censorship by the standards of local tradition. Here, antagonis-
tic bifurcation should be separated from the mere apprehension of dual
characteristics in a given reality.
The Ethiopian conception of dualism precludes absolute separa-
tion between opposite categories. Instead, it emphasizes the existence
of a central position towards which the opposite qualities of good and
evil could be mediated and reconciled. However, antagonistic dualism
presupposes the existence of an individual whose function requires the
existence of opposite qualities in any given reality. As a value oriented
approach, the worth of a given reality, or an aspect of it, is determined
in relation to the individual’s interest in or value of the subject matter
concerned. The individual draws opposite attributes from a given reality
and determines what action should be taken to enforce the favored qual-
ity over the disfavored one. The magnitude of the seriousness of the ac-
tion one may take in a context defined through antagonistic bifurcation
depends on the level of contradiction one draws between the opposite
coordinates of the perceived reality.
Third, antagonistic bifurcation starts as a social practice in the school
where education is usually understood as a composite of dual persons,
i.e., the teacher and the student. These two persons represent two cul-
tures, i.e., Europe and Ethiopia. There is a parallel perception of authority
and power that mediates the relationship between the teacher and the
student. As can be inferred from the tacit recognition of social roles by
students and teachers, the teacher imparts knowledge, evaluates, corrects
and advises, while the student subjects him/herself to the lectures, evalu-
ations and orders of the teacher. Knowledge and ignorance are construct-
ed on opposite spaces occupying the respective minds of the teacher and

130
 The Rise of Elite Messianism

the student, with knowledge understood as coming from the West and
ignorance coming from Ethiopia. The teaching process “reveals” the
backwardness of local traditions to the student, while simultaneously
obscuring its own construction and Eurocentric basis. The significance
of western knowledge is valued through the devaluation of Ethiopian
traditions.
Fourth, missionarism undermines the accountability of the individual
to the values and beliefs of the people. Ethiopian traditional scholars such
as monks and dabtaras enjoyed enormous respect from the people, not
only due to their knowledge but also their character (Kaplan, 1984). In
order to maintain their status as leaders of the people, they had to dis-
tribute the privilege that their status had brought them through service
and voluntary renouncement of pleasure and comfort. In other words,
their status depended on the continuation of their devotion to spiritual
life; they had to be found worthy of being privileged. Missionarism un-
dermines the social accountability of the intellectual to the moral expec-
tation of the people. Western educated Ethiopians gained the privilege
and status of being learned leaders of the people primarily from the state.
They were given offices to decide on important societal issues, and state
institutions and dignitaries expressed the significance of their education
to the country’s future. Unlike the traditional scholars, their personal life-
style and character became irrelevant to the traditional precepts of the
people. They could accumulate the privilege of being a learned person, in
terms of social position and material reward, without the responsibility to
distribute it according to the traditional expectations of the people. The
state that provides them their education and work could dismiss them or
promote them depending on whether they continued to serve its interests
or not. Thus, missionarism is characterized by a disconnection between
the character of the educated and the traditional values of the place they
belonged to. It renders the traditional relationship between authority and
responsibility dysfunctional. Under missionarism, the traditional privi-
lege of gaining status in order to serve the people changes to the modern
privilege of gaining reward in order to serve the state. This in turn made
the state less dependent on the traditional relationships between the lead-
ers and the people. The traditional networks and tributaries of power that
nurtured the existence and functioning of the state are replaced by nor-
mative laws to which the educated become agents of implementation.

131
Native Colonialism

These points show the general effects of western knowledge as ex-

pressed through the identity of missionarism among Ethiopian students.
Missionarism accommodates the possibilities of reforming existing tra-
ditions using western knowledge. It could allow local knowledge to be
incorporated as an ingredient of a change process. However, it is violent
against tradition as it is guided by a foreign epistemology that does not
recognize the inherent validity of indigenous knowledge. It can also make
one receptive to a more radical approach against tradition. The radical-
ized version of missionarism is what I define as messianism.

The Development of Student Messianism

Messianism is a radicalized version of missionarism that incorporates an
urgent desire and commitment to change existing systems and practices.
It is often motivated by a vision of a just society and the reality of unjust
rule. Dissatisfaction with social, economic and political conditions, and
the desire to change them, requires not just the removal of existing sys-
tems but also an idea of a substitution. The substitution, however abstract
and vague, creates a burning desire to move into the imagined future. Eric
Hoffer’s true believers are determined to bring change not because they
despise what existed and feel empowered to destroy it, but because they
have a fanatical faith in a holy cause that lies ahead (1951). Hoffer ar-
gued that once an “extravagant hope” is preached, “the hopeful can draw
strength from the most ridiculous sources of power – a slogan, a word,
a button” (1951, p. 9). Ethiopian students of the 1960s enacted a new
identity that made them passionate missionaries of change because they
believed in an idea of a substitution, which was socialism. Their idea of
socialism was propagated by a group of radicalized students who called
themselves the Crocodile Society (Zewde, 2010, p. 14). But, how did the
discourse of a small group gain a tremendous amount of support among
students? Why is radicalism perceived as a chosen path towards political
change?
Student activism in Ethiopia took place under a political context that
was favorable to western ideas. During Haile Selassie, when the govern-
ment imitated the laws and systems of the West, the students formed
their own institutions to develop and express their opinions. While
the government aimed at using western ideas to maintain its rule, the

132
 The Rise of Elite Messianism

students aimed at applying them to destroy the system. The students were
allowed to have student publications, student unions, debating societies,
and various clubs and associations, all of which become increasingly radi-
cal. The development of student messianism during this period can be
seen in two stages.
The first stage is the selective imitation of western ideas that are an-
tagonistic to local customs and practices. This involves appropriating
terms from imported ideologies to name political actors and activities
in the country. Through the study of their lessons and peer and group
interactions, students appropriated words that expressed radical politi-
cal ideas. For instance, Ethiopian students and several scholars borrowed
from Marxist and liberal thought words such as “feudalism” and “class”
to conceptualize the Ethiopian traditional political and economic system
before 1974 (Crummey, 1980). They also appropriated from the same
sources words and concepts to heighten the political differences that they
had with each other. For instance, almost all political parties that were
active during the 1970s claimed they were Marxists-Leninists. Reading
from a single source, citing from same philosophers, newly formed parties
waged violent clashes against each other and remained divided. Ottaway’s
observations on the post-1974 debates between the Ethiopian People’s
Revolutionary Party and the All Ethiopians Socialist Party provide an
illustrative example (1978). The former called the latter traitors, and the
latter called the former anarchists. Ethiopian political figures of the past
hardly became sources of inspiration for the students’ activism. Instead,
names such as Ho Chi Minh, Che Guevara, V.I. Lenin, and Mao Zedong
became eternal heroes. The political leaders of the past were portrayed as
mere “reactionaries” or “feudal lords who used to suck the blood of the
poor,” not as “founding fathers” or guardians of Ethiopia’s independence,
except when such reference would benefit the propaganda of the politi-
cal elites. Alem Kebede noted that the intellectuals applied “retroactive”
framing to reframe the past and the present, and “projective” framing to
portray a blissful forthcoming in the future (2010, pp. 311-312).
Second, the messianic role of the students was expressed through vari-
ous actions that they took to remove Haile Selassie’s government from
power. The first student protest against authority occurred when uni-
versity students participated in the coup d’état of 1960 against Haile Se-
lassie, at a time when “they neither knew what a coup d’état was or how to

133
Native Colonialism

mount a demonstration” (Balsvik, 2007, p. 11). They drafted a manifesto

which asserted that Ethiopia’s backwardness was due to the refusal of the
government to allow the “newly educated to modernise the country.”
Accordingly, “the manifesto placed the students and their successors at
the epicentre of Ethiopian politics” (2007, p. 12). The Crocodile Society
was created to propagate radical Marxist-Leninist ideas among university
students. On February 1965, the students staged a demonstration under
the slogan, “Land to the Tiller.” The agitation of the students started to
infiltrate into the urban population at a time of general economic crisis.
Through what is commonly known as the Ethiopian Student Movement,
students became the intellectual leaders of the 1974 revolution that re-
moved Haile Selassie from power. Wagaw argues that had it not been
for the political activism of the Ethiopian students, the revolution that
allowed the Derg to take power from the Emperor would not have oc-
curred in 1974 (1990, p. 203).
Another important consequence of the messianic role of the students
is the invention of ethnic differences as a basis of political struggle and
association. Generally in Africa, ethnic consciousness is the product of
colonialism especially the British divide-and-rule policy, and has been
nurtured since then by political elites of the postcolonial period (Vail,
1989). Western educated Africans are at the forefront of using ethnic
identity as a raw material to construct their own political power bases.
In Ethiopia too, the use of ethnic identity as a political ideology emerged
without a clear historical precedent. Previous uprisings that took place in
Tigray, Bale, and Gojam provinces were motivated by the maintenance
of traditional power interests or economic issues within the Ethiopian
Empire (Zewde, 2010). It was on 17 November 1969 that a student
by the name Waleligne Mekonen presented a paper that became a ca-
nonical manifesto for subsequent ethno-nationalist forces. According to
Bahru Zewde, Waleligne argued for two important points (2010). First,
Ethiopia is not one nation composed of several ethnics or tribes. It is a
collection of nations that have distinct linguistic and cultural features.
However, these nations have been oppressed by the Amhara-Tigre group,
and they should have the right to self-determination up to secession. Sec-
ond, the oppression of these nations constituted the national question
in Ethiopia. It could be achieved only through violence or a revolutionary
armed struggle. The historian Bahru Zewde, a fourth year student at that

134
 The Rise of Elite Messianism

time, remembered that Waleligne’s paper “came like a bolt from the blue”
(2010, p. 199). It set a fervent debate that developed into a canonical
guidance for the struggle of ethno-nationalist forces who later divided
the country into ethnic regions with the right to self-determination up to
secession. Setting aside the controversy on the merit of ethnic federalism
in the country, it is clear that the concept was first invented in Ethiopia
as a political ideology by the radical Ethiopian students who religiously
believed in the application of the Marxist-Leninist formulae. Although
the ethno-nationalist formula did not become popular until the elimina-
tion of most nationalist forces during the Derg period, the encapsulation
of elite political groups with versions of Marxist-Leninist ideology was
unquestionable:

Lenin, and even more so Stalin, provided ready-made formulae to solve

the ‘national question’; Mao provided the manual for protracted guerrilla
warfare. Thus, Marxism-Leninism became a dogma that could interpret
the Ethiopian reality, not a theory that could be deployed intelligently
to analyze it. On the soil of Christian Orthodoxy were sown the seeds of
Marxist orthodoxy (Zewde, 2010, p. 271).

The Derg is the common name used to represent the Coordinating Com-
mittee of the Armed Forces, Police, and Territorial Army that ruled over
the country from 1974 to 1987. Although it had no political program of
its own, it adopted the popular slogans of the students, including “Land
to the Tiller” (M. Kebede, 2003b, pp. 179-180). The Derg intensified the
violence against traditions in the process of consolidating its power. This
can be demonstrated by considering three complementary projects. These
include campaign, organization, and violence. Campaign was intended
to spread the message of the revolution to the majority of the people with
the aim of gaining the best possible support from the population. Orga-
nization was a project of incorporating the people into specific power
positions within the new system by inventing new modes of relationships
or networks of power. The use of violence crystallized the new power re-
lationships created through the two aforementioned processes by elimi-
nating actual and suspected threats of the regime. Students were active
participants as protestors, campaigners, organizers and, later, victims of
the political change they initiated. The perpetration of violence radically

135
Native Colonialism

ruptured not just the traditional modes of relationships people had with
each other, but also the possibility of establishing a stable center of rela-
tionships. In the following section, I will present the Red Terror and the
students’ participation in campaigns as turning points that cast the state
as the supreme messianic institution in the country, thereby undermining
the role of the students.

Campaign
One of the common justifications about the value of education is change.
Through the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Universal Pri-
mary Education has been hailed as a universal human right and a devel-
opment prerequisite to change the condition of impoverished societies.
In Africa, the colonial administrators and western missionaries expanded
primary education among their subjects and converts. Bertrand Russell
argued that universal education was initiated due to the feeling that “an
ignorant population is a disgrace to a civilised life” (2004, p. 158). “The
feeling that illiteracy was disgraceful” entails a cultural initiative (2004,
p. 158). In Ethiopia, since the advent of consciousness of power in the
late 19th century, the rural population has been considered illiterate. The
definition of illiteracy is not simply the inability to write and read. The
term depicts the entire mode of life in the rural area as primitive. The
initiative against illiteracy has been considered the most venerated act,
often lodged in the form of literacy campaigns. But, the greatness of such
campaigns is often drawn from the perceived backwardness of the rural
people.
During my field work in 2011-12 in Ethiopia, I met teachers who
were participants in the literacy campaign during the previous govern-
ment. They believe that the campaign against illiteracy was one of the
best achievements of the Derg. They even consider that it is the best
lesson that the current government should consider repeating from the
Derg’s campaign. They are genuinely concerned by the unwillingness of
graduates to educate and civilise the people in rural areas:

These days, students are not willing to go to the rural areas to teach the
people. How can our country develop unless intellectuals go to the peo-
ple and teach them how to read and write? The world is globalizing but

136
 The Rise of Elite Messianism

our people are still living in the Stone Age because we could not carry out
our historic responsibilities (Interview, 26 April, 2012).

Their common perception of progress suggests a linear pathway of tech-

nological advancement where those at the front lead those behind. This
theory presupposes the existence of a higher intellectual and cultural stan-
dard among developed western societies, and places the destiny of the led
in the vision of the leaders. The theory works at a local level by putting the
urban and schooled ahead of the rural peasants. The perception of rural life
as backward is the most taken for granted belief. “Rural people are back-
ward because they are poor and uneducated, that is as clear as day light”
(Interview, 28 April, 2012). All traditional beliefs about nature and soci-
ety not referenced from the texts of the students’ books, or supported by
the urban culture, are considered irrational. A university student gave me a
clear example of how students view themselves in relation to their people:

We are the eyes of the people. A blind person, irrespective of age or

knowledge needs an eyed person to lead him the way. In Ethiopia, we
have a proverb which says, ‘if the blind leads the blind, both would fall
into a ditch’. Therefore, only the educated who have the sight of knowl-
edge should lead the people, who are blind due to long years of illiteracy,
exploitation and backwardness (Interview, 22 April, 2012).

This general sense of missionarism students feel towards their society was
operationalized in various messianic initiatives that were undertaken in
social, cultural, and political fields during the Derg regime. Their initia-
tive to teach literacy and numeracy to the rural population through a
“warlike” campaign, their effort to discourage aspects of traditional be-
liefs and practices, and their instrumental role in reorganizing the rural
population along socialist lines reflect the internalization of the messian-
ic identity. Akilu Habte, reflecting on the spirit of the Ethiopian Student
Movement, noted that:

The students thought they knew everything. They thought they knew…
how to run a government, how to teach at a university, how to be a
president of a university, a minister of education, an administrator. They
knew it all. The consequence was disaster (2010).

137
Native Colonialism

The teaching and reorganizing of the rural population was animated by a

cultural reengineering that supported the consolidation of Elitdom while
undermining the traditional relationships and values of the population.
Two campaigns could be taken as an example to show the relationship
between teaching literacy and the strengthening of Elitdom. The first
is the Yemisirache Dimtse Literacy Campaign, which was mentioned in
Chapter 4. The second is Zemecha, the Development through Coopera-
tion, Enlightenment and Work Campaign, and was the most influential
initiative on the broader population.
Milkias noted that the word “Zemecha means war mobilization
against the enemy; a total mobilization against a total enemy. It implies
total commitment and participation and ends by total success or failure”
(1980, p. 54). Immediately after the removal of Haile Selassie from power,
the students requested that the government interrupt their studies so that
they could be sent out to the countryside to teach the rural people about
the revolution. The Derg took the opportunity to control and manage the
activity of the students. The students were organized, given uniforms, and
sent to the rural population as army crusaders or torch bearers to spread
the news of the revolution and bring enlightenment and civilization to
the broad masses of the rural people. The situation of the rural people was
presented as “life behind the dark curtails of illiteracy and in the chain of
poverty” (1980, p. 77). Kebede likens this military oriented program to
a “colonial enterprise” (2008b, p. 91). About 60,000 university students
and teachers, with about 50,000 secondary school students, were sent out
to 437 rural places to liberate the masses from oppressive ideas and pre-
pare them to embrace the philosophy of “Ethiopia Tikdem,” which means
“Ethiopia First.” For the government, this motto aimed at “removing el-
ements of traditional political identity, such as adherence to Orthodox
Christianity, which prevented it from serving as a fully national symbol”
(Clapham, 1989, p. 12). The students were to teach self-confidence, self-
reliance, dignity of labor, and moral regeneration. They were also to ex-
plain to the people that “the millennium-old Ethiopian feudal tradition
of drunkenness, debauchery, overindulgence, partiality and dishonesty
are characteristics of decadence” (P Milkias, 1980, p. 55). Another ob-
jective was to “collect and document national folklore and promote the
study of regional cultures” (1980, p. 55). However, this latter objective
was effectively undermined by authorities who were not interested in it.

138
 The Rise of Elite Messianism

Asgedom noted that this denied the gathering of a possible bank of tradi-
tional ideas that could have been saved for succeeding generations (2007).
The Zemecha was accompanied with various slogans that reflect the
students’ messianic position and passion to participate in “healing” the
nation from the ravages of hunger and “enable the people to stand on
their own feet” (P Milkias, 1980, p. 55). Some of the slogans were:

We pledge to eradicate illiteracy by teaching and learning!

Let the educated teach and the uneducated learn!
Age is no barrier to education!
Literacy is part and parcel of the Cultural Revolution!
The curtain of ignorance will be torn asunder!

Although there was a great deal of mobilization, as it were the students

themselves who requested to interrupt their classes and be sent out to the
rural people to teach, the Derg turned the voluntary request of the stu-
dents into a law. On 21 December 1974, the Zemecha was promulgated
in the official newspaper of the government as an obligatory mission of
all educated Ethiopians with severe sanctions against those who might
defect from fulfilling their responsibilities. The proclamation provided:

Any person who is obligated to participate in the campaign shall as long

as he fails to fulfil his campaign obligation, not be permitted; (1) to at-
tend day or night school in Ethiopia; (2) to be employed in any gov-
ernment or private organisation; and (3) to leave Ethiopia whatsoever
(Negarit Gazeta, 1977, p. 44).

The proclamation shows that the government expropriated the messianic

position of the students. It twisted the desire of the students to play a
decisive role in the life of their people to serve its own purpose. The ob-
vious motive was to diffuse political opposition against its ambition to
stay in power but the new campaign law had various social and cultural
repercussions. High school children from the age of sixteen and above
were declared teachers in a cultural context where teachers are viewed
as leaders. The students became civilizers, opinion makers and advisors
to the rural population. What is significant at this stage is again the pur-
pose for which law was used to intensify government control over life. By

139
Native Colonialism

appropriating the slogan of the students and subjecting their initiative

to the terms and conditions of its law, the Derg appropriated the pro-
cess, purpose and outcome of their movement. It claimed ownership over
it, and ultimately took whatever credit could come out of the campaign
while assigning letdowns to the “immaturity” of the students. The ulti-
mate goal of the campaign was the subjection of both the students and
the rural people to its power.
The proclamation stated that those who attended modern schools
were obligated to be the teachers, civilizers, and leaders of the people or
their status as citizens would be revoked. They could not be students,
employees or even migrants without undertaking that role. Although the
campaign was initially for one year, it was extended by another year in
1975 (P Milkias, 1980). In the field, the campaigners were to teach the
people who their enemies were, to assist in the confiscation of land from
traditional landlords, and to organize the people for land distribution.
The two most important objectives that might have induced students to
implement the Zemecha were their zeal to realize their long awaited slo-
gan “land to the tiller,” and a commitment to the establishment of civil-
ian government that would replace the Provisional Military Committee
(Derg). While the former objective was more or less realized, the second
was not.
The proclamation that designated the students as leaders disregard-
ed the culture of the people. The measure of advancement, of right and
wrong, was bent to the students’ understanding, who believed in their
own role as revealers of a new knowledge. Traditional beliefs and practic-
es were regarded only through shallow materialism that rejected aspects
of the spiritual and cultural life of the people as irrational and supersti-
tious. The role of the students served to institutionalize the radical and
ongoing negation of traditions that became the moral justification of the
socialist philosophy that the military government claimed to follow.
During the Zemecha, the students took with themselves a vague idea
of Marxism-Leninism with a highly antagonistic and bifurcating lan-
guage. It was noted that “students carrying Mao’s little red book, would
lecture peasants on class struggle and the necessity of collective farming,
while the peasant association leaders kept asking where they would get
the oxen urgently needed for plowing and when fertilizer would be deliv-
ered” (Donham, 1999, p. 12). One of the most bifurcating concepts that

140
 The Rise of Elite Messianism

students introduced into the rural areas was the division between classes.
They introduced a polarized and irreconcilable opposition between the
majority of the peasants as oppressed, and their traditional leaders of the
old system, often known as balabat and chiqa shum, as the oppressors.
This class division was amorphous, contextually irrelevant, and largely in-
comprehensible to the people. Farming retainers, blacksmiths and labor-
ers were often categorized as belonging to the class of the oppressed. The
class of the oppressors, on the other hand, contained not just the political
appointees of the old system, but any one exercising some form of politi-
cal or cultural authority in the community, such as traditional chiefs, or
persons referred to as sorcerers and witches. According to Donham, who
conducted an ethnographic study of Malee, Southern Ethiopia, at that
time, “belief in caste, to the students, was not just a superstition, it was anti-
revolutionary” (1999, p. 50). The students characterized the relationship
between the oppressor and the oppressed as being exploitative, immoral,
and counter revolutionary. People were told to recognize one another as
either comrades or enemies. Once a strict dichotomy was drawn between
the former leaders and the rest, and the relationship between the two was
defined as one of constant confrontation and struggle, the remedy sug-
gested by the Zemecha was the victory of the oppressed masses over the
grave of the feudal lords. It was reported that through their teachings, the
students would incite the people to take every measure against their op-
pressors. According to Donham the students would ask the people who
their real enemies were, and proceed to give the answer:

Your real enemies are the kati and the goda [these were the Malee words
that the local Christian translator used for the Zemecha students’ Am-
haric reference to balabat and chika shum]. If they try to take money
from you, you catch them and bring them to the police. If they resist,
then kill them (qtd. in 1999, p. 46).

Balsvik also noted that the students participated in the confiscation of

grain from former leaders and its distribution to the people (2007). In
their bid to convert the people to the ideology of Marxism-Leninism,
the students found crusading allies from protestant missionaries, espe-
cially in the South. Balsvik reported that “the students and the protestant
Christians could in particular put up a united front of condemnation and

141
Native Colonialism

disregard towards the traditional world view of the local people, which
upheld local chiefs” (2007, p. 63). According to Ottaway:

There was considerable backlash among the peasants against the stu-
dents, who were trying to move too fast. Ethiopia had to become China
immediately; they had little concept of the real speed with which new
institutions has been formed in other countries. ... They had little under-
standing of and respect for the values of the peasants they were working
with. There was a revealing incident in which some students desecrated
the religious symbol of a community in the South-West and were killed
by peasants (1977, p. 86).

An example of such a denigrating attitude towards local belief was re-

flected in Keffa, Southern Ethiopia, where Zemacha students tried to
demonstrate the “reactionary” practice of a local spiritual leader. Once
they entered his secluded compound and feasted by the followers of the
geramanja, “the students deliberately desecrated the geramanja’s sacred
eating utensils and, after dinner, seated the low-caste manjo on his special
horse” (qtd. in Donham, 1999, p. 35). The outraged followers of the gera-
manja waited until the students had assembled in a school building in the
neighborhood. The building was surrounded and torched. According to
reports, which could not be cross-checked, all the students died in the
blaze or were shot as they fled (Donham, 1999).
Such opposition to the acts of the students, however, was not com-
mon. In many places, the students acted against tradition with impunity.
It should be stressed, though, that the action of the students was not mo-
tivated by total disrespect to the people’s beliefs. The students believed
they were liberating the people from the incarcerating effect of super-
stitious beliefs and from the exploitation of their produce by witchcraft
and sorcerers. They were attempting to enlighten them to take their own
destiny into their own hands, not to rely on anything, even God, but on
the revolution that would lead them to communism, to the true heaven
on earth. Thus, it is possible to consider the action of the students as a
religious mission (M. Kebede, 2008b). As Habte noted, in Ethiopia,
Marxism Leninism was presented “almost as a religion… If you had a dif-
ferent idea you are the enemy” (2010). De Waal noted that people were
“forced at gunpoint to attend literacy classes and public meetings” (1991,

142
 The Rise of Elite Messianism

p. 317). Party members of the Derg were prohibited from baptizing their
children or practicing religion. Through the materialist philosophy of
Marxism-Leninism, the traditional religious conception of utopia as af-
terlife was cast as being possible on earth through absolute submission to
communism.
Two conclusions can be drawn from the campaign. First, it laid
down a rule that reverberated to the remote corners of the country. That
rule was the acceptance of western educated elites as the new leaders of
the people and, by virtue of its power to educate and give office to the
learned, the government indirectly presented itself as the moral, spiritual,
and cultural center of the people. Second, it introduced an institution-
alized bifurcated view of the social world to the rural population using
antagonistic terms such as feudals versus tenants, reactionaries versus
revolutionaries, and oppressors versus the oppressed. The institutional-
ization of this division was intensified through what was known as the
organization of the masses.

Organization of the Masses

Besides teaching the population about Marxism-Leninism, the organiza-
tion of the masses was another important role carried out by the students.
Between 1974 and 1976, “over 20,000 peasant associations, with total
membership of 5 million members were established” (Abate & Kiros,
2011, p. 161). The new system was able to plant its roots deep into the
rural villages by using the students to organize the population. The most
important units of organization were the kebeles. As local administrative
units constituting villages or neighbors in a proximate geographical area,
the kebeles played a key role of becoming an institutional organ of the
government at the rural and urban areas. Once established, kebeles cre-
ated the Association of Rural Dwellers in the rural areas, and the Asso-
ciation of Urban Dwellers in urban areas. They also established workers’,
women’s, and youth’s associations. The rural kebele associations became
instrumental in carrying out the various programs of the government, in-
cluding the distribution of land and the implementation of a villagization
program where scattered homesteads were made to form larger villages.
They also executed the resettlement programs of the Derg, where poor or
landless farmers were forced to settle on regions with sparse population

143
Native Colonialism

density often unhospitable and far from public services. They also re-
cruited individuals for national military service. The dramatic increase
in the participation of the population in the policies of the government
was implemented through the kebeles. However, the recruitment of the
kebeles’ leaders was imposed from above with “rubber-stamping partici-
pation” (Tiruneh, 1993, p. 12). Although the students were not direct
participants in the activities of the kebeles, they took part in organizing
them and teaching their ideologies to them.
The kebeles served the most important role of consolidating and sus-
taining the regime. Another function of the kebeles was their role in in-
creasing the capacity of the government to extract revenue and control
the economy. The kebeles were able to collect taxes and impose quotas of
grains upon the farmers to be sold at fixed prices to the government. The
principles with which the kebeles carried out their functions were influ-
enced by the ideology of the state that rejected the cultural and religious
practices and beliefs of the people (Clapham, 1989, pp. 7-8).
One of the main organizing principles of the government was blind
obedience to the revolution, according to the nomenclature of the Derg,
Revolutionary-Centralism (abiyotawi maekelwinet). Opposition to au-
thority was considered a serious contempt against the spirit of the revo-
lution. As an elementary student, I remember the time when we were
recruited by kebele officials to practice singing and marching to “cel-
ebrate” the anniversary of the dethronement of Haile Selassie. The prepa-
ration took place at a local kebele hall, and it was always preceded with
lectures about Marxism-Leninism, an idea that was incomprehensible to
me and my friends. In the small town where I grew up, the view of party
officials was the most dramatic and fearful event of all. I have a memory
of the District Workers Party Secretariat and his followers, in their tight
khaki uniforms, walking along the roads guarded by armed militia. For
me and my friends, fear was the only means by which we could relate to
those officials.
More than the actions, the process through which the kebeles im-
plemented their actions defined the nature of politics for the majority.
Corruption was rampant and poor individuals were subjected to forced
recruitment to the military. Those who had some level of family ties were
able to pay the kebele officials and save their relatives and/or produce.
New codes of relationships were established as people made every effort

144
 The Rise of Elite Messianism

to survive. As Donham observes, “with the expansion of state power after

the revolution, giving gifts to revolutionary officials had been extended
on a scale unknown under Haile Selassie. Such gifts were more than illicit
transactions: They constituted obedience and obeisance to the revolu-
tion” (1999, p. xxiii). He added,

People did not know if it was possible to trust anyone, to believe in any-
thing, their moral codes, their sacred customs, generally their way of life
was revoked without any sensible replacement. What follows was a blind
acceptance of everything that was handed down from the authorities
(1999) .

This shows that the creation and organization of local structures through
the active participation of the Ethiopian students took place as a form of
violence against traditions; it facilitated conditions for the government
to invalidate and exclude the sanctity of tradition, and replace it with a
system through which elite power could be exercised.

Physical Violence
The single most important factor that seriously impacted the Ethiopian
perception of politics was the practice of state violence against the civil-
ian population. Mbembe noted that the post-colonial state in Africa is
marked by the institutionalization of violence (2001). This is also true in
Ethiopia, despite it being a country that cannot be called a post-colonial
state due to the absence of an accepted foreign rule in its history. Like the
colonial period, government institutions served to implement some form
of violence by the state. The violence had its own stage, morbid methods
of performance, and effect that made it enduring in the consciousness of
people.
We can see two modes of expression for violence: verbal and physical.
Initially, there was what was called verbal violence, a fierce debate among
intellectuals that included naked insults between contending parties and
debating from radical positions drawn from the same Marxist-Leninist
ideology. This can be contrasted with the traditional art of eset ageba, a
form of litigation conducted between parties by the use of metaphors,
poems, proverbs, and so on. The expression of insult as a form of violence

145
Native Colonialism

was practiced initially by the students. Through their radical publications

and speeches, university students used to insult Haile Selassie’s officials
as thieves, ticks, pigs and so on. Irrespective of its cause, the use of such
language by young children against their elders was a clear violation of
tradition. It also negated the principle of wisdom as humility. The in-
sult against authority reached its peak when the students cried “Thief !
Thief ! Thief !” against Haile Selassie when he was moved by the military
from the palace without a single gunshot fired by the military (Whitman,
1975). Reflecting on the dishonoring of the Emperor by his own stu-
dents and later his murder by his own soldiers, Abbink noted that, “If one
would pursue a psychoanalytic approach to the problem, one might say
that the removal and killing of Haile Selassie in August 1975 was a typi-
cal case of “father killing,” the result of which were visited on the “chil-
dren later” (1995, p. 140).
The vocabulary of insult used to draw and characterize opposing
views was instrumental for the development of numerous slogans and
banners under which the most egregious form of physical violence in the
history of the country was committed. “The verbal violence that con-
sumed the debate of the students at the beginning of the 1970s paved the
way for the physical violence that occurred around the end of the period”
(Zewde, 2008, p. 433).
It is also argued that the verbal violence, the debate and action of the
students played a decisive role in the radicalization of the government it-
self. “Doctrinal consistency” was regarded as the most important expres-
sion of commitment to the cause of the revolution (M. Kebede, 2008b,
p. 3). As mentioned above, some students supported the Derg hoping
that its takeover of power from the Emperor was temporary. However,
the military showed no sign of handing over its power. While the stu-
dents were executing the campaign in rural places, the Derg was consoli-
dating its grip on power. A division then emerged among the students
themselves. Those who wanted the immediate establishment of a civil-
ian government came together under the more popular party among the
intellectuals called the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Party (EPRP).
Those who wanted to give the military more time were organized un-
der the party All Ethiopians Socialist Movement, commonly known as
Meison. Both parties comprised the most educated in the country, and
became fierce enemies who later ended up being victims of the Red Terror

146
 The Rise of Elite Messianism

that consumed the lives of at least 10,000 educated people in the capital
alone (De Waal, 1991, p. 101).

The Red Terror: ‘Revolution Eats its Own Children’

The Red Terror was a Derg-sponsored killing of political activists, the
majority of whom were students suspected of opposing the military gov-
ernment. It can be regarded as an act in which student messianism was
replaced by state messianism. Zewde divided the Red Terror into three
stages which I draw upon for the analysis (2008, pp. 435-440). The first
stage was between September 1976 and February 1977. During this pe-
riod, EPRP members started to assassinate key government figures and
supporters. The government retaliated by killing some EPRP members,
and generally gave justification to the public why the measures had to
be taken. The second stage was between February and November 1977.
The crucial trigger was the coup attempt against the Chairman of the
Derg, Mengistu Hailemariyam, on 3 February 1977. This period was
characterized by search and kill missions (2008). On 17 April 1977,
Mengistu appeared at a televised public rally with three bottles allegedly
filled with blood. It was said that the three bottles represented the three
enemies of the revolution: feudalism, imperialism, and bureaucratic-
imperialism. He smashed the bottles on the stage showing to the people
that the blood of the reactionaries would be spilled on the streets of the
country. The next day, the government newspaper came out with the
title, “The Broad Masses of Ethiopia: Your Revolution has been trans-
formed from a Defensive to an Offensive Position” (Addis Zemen,
1977). It was at this stage that the kebeles and the associations that were
initially organized through the support of student campaigners made a
blood pact with the regime. “Revolutionary squads” were recruited from
the mass associations of peasants, urban dwellers, and factory workers
under the program “the arming of the broad masses” (Tiruneh, 1993, p.
208). In addition to the squads, cadres were selected from the military
and from political factions that reported to Mengistu. The squads and
the cadres were coordinated by a highly trained security force directly
commanded from the palace by Mengistu himself. These forces which,
according to Tiruneh, were the “machinery of death” selected, tortured
and killed prominent individuals while encouraging the squads and the

147
Native Colonialism

cadres to do the same (1993). The peak of the killings during this period
occurred on 1 May 1977.
Ethiopian political parties used International Workers Day as an op-
portunity to showcase their political stands. On 29 April 1977, EPRP
organized a mass rally that led to a disaster. On that day, and through-
out half of the month, more than 1000 demonstrators were massacred
by government militias, half on the streets and the rest while fleeing or
hiding.

School children of eleven years of age and above were at the forefront of
EPRP demonstrations. It is widely reported that hospitals often refused
to treat the wounded on the grounds that they were reactionaries, and
charged anything up to 100 US dollars and 25 US dollars for the release
of students’ and workers’ bodies, respectively, to cover the cost of bullets
wasted in killing them (Tiruneh, 1993, p. 211).

What made the period of Red Terror such a gruesome event is not just the
severity and brutality of the violence but also the involvement of ordinary
persons in the act. The offices of rural kebeles and associations were turned
into detention centers where the most despicable acts of torture were com-
mitted against suspected members and sympathizers of EPRP: “One typi-
cal form of torture was soaking the feet of the detainees in boiling water
for a time and then suspending them upside-down and beating the soles
of their feet until the skin gave way to blood and the raw flesh and final-
ly to the bare bones” (Tiruneh, 1993, p. 212). These torture techniques
were largely learned from Soviet and Cuban advisors to the government
(Tiruneh, 1993). Many died in the process; others became physically or
mentally disabled. The objective of the torture was to force the victims to
expose at least three members of the EPRP to the authorities. Out of the se-
verity of the pain, many of them had to incriminate themselves, or innocent
persons whom they remembered, or even members of the security forces.
Once the so called members of EPRP were identified through the
process of torture and forced incrimination, they would be taken to the
outskirts of the cities and executed at day break with gunshots.

Their skulls were smashed open with gun butts, their brains and blood
scattered all around and slogans pinned to their bodies, the corpses

148
 The Rise of Elite Messianism

would be left lying on strategic street corners till morning for passer-by
to see; sometimes corpses were also displayed on television. With this
morbid ritual over, the bodies were then collected and buried in mass
graves on the outskirts of the cities (Tiruneh, 1993, pp. 212-213).

The third stage of the Red Terror took place between November 1977
and May 1978. This time was the period of “netsa ermija” which means
“unrestricted licence to kill” (Zewde, 2010, p. 439). Terror became a nor-
mal duty of revolutionary squads who were authorized to take extraor-
dinary measures against enemies of the revolution. More organized and
determined than ever, the Derg expanded the practice of terror. At this
stage, the members of Meison who supported the illumination of EPRP
during the first and second stage of the Red-Terror themselves became
victims of the Derg. By doing so, the government eliminated all orga-
nized groups, especially politically active students and graduates, slashing
the moral and intellectual pedigree of political leadership to its own size.
Zewde presented two important consequences that resulted from the
violent crushing of EPRP and Meison. The first effect was that Mengistu
Hailemariyam became the center of national life:

After eliminating all of the leftist groupings except his own, Abiwotawi
Saddad (“Revolutionary Fire”), he declared himself the ma’ikel (center)
around whom the genuine vanguard party was to be formed…In truth,
he became the ma’ikel, not only of the party but also of national life in
general (2010, p. 442).

As presented in the previous two chapters, this is against the Ethiopian

tradition that considered Covenant as the central intersection point for
the vertical and horizontal axes of national life. As a consequence of the
Red Terror, “a generation of urban people with at least minimum educa-
tion” was lost (De Waal, 1991, p. 109). As Mengistu occupied the nation-
al center, his opponents looked for new centers to organize and challenge
the regime. What followed was the decline of multi-nationalist move-
ments and the rise of ethno-nationalist movements among which the
current leading coalition of ethnic political parties, Ethiopian Peoples’
Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), became the strongest. Like
the Derg, political parties are oriented by Marxist-Leninist elitism and

149
Native Colonialism

view the political and cultural legacy of the past through the prism of
ethnic oppression and backwardness (M. Kebede, 2003a).
Ethiopia was made and remade for the third time in less than half a
century. Before 1974, Haile Selassie was viewed as standing at the center
of the nation; from 1974-1991, Mengistu Hailemariyam became a na-
tional center, and then from 1991-2012 Meles Zenawi was the center of
political life. Their style and legacy may not be one and the same. How-
ever, their significance as centers of ultimate political power is undeni-
able. It can be argued that Ethiopia’s tragic experience during modern
times has been the ascendancy of one-man-centered politics backed by
western ideas and instruments of power with little or no regard to the
role of indigenous traditions. One-man-centered politics entails over-
reliance on the power of an individual to deal with all national problems.
It has to do with the exaltation of the whim of an individual or group
of individuals whose decisions are dictated by their own or their party’s
power interests rather than the cultural and traditional sensibilities of the
population. Although one-man-centered politics may not be new to the
country, it became progressively strong since the period of Haile Selassie
when the Emperor decided to import western ideas, institutions, experts
and instruments of coercion to build a new nation in exclusion of the
traditional legacy of the country.

Lessons of Violence
There are three important consequences that emerged out of the Red
Terror. The first comes as a result of the involvement of ordinary per-
sons as perpetrators and the victims; the second is the process through
which terror was executed and the third is the impact of the violence on
society– on the government in general and on students in particular. As
stated above, although organized and led by the military, civilians were
active participants in the Red Terror. Urban and rural dwellers, workers,
professionals, and students organized under various associations were re-
cruited to form death squads in order to eliminate other civilians suspect-
ed of being “counter revolutionary.” Large number of hitherto denigrated
individuals came to the political scene for the first time as actors to write
a story that ultimately was to define who they were as members of a new
political community.

150
 The Rise of Elite Messianism

The process through which acts of terror was committed revoked

some of the fundamental beliefs that ordinary persons held regarding the
sanctity of life in their tradition. For example, the violation of burial to
the victims was a fundamental blow to the traditional ceremony that was
kept for the dead. Such a ceremony allowed strong community involve-
ment as almost every individual belongs to a burial association called
edir. Through edir associations, the dead are mourned in a range of pro-
longed burial ceremonies such as prayers and remembrance feasts which
are important to every family. The common Ethiopian proverb “kebarie
atasatagne’” which means “may I not be in a position where no one would
attend my funeral” suggests the sanctity of this ritual. However, what was
done to the victims of Red Terror was a flagrant violation of this tradition.
Another impact was the bifurcation of social and political reality in
terms of antagonistic forces. The Ethiopian social, political and historical
world was perceived as a field of struggle between the uncompromising
agents of good and bad political forces. Based on this radicalized view
of dissent, a culture of verbal violence and confrontation consumed any
political dialogue in the country. This was clearly visible in the 2005 na-
tional election where political parties underwent a furious political de-
bate that resulted in the killing of dozens of civilians and the arrest of
several political activists (Abbink, 2006).

Conclusion
In the previous chapter, it is shown that the modern school was created
as an institution that promotes western epistemology. This epistemol-
ogy constantly bifurcates social reality into contradictory opposites that
dismisses the validity of traditional meanings. In this process, what is
considered as Ethiopia’s tradition has been relegated to a state of back-
wardness that opposes modern progress. I used two terms, missionarism
and messianism, to express the top-down pre-emptive initiative of the
students to change their society.
Both missionarism and messianism share the command condition of
separation from tradition (analyzed as alienation in the coming chapter).
In both cases, tradition is to a large extent considered the opposite of
modernization. However, while missionarism considers the achievement

151
Native Colonialism

of change through the progressive reformation and reformulation of the

physical and mental spaces of the people, messianism aims at achieving
change through radical political action, including violence against any-
thing that opposes its vision. Ethiopian students were driven towards the
latter approach due to their internalization of a western worldview that
undermines local knowledge and their dissatisfaction with the then exist-
ing traditional system. They produced the slogans, mottos and radical ac-
tion that they believed was needed to change the country into a socialist
nation. They participated in literacy campaigns and spread the “news” of
socialism and helped create grassroots rural and urban associations.
This role was later confiscated by the military rulers who took violent
measures first against the old system and later against students alleged to
have been involved in oppositional activities. The Red Terror shows the
end result of radical messianism. The state, by virtue of its monopolistic
control over the instruments of coercion, became the only effective mes-
sianic institution in the country. The process by which the power of elites
has unfolded – antagonistic bifurcation, student and state messianism,
and violence – led to the progressive invalidation of traditional values
and the institutionalization of the two types of violence that created na-
tive colonialism. Epistemic violence against tradition is institutionalized
through the education system and other state institutions that operate
based on western knowledge and physical violence against dissent be-
come the ultimate means of maintaining Elitdom.

152
 chapter 6

Elitdom and Centeredlessness

Introduction

T
he traditional education system aimed at using education to en-
lighten the individual with divine truth and make him/her one
with society. Knowledge was considered as a “live coal buried
under the ashes of a stove”, a treasure only God could reveal to humans
(Wagaw, 1990, p. 38). To seek knowledge was to seek truth. Hence, edu-
cation was an end; it was desired for its own sake. Similar to the clas-
sical education in Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Christianity and
Buddhism, knowledge was to be pursued through the study of sacred
texts and the practice of spiritual life (Spring, 2006, p. 2). Hence, educa-
tion focused on ethical principles, discouraged individualistic tendencies
and promoted relational ideals over self-serving ones.
In Ethiopia, the transition from the traditional education system
to the current western model of schooling took place through epis-
temic violence against traditional knowledge. The imitation of western
institutions, especially the western education system after 1941, led to
the sidelining of traditional knowledge and traditional scholars, and the
rise of western educated individuals as missionaries of modernization.
The 1960s witnessed the rise of student messianism that envisioned the
violent removal of the monarchical system as a precondition for the re-
alization of socialism in Ethiopia. The military overtook this messianic
vision of the students and removed Emperor Haile Selassie from power
in 1974. Then, a new power struggle started between student messian-
ism and state messianism, which led to the killing of several thousands
of students during the Red Terror. The Red Terror had disproportionate
Native Colonialism

effect on student messianism as it primarily targeted members of the

EPRP who had nationalistic visions and wanted to change the system
through urban uprising. It also made state violence the principal means
of maintaining power and privilege. Schools became centers of party mo-
bilization; students had to study “revolutionary” songs, attend Marxist-
Leninist classes, and were subjected to forced recruitment for national
military services. Academic freedom and other political freedoms were
more severely restricted than during the period of Haile Selassie. Political
party offices were opened in the campuses, exercising effective control
over the teaching-learning process. Eventually, members of the academic
community became participants by adopting the nomenclature of the
political system, and labelling dissenters as “anarchists”, “anti-revolution-
aries”, “imperialists” and so on. (Ottaway, 1978, p. 19). Consequently,
political mobilization based on nationalistic ideals was subjected to se-
vere scrutiny and criticism, leading to the strengthening of ethnic based
liberation fronts, especially in Eretria and Tigray.
After 17 years of civil war, EPRDF seized political power in 1991 and
adopted a constitution that realized the vision of Waleligne Mekonen’s
manifesto and other ethno-nationalist forces of the Ethiopian Student
Movement. Article 8 of the 1995 Federal Democratic Republic of Ethio-
pia (FDRE) Constitution declared the sovereignty of “Nations, National-
ities and Peoples of Ethiopia” who aspired to achieve a “common destiny”
“by rectifying historically unjust relationships”. The constitution divided
the country into nine ethnic regions, recognized the right of nations and
nationalities to promote their own identities and to exercise their right to
self-determination up to secession (FDRE, 1995, Art.34). It recognized
not individuals but the various ethno-linguistic groups as the members of
the Ethiopian nation (Nahum, 1997, pp. 51-52). Consequently, Ethiopia
is now the only country in the world that allows the self determination
of ethnic regions up to the right to secession from the Federation. The
historical account in Chapter 5 illustrates that, since 1974, the Ethio-
pian state was the product of elite messianism. Violence was the principal
means of its formation. This chapter analyses the Ethiopian Education
and Training Policy (ETP) and the effect of the education system on the
lives of high school and university students. Based on empirical research
from two high schools and one university it shows how elite autocracy
perpetuates itself through violence against tradition.

154
 Elitdom and Centeredlessness

Critical Analysis of the Ethiopian Education and Training

Policy (ETP)
The ETP provides the basic framework for education in Ethiopia (MOE,
1994). It defines education as, “a process by which man transmits his expe-
riences, new findings, and values accumulated over the years, in his strug-
gle for survival and development, through generations” (MOE, 1994).
This definition links knowledge and education to the survival ethos of
the body, and diminishes the space of recognition for spiritual and aes-
thetic forms of knowledge, which were prevalent in the traditional school
system. Under its objectives, the policy provides the purpose of education
with semantic action verbs such as: “to produce”, “to cultivate”, “to devel-
op”, “to bring up”, “to provide”, “to make”, “to create”, “to ensure” and “to
diffuse”— suggesting that education produces ‘citizens’ rather than the
other way round. Loaded more with political than educational objectives,
the approach advocates the revival of the messianic vision of the Ethio-
pian Student Movement which considered traditional and cultural spaces
as the object of its operation. Knowledge is defined as a good that can
be stored in and distributed from the premises of the modern school to
the mass population. This diffussionist vision of knowledge resembles the
“coloniser’s model of the world” (Blaut, 1993). According to Blaut, diffus-
sionism is a myth that considers the West or Europe as a self-generating
source for the dissemination of scientific ideas. “In this view, modernity
is still a one-way street, or perhaps better, a multi-lane superhighway with
only entry ramps” (Clifford, 2004, p. 3). In order to construct such a de-
velopment superhighway that would swiftly take the country to the level
of middle income economies, the policy links western knowledge with
state power, and presents three justifications for its subject-creating roles.
First, it historicizes a particular version of the past. It makes no posi-
tive reference to the history or culture of the people. Instead, it portrays
the past as a legacy of “complex problems the country has plunged in
by dictatorial, self-centred and vain regimes” (MOE, 1994, p. 4). More-
over, while it remembers the existence of illiteracy, harmful traditional
practices and primitivism that continues to resist the diffusion of science
and technology, it makes no positive references to the country’s history.
Second, it historicizes the subject. It makes Ethiopian students casual-
ties of the history and culture of the past and it intends to operate at

155
Native Colonialism

their cognitive level to reformulate their mental spaces: to make them

“differentiate harmful practices from useful ones,...show positive attitude
towards development and dissemination of science and technology”, and
to make them “citizens with a humane outlook” (MOE, 1994, pp. 7-8).
Third, it intends to perform these functions at the individual level. It aims
to “cultivate the cognitive, creative and productive potential of citizens”,
and “develop the...problem solving capacity of individuals” (MOE, 1994,
p. 7). Based on Western dualism, this approach invents antagonistic iden-
tities in education and awards moral and intellectual superiority to the
teacher and the educated as agents of western civilization. It implies that
the school has the power to give a “humane outlook”— the ability to dif-
ferentiate the harmful from the useful in a society that was plunged into
complex problems due to the vain regimes of the past and the vagaries of
ignorance and illiteracy (MOE, 1994, p. 6).
Such a reductionist approach to the legacy of tradition portrays a
Hegelian view of motionless Africa, a land of childish immaturity that
existed “beyond a day of self-conscious history”; a people “enveloped
in the dark mantle of night” (Hegel, 1956, p. 91). It resonates with the
18th and 19th century western anthropologists’ view of colonial educa-
tion policy when the backwardness of Africa was deemed a burden for
the enlightened Europe (Lyons, 1970, p. 6). In the same way pre-colonial
societies were framed as primitive in order to justify the civilizing mission
of Europeans, the policy presents the Ethiopian historical existence and
traditional experience as barbaric and backward in order to allow the tyr-
anny of Elitdom. The way the policy aims at structuring and pedagogis-
ing education by focusing on primary skills suggests its endorsement of a
global hierarchy of labor (Leher, 2004). This hierarchy is also reflected in
the choice of a foreign language instead of the national language as a me-
dium of instruction in higher education, which one high school teacher
described as “the most pernicious vice to the learning of Ethiopian stu-
dents” (Interview, June 5, 2013).

The Cult of English as a Medium of Learning

The Ethiopian Constitution presents the use of the mother tongue in ed-
ucation as a newly won right for all ethnic members of the country. How-
ever, the Ethiopian Higher Education Proclamation (HPR) provides,

156
 Elitdom and Centeredlessness

“The medium of instruction in any institution, except possibly in lan-

guage studies other than the English language, shall be English” (HPR,
2009, Art. 20 (1)). The aim is to achieve international competitiveness in
the globalizing world by focusing on the transfer of technology from de-
veloped countries. The ETP does not provide a clear justification for the
use of English. However, it outlines the existence of three tiers of commu-
nication in Ethiopian society. The first is local communication which is
based upon the ethnic language of the region where the student lives. All
subjects in primary education would be offered using the local language.
The second type of communication is national. For this, the child has
to study the official language of the country, Amharic, as a subject from
year one. At the third level, the policy identifies English as a means of in-
ternational communication. For this, English should be taught as a sub-
ject in primary education, and be used as a medium of instruction for all
courses at secondary and higher education levels. The educational advan-
tage of learning using mother-tongue languages at lower levels and Eu-
ropean languages at higher levels has been promoted by the World Bank
(Lockheed & Verspoor, 1991, p. 167). Criticizing the approach, Mazrui
argued that the Bank’s initiative was “a means of facilitating the students’
acquisition of the imperial [European] language at a later stage” (2000,
p. 48). He also shows that, at least as far as UNESCO is concerned, the
difficulty in using local language as a medium of instruction is where “to
find money” (UNESCO qtd. in A. Mazrui, 2000, pp. 50-51). Because
of lending and support conditions “under the World-Bank structural
adjustment programs, the only path open to African nations is the adop-
tion of the imperial languages from the very outset of a child’s education”
(A. Mazrui, 2000, p. 49).
Tekeste Negash strongly argues that the use of English as a medium
of instruction is detrimental to the national interest (2010). Ethiopia has
instruments of education. The Ge’ez Fidel (Ethiopian alphabets) is one of
the ancient languages of the world, has a well-developed philosophy and
is a repository of ancient wisdom that should pass on from generations to
generations (Bekerie, 1997; E. Isaac, 2007).
The argument in favor of the use of English as a medium of instruction
is often based on a myth about the existence of a superior international
standard. At the bottom of this myth lies a strong belief about the infe-
riority of Ethiopian languages and the absence of traditional knowledge

157
Native Colonialism

that can contribute to modernization. A supporter of this approach who

works for the Ministry of Education argued that:

We do not have national standard different from international standard

because our national standard is international standard. We need our stu-
dents to integrate and compete with other students in the world; we do
not want them to be isolated from the world (Interview, June 5, 2012).

There is no clear definition of international standard. Whose standard is

considered to be international? How is international standard related to
the national interest? Research shows that the use of a global language as
a medium of learning in Sub Sahara Africa is a myth that prevents the true
benefits of education to Africans (Truong, 2012). During my field work,
I asked several teachers and students about the merit of using English as a
medium of instruction. Although many of them believed that English is
a means of reaching out to the world from where they are isolated due to
poverty and backward traditions, one student responded: “Why should
we use their [western] language in order to learn from them or compete
against them? Can’t we think about or do similar stuff without using sim-
ilar languages?” (Interview, May 10, 2012). Few respondents considered
English as a weapon of colonizing the entire workforce and resources of
the country in the name of investment through a globalized elite. A high
school teacher criticized the use of English:

Our leaders say they are learning from other countries’ experiences. Can
you mention any successful country that is developed using a foreign
language? We are not India or Nigeria. We were not colonized by the
British. We did not grow up learning, communicating, writing, speak-
ing, and feeling in English. Our folklores, stories, and beliefs are all in
our languages. How can we use the English language to help civilize
90 million people, the majority of which know not a single word of
English? Is this nation building? Our language is our experience. How
can you share your experience without using the experience? (Interview,
May 10, 2012)

My observation of exam preparation by students clearly illustrates the

challenge that students face in using English as a medium of learn-
ing. Many students study the content of their exercise books using the

158
 Elitdom and Centeredlessness

method called shemideda. This is a form of rote learning, the cramming

of every word in a text without necessarily understanding the meaning or
the concept behind it. I have met students both in high school and early
university who use shemideda as their principal method of study. When
asked why a student uses shemideda, and whether it would be necessary if
education was in the national language, a student responded:

The teachers translate for us from English to Amharic during class. Be-
cause of that I understand the idea but I cannot yet put it in writing us-
ing English. I do not have enough vocabulary to express it in the way I
understand it, and I could be grammatically wrong and lose marks if I try
to do so. If it were in Amharic, I would not even need a teacher! I could
have studied every book sitting under a tree in my village (Interview,
May 20, 2012).

English as a challenge to learning could be seen in a cultural context that

does not support the use of the language in daily life. A student noted,
“There is little incentive or value outside the school that encourages
you to speak in English unless you want to show-off as an intellectual”
(Interview, May 20, 2012). In high school, many students have to spend
an enormous amount of their study time looking for the meanings of
several words in their English-Amharic dictionaries, which are full of
errors and defects. During my field work, I repeatedly attended classes
with students in two public high schools and in Addis Ababa University.
The experience of the students in the two high schools is similar. Gen-
erally, English is studied not as a means of expressing their ideas or as
an instrument of acquiring knowledge as commonly assumed, but as an
end for education. The greatest focus on grammatical rules, the vocabu-
laries, the punctuation marks, the pronunciation, and so on, are repeat-
edly explained in Amharic to the students. Students make every effort
to memorize the rules without necessarily applying them in their com-
munications. I observed three groups of students preparing themselves
for exams. While working on their English exercises, they discussed every
question in Amharic arguing whether it is right to use this English word
or that word, this tense or that tense, if it appears in their exams. In their
genuine and eager interest to understand it, it is not difficult to notice
the distance between the English language as a finished product and the

159
Native Colonialism

experience of the students. The language is no way near to be used as a

means of expressing their own ideas or receiving others’. It is studied as an
idea or new knowledge by itself, using the Amharic language as a medium
of learning and communicating it with each other.
The difficulty associated with English is especially visible during class
presentations where the embarrassment, the feeling of inadequacy and
nervousness that students face hampers their communication. In Grade
11 and 12 English class rooms, I observed many students making class
presentations, asking questions, and responding to questions often by
complementing their lack of English with Amharic. One of the clear
challenges associated with this type of learning is the impossibility of
critical learning. The main concern of critical education is to unravel op-
pressive ideologies that are concealed in the seemingly neutral body of
the language and content of education. It is difficult to imagine the pos-
sibility of doing this when the language as well as the content of educa-
tion is presented to the students as a new product. A teacher’s comment
is relevant here:

I sometimes think, by teaching them [students] western ideas using west-

ern language, we are reducing their level of thinking and communica-
tion to that of a western child. They may have large experience from life,
but we lock their experience by making English the only exit door for it.
Throughout their higher education life, they have to struggle looking for
the right vocabulary and grammar to express what they knew. They may
feel or think about great things, but they can only speak or write so little
of it in English (Interview, May, 2012).

The abandonment of Ethiopian languages from higher education and re-

search denies the people the possibility of contributing their experience
to enrich the knowledge base, and the possibility of producing and repro-
ducing knowledge relevant to their lives. The progressive abandonment
of the national language is even stronger among private primary schools
that enforce the use of English with strict disciplinary measures. I was in-
formed by teachers that a few private schools in Addis Ababa prohibit the
use of Amharic in the school compound with corporal punishment being
applied on students who might break this law. Such local practices, cou-
pled with the interest of the state to facilitate the “internationalization”

160
 Elitdom and Centeredlessness

of the system using English as an important instrument, may contribute

to the “linguistic genocide” some scholars are worried about (Skutnabb-
Kangas, 2000). Instead of teaching English as a foreign language, the sys-
tem uses it as a language of instruction for all courses in high school and
university with the consequence of turning citizens into its own clients.

Quality Education as a Mask to the Question of Relevance

The Ethiopian government under the EPRDF has been successful in gal-
vanizing international support based on its education policy. The World
Bank has declared Ethiopia among “good practice” countries in design-
ing quality education projects that would lead to “successful outcomes”
(Vawda, Moock, Gittinger, & Patrinzos, 2001). According to the World
Bank, a “decade after launching its 1994 New Education and Training
Policy, Ethiopia’s government can look back with justifiable pride on the
progress achieved” (2005, p. xiviii). From primary to university level, new
schools and universities have been built, teachers trained, and schools
and universities have been opened, but this significant expansion has cre-
ated a wide-ranging discourse over quality.
The meaning of quality education is often described in terms of five
“components [that] are often in tension with each other so that to im-
prove one may have negative effects on another” (Barrett, Chawla-Dug-
gan, Lowe, Nikel, & Ukpo, 2006, p. 12). The five components include
effectiveness, efficiency, equality, relevance and sustainability. These ele-
ments aim to strengthen the contribution of the education system to the
fulfilment of the government’s development plan. The most important
aspect of the development plan is “focus on growth with particular em-
phasis on greater commercialization of agriculture and enhancing private
sector development, industry, urban development and scaling up of ef-
forts to achieve Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)” (MoFED,
2010, p. 4). The GTP states the goal of ESDP IV as, “Producing demo-
cratic, effective, knowledge based, inspired, innovative citizens who can
contribute to the long term vision of making Ethiopia into a Middle In-
come Economy” (MoFED, 2010, p. 49). It specifically emphasizes the
production of a workforce that is demanded by industry, particularly the
growing manufacturing industry, and prescribes that universities accept a
quota of 70% natural sciences and 30% social sciences students (MoFED,

161
Native Colonialism

2010, p. 49). In this context, relevance is regarded as a quality component

that ensures the alignment of the education system with the development
plan of the state (Barrett, et al., 2006, p. 14). In a country where 85%
of the population depends on subsistence agriculture and manufactur-
ing has only a 4% contribution to the economy, the education system
is skewed towards producing workers for the urbanized elite class. This
approach makes education a means of satisfying the interest of Elitdom.
Quality is claimed to be one of the top priorities of the entire system
(MoFED, 2010). Both the government and its donors believe that the
major cause of low quality education is the lack of educational technolo-
gy and resources, something only donors and the state could supply (Yiz-
engaw, 2005, p. 8). This makes cost the most important consideration for
quality improvement. As poor communities may not fund adequate re-
sources for schooling, the cost factor subordinates learning to the whims
of the market where the alms of the donors and the role of the state is
crucial. For instance, the use of local materials to build schools was con-
sidered inefficient due to costs (Vawda, et al., 2001). Moreover, policy
with due consideration of cost factors has been enforced by the World
Bank as a condition for lending for the production of textbooks and
other reading materials (World Bank, 2002). Recently, the production
of educational materials through international open bidding procedures
is being implemented as a progressive step in achieving “international
standard”. The government presented this in its quality improvement
plan as: “International tenders will be announced for the development,
printing and distribution of textbooks and teacher guides conforming to
the requirements of the new curriculum” (MOE, 2008, p. 10). Produc-
ing textbooks through open bidding allows owners of rich publishing
companies to provide books for poor countries’ citizens. Critics argue
that this practice was imposed by the World Bank and has been fatal for
national publishing, especially in Africa (Brock-Utne, 2000). Moreover,
these practices clearly demonstrate the ideological orientation of school-
ing: education cannot be improved from within; it can only be supplied
from outside.
The failure of education is generally attributed to low quality which
includes low level of intervention and control by the state. The govern-
ment’s General Education Quality Assurance Package (GEQAP) or, ac-
cording to the World Bank, the General Education Quality Improvement

162
 Elitdom and Centeredlessness

Plan (GEQIP) is a major initiative being undertaken to improve the

quality of education from grade 1 to 12. The World Bank has been fund-
ing GEQIP in two phases: Phase one constituted $417.3 million from
2009-2013 (World Bank, 2013a). Phase two is $550 million from 2014-
2018 (World Bank, 2013b). The money is allocated to strengthen the
education system by measures such as providing textbooks and other
materials, by training teachers, improving school infrastructure and en-
hancing the management capacity of the system. GEQAP emphasizes
increased government control over the quality of education. It prescribes
increased government sponsored activities, allowing politicians from re-
gional to local administration offices and from Ministry of Education to
local education offices to exercise quality assurance roles (MOE, 2008).
Quality is conceptualized as the capacity of the teachers to teach better
English, not the relevance of English as a medium of instruction. It re-
lates to the significance of finishing the course syllabus on time, not the
significance of the course syllabus itself to the needs of the students. The
discourse of quality has entangled teachers and students in a vicious circle
of self-disengagement and poor performance. Poor student performance
which is manifested through low marks, high absenteeism, and lack of
discipline is attributed partly to poor teacher performance which is due
to lack of adequate teaching skills and poor infrastructure (MOE, 2010).
This approach fastens the students and the teachers alike with the system
by relating their performance with internal deficiencies that can be cor-
rected through the quality assurance efforts of the state and its donors.
ESDP IV clearly shows this approach as it relates high dropout rates and
poor performances of students to poor school infrastructure:

One issue which needs more attention than in previous years is the low
quality of school infrastructure, due to a strong reliance on low-cost con-
struction (mainly through community support). This may be one of the
factors that explain the low completion rates and the low achievement.
More attention will be given for the quality of facilities under ESDP IV
(MOE, 2010, pp. 12-13).

While school infrastructure may have a significant contribution to a low

quality education, the emphasis on quality masks the fundamental ques-
tion of the relevance of the system. By conceptualizing the problem of

163
Native Colonialism

education with lack of skills and infrastructure which are at the disposal
of the state, the education system escapes the question of its own rele-
vance; it makes its own activities more important than ever, such as pro-
viding more training for teachers, improving the school infrastructure,
and supplying more education resources. In this way the system drives
sustenance from its own failures.
Critics argue that the spiral of reforms that Ethiopian authorities are
adopting following World Bank advisors have caused significant con-
tradictions and chaos in the teaching-learning process (Tessema, 2006).
Among the graduates, a large number of Ethiopian intellectuals leave the
country every year (Shinn, 2003). Consequently, it is argued that Ethio-
pian intellectuals “didn’t contribute an iota to the betterment of life of the
toiling mass” (Tolossa, 2007). According to Tekeste Negash, the system
of education in Ethiopia is heading from crisis to the brink of collapse
(2006). Local Ethiopian policy analysts argue that since the beginning of
western education, the Ethiopian state maintained unflinching control
over the education system:

Throughout the history of Ethiopia education, what has been consis-

tently missing is the lack of consultation with stakeholders– teachers,
students and parents– on the content and nature of education. Despite
the rhetoric, the practice has continued to the present day, and the policy
formulation process has by and large remained top-down. The govern-
ment continued to come up with policy statements that surprise teach-
ers, students and parents (Teshome, 2006, p. 64).

Despite the expansion of access to education, the absence of a tangible

contribution from the sector is a source of frustration for the majority of
Ethiopians whose lives still depend on tradition. The education system
distances itself from being the cause of this frustration by abandoning
tradition and by denying the needed space for critical dialogue about the
relevance of the system.

The Cult of Technology

The ETP envisions education to contribute to two major outcomes.
These are work and the use of technology. Education is envisioned to

164
 Elitdom and Centeredlessness

bring about a “culture of respect for work, positive work habits and a
high regard for workmanship” (MOE, 1994). The type of work antici-
pated is “the growing manufacturing industry”, although the contribu-
tion of the manufacturing industry to total GDP is, as previously noted,
about 4%. The major type of education designed to meet this objective is
technical and vocational training.
The second envisioned outcome for education is the ability to use
technology. ETP envisions to achieve “all rounded development by dif-
fusing science and technology into the society” (MOE, 1994). The dif-
fusionist vision considers that “technology will free the people”, and al-
low “impoverished villages to escape poverty by acquiring the needed
technology” (Krishna, 2003). The use of satellite television (plasma) for
academic instruction is being used as an example of harnessing the pow-
er of technology for education. Satellite television is used to broadcast
lectures directly from South Africa, or via recorded DVDs from South
Africa and centrally transmitted from Addis Ababa on all major subjects
such as Mathematics, English, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Civ-
ics. The rationale behind the use of such technology is based on equity
and efficiency: All students will enjoy uniform learning opportunities,
and the quality of the standard of their learning would become interna-
tional. The idea is reminiscent of the country’s involvement in the failed
one-laptop-for-one-child project, whereby providing tablets not teachers
would magically resolve the learning need of children in poor countries
(Kraemer, Dedrick, & Sharma, 2009). The government’s shortcut strat-
egy to an “international standard” has resulted in an enormous failure.
This can be seen in the poor level of performance of students with plasma
as compared to private schools who do not use plasma (Bitew, 2008), the
significant reduction of interaction between teachers and students in the
classroom, the frequent power cuts that disrupt transmissions, the diffi-
culty of understanding the English language spoken by foreign lecturers,
and the transmission of culturally inappropriate content (Lemma, 2006).
A study conducted on the de-skilling impact of this teaching method on
teachers noted the following:

This is a debilitating phenomenon in which teachers have been losing

control of their practice. Teachers have become simple technicians who
look into smooth broadcasts or transmissions of TV programmes. …

165
Native Colonialism

Teachers do not plan and execute what they plan. They are mere TV op-
erators. They are simply executioners of what others planned or wanted
to happen in the classroom (Tessema, 2006).

The power of technology to bring change has been narrowly defined as

the simple ability to operate technological equipment such as a televi-
sion without having the power to contribute to, or influence, the content
and process of learning. By making technology an innocent antidote for
backwardness, the providers determine the meaning of quality to what
they can safely provide rather than to what the receivers need. The use
of foreign lecturers to teach Ethiopian students using a state-of-the-art
technology, such as satellite television, without effective local interaction
revives the uprooting effect of Ethiopian education. It portrays a nation
without center, without a special message to pass on to the next genera-
tion; and a society that needs to tread behind others, copying and con-
suming what others are producing. Technology is presented as a finished
product that can only be bought from developed societies, and education
is regarded as the means by which Ethiopians could be integrated into
the consumption stage of technological production.
The diffusion of technology to rural places using education could
be related to the World Bank’s rationale for the expansion of primary
education among Ethiopian farmers. A study conducted by the Bank on
Education in Ethiopia suggests that literate farmers are more productive
than illiterate farmers because each additional year of primary school-
ing increased the use of fertilizer (World Bank, 2005, pp. 187-188). The
study argues that had appropriate technology been used, agricultural pro-
ductivity in Ethiopia could have increased by 50% (World Bank, 2005,
p. 185). Comparing the level of schooling to the rate of fertilizer use, the
study shows that farmers with 1 to 4 years of schooling could use 72%
more fertilizer than illiterate farmers (World Bank, 2005, p. 188). Based
on this promising prophesy and other considerations such as the posi-
tive correlation between income and schooling, nutrition and schooling,
and the negative correlation between fertility and schooling, the Bank
urges Ethiopia to focus on expanding primary education: “universaliz-
ing at least four years of schooling as soon as possible, which serves both
economic and social goals, while expanding the other levels more slowly”
(World Bank, 2005, p. 181).

166
 Elitdom and Centeredlessness

There is a similarity between the strategy to increase the ability of

farmers to use fertilizers on the one hand and the students to learn
through satellite television on the other. In both cases, the product is im-
ported from outside the country without the participation of the alleged
beneficiaries. All students receive similar plasma lessons, and all farmers
buy similar fertilizers. Desalegne Rahmato noted that “the strategy for
agricultural development relies heavily on one formula: the provision of
a package of modern technologies and the technical and human resource
arrangement for providing the service” (2009, p. 147). In this “top-down
and undemocratic approach”, similar agro-chemicals and improved seeds
are distributed without the due consideration of ecological and agro-
nomical variations (2009, p. 147). “Farmers in effect had no choice, nor
did they have a say in the selection of the technologies they were offered”
(2009, p. 147).
In summary, the policy sustains Elitdom by disregarding traditional
sources of knowledge from entering into the education system and dis-
abling traditional wisdom and skills from challenging elite messianism.
It focuses on fulfilling the material need of the individual as an end, and
creating a workforce that is needed for manufacturing which is not the
most common means of income or employer for the majority at present.
There is no clearly set national ideal to which individuals could subscribe
their achievements to, or a center upon which they could anchor their
lives and gain a sense of belonging and guidance in their intellectual jour-
ney. The immediate visible hope the ETP and GTP portrays is “making
Ethiopia a middle-income economy”. But what does it mean to individu-
als when a country becomes a middle-income economy? During my field
study, some expressed hope for a third meal in a day, others a job where
they can make use of their studies, others a sight of a train passing across
the capital, others a car and a home. But when asked how this could come
about, all point to the mighty hands of the state.
Employment within modern institutions is the commonly antici-
pated end result of schooling. However, the type of work anticipated is
not abundantly available and the educational content has little alignment
to the reality of the economic life of the country. The problem of gain-
ing relevant knowledge that would result in generating income is com-
pounded by the use of English as a medium of instruction. In this sense,
the system provides no basis for cementing the relationship between the

167
Native Colonialism

students and their society. Instead, it breeds centerdlessness, the loss of

cultural roots in one’s society, and attempts to reinvent the local as a pe-
ripheral extension for the global dominance of the free flowing capital by
producing a workforce that cannot be utilized by the economic activities
of the majority. The vision to become a middle income economy without
a clear meaning of what this vision holds to individuals, and aspiring to
become part of the current global economic order is a clear expression
of the faith of Elitdom in Eurocentrism. Moving Ethiopia away from its
self-contained historical and traditional existence, even when the desti-
nation of that move is not clear, invites a vision of disengagement from
one’s place, from the center that binds society together. The next section
elaborates this disengagement by analyzing the effect of the education
system on the social life of current Ethiopian students. It considers how
the school system allows students to develop identity, social roles and
perspectives that alienate them from their place in tradition and society.

The Construction of Student Self-identity and Schooling

All of the university students that I interviewed and had discussions with
during my field work considered themselves as important agents of change
in the country. This sense of missionarism emanates not from any form of
acquired knowledge but from a strong sense of awareness about the “dis-
mal” background from where many students came from. Such a humble
background is generally described as poverty, backwardness, rurality and
ignorance. Almost all students that I met consider themselves, their com-
munity and country poor, and many of them associate poverty primarily
with the lack of education. Education is frequently associated with the
acquisition of scientific knowledge, something that can be obtained only
by going to school. In every conversation, students enacted the role of
a civilizer without a clear perception of the correlation or relevance be-
tween their careers and the social field to which it would be applied. The
most common answer to the question why do you study is “sayimar ya-
sitemaregnin hizb lemerdat”, “to help the people who gave me education
without having it for themselves”. This response runs like a proverb, and is
regarded as common sense. This view is also shared by poor parents who
blame their inability to go to school as the cause of their poverty.

168
 Elitdom and Centeredlessness

Although students express their desire to change their communities,

once they start to attend high school, many of them view themselves in
isolation from the rest of the community or the family. This process of
self-exclusion or isolation starts to manifest itself in the various roles they
take at home, in the field, or within the community. In most instances,
there is opposite correlation between one’s level of study in the western
school and social engagement in the community. The more educated a
person is, the less involved that person tends to become in local life and
traditional institutions. Involvement in manual labor such as farming,
clearing weeds, herding cattle and attending traditional festivals declines
with increased schooling. Based on my observations and interviews in
Lalibela, this opposite correlation in attitude, behavior and perspective is
highly tolerated by parents and other community members for numerous
reasons.
First, an educated student brings a sense of pride to his/her fam-
ily members, and the student is deferred from manual labor in the same
way that most authorities were traditionally exempted from working in
the field. The common Ethiopian proverb “yetemare yigdelegne” which is
equivalent to saying, “may I die in the good hands of an educated person”
expresses this common view. This means that Ethiopian elites obtain not
just intellectual privilege from studying in a western school but also cul-
tural capital that can be converted into various forms of privileges in their
familial and local community settings (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1990). In
fact, the knowledge that the school confers to the students is advertised as
a means to power. This instrumental use of knowledge is especially empha-
sized in students’ textbooks. For example, the Grade 12 Civics and Ethical
Education student textbook states that, “Knowledge is the most powerful
tool in the hands of man” (MOE, 2009b, p. 137). Similarly, the Grade 11
Civics and Ethical Education provides the significance of knowledge as
follows: “With knowledge you are powerful, but with ignorance you are
weak. … Knowledge give you power in any given situation. When you
are ignorant you become weak” (MOE, 2009a, p. 130). It further creates
canonical links among fact, science, knowledge and truth; and associates
tradition and beliefs with myth. The student textbook declares:

Human knowledge is built based on scientific facts. Facts reveal the true
nature of reality. Thus knowledge is truth about things in nature. Truth

169
Native Colonialism

is the proven facts about something rather than what people generally
accept. Beliefs that are not true may be called myths. They are not prov-
en to be true through scientific methods of investigation. The basis of a
myth is often tradition. … Knowledge, wisdom and truth are tools to a
good life. Today, governments are making use of knowledge to improve
the living conditions of people. Myths are unscientific stories that people
would like to tell and believe. Knowledge is truth. Knowledge creates the
force that changes society (MOE, 2009a, p. 134).

In clear contrast to the traditional view of knowledge as humility and wis-

dom, here knowledge is presented as a means to gain strength over weak-
ness, truth over myth, and science over tradition. None of these words are
explained independently or defined as theories that explain a particular
set of ideas. Instead, these concepts are dimly perceived as spatially locat-
ed attributes of dissimilar societies, demarcating the boundary between
what is traditional and Ethiopian on the one side, and what is modern
and western on the other. Poverty is regarded as an internal weakness
of those who are ignorant. During my field study and interviews, it was
apparent that students considered knowledge as a superior attribute that
does not belong to those who do not go to the modern school.
Exposure to modern schooling is the most important yardstick in de-
termining eligibility to public leadership roles that relate the local people
to state functions. Even in rural areas, positions offered by the govern-
ment in local schools, rural health posts, agricultural branches, adjudica-
tive posts and other government services require some level of exposure
to modern schooling. Irrespective of skills, character or even experiences,
a person with some level of schooling is considered capable of leading
those without it. Consequently, young graduates are often assigned to
carry out leadership roles in rural areas. Usually, elders or traditional
scholars are not regarded fit to carry out formal government responsi-
bilities. This simply violates the tradition of associating age with maturity
and experience, as it were elders and traditional scholars who were attrib-
uted with greater social responsibilities.
Western education is often called “yaskola timhirt” which means the
school of scholars while traditional education is referred to as “yekolo
timhirt” to refer to the practice of learning by begging kolo (semi fried
cereal food). In the town of Lalibela, which is considered to be one of

170
 Elitdom and Centeredlessness

the famous centers of traditional knowledge, traditional scholars teach

a small number of students, usually in their own backyards or near the
churches. Government schools, on the other hand, have a large number
of students but do not allow traditional scholars to play any role in the
education system. A teacher’s response to the possibility of allowing tra-
ditional scholars to teach the Amharic language or civics in government
schools was this: “We know that there are several church scholars around
the town. However, these people do not have the relevant qualification
to teach in our classrooms” (Interview, May 6, 2012). What is considered
relevant here is not knowledge but its formalization. Irrespective of its
importance, knowledge that does not come through the formal channels
of the state or state approved institutions is considered irrelevant for pub-
lic use in the formal systems.

Perceptions of Modernity and Tradition

The education system enhances elite messianism by putting the students
in contradiction to their local traditions. On the one hand, it initiates
a sense of responsibility whereby students express their commitment to
change the lives of their people using their education. On the other hand,
by excluding the traditional knowledge of the society it projects the great
majority of the people as primitive whose tradition should be eradicat-
ed or significantly changed. The perception of primitivism is especially
common in viewing the lives of the rural people. The term “gebere” or
“balagar” which means “peasant” or “someone from the countryside”
is sometimes applied to insult a person as backward or uncivilized. The
peasant is often identified with various marks of backwardness such as
style of dressing, accent, and place of residence, unhygienic appearance,
and a state of confusion with urban etiquette. A student from the capital
city explained how he identifies balagars or peasants:

Balagers wear their kumita (shorts) without underwear and their bere-
basso (hand-made plastic shoes) without socks. Most of them go without
shoes altogether and do not bother about taking shower even once in a
year. Their hand-made scarfs, khaki shorts, superstitions and especially
their sticks are their lifelong companions. You cannot isolate them from
these things. They carry their sticks wherever they go – the market, the

171
Native Colonialism

church or the city– and they would not have any hesitation to strike you
on the head if they understood that you were deriding them (Interview,
May 7, 2012).

The sense of inferiority ascribed to peasant life adversely affects the social
life of university students who come from the rural area. As soon as these
students join university, they are expected to abandon the traditional
clothes that are normally worn by the majority of the rural people. They
require urban cloths because the khaki shorts and shirts are typical mark-
ers of rurality. The pressure of finding acceptable clothing by modern
standards is enormously challenging for many students. This pressure is
somehow lifted in schools due to the compulsory requirement of having
to wear uniforms, although many parents still find it difficult to afford
uniforms to their children.
The perception of contradiction between modernity and tradition
leads to the breakdown of communication between persons represented
by the two identities. Many students said they feel uneasy to have deeper
conversations with their parents and relatives about their knowledge
and experience. The situation tends to be common, especially when the
parents are rural peasants. Students think their parents would not un-
derstand them. Responding to the meaning of being modern, a student
reflected as follows:

For me, being modern means ‘yegebaw’, [being aware, being up-to-date].
Someone who goes with the time is modern. You will know more about
the world, about other people, and you are not left behind time, behind
others. The world changes constantly, so must you. People should change
with it, otherwise what is the point of learning if you do not change? You
will remain backward. Our people cannot change because they did not
have a chance to learn new things, and it is too late to tell them to change
now. Only their children could become modern if they allow them to go
to school (Interview, May 21, 2012).

This response can be contrasted to other responses in a more general de-

scription of the role of intellectuals in society. Students usually express
their social responsibility as being one of changing the country by teach-
ing the mass population who gave them free education without having

172
 Elitdom and Centeredlessness

it for themselves. Yet, as presented above, some students find it difficult

to communicate their school knowledge to their own significant others.
This conflict between the sense of tradition and modernity may be con-
sidered in terms of conflict between traditional and modern sources of
authority. Traditional authority in the household emanates from age and
parental authority. The parent or the elder is entitled to discipline or give
advice to or order the young. This seniority based on age extends to rela-
tives and neighbors, and is regarded fair as everyone will get a chance to
become a minor then a senior. By contrast, western education suggests a
new source of authority and privilege based on schooling. The superior
position of modern identities is justified based on the belief in the inferi-
or position of tradition. That means, in order to assume a higher position
of significance, modern identities demand separation from tradition.
During various encounters between university students and peas-
ants, it is often the latter’s experiences and views that come under scru-
tiny. The schooled person is believed to be knowledgeable without being
questioned about the content of his/her knowledge. Consequently, the
estrangement of the student from traditional knowledge and activities
is often taken as a sign of freedom from the bondage of tradition. This
perspective has repercussions in terms of undermining the sense of ac-
countability tradition afforded to local people over their leaders because
traditional leadership required the fulfilment of customary expectations
by the leader. State institutions on the other hand do not have such re-
quirements. There is no single code of practice that compels the elites
to comply with local customs. Participation in government-initiated
community activities such as gatherings, elections, local road construc-
tion, tree planting and so on are fraught with frequent defections. One
response seems to sum up the common reason: “We do not participate
full heartedly because they have neither our wisdom nor persons whom
we consider are wise and trustworthy” (Interview, May 18, 2012).
Communication between a rural individual and a state agent galva-
nizes various signs of power that setup an unbalanced relationship be-
tween the two. The modern institution with its bureaucracy and equip-
ment projects not the advancement of the system but the backwardness
of the peasant. The peasant is projected as a helpless child who has no
idea what to do until told, who has little expectation of what these people
will do next, or what all these articles and procedures are all about. By

173
Native Colonialism

this very process, the peasant remains as an outsider – sometimes as a

curious spectator, other times as a helpless patient who does whatever is
prescribed by the “professional” agent. A parent’s response regarding his
son’s education was “I know nothing about what he studies … I send him
there hoping he would not end up like me” (Interview, May 19, 2012).
The only rejection to the leadership position of western educated
elites came from traditional scholars who attach strong moral character
to a person’s claim of being worthy of having a valuable scholarship. Here,
dualism is not totally ignored, and the power of the modern school is
tacitly recognized. However, what is rejected is the validity of western
knowledge that does not pass the belief standards of the society. The life
of the intellectual needs a spiritual center, without which his/her knowl-
edge, however useful, is considered vain. A dabtara reiterated to me his
critique of “modern” intellectuals as follows:

Educated people can fly in the sky; they can rotate on the earth and eat
what is pleasing to their eyes. They have clothes to their body, shoes to
their feet, glasses to their eyes, watches to their wrist. They do not have to
work hard like peasants. Regrettably, most of them do not observe fast-
ing, and they do not come to our church for prayers, or keep their mateb2
around their neck. What is the use of knowledge if it cannot redeem the
soul? What is power if it cannot lift the poor? The wise Solomon said,
everything under the sun is in vain, and the fear of God is the beginning
of wisdom (Interview, May 27, 2012).

From this perspective, the ethical dimension of knowledge is consid-

ered more significant than its intellectual content. I observed that due
to the apparent laxity of elites in fulfilling traditional expectations as
members of the local community, and also due to their tendency to
disregard spiritual beliefs and cultural practices, their ability to influ-
ence cultural life is significantly low. A traditional school teacher com-
mented on the issue saying, “Character is louder than speech. Their
[the elites’] knowledge is earthly, useful only for the flesh” (Interview,
May 27, 2012). This disregard to the epistemic power of the modern

2. Mateb is a thin thread tied around the neck of a child upon baptism as a sign
of being an Orthodox Christian.

174
 Elitdom and Centeredlessness

school is sometimes regarded by elites as the result of the bad influence

of the teachings of the Ethiopian church. Yet, given the highly theoreti-
cal nature of schooling itself and its imperceptible contribution to the
improvement of the lives of the people, it is not surprising to encounter
some degree of skepticism in the inherent worth of the ideas and values
of the school. An elder who was also a dabtara argued that, as far as the
people are concerned, today’s elites are not better than the elites of the
imperial period:

My son, let me tell you the difference between the monarchical lead-
ers of the past and the modern leaders of the present. The monarchical
leaders of the past treated the common people as their servants because
they believed that the latter did not have their royal blood. The modern
leaders of the present treat the people as illiterates and ignorant because
the people did not go to their schools. The monarchical leaders justified
their authority based on the will of God. The modern leaders justified
their authority based on the certificate they obtained from the school.
In reality, both are different faces of the same coin because both con-
sumed from the people without delivering on their promises (Interview,
May 11, 2012)

In summary, this section analyzed student self-identity, perception of

social roles, and perspectives on modernity and tradition. The identity
and role of students constructed through the school system could be con-
sidered as a contemporary version of missionarism that was explained in
Chapter Five. One of the most important points in this section is the
sense of detachment from tradition that the students manifest in their
social lives. Students express identities that show little attachment to tra-
dition. Rural life and traditional experiences are regarded as expressions
of backwardness. Education is perceived not only as a process of mental
transition but also a spatial one, a journey from the rural to the city, from
the local to the global, and from Ethiopia to the West. Students abandon
tradition and struggle to embrace the deceptive promises of knowledge,
which is power, as provided in their textbook. What’s more, this dislo-
cation between the student and their own traditions and people means
that they do not contribute to the betterment of their society, as if often
assumed of the modern school system. This highlights the importance of

175
Native Colonialism

relevance, whereby education must relate back to the cultural and histori-
cal context of its students
It is important to use the notion of place to better understand the
sense of detachment effected by western education. Place could be under-
stood as an embodiment of tradition, a source of knowledge, identity and
experience. Both the Ethiopian traditional system and the western educa-
tion system emanate from places, the former from Ethiopia and the latter
from other places in the West. Detachment from tradition, as explained
above, could be regarded as alienation from Ethiopia as place. Howev-
er, it also entails an attempt to find or create a “western place” within
Ethiopia. The education system appears as a means to realize this illusory
endeavor by promising opportunities within the systems and structures
run by the ruling elite. Students develop new values, interests, styles and
aspirations that increase their detachment from tradition, and attempt to
find a place within Elitdom.

Alienation from Elitdom

As explored in the previous section, since the western education system
projects the Ethiopian tradition as primitive, it initiates a sense of mes-
sianism among students to change it. Consequently, students develop
identities, social roles and perspectives that detach them from tradi-
tion. This is the first stage of alienation. The second stage of alienation
develops as students start to experience powerlessness and meaningless-
ness due to failure to achieve a secured place within Elitdom. Failure to
join university or graduate from it and failure to gain employment are
examples that show alienation from Elitdom. This section analyses the
experience of powerlessness and meaninglessness among high school and
university students, and theorizes the combined effect of the two stages
of alienation as centerdlessness.

Sources of Powerlessness
Powerlessness emerges due to the subjugation of the academic life of stu-
dents to the whims and caprices of individuals or groups who run the
system. It can also arise due to lack of capacity or efficiency of the edu-
cation system. Students who are already alienated from their tradition

176
 Elitdom and Centeredlessness

become powerless when they realize that the “modern” system has no
place for them. Failure to influence decisions that affect them; the inabil-
ity to challenge arbitrary rules, procedures and outcomes; and the reality
of having to study through institutions whose rules and procedures could
be subverted by dubious means could create the condition of powerless-
ness. To some extent, the use of this word coincides with Seeman’s idea
of powerlessness as the inability of the individual to have “influence over
socio-political events” (1959, p. 785). In the Ethiopian condition, pow-
erlessness involves the existence of a formal system of power that oper-
ates based on informal associations and influences. By presenting limited
places for study and then employment, the system inevitably creates pow-
erlessness to many.
The condition of powerlessness is not evenly distributed among all
students. Generally, high school students seem to experience it less fre-
quently than those in universities. The promises of education are not
seriously doubted at the lower level of the school system. Besides, the
opening of several new universities and vocational training colleges gives
a sense of relief and hope for many students. The common source of pow-
erlessness among high school students arises from concern with passing
the national exam to join university. A grade 12 student expressed this
concern as follows:

My only worry is how to pass the exam and join university. I am worried
because I am competing against [grade 12] students all over the coun-
try [to pass the national examination]. I must work hard, day and night,
and once I get into university, I do not have to worry about anything.
I will get my degree and make my family proud and happy (Interview,
April 25, 2012).

At university level, powerlessness occurs with the realization that stu-

dents cannot change the circumstances that are unfolding before their
lives because decisions that influence their future are made by others.
But the intensity of powerlessness varies from time to time. It becomes
serious during and immediately after exams among students, and may
considerably affect their lives at that time. As the assignment of students
to particular fields of study is centrally decided by the Ministry of Edu-
cation, students who are allocated to unfavorable fields may experience

177
Native Colonialism

powerlessness for a long period of time. While students are allowed to

“choose” their fields of studies, the decision to get their first choice de-
pends on their achievement at the national examination. Those who
scored the highest grades get a chance to go to their first choice and those
who scored lower grades are simply assigned to any available social or
natural science departments. Once assigned to a particular field of study,
students will have no option to change their field of study. The decision
could impact their lives as they are likely to be assigned to economically
less valued fields of studies. The anxiety of a third year university student
over the possibility of gaining employment illustrates this point:

What is the point of studying hard if I am not going to find employment

after graduation? I grew up dreaming to change my life and the life of my
parents using education. But I did not exactly know which field of study
was the best for me. The government chose for me to study Anthropol-
ogy and I do not clearly know what to do with it later. But, I am making
efforts to pass and graduate. I believe it is better than staying home and
doing nothing (Interview, May 27, 2012)

The origin of these two senses of alienation emanate from the nature
of the education system itself. Education does not enable students to
develop social roots throughout their school life. As argued in previ-
ous chapters, the content of education has little Ethiopian content
especially in high school. Consequently, students grow up overempha-
sizing individual economic goals as an end for education. They develop
views and values that attach them with Elitdom more than with their
community or society. As Elitdom operates by subverting and subject-
ing tradition to its own power interests, students become bodies who
submit themselves to its disciplining and productive power rather than
becoming agents for the fulfilment of the aspirations and interests of
their communities.

Concern over Academic Results

Concern over academic results is probably the strongest of all the other
concerns that university students have to face throughout their university
lives. Almost every student I talked to expressed deep dissatisfaction about
grades. A student noted, “you are not judged by your understanding but

178
 Elitdom and Centeredlessness

by your grade only. Your exam result is the only factor which determines
who you are because without it your academic life is dead” (Interview,
June 2, 2012). For many of the students, the concern over exam results
has little to do with the knowledge of the subject matter although they
acknowledge that this too is important. Instead, it has more to do with
concern over the person who decides who gets what grade as marking is
the prerogative of the lecturer. Many students have details of their lectur-
ers’ behavior, what type of questions the lecturer is likely to ask, whether
he/she cares about class attendance or not, and what he/she appreciates
or dislikes. This information passes from students in previous groups to
the next. In this process, students work towards meeting the imagined
expectations of their lecturers. Grades, as a means of achieving this out-
come, require a torturous journey towards the mind of the lecturer, and
taking detailed lecture notes is one of the ways through which this jour-
ney is accomplished.
I have met students who consider lecture notes as the principal source
of their study for exams. They copy almost everything the teacher says
in class. Those who are unable to take good notes often due to lack of
English language skill, or missed classes, borrow and photocopy notes
from other students. Lecture notes are not supplementary resources. I
have observed several students’ notes– highlighted, underlined and some
even fading and torn apart from over use. There are numerous small
shops outside Addis Ababa University where students can pay to copy
and share good lecture notes and other reading materials among friends.
Commenting on a fading lecture note he was holding, a university stu-
dent remarked the following:

Some teachers are not bothered to change the content of their notes.
… They simply repeat and repeat and repeat their notes year after year
and year. Sometimes, they boycott classes without even notifying us. We
simply wait and wait for about 15 to 30 minutes and go to the cafeteria
or the library (Interview, June 2, 2012)

The concern over grades emanates from the knowledge that the formal
system is inefficient and untrustworthy. Students who believed that their
mark was not fair, or who thought they were victimized by a lecturer for
some reason, do not have a trustworthy body to appeal to. Although there

179
Native Colonialism

is a process whereby the student could fill out a form and apply to the
teacher to reconsider the grade, the common outcome is, “No change”
(Interview, June 2, 2012). Many lecturers do not return examination
papers to their students. They simply post the grade without providing
feedback. A lecturer suggested that he would consider any intervention
by any superior authority on marking as a violation of academic freedom.
The only viable option students have in this context is informal and per-
sonal negotiation. The situation makes female students in particular vul-
nerable to harassment and sexual exploitation. Here, most lecturers are
generally considered disciplined or conservative as they generally avoid
personal intimacy with their students. However, the system has no effec-
tive means of preventing those who might abuse their position, and there
are several disturbing rumors involving the favoritism and indecency of
some of the teachers. A female student remembered her circumstances as:

I knew he did not like me from the start. I have been scared of him all
the time, and finally he gave me an “F” in his subject. I cannot get an “F”,
no way! I know I have answered many questions to earn me a “B” or a
“C”. “But marking is subjective”, said everybody. I first thought I should
go and talk to him. But what is the point? No teacher changes his mind
based on the students’ idea (Interview, June 3, 2012)

The concern over exam results is compounded by a lack of genuine com-

munication between lecturers and students. Students appear fearful of
their lecturers, and their communication is conducted with acute aware-
ness of each other’s statuses. There are signs that strengthen the divide be-
tween lecturers and students. For example, there are staff cafeterias where
students are not normally expected to enter and get served even if they
pay. Students are expected to regard their teachers with respect and avoid
challenging their authority inside or outside of the classroom. Although
the practice of respecting a learned person is part of Ethiopia’s tradition,
in this case respect is not motivated by admiration but by fear. Examina-
tion result is the major factor that makes such a fear a possible reality.
Students who fail in their exams could be dismissed from the university
and this would have serious social and economic costs. Socially the dis-
missed student would feel dishonored and humiliated for being a failure
in the eyes of his friends and community. Economically, dismissal results

180
 Elitdom and Centeredlessness

in the loss of government sponsored meals, accommodation and educa-

tion. That means, the decision of the teachers could alter the entire life
of the student. An engineering student expressed his frustration about
lecturers in an interview:

They are cruel; they always try to prove themselves right; they always
enjoy when you are suffering! In our department it is difficult to get an
A in any subject. On one occasion, many students got an A, and the unit
coordinator forced the instructor to reduce the grade. For them, grade is
like a precious gold. They try to teach us that what they give us is gold, or
money, not our own result (Interview, 27 April, 2012).

Lecturers, on the other hand, appear to choose to avoid students for vari-
ous reasons. There is a general dissatisfaction with the teaching profession
in general due to the low salary (by African standard), lack of transpar-
ency in promotion and other administrative issues (Tekleselassie, 2005).
Studies indicate that absence of academic freedom and heavy political
interference from the government takes the largest blame for academic
dissatisfaction and powerlessness (Yimam, 2008). This was especially clear
when 41 professors, including the President and the two vice-presidents of
the university were summarily dismissed from Addis Ababa University for
being critical of the government in April 1993 (Vestal, 1999, p. 56) and
about 40 students and other civilians were shot dead when taking part in
a demonstration initiated by Addis Ababa University students in April
2001 (Human Rights Watch, 24 January 2003). Moreover, university lec-
turers feel that they are overburdened by too many overcrowded classes.
Here, it is difficult to imagine how students could identify a stable
social center in this destabilized social setting. In this context, the issue of
centerdlessness arises with the difficulty to uphold social values and rela-
tionships above the preoccupation with survival and personal safety. As
students try to get the best results from their lecturers and the lecturers
from the university administration, each in their own way expresses un-
resolved grievances that promote powerlessness. The concern over grades
overshadows the pursuit of knowledge to serve the common good or to
achieve higher goals. Grades become one of the determinant factors for
a student’s worth to society. This has made learning a painful process for
many students. A university student noted:

181
Native Colonialism

As to me, this is not a university of learning; this is a university of suffer-

ing. You have so many worries that your lecturer does not even consider
as a problem. Your tension could kill you; in fact, there are students who
killed themselves: one threw himself from the fifth floor of the Engineer-
ing building, another hanged himself. There are many who went crazy
and wander along the streets (Interview, June 1, 2013).

Another student also commented:

Usually, you cannot question the teachers’ decision. You cannot even try
to show that you have a better point than the lecturer. If you complain,
you know, lecturers support each other; the administrator you complain
to is more likely to side with his colleague than with you. Besides, there is
a general belief that students are less trustworthy than their teachers are,
and teachers are unlikely to harm their students without good cause. You
just have to leave everything to fate and to their discretion (Interview,
June 1, 2013).

It should be noted that there are formal processes of appeal for griev-
ances within department or university administration offices. However,
these options are hardly exercised. Students believe that all formal sys-
tems within the university operate with powerful informal drives within
them, drives that are invisible and impermeable to reason or merit. Such
drives include among others, personal relationships, ethnic belonging,
and political affiliation. These informal drives are often mistaken as hav-
ing their sources in tradition. For example, the problem of ethnicism is
sometimes portrayed as having its roots in tradition although it has been
a politically invented phenomenon to classify, disintegrate, and manage
persons based on their social identities (Zahorik, 2011). In Ethiopia, eth-
nic belonging as a political identity emerged within the Ethiopian Stu-
dent Movement in 1969 (Zewde, 2010). Many students either embrace
this politicized version of reinvented tradition or become estranged from
tradition altogether. Either way, the practice leads to alienation and the
difficulty to uphold and adhere to either social values or institutional
ideals.
The process affects not just individuals but also the society at large.
It contributes to the inability to connect with public or cultural insti-
tutions based on the living values and interests of the society, and the

182
 Elitdom and Centeredlessness

inability to find a credible center that anchors the academic efforts of the
student. Sacrificed to the satisfaction of the expectation of the system and
devoted to the attainment of grades, the academic effort of the students
fails short of becoming a search for independent meaning. It leads to cen-
terdlessness, the inability to become intellectually grounded in one’s own
society, or in a socio-cultural context.

Concern over Job Prospects

Another influential aspect of the alienating effect of Ethiopia’s education
system is the stress and anxiety it creates on the prospect of finding a
job after graduation. This anxiety is exasperated due to the contradiction
between the promise and the reality of education. As presented above,
education is preached as a promise to power. However, for many stu-
dents, the chilling reality of being unemployed and dependent on their
parents is frustrating. Some students try to avoid this experience by creat-
ing attachment with individuals or organizations that have the power to
provide employment. The most common way of doing this is by becom-
ing a member of the ruling political party while studying at university.
Students mentioned that this phenomenon has become common after
the May 2005 national election in the country (Interview, June 5, 2012).
In this study, I have used various historical events to illustrate the oc-
currence of interrelated changes in the Ethiopian society. May 2005 could
be considered as a historical event in terms of triggering various changes
in the country. The national election resulted in the gaining of unexpect-
edly many seats for a newly formed coalition of opposition political par-
ties, which was mired with controversy over rigged votes. This led to a
government crackdown against demonstrators, killing dozens of people.
Most opposition political party leaders were detained and charged with
serious crimes including genocide until they were freed by the reconcilia-
tory effort of a few Ethiopian elders. Then, the EPRDF reclaimed most
of the seats that were lost to the opposition. As shown in the Amnesty
International Report, laws that diminished the activities of opposition
political groups, human rights organizations, and independent press
were introduced (2012). Universities and high schools became targets
of political mobilization, and a large number of students started to seek
membership in the ruling party. At the next election, in 2010, EPRDF

183
Native Colonialism

claimed to have won a staggering 99.6% of the national parliamentary

seats in the country. Currently, there is hardly any meaningful opposition
or student political activism against the government, and a culture of fear
has reigned throughout the post-2005 election period (Tronvoll, 2012, p.
282). The search for jobs after graduation takes place under this political
environment.
The sense of powerlessness over job prospects after graduation is ex-
asperated by the availability of little relevant information about the job
market and the reality of work outside the university. Students gain little
information about the exact purpose, activity, and location of industries
that might utilize their expertise. Due to a lack of transparency and op-
portunities through the formal system, students try to devise informal
ways to influence the system in their favor. The common practice of be-
coming a party member requires the acceptance of the ideology of the
party as a messianic truth and a practical demonstration of loyalty and
obedience to its ranks and files. This is achieved through performing
various political assignments that are not related to their study. Although
students call themselves members of EPRDF, technically individuals can-
not become members as EPRDF is a coalition of ethnic based regional
parties. Instead, students become members of the EPRDF-affiliate po-
litical party of their respective ethnic origin which may have a Principal
Organizations in the campus that run numerous study cells of more than
25 individuals each. As a consequence of joining ethnic based parties, the
student’s approach to politics is oriented toward ethnic nationalism. This
creates a contradiction with the education system that advocates univer-
sal globalism and “international standard”.
Students who become party members refrain from criticizing the par-
ty or the government. The process of looking for a job by becoming a po-
litical party member indicates the level of powerlessness students feel to
change their own lives using their professional training. The students that
I interviewed were reluctant to discuss political issues in detail. The gov-
ernment, being the major employer of graduates, influences the extent to
which the promise of education could be translated into individual gains
through employment. The students’ sense of fear and uncertainty to talk
about political issues is a clear indication of more than a lack of confi-
dence in the system of Elitdom. The system through which the students
spent years of study, starting from elementary school to university level,

184
 Elitdom and Centeredlessness

operates based on rules that are not written in their study books. The
formal and informal ways through which the students attach themselves
with the system falls short of providing them with a sense of security, cer-
tainty, or centeredness. This state of powerlessness makes academic life a
form of precarious existence.

The Use of Violence Against Dissent

Despite the circumstances that compel students to submit to the elite
demands of the system, Ethiopian students are not passive objects of
repression. The history of struggle for academic and other freedoms in
Ethiopia shows the ultimate sacrifices students paid to change the unjust
conditions that they and their country faced. However, almost all of the
demands proposed by the students have been met with violence. Inside
the university, lack of free and independent student body, absence of in-
dependent student press, lack of transparency and inefficiency in student
services and the presence of police force inside the campus are some of
the major issues that contribute to powerlessness. Several students com-
plain that they have no place to go for independent, impartial and effec-
tive resolution of their grievances.
The common practice of student protest which often involves boy-
cotting classes and chanting slogans always end up with academic sus-
pension, dismissal or arrest of active participants. The government’s po-
lice force is often called upon to break student protest by force. In April
2001, students protested to have an independent union, newspaper and
removal of the police force from the campus. The use of police violence
to break the protest ignited further protest by high school students and
members of the public outside the campus which led to the killing of
about forty students and other civilians, the wounding of hundreds and
the arrest of thousands of students (Human Rights Watch, 24 January
2003). The majority of the students boycotted classes for one year but
returned to class in April 2002 by submitting to the demands of the gov-
ernment. A similar protest took place following the 2005 election and
violence was used to submit the students to the demand of the state.
Along with the use of violence, the state uses mandatory capacity build-
ing meetings where by students are proselytized with the ideology of the
government and encouraged to join pro-government political parties.

185
Native Colonialism

Several students participate in apolitical activities such as watching Eu-

ropean premier league football, western movies and music, becoming ac-
tive consumers of the cultural imperialism that is engulfing the youth of
many poor countries. Most of the recent years’ protests take an ethnic
character, involving especially students from Oromia, and are violently
suppressed through intimidation, suspension or arrest by the government
forces. A similar sense of powerlessness permeates teachers whose asso-
ciation (ETA) has been crippled since 1992, and whose grievances over
low payment and exclusion from decision making is unanswered, making
them one of the most unorganized and dissatisfied elite groups in the
country. The denial of academic freedom since the end of Haile Selassie
to the present day reveals the gulf between the slogan and practice of elite
messianism in the country. When Addis Ababa University was first es-
tablished in 1950, it was granted autonomy under the Imperial Charter,
although many critics argue that the autonomy was superficial. Yet, the
Ethiopian elites who took power since Haile Selassie denied the Univer-
sity of any autonomous status, or a Charter that ensures, among other
things, academic freedom. Both the Derg and EPRDF controlled the
university under the exclusive power of the Ministry of Education. The
real possibility of violence against dissent creates a sense of powerlessness
and also contributes to a sense of meaninglessness towards the messianic
dream of changing society using western knowledge.

Sources of Meaninglessness
Alienation as meaninglessness takes into account the quantity and quality
of information or knowledge that students obtain through their educa-
tion. Meaninglessness occurs when such knowledge prevents a clear and
predictable understanding of the social and political world resulting in
the inability of the individual to identify a clear choice or make informed
decisions (Finifter, 1970, p. 64). The content and method of western
education in Ethiopia does not provide students with the clear knowl-
edge that helps them make informed choices about their future. Conse-
quently, the information students obtain through their studies become
meaningless as they are unable to use it to change their circumstances.
The education system contributes to meaninglessness in various ways.
First, students who are separated from their tradition expect to find new

186
 Elitdom and Centeredlessness

information to define themselves and the world around them. However,

the information they obtain through the education system is irrelevant
and insufficient to clearly understand the social and economic world, and
predict their academic and career futures. Due to the cult of “internation-
al standard”, knowledge production on Ethiopian realities is very scarce.
Undergraduate, postgraduate and other research papers that focus on
domestic issues are analyzed with strict application of western theories
and concepts. Insufficient information occurs due to a lack of reasonably
up-to-date learning materials such as books, internet, and other equip-
ment. In Addis Ababa University, there is a general lack of academic
books, journals and other publications. At the time of this study, the big
libraries such as John F. Kennedy Library and Law School Library have
a collection of very old books and periodicals. Students complain that
most of these materials are outdated. Internet access is often limited to
only one hour per student, and during exams important books are bor-
rowed to students only for few hours due to scarcity. The content of the
information provided in the student textbooks and lectures focuses on
abstract theories. Due to the lack of correlation between the world of
study and work, students gain very little opportunity to test the practi-
cal significance of their knowledge in real life settings. They manifest a
general sense of uncertainty and insecurity when they try to interpret
social realities or address practical issues using the theories and skills they
acquired through their training. This is exacerbated by the use of English
as a medium of instruction from high school to university and its non-
use as a medium of communication in the society.
Students gain firsthand information from their tradition about the
social world around them and they feel that the English words and con-
cepts they acquired through their studies do not enable them to fully de-
scribe their traditional and cultural experiences. The process of translat-
ing concepts, ideas, and theories from English to Amharic and vice versa
makes it difficult to fully understand and develop a critical approach to
social and political reality. In high schools, the use of television broad-
casts can be considered as another factor that contributes to meaningless-
ness as students find it difficult to comprehend the content of the lesson
being transmitted to them. Several students blame themselves for fail-
ing to understand their teachers and books. The above and many related
factors prevent students from fully and clearly understanding the social

187
Native Colonialism

and political system to which they aspire to belong. Meaninglessness, the

lack of relevant knowledge and effective information to develop well-in-
formed views, subjects students to a precarious and dependent position
in relation to Elitdom.
Another important source of meaninglessness arises due to the pro-
cess of misinformation about tradition and history. The Ethiopian tradi-
tion can be regarded as the students’ immediate source of self-definition.
As analyzed in Chapter Two, the Ethiopian tradition provides a sense of
covenant nation. Stories, songs, proverbs, and fables that glorify a sense
of heroic nationalism are abundant in the culture. The Ethiopian tradi-
tion upholds a national history of more than 3000 years, a spirit of free-
dom and independence from colonial domination, a welcoming spirit to
strangers and a notion of ancient civilization and literature. The country
has a rich legacy of intellectual tradition and the traditional education
system offered studies in history and philosophy. However, the existing
Ethiopian education system follows a Eurocentric interpretation of his-
tory that contradicts the traditional knowledge of the students. The ETP
portrays Ethiopia’s past as a legacy of complex problems caused by selfish
regimes. It mentions no positive contribution from tradition. The same
approach is followed in the way that the study of Ethiopian history is
organized and presented in Grade 11 and Grade 12 textbooks. For ex-
ample, the Grade 11 history textbook credits Europeans for pioneering
the writing of Ethiopian history. Although there were local historians
long before the Europeans, the textbook states that Ethiopian sources of
history lack objectivity (MOE, 2006, p. 4). According to the textbook,
to be objective is “to present the reality as they really were and in the way
they really occurred” (MOE, 2006, p. 3). The textbook argues that since
the traditional manuscripts such as chronicles of Ethiopian Christian
kings were biased, the objective study of Ethiopian history did not began
until Job Ludolf (1624-1704) founded Ethiopian studies in Europe in
the 17th century (MOE, 2006, pp. 3-4). Ludolf wrote the first Ethiopian
history in 1684, followed by other European writers. Ethiopians began to
write their country’s history only towards the end of the 19th Century.
Here, the question why European travelers and missionaries are regarded
more objective than Ethiopian writers could only be explained by the
Eurocentric view that history becomes objective and real only when it

188
 Elitdom and Centeredlessness

is written by Europeans or from the perspective of Europe (Wallerstein,

1997).
In the student textbooks, the organization of Ethiopian history is
prefaced by European and other countries’ history. A student in Grade
11 learns about ancient Egypt, China, Japan, Greece, Rome, Medieval
Europe, the Age of Feudalism, the Roman Catholic Church, Byzantine
Empire, Islam, Ottoman Turkish Empire, Manorialism, Crusades, and
India before studying anything about “the different peoples and lan-
guages of Ethiopia” and the Axum and Zagwe dynasties. A teacher com-
mented that the breakdown of Ethiopian history into pieces of historical
narrations that are spread out into a sea of information about other coun-
tries’ histories dilutes the sense of comprehensiveness and richness the
subject needs. Moreover, the emphasis on ethnic history creates further
issues of politicization as it has ignited more dissatisfaction by teachers
and students. A teacher commented on this as follows:

I am not against teaching the history of dozens of tribes in the country.

But I am unhappy to see that the emphasis on ethnic history eclipsed
the great history of Ethiopia as a nation that was hailed by historians
throughout the world. Students need to know the great things that we
had in the past. However, the current Ethiopian political system has em-
phasized a history of ethnic domination in the past, and students can-
not understand ethnic history in isolation from the political meaning
and significance assigned to it at the present. They are made to judge
the events of the past by the grievances of the present. … I can tell you
that teaching Ethiopian history is the most difficult topic at the present
(Interview, 12 May, 2012).

Some students manifest uncertainty about relying on the official infor-

mation provided in their textbooks. For example, civics textbooks pro-
vide rich information about the ideal constitutional and democratic
rules, values and processes the country is considered to be following at
the present. However, students joke on the content of their civics text-
books by comparing it with the practice of various forms of injustices
that they experience, such as lack of academic freedom and expression.
Distrust about the content of their studies encouraged the proliferation
of new and hitherto unheard stories to surface among the appearance of

189
Native Colonialism

truth. For example, a student expressed resentment towards the content

of history textbooks for failing to divulge the suffering of the Oromo
people under the rule of Menelik:

Menelik said, ‘let religion, language, and history be one’. He also said, ‘a
child who has no Amharic name shall not attend school’. Menelik said
this because he was afraid of the rise of the numerous and brave Oromo
people in his empire. He also destroyed the religion of the Oromo which
was waqe fatta, the worship of the one creator under a naturally grown
tree or near a river. Menelik said, ‘whoever believed in waqe fetta shall
have his penis cut off if he is a man, or her breast cut off if she is a woman’.
This history is not written in our books; it is hidden out of denigration
to the people of Oromo (Interview, May 10, 2012).

As described above, the insufficiency, irrelevancy and lack of credibility

of information imparted through the education system fails to provide
students with sufficient understanding about the social and political
world around them. The emphasis on ethnic history and its politiciza-
tion through the political process creates a sense of distrust and division
among students. This condition produces meaninglessness as students are
unable to determine the likely outcome of social and political processes
and fail to distinguish the relevant information that could help them to
achieve their aspirations.

Centerdlessness as the Effect of Western Education

in Ethiopia
In summary, the combined effect of the two senses of alienation creates
centerdlessness. First, the education system isolates students from their
traditional roots. It declares tradition backward and barbaric; it initiates
a sense of mission and a promise of power to students. Alienated from
their place in tradition, students make efforts to seize the promises of
western knowledge through the formal channels of the state. Although
knowledge is presented as a stepping stone or a promise to power, Elit-
dom has strong barriers that make it difficult for many students to suc-
ceed. Consequently, students fall into the condition of powerlessness
and meaninglessness. Powerlessness and meaninglessness occurs with

190
 Elitdom and Centeredlessness

the realization that the formal system is unreliable as it is subverted by

the informal motives of those in charge of making decisions, and when
students are convinced that they cannot do anything to influence the
way decisions are made regarding them. Concerns over being accepted
to university study, receiving fair grades and gaining employment after
graduation are examples associated with powerlessness. Instead of social
goals that are constituted formally, the effort of the students is directed
towards fulfilling informal procedures and unwritten rules. Moreover,
insufficient, irrelevant and contradictory information supplied through
the education system creates a sense of meaninglessness among students.
Students fail to clearly understand and critically evaluate their situation
to make needed adjustments against the system. While powerlessness
promotes dependency on the elite system, meaninglessness promotes de-
spair and distrust towards it.
These two conditions create centerdlessness, which is the opposite of
being centered in traditional and social life. It is the condition of being
left asunder from place and from its substitutions, from tradition and
modernization. It involves the subjection of one’s effort, identity, vision
and dignity to a system that is not regarded as dependable and becoming
an instrument of alien values and beliefs without having the means to
realize them. This condition of centerdlessness duplicates itself to sus-
tain Elitdom. Alienated from tradition, students remain dependent on
the system as they cannot fall back to regain support from it. The elite
system that facilitates the above processes produces docile individuals
that are effectively demobilized, demoralized, individualized and con-
fused. It achieves this by attacking the sources of their traditional identi-
ties as primitive, and furnishing a new sense of identity with a promise
to power without actually providing the needed knowledge and process
to realize it.
The education system promotes centerdlessness through the promo-
tion of contradictory worldviews using Eurocentric universalism and
ethnicism. At the lower level, it promotes ethnic nationalism, ethnic
consciousness, ethnic history and languages. But at the higher level, the
system promotes Eurocentrism in the name of achieving “international
standard”. It indoctrinates students with western theories and models us-
ing English as a medium of instruction. At the same time, during and af-
ter graduation, it exposes students to the ethnocentric political structures

191
Native Colonialism

and systems of the state. The combined work of Eurocentrism and ethno-
centrism, which may be regarded as Eurocentric ethnicism, produces two
consequences. First, at the individual level it produces meaninglessness
and powerlessness in the lives of many students, as described above. Sec-
ond, it reduces the ability of the students and graduates to clearly under-
stand and defend the interest of the majority who live according to their
traditions.
Centerdlessness should be understood in terms of alienation from
place in its geographic and theoretical sense. Rural place and rural life
are regarded as backward; and modernity is seen as a movement from
the rural to the urban, from the local to the global. Theoretically, place as
the habitation of the cultural tradition, history, relationships and knowl-
edge of the people in the country is disregarded and replaced by western
knowledge that has the appearance of universality. However, in reality,
western knowledge itself is rooted in western places. It spreads the cul-
tures, stories, languages and experiences of particular western places and
helps to maintain the dominant position of the West. Brain drain, com-
mercialization of agriculture, market for western goods, support for for-
eign investment, debt, technical cooperation, development projects and
so on all facilitate this flight of benefits towards the West. Eurocentric
ethnicism disables students’ ability to stand against these processes. Fur-
thermore, the alienation of elites from their own society’s tradition and
from place presents these activities as purely benevolent and progressive.

Conclusion
In this chapter, I have shown the consequences of the establishment of the
imitative model of education under the current government in Ethiopia.
Imitative education is driven by internal chaos and external pressure. The
ETP came into effect in the aftermath of the country’s painful transition
from kingdom to Elitdom. After the unprecedented terror and massacre
of unarmed civilians during the Derg, and the seventeen years of civil war
to remove it from power, EPRDF sized power in 1993 and redefined the
country as a federation of nations and nationalities with essential ethnic
identities. The constitutional recognition for ethnicity as a means of po-
litical organization, the right to self-determination up to secession, and
the attention given to the development of the rural people through the

192
 Elitdom and Centeredlessness

agricultural-led development program, seem to portray the recognition

of tradition as the engine of progress. However, ethnic groups are ad-
ministered by western educated political elites who hardly manifest the
traditional values and cultural lives of their constituents except for politi-
cal reasons.
It can be concluded that Elitdom operates based on its attachment
with global actors such as the World Bank in the name of achieving “in-
ternational standard”. It has a clearly stated diffusionist model of educa-
tion as it aims at spreading science to the society. Knowledge is presented
as a means by which the individual acquires power in society. Education
is designed as a system through which the individual achieves excellence
through competition against other individuals. This approach is contrary
to the Ethiopian tradition as a possible source of knowledge for educa-
tion. As presented in Chapters Two and Three, the traditional view of
knowledge as a gift from God that humbles the student to the service of
a sacred nation, and the process of education as a search for wisdom to
train the senses with humility, promoted the ability of the student to be
related to society rather than to be isolated from it.
The expansion of the school to rural areas and the opening of a dozen
universities during the last twenty years is a commendable effort. How-
ever, due to the ideology with which this effort is conducted, students
struggle to cope with the minimum requirements of the system. One of
these requirements is the use of the English language as the medium of
learning in high schools and universities. Being unable to use the lan-
guage of their society, and being convinced that their tradition is back-
ward, students become alienated from the tradition that supports life in
the Ethiopian context. Many of them are also excluded from the oppor-
tunities that may be provided by Elitdom. Centerdlessness is the condi-
tion of being alienated from both tradition and Elitdom.
The process of alienation from tradition further develops with imi-
tation of modernist styles and the cultivation of student messianism.
Students envision changing their society using their education. How-
ever, lack of academic freedom, irrelevant academic content, the use of
physical violence to suppress student resistance and lack of transparent
and accountable administration creates a condition of powerlessness and
meaninglessness. The students’ inability to find a place to which their ef-
forts are geared and from which they drive guidance creates the condition

193
Native Colonialism

of centerdlessnesss which is a further recipe for radicalism. The collapse

of independent academic activities shows the inability to find a common
national center or an overriding principle that commands the common
vision of all. If a country is to stay as a secured and united unit, it needs to
have a center, a place that anchors the vision of its masses. Be it a federal
or unitary arrangement, the existence of a common ideal that can over-
ride selfish individual and group interests is paramount.

194
 conclusion

Theoretical Lessons and

Methodological Insights

T
he link between African states and western education was estab-
lished through colonialism. At first, education was introduced
to train Africans who would assist the colonial administration.
The education system cultivated knowledge and identity linked with the
colonial system. Through education, it became possible for Africans to
believe that the knowledge of the colonizer was a hope for the liberation
of the colonized. Initially, by the initiatives of the missionaries and later
by the policy of the colonial administrators, the colonial school expand-
ed, and became a significantly important institutional foundation for
the postcolonial state. African parents demanded colonial education for
their children (Ranger, 1965). Studying about the West, reflecting on its
traditions, identifying what is relevant for Africa and what is not, educa-
tion is seen as a crucial means to achieve power. This process undermined
African traditional institutions and created a myth of primitivism that
subjected the logic of local traditions to the power of the colonial system.
The end of colonialism brought about a discourse of development,
one that redefined the colonizer vs colonized relationship into a devel-
oped vs underdeveloped one. As expressed in US President Harry Tru-
man’s speech, the exploited and impoverished lands of Africa and other
non-western places were labelled “underdeveloped areas”. The sharing of
the “technological advances” of the West through education became the
new civilizing mission (Esteva, 1992, p. 6). As witnessed during the Ad-
dis Ababa Conferences of 1961 and 1962, the effort of African countries
to determine the content and method of education and utilize African
Native Colonialism

knowledges and traditions failed due to a lack of support from metro-

politan powers (UNESCO, 1961, 1962). Instead, the Jometine consen-
sus, initiated by the World Bank, created the slogan “Education for All”.
Today, universal education is accepted as a fundamental human right
and the “internationalisation” of higher education is a widely accepted
norm, despite criticism that it constitutes the “recolonization of the Af-
rican mind” by western knowledge (Assie-Lumumba, 2006; Brock-Utne,
2000). Like colonialism, education during the post-colonial period fo-
cuses on the study and application of the ideas and experiences of the
powerful in the hope of transferring power to the powerless. Once again,
the idealism behind universal education masks the epistemic violence
that degrades and excludes African traditional and indigenous knowl-
edges from local education.
Ethiopia joined African nations in their quest for western education
after World War II. This is a country composed of numerous tribes, cus-
toms, languages, and religions that live across scattered villages in a large
and varied geographical area. It is also a country that was able to unite the
power of these diverse identities by traditional means and score a decisive
victory against the Italian army at Adwa in 1896. Perhaps, more signifi-
cant than the victory of Adwa is the ability of the country to withstand
centuries of isolation from the rest of the world due to the occupation of
its seacoasts by Islamic forces and the colonization of the rest of Africa
and much of Asia by Europe. This book examined the development of
consciousness of power towards the West, as Ethiopian rulers started to take
into account the existence of a powerful enemy that sought to impose its
will upon their nation. This reaction to the European gaze created the
desire to acquire European weapons in order to defend the country from
Europe. The contradiction between enmity and friendship with Europe
generated various internal responses, especially when Haile Selassie initi-
ated a radical westernization process.
This consciousness of power further developed among Ethiopian
leaders, culminating in the wholesale imitation of western institutions
in order to modernize the state. The effect of this process is epistemic
violence – the continuing suppression of traditional institutions, cus-
toms, worldviews and practices by a new system of knowledge that is
imitated from foreign sources. Western knowledge was used to central-
ize regional power, to homogenize the diverse experiences and identities

196
 Theoretical Lessons and Methodological Insights

within tradition as primitive, and to create what Donald called “vernacu-

lar modernism– attempts to reorder local society by the application of
strategies that have produced wealth, power, or knowledge elsewhere in
the world” (1999, p. xvii). One of the most important outcomes of this
process is the emergence of western educated individuals with a new cul-
tural capital. The new elites became missionaries of change for the birth
of a new Ethiopia. Western knowledge, with its tendency to objectify
and bifurcate reality into antagonistic opposites, initiated new normative
divisions, such as modern vs traditional, urban vs rural, manufacturing
vs. agrarian and so on. The former identities are believed to be superior
to the latter, and the educated are regarded as missionaries of change who
would transit the people from the second to the first set of categories.
This view of modernization sometimes involves the reformation, incor-
poration or modification of traditions. The belief that western educated
intellectuals have the ability to modernize their people using western
knowledge is what I define as elite missionarism.
Elite missionarism created significant discontent in the 1960s and
1970s, as several graduates were unable to achieve their vision through
the monarchical system. As both Zewde (2010) and Kebede (2008b)
argue (despite differences on emphasizing structural vs. ideological fac-
tors), the educated started to blame the imperial system for denying them
the opportunity to modernize their people. In the 1960s, a radicalized
version of missionarism emerged among university students based on
Marxism-Leninism. They adopted new languages from radical Marxist-
Leninist sources, reinvented Ethiopian kings in the image of medieval
European feudals and foresaw violence as the only way of curing the ail-
ment of the nation. I regard this radical approach as elite messianism.
Elite messianism is belief in the role of intellectuals to radically change
the society through revolutionary, often violent, means. By large, student
messianism is a genuine and passionate commitment to one’s cause, and
its problem emanates precisely from this strict demand for ideological
conformity. It is a self-appointed initiative that regards its own interpre-
tation as the true expression of the interest of the people. Consequent-
ly, messianism has little room for compromise and dialogue, even with
groups that follow similar ideologies, making physical violence the most
likely method for resolving conflicts. While elite missionarism regarded
Ethiopian tradition as backward and subject to change, elite messianism

197
Native Colonialism

regarded it reactionary and antithetical to progress, hence subject to

eradication. In the 1960s, Ethiopian students followed the messianic ini-
tiative of radicalized students who adopted a cult of Fanonian violence as
a necessary force that could cleanse the country from feudalism.
The ability of the government to effectively use physical violence re-
placed student messianism with state messianism. The state took first
the slogan, then the ideology of the students. It murdered, expropriated
and humiliated what it called feudal leaders and reactionary elements,
distributed land to peasants, and organized the rural and urban dwell-
ers under various associations. While the messianic movement of the
nationalist students of the 60s and 70s was largely crushed by the Derg,
Ethno-nationalist students started one of the longest civil wars in East
Africa. After 17 years of armed struggle, they took power from the mili-
tary in 1991 and have continued to implement their political programs
since then. Although several political parties came to the scene during
this time, most of them disappeared or fled the country, complaining of
various forms of state violence. The above brief summary shows that the
Ethiopian political system since 1960s has been dominated by elite mes-
sianism. The Derg, EPRDF or other opposition political parties, how-
ever bitterly antagonistic to one another, share the ideology of messian-
ism. Their claim for power is not just to save the people from poverty
and backwardness but also from the political success of their opponents.
Elitdom is the new political era whose political, economic, social and
other systems resemble that of the colonial system in the rest of Africa.
The direction of the country and its inhabitants are centrally determined
by the political elite who live in the palace of Haile Selassie, whose values
can be shared and communicated only to its clienteles, the majority of
which are among the urbanized minority group in the country.
The history of western education in Ethiopia is built on the ideol-
ogy and actions of elite messianism, which invented a local orient and
the passion to free him from the bondage of tradition. In Chapter Six, I
have shown that the current education system reflects a Eurocentric view
of modernism, which includes a “dualistic consciousness, a hierarchical
vision of society, and a metaphysical idea of science” (Hardt & Negri,
2000, p. 70). The ETP presents Ethiopia’s past only as a period of “com-
plex problems the country has plunged in by dictatorial, self-centred and
vain regimes” (MOE, 1994, p. 4). This means, while Ethiopia’s past is

198
 Theoretical Lessons and Methodological Insights

particularized in light of its “evil” regimes, western experience is present-

ed as a universal and neutral experience, without being tainted with its
history of plundering the rest of the world through slavery and colonial-
ism. The ETP prescribes learning as a simple act of diffusing science to
the students using a foreign language not spoken in the country. Elemen-
tary education employs ethnic standards, guiding the student towards
regional language, custom and history. Higher education emphasizes an
“international standard”, requiring the use of English to study western
content. Elitdom stands at the center of the outcome of the ethnicization
and internationalization of student identities through education, replac-
ing the notion of center the country’s tradition had afforded to students.
It operates as a native colonial system that produces the ideology of tradi-
tionalism and globalism to justify its power.
The effect of the education system on the lives of Ethiopian students
cannot be exhaustively described here. The dismissal of Ethiopian tradi-
tional knowledges from the curriculum, the glorification of the innova-
tive spirit of western science, the correlation between science and truth
on the one hand, and tradition and myth on the other, the undermin-
ing of the country’s history and traditional knowledge, as evidenced in
student textbooks, the use of western language for higher education and
research: all of these factors give students a strong message that the Ethi-
opian tradition is primitive and antithetical to modernization. On the
basis of this knowledge, the system constructs students as missionaries
of change, and promises them power as the reward of knowledge (MOE,
2009a, p. 130). With the denigration of their tradition as backward and
primitive, and the exclusion of traditional leaders and institutions from
any form of public office, the students take the promise of education very
seriously. The identity of missionarism is so strong that they hardly ques-
tion the relevance of western education in the country. For example, sev-
eral students I spoke to during my fieldwork opposed the possibility of
changing English as a medium of instruction. Although they admitted
that the use of English has made it too difficult for them to understand
the content of their studies, the fear of becoming backward and isolated
from the world appeared more dangerous and threatening to them than
failing to understand or master the content of their studies. Alienation
from tradition makes students complicit to the epistemic violence of
western knowledge.

199
Native Colonialism

The epistemic violence of the system affects not only students who
become alienated from the knowledge of their societies but also the ma-
jority of the people who still depend on tradition as a source of meaning.
In Ethiopia, elders, priests and traditional scholars play decisive roles in
the social and cultural life of the majority but they are excluded from
serving in government offices if they do not have certification from the
western school. Consequently, the majority of the rural people are served
by young graduates or school leavers who are indoctrinated by the supe-
riority of science and western knowledge over Ethiopian tradition and
history. This denies the possibility of developing local wisdom and expe-
rience into policy making. Another effect is the denial of recognition and
support to traditional school students and their teachers to pursue their
studies. Traditional schools are not eligible for government funding.
Their students have to leave their parents and travel to distant places in
search of a traditional teacher who might be willing to take them for free.
During their study, they have to beg for food in order to survive and give
manual labor to their teachers. It can be argued that their service is more
relevant to the people than modernist graduates, as they serve within lo-
cal communities as teachers, counselors and healers, often with little to
no remuneration. The government gives no support to their educational
endeavors, and public resources are funneled only to the western school.
Another effect of epistemic violence is the avoidance of traditional
accountability. In Ethiopia, tradition determined the basis of author-
ity and the limit of the exercise of power. Notions of accountability are
embedded within traditional beliefs and practices. Although violation
of traditional accountability was not uncommon, there were always se-
rious consequences, from lack of support to outright rebellion against
the leaders. This meant that kings had to follow traditional rules and re-
spect what the people respected in order to maintain their legitimacy to
rule. Power required some balance between the traditional accountabil-
ity of the leaders and the traditional subjectivities of the people. With
the westernization of the state, political power emancipated itself from
traditional accountability but maintained the traditional subjectivities of
the people. The meaning, worth and role of tradition is subjected to the
ideology of elite missionarism and messianism. Due to their alienation
from tradition, students continue to disregard the value of learning from
the experience of their society.

200
 Theoretical Lessons and Methodological Insights

Epistemic violence also affects students individually, as the loss of

Ethiopian traditional values is not often compensated by the fulfilment
of modern values associated with western education. The education sys-
tem fails to achieve its own promises. Low quality education, failure to
join university or graduate from it, the use of foreign language as a me-
dium of instruction, the difficulty of finding employment, the existence
of informal rules of inclusion and exclusion to benefit from the system
such as political or ethnic affiliation, the irrelevancy of the content of
education to self-employment or innovation: these are just some of the
factors that contribute to alienation. Finally, this failure to achieve a sense
of belonging in both traditional and modern systems of identity creates
the condition of centerdlessness that allows Elitdom to maintain power
through the production of vulnerable identities. Alienation from tradi-
tion invites internalization of Eurocentrism and consciousness of power,
and alienation from Elitdom leads to powerlessness and meaningless-
ness. Powerlessness is a condition that develops as students are unable
to change how Elitdom is influencing their current and future lives, and
meaninglessness is the inability to utilize their education outside Elitdom
due to its ineffectiveness and irrelevancy to local life. The combination of
these two forms of alienation is defined as centerdlessness. Centeredless-
ness is the inability to anchor one’s imagination and effort on a concrete
cultural ground, in a place that connects past, present and future lives.
Although the above analysis focuses on the development of a native
colonial system and its local consequences in Ethiopia, Elitdom has epis-
temic and structural links with forces of globalization outside the coun-
try. Epistemically, it is related to what Mudimbe called “the western epis-
temic order” that dominated the African intellectual landscape (1988,
p. 1). Structurally, it is supported by institutions and structures that
impose rules and displace traditional knowledges and local institutions.
These two processes create a homogenous global space for the exercise of
a globalized elite power. There are two major ways through which the di-
versity of local life contained in place, locality or tradition is subjected to
the epistemic violence of western knowledge. First, western knowledge
presents the local as the opposite of the global, as though the global has
no geographical center or location in the world. We think in terms of
mega theories that are sanitized from local particularities, and forget the
idea that “everything is somewhere and in place” (Aristotle qtd. in Casey,

201
Native Colonialism

1993). This thinking is commonly espoused through notions such as

“globalization”, “humanity”, and “internationalism” that project a vision
of homogenous global space detached from particular places. Traditions
are given fixed meanings that support these processes.
Second, epistemic violence against traditions supports the structural
and institutional forces whose activities facilitate the destruction of tradi-
tions within localized and fixed boundaries. For example, the influence of
structural adjustments required by institutions such as the World Bank
pressure countries to adopt policies that facilitate the transfer of local re-
sources into market forces that are beyond the control of local people.
Investment projects involving the transfer of land to rich investors robs
local people of their entire life, as it often results in the loss of social,
cultural, spiritual and economic connections they had with their places.
From mid-1990s to 2011, Ethiopia transferred 3 –3.5 million hectares
of land to investors resulting in “the vulnerabilities of small producers in
the rural areas whose lands are increasingly being threatened by expro-
priation” (Rahmato, 2014, p. 26). However, global measures of growth
do not take into account the consequence of the loss of the physical,
emotional, cultural and epistemic wealth and relationship people have in
and with places. The World Bank’s praise of Ethiopia as a country “With
Continued Rapid Growth, … Poised to Become a Middle Income Coun-
try by 2025” does not take into account the impact of land deals which
the Bank itself supported (Chavkin, 2015; Hardison, 2015). For local
people, to be placeless is more grievous than the loss of the sense of place,
as Edward Relph suggested in his idea of placelessness (1976). It is above
all to suffer destitution within the darker side of modern development.
The Ethiopian education system does not provide information and
critical concepts that could allow students to question the above epis-
temic and structural violence against tradition. In Chapter Six, I have
indicated the role of the World Bank in education policy making in Ethi-
opia and other countries (Takala, 1998). International actors have insti-
tutionalized mechanisms for influencing social policy in poor countries
through aid and other conditionalities (Samoff, 2013). They have created
a homogenous ideological and political space, influencing poor countries
with dissimilar social and geographical contexts to adopt similar types of
policies, to implement education in similar ways, using similar resources.
They support the introduction of technologies that have little relevance

202
 Theoretical Lessons and Methodological Insights

and significance to local life, as the case of teaching rural students in Ethi-
opia using satellite television in English demonstrated. These approaches
mystify students’ conceptions of identity and modernity as presented in
Chapter Six. It projects a vision of globalism detached from local particu-
larities by institutionalizing the teaching of western knowledge and the
English language in higher education as a measure of achieving “interna-
tional standard”.
By focusing on the notion of place rather than space, I seek to illumi-
nate the deceptive face of globalism and call for a corrective approach.
From the perspective of the theory of place, the English language and
the content of learning are rooted in place, particularly the West. The
institutions that influence the policy of education are also just as rooted
in places as the concepts and tools of education. The World Bank is a
fine example. Its policies and programs reflect market principles that
benefit strong western states. The United States has undue influence over
the World Bank, even to the extent that the US President nominates the
President of the Bank. The institutions and the ideas that the Bank pro-
motes are not hanging in an abstract notion of space that is equally open
and reachable to all. Instead, it is rooted in the philosophy and in the in-
terest of particular places in the West. The Bank may procure profit from
collecting debt repayments or facilitate the brain drain due to its homog-
enizing influence. This means, intentionally or unintentionally, it dis-
proportionately allows the flow of benefits not to all places in the global
world but to particular places from where it is situated and controlled as
an institution. Therefore, what we have as global actors are institutions
that have the capacity to transform diverse places into a homogenous
space so that they can operate without being hindered by the specifici-
ties of those locales. This indicates that the notion of space projects an
ideological map constructed based on predetermined theories, formulas,
and principles. Traditions as rich sources of knowledge within places of
poor countries are regarded as primitive not because that is what they are,
but because that is how the global gets its deceptive, all-embracing and
all-encompassing face. My argument is not to oppose non-oppressive,
intersectional but also multi-central places interacting with each other
for cosmopolitan humanity or internationalism. Rather, it argues that
the global should be the genuine expression of diverse localities. To this
pluversality, Ethiopia, similar to other places, has contributions to make.

203
Native Colonialism

Traditions are important epistemic sources that challenge objectifica-

tion – the turning of people and nature into things that can be defined,
controlled and managed by powerful men to achieve calculable material
ends. They resist epistemic violence and are sources of self-definition
and renewal. This approach requires the avoidance of traditionalism,
the essentialist view of traditions as either barbaric or innocent. Tradi-
tions do not belong to a particular stage of life or to a particular race;
rather they are constitutive of dynamic contexts that generate new mean-
ings in dialogue with old ones. The failure of education emerges partly
from a failure to recognize not just cultural or traditional diversity but
also other types of diversities such as metaphysical, epistemological and
cognitive diversities (Santos, et al., 2007) which are contained in local
traditions. Such diversities should be approached not as neatly separate
binaries of oriental vs occidental or traditional vs modern knowledges,
but as plural yet interrelated centers of knowledge (Ngugi wa Thiong’o,
1993). Therefore, my attempt to interpret Ethiopia’s traditions is not to
provide a strict theoretical formula that explains traditions as they are.
Instead, it is an attempt to indicate the existence of silenced sources of
knowledge that could contribute to epistemic principles for relevant edu-
cation in the country. To this end, I propose that the Ethiopian tradition
interpreted in Chapter 2 and 3 demonstrates that traditions can work
as sources of knowledge to 1) challenge the dominance of the western
epistemic order that privileges space over place, and 2) create a common
ground with other traditions for the production of relevant knowledge
for relevant education.
In challenging the dominance of western epistemology, the Kebra
Nagast presents a great insight that makes place the source of meaning
and identity. As shown in Chapter 2, the Kebra Nagast regarded Ethiopia
not just as a physical entity but also a spiritual one, a sacred inheritance,
yekalkidan hager, whose independence had to be protected and whose
destiny is to be free. I have indicated that although the historical use of
covenant often created a sense of othering by referring to outsiders as
heathens, in the Ethiopian context the land rather than the people was
regarded as sacred. By becoming the “place of habitation” for the Ark of
the Covenant, Ethiopia became a seat of mercy for all of its inhabitants.
The “mercy seat” provided “the rains and the waters from the sky, for
the planted things... and the fruits, for the peoples and the countries, for

204
 Theoretical Lessons and Methodological Insights

the kings and nobles, for men and beasts, for birds and creeping things”
(Kebra Nagast, 1932, p. 144). This sanctification of place based on the
Ark of the Covenant challenges the epistemic violence that attempts to
present place as a mere natural resource that should be converted into
cash. Similar perspectives in Oromo, Sidama, Konso and others provide
epistemic principles that present place as important sources of identity
and meaning. This elevation of place is an important defense against the
commercialization of lands, indigenous knowledges and resources. It also
suggests an important epistemological contribution for the rethinking of
education. It suggests that education cannot ignore the significance of
place as we cannot know anything without emplacing it first, and every-
thing has to come from somewhere or to take place somewhere (Casey,
1993). Knowledge requires a context that orients its production and de-
termines its effects. Each context or place has its own historical, cultural,
geographical, social, economic, political and spiritual characteristics with
important similarities as well as differences with other contexts. These
contexts produce knowledge traditions that could generate epistemic
principles that can relate or unite with one another in multiple ways. The
question of how epistemic principles from diverse knowledge traditions
should relate with one another is a delicate methodological question that
should not be determined by the western epistemic order, lest the out-
come could become epistemic violence. It is important to avoid the cre-
ation of static and antagonistic boundaries between traditions that could
make power the desired or inevitable outcome of the relationship. That
means the epistemology of knowledge production should go beyond the
view of knowledge as a means to power.
This leads us to the second insight that we can draw from the Ethio-
pian epistemological tradition: the view of knowledge as wisdom and
humility as the end of knowledge. In the traditional education system,
knowledge is regarded as the gift of God that can be acquired by the soul
as wisdom. Wisdom is regarded as “the eye of the soul … the High God
light that fills the soul” (Sumner, 1981, p. 54). It enables the soul to see,
hear, speak and think clearly. From this, education is the training of the
soul with wisdom to achieve humility አትህቶተ ፡ ርዕስ. This goal enhances
the relatedness of the individual to place and people, rather than the cul-
tivation of his/her individuality and isolation from the world. To know
is to melt the self into the being of the other; to grasp the passion, the

205
Native Colonialism

fear, the pain, the blessing and the hope of the other. Modernist argu-
ments consider this to be self-defeating, arguing that it discourages the
ego-centric drive that produced science in the West (A. A. Mazrui &
Wagaw, 1982). I argue that a humble approach to reality does not create
a defenseless being that welcomes oppression and violence. As Ethiopia’s
victory over European colonialist forces showed, the notion of a sacred
place initiated the desire to act in defense of what is just and good beyond
the self. Indigenous people all over the world have never accepted dispos-
session through colonization or development (Bodley, 2008). They have
been fighting back using their traditions against the epistemic order that
cannot recognize their resistance and resilience outside its own frame.
Humility creates the willful passion to make sacrifices for a higher and
common good. Although its epistemological and ethical principles are
not intentionally designed to oppose the West, it can nevertheless par-
ticularize and objectify the West and theorize egocentrism and individu-
alism, as the Ethiopian traditional literature showed. But more impor-
tantly, humility as the end of knowledge nurtures non-oppressive and
creative dialogue among diverse epistemic traditions within Ethiopia.
Once place and traditions are recognized as sources of knowledge,
and humility is accepted as an end to knowledge, the next step is to an-
swer how local traditions could interact with foreign epistemic sources.
In particular, how can Ethiopian knowledge traditions interact with
western knowledge which contains important lessons and skills for our
lives? This question should be addressed in light of the skepticism to the
argument that as much as western tradition has been the basis of western
education, African traditions could also become the basis of African edu-
cations (Hountondji, 1996). I agree that no knowledge could be classified
as an eternal property of a certain group. However, as many postcolonial
and decolonial thinkers strongly argue, western knowledge has attained
a universal position by depicting non-western places as primitive, vacant
spaces that can be cultivated by the West, and by working through the
structures and institutions of power that made these assumptions a real-
ity (Mignolo, 2011; Ndlovu-Gatsheni, 2013; Said, 1978). Therefore, my
interest in approaching local knowledge does not suggest a preoccupa-
tion with the authenticity or purity of an African tradition, or the roman-
ticisation and essentialisation of it (Semail & Kincheloe, 1999). Instead,
it is a conscious move from preoccupation with spaces of knowledge to

206
 Theoretical Lessons and Methodological Insights

places of knowledge, from the experiences and stories of the powerful

to the needs and potentials of particular societies and traditions. It is
therefore important to understand western knowledge from the darker
side of modernity (Mignolo, 2011), from the epistemic tradition of non-
western places and the growing critical literature against its universalist
and imperialist nature (Chen, 2010). The purpose is not to accumulate
a detailed inventory of the trauma caused by western knowledge but to
understand our own position and relationship with it.
The Ethiopian indigenous methodology of tirguaamme provides
a fundamentally important insight that addresses the question of how
to learn from other epistemic sources. As discussed in Chapter 3, tir-
guaamme is a process of inquiry from the traditional education system
that examines the hidden essence of a text or reality. It is based on the
principle of ንባብ ፡ይቀትል ፡ወትርጓሜ ፡የሃዩ ። which literally means “text
kills but meaning heals”, suggesting the importance of interpretation over
mere translation or imitation. In relation to introducing foreign texts
into Ethiopia, tirguaamme was particularly led by the principle of creative
incorporation. As presented in Chapter 3, Ethiopian traditional scholars
interpreted various texts from Greek, Latin, Arabic and Judaic sources
by using their epistemic tradition as “a filter through which every facet
of thought, old or new, had to pass to be accepted, rejected, or modified”
(Ullendorff, 1965, p. 139). Creative incorporation is the art of interpret-
ing the world from a place, the process of drawing insights from external
sources to enrich, activate, and transform a tradition through dialogue
with other traditions. In the traditional education system, immersion in
Ethiopian epistemic traditions, or centeredness, was a critical precondi-
tion for the production of relevant knowledge for the country.
A contemporary use of creative incorporation should consider two
important steps. First, it requires a critical and deeper understanding of
the principles and patterns of Ethiopian knowledge traditions. As Isaac
advised a young Ethiopian scholar:

If we read books written by Machiavelli, Hobbes, Marx, Lenin and Mao,

why not those attributed to Kristos Samra, Iyasus Mo’a, Zar’a Ya’eqob,
Ewestatewos, Onesimos Nasib, and our other ancient writers? Why do
we not study Ge’ez poetry and literature? Why do we not study and re-
search the rich oral tradition of the Oromo and other Ethiopian peoples

207
Native Colonialism

about human wisdom and political democratic philosophy? Why do we

not listen to or learn from our own ordinary village elders about mutual
respect, humility of knowledge, and, love of peace and wisdom (2013b).

Isaac’s suggestion follows Egwale Gebra Yohannis’ advice that current

Ethiopian scholars should first “digest and swallow” the knowledge of
their society before they incorporate western knowledge to their tradi-
tion (2011 [2003 EC], p. 71). The seeds of education are to be chosen
primarily on the basis of the nature of the land and the environment,
not on the quality of the seed alone which is only secondary to the place.
This process should aim at uncovering local epistemic locations that
could allow diverse traditions within the country to contribute to the
continued use of Ethiopia as a shared spiritual and emotional signifier.
Once shared Ethiopian epistemic locations are identified, the second step
is to imagine how to interact with other knowledge traditions. For this
second step, Egwale Gebra Yohannis presented creative incorporation as
the art of grafting a wild shoot onto an olive tree based on the analogical
interpretation of Romans Ch. 11 no. 17-18 (2011 [2003 EC], p. 72).
He suggested the oil tree that has natural oil represents the Ethiopian
knowledge tradition, and the wild shoot represents western knowledge:

በተፈጥሮ ዘይትነት ያለው ዛፍ አለ። ፍሬ ማፍራት ስለተሳነው ቅርንጫፎቹን

ይቆርጡአቸዋል። በነሱ ፈንታ አውልዓ ገዳም የምድረ በዳ ዛፍ፤ በዘይቱ ግንድ ላይ
ተቀጥሎ እንዲያድግ ይተክላሉ። ተቀጽላው የስሩ ህይወት ተካፋይ ስለሚሆን ዘይትነትንም
ያገኛል። ግን ፈርቶ መኖር አለበት። በቅርንጫፍነቱ መኩራት አይገባዉም። ምክንያቱም
ስር ቅርንጫፍን ይሽከማል እንጅ ቅርንጫፍ ስርን አይሸከም።
The olive tree has its own natural oiliness. Since it failed to bear fruit,
they cut its branches off. In replacement, they grafted a new wild shoot
to grow on the stem of the tree. Since the grafted shoot partakes in the
life of the root, it gets oil. But, it should live in fear [humility]. It should
never consider itself superior. Because the root carries the branch not the
branch carries the root (2011 [2003 EC], p. 72).

The analogy presents Ethiopian knowledges as a living tree rooted in

place but lacks fruits. Although this analogy of a tree that lack fruits does
not seem to actually represent Ethiopian knowledge traditions as the lat-
ter have produced intellectual, cultural and civilizational fruits, we can
still use the story to illustrate how creative incorporation may work now.

208
 Theoretical Lessons and Methodological Insights

The analogy presents western knowledge not as another tree that should
replace the olive tree, but as a branch, a fragment that would be grafted
“to partake in the life of the root”. It is interesting to note that the out-
come of this process is not a purely old or new fruit but a mixture of both.
The practice of learning in the traditional education system shows
that creative incorporation creates dynamism to place. It allows exchange
and interaction among diverse knowledge traditions through two inter-
related ways. These are learning from places and learning to places. Learn-
ing from places entails learning from the internal qualities of a place,
from the accumulated legacy that occurred in the past and is stored in
the stories, practices and experiences of that place. In the traditional edu-
cation system, the schools are located at specific places, each with its own
peculiarities of excellence. The House of Reading (Nibab Bet), the House
of Holy Mass (Kidassie Bet) and the House of Hymn (Zema Bet) could
be regarded as examples of learning from place. Students as moving bod-
ies travel to these traditional schools to study the various manuscripts,
songs, skills and materials invented or developed by Ethiopian traditional
scholars such as Yared, Petros ZeGascha, King Zara Yacob and many oth-
ers. Places that inhabit historical footprints such as Axum, Lalibela and
Harar furnish infinite possibilities for learning from places. This notion
of learning can inspire the cultivation of knowledge traditions that exist
in Oromo, Konso, Sidama, Tigray, Afar, Amara and other places. There is
also learning that is carried to places. Ethiopian traditional scholars who
incorporated knowledge from Greek, Hebrew, Arabic and other sources
brought various forms of learning to their places. It is important to em-
phasize that learning from and to places are significantly related to each
other. Tirguaamme as creative incorporation provides a principle that
learning from places should guide the process of learning to places. To
this end, the use of creative incorporation requires a critical, reflexive and
dialogical study of traditions, and a process of unlearning and relearn-
ing, which can greatly be aided by the traditional view of knowledge as
humility.
The traditional education system provides additional insight into
the critical potential of traditions. Hatata, critical meditation, is a good
example of reflective dialogue within and among traditions. Hatata is a
process of developing critical, rational and independent thought or the-
ory on various philosophical questions. The philosophy of Zara Yacob

209
Native Colonialism

and Wolda Hiwot are good examples of this tradition (Sumner, 1976).
The two scholars, who were educated in the principles and practices of
Ethiopian traditional thought, developed a critical philosophy relevant
to their society. This demonstrates that knowledge traditions have criti-
cal potentials that can generate transformative knowledge for education.
The above theoretical and methodological insights inspire richness and
dynamism into Ethiopia’s knowledge traditions. Knowledge gains origi-
nality or new meaning whenever it is adopted by a new place.
This book presents compelling arguments in support of an epistemo-
logical and methodological shift that could make education relevant to
the people of Ethiopia. Despite the ongoing suppression of indigenous
knowledges, Ethiopia still carries the seed of a new epistemic hope for the
future. It has a vast population surviving based on diverse knowledge tra-
ditions. The only way to defend the people is to support their tradition,
which includes their beliefs, experiences, customs, rituals and aspirations.
Traditions are rooted, not imprisoned, in history; they are not closed but
open to the future. Embracing traditions is not to travel to the past. It
is to live in the present of those dispossessed of their right to exist now.
However difficult it may seem, the cost of not doing this is the deepening
of a colonial consciousness, one that dispossesses people from the place
that connects their past, present and future lives.

210
 Bibliography

Abate, A., & Kiros, F. G. (2011). Agrarian Reform, Structural Changes

and Rural Development in Ethiopia. In A. K. Ghose (Ed.), Agrarian
Reform in Contemporary Developing Countries (pp. 141-184). Lon-
don: Routledge.
Abbink, J. (1995). The impact of violence: The Ethiopian ‘Red terror’
as a social phenomenon. In P. J. Bräunlein & A. Lauser (Eds.), Krieg
und Frieden: Ethnologische Perspektiven (pp. 129-145). Bremen:
Kea-Edition.
Abbink, J. (1998). An Historical-Anthropological Approach to Islam in
Ethiopia: Issue of Identity and Politics. Journal of African Cultural
Politics, 11(2), 109 - 124.
Abbink, J. (2006). Discomfiture of Democracy? The 2005 Election Cri-
sis in Ethiopia and its Aftermath. African Affairs, 105(419), 173.
Achebe, C. (1975). The Novelist as Teacher. Morning Yet on Creation
Day (pp. 67-74). Garden City: Anchor.
Addis Zemen. (1977, 4 February 1977). The Broad Masses of Ethiopia:
Your Revolution has been Transformed from a Defensive to an Of-
fensive Position, Addis Zemen Newspaper No. 1228.
Amnesty International. (2012). Ethiopia Amnesty International Report
2012: The State of the World’s Human Rights (pp. 144-147). London:
Amnesty International.
Asfaw, G., & Appleyard, D. L. (1979). The Amharic Letters of Emperor
Theodore of Ethiopia to Queen Victoria and Her Special Envoy. Lon-
don: The Oxford University Press.
Native Colonialism

Asfaw, T. (2004). The Contribution of Native Ethiopian Philosophers,

Zara Yacob and Wolde Hiwot, to Ethiopian Philosophy. Meskot,
Ethiopian Online Literary Journal.
Assie-Lumumba, N. (2006). Higher Education in Africa: Crises, Reforms
and Transformation. Dakar: Council for the Development of Social
Science Research in Africa.
Ayele, N. (2010). Legitimacy, Culture of Political Violence and Violence
of Culture in Ethiopia. In J. E. Rosenfeld (Ed.), Terrorism, Identity,
and Legitimacy: The Four Waves Theory and Political Violence. Lon-
don: Routledge.
Balsvik, R. R. (1985). Haile Sellassie’s Students: The Intellectual and So-
cial Background to Revolution, 1952-1977. Michigan: Michigan State
University.
Balsvik, R. R. (2007). The Quest for Expression: State and University in
Ethiopia 1952 - 2005. Addis Ababa: Addis Ababa Univesrsity Press.
Barrett, A. M., Chawla-Duggan, R., Lowe, J., Nikel, J., & Ukpo, E.
(2006). The Concept of Quality in Education: A Review of the
“International” Literature on the Concept of Quality in Education.
EdQual Working Paper No. 3: EdQual RPC.
Beckstrom, J. H. (1973). Transplantation of Legal Systems: An Early Re-
port on the Reception of Western Laws in Ethiopia. The American
Journal of Comparative Law, 21(557).
Bekele, S. (1990). Kasa and Kasa: The State of Their Historiography. In
T. Beyene, R. Pankhrust & S. Bekele (Eds.), Kasa and Kasa: Papers
on the Lives, Times and Images of Tewodros II and Yohannes IV (1855-
1889) (pp. 289-347). Addis Ababa: Institute of Ethiopian Studies.
Bekerie, A. (1997). Ethiopic: An African Writing System; Its History and
Principles. Asmara: Red Sea Press.
Berman, H. J. (2003). Law and Revolution II: The Impact of Protestant
Reformations on the Western Legal Tradition. Harvard: Harvard Uni-
versity Press.
Bhabha, H. (1994). The Location of Culture. London: Routledge.

212
 Bibliography

Bitew, G. D. (2008). Using “Plasma TV” Broadcasts in Ethiopian Sec-

ondary Schools: A Brief Survey. Australasian Journal of Educational
Technology, 24(2), 150-167.
Blaut, J. M. (1993). Colonizer’s Model of the World: Geographical Diffu-
sionism and Eurocentric History. New York: The Gulford Press.
Bodley, J. H. (2008). Victims of Progress. Lanham: Altamira Press.
Bourdieu, P., & Passeron, J.-C. (1990). Reproduction in Education, Soci-
ety and Culture (R. Nice, Trans. Second edition ed.). London: Sage
Publications.
Brietzke, P. (1974). Private Law in Ethiopia. Journal of African Law,
18(2), 149-167. doi: 10.1017/S0021855300005337
Brock-Utne, B. (2000). Whose Education for All? The Recolonization of
the African Mind. New York: Falmer Press.
Budge, E. A. W. (1928). A History of Ethiopia, Nubia and Abyssinia (Vol.
II). London: Methuen and Co.
Buxton, D. R. (1970). The Abyssinians. Southampton: Thames &
Hudson.
Calvert, P. (2001). Internal Colonisation, Development and Environ-
ment. Third World Quarterly, 22(1), 51-63.
Casey, E. S. (1993). Getting Back into Place: Towards a Renewed Under-
standing of the Place-world. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Casey, E. S. (1996). How to Get from Space to Place in a Fairly Short
Stretch of time. In S. Feld & K. Baso (Eds.), Senses of Place (pp. 14-
51). Santa Fe: School of American Research.
Caulk, R. A. (1975). Earnest Work on Ethiopian Education. The Ethio-
pian Journal of Education, 8(1).
Charles, R. H. (1912). The Book of Enoch. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Chavkin, S. (2015). New Evidence Ties World Bank to Human Rights
Abuses in Ethiopia. The International Consortium of Investigative
Journalists. Retrieved from http://www.icij.org/project/world-bank/
new-evidence-ties-world-bank-human-rights-abuses-ethiopia

213
Native Colonialism

Chen, K.-H. (2010). Asia as Method: Toward Deimperialization. Dur-

ham: Duke University Press.
Civil Code of Ethiopia, 1960, Negarit Gazzeta, Proclamation no.
165/1960, 19th Year no. 2.
Clapham, C. (1969). Haile Selassie’s Government. London: Longman
Green & Co.Ltd.
Clapham, C. (1989). The State and Revolution in Ethiopia. Review of
African Political Economy(44), 4-17.
Clifford, J. (2004). Traditional Futures. In M. S. Phillips & G. Schochet
(Eds.), Questions of Tradition (pp. 152-168). Toronto: University of
Toronto Press.
Cohen, J. M. (1974). Peasants and Feudalism in Africa: The Case of
Ethiopia. Canadian Journal of African Studies/Revue Canadienne des
Études Africaines, 8(1), 155-157.
Crummey, D. (1979). A History of Ethiopia by A. H. M. Jones; E. Mon-
roe. The International Journal of African Historical Studies, 12(4),
760-762.
Crummey, D. (1980). Abyssinian Feudalism. Past & Present(89),
115-138.
Daoud, M., & Wolde-Kirkos, M.-H. (1959). The Liturgy of the Ethiopian
Church (English translation). Kingston: The Ethiopian Orthodox
Church.
De Waal, A. (1991). Evil Days: Thirty Years of War and Famine in Ethio-
pia. New York: Human Rights Watch.
Donham, D. L. (1999). Marxist Modern: An Ethnographic History of the
Ethiopian Revolution. Berkley: University of California Press.
Du Toit, A. (1983). No Chosen People: The Myth of the Calvinist Ori-
gins of Afrikaner Nationalism and Racial Ideology. The American
Historical Review, 88(4), 920-952.
Ejigu, B. e. (2004). ፀሎተ ቅዳሴ Retrieved 26/07/2012, from http://www.
ethiopianorthodox.org/amharic/yezemametsheft/zematarik/liturgy.
pdf

214
 Bibliography

Ellis, G. (1976). The  Feudal  Paradigm  as  a  Hindrance  to  Understand-

ing Ethiopia. The Journal of Modern African Studies, 14(2), 275-295.
doi: 10.1017/S0022278X00053283
Emerson, R. W. (2001). Nature. In J. Porte & S. Morris (Eds.), Emerson’s
Prose and Poetry. New York: W. W. Norton & Co.
Esteva, G. (1992). Development. In W. Sachs (Ed.), Development Dic-
tionary: A Guide to Knowledge as Power (pp. 6-25). London: Zed
Books.
Ethiopian Constitution of 1931 from http://www.ras-tafari.com/
documents/EN_Ethiopian_Constitution_1931.pdf
Fanon, F. (1967). Toward the African Revolution: Political Essays. New
York: Grove Press
FDRE. (1995). Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethio-
pia (Proclamation Number 1/1995). Federal Negarit Gazetta.
Ferguson, H. (2000). Modernity and Subjectivity: Body, Soul, Spirit.
Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia.
Finifter, A. W. (1970). Dimensions of Political Alienation. The American
Political Science Review, 64(2), 389-410.
Foucault, M. (2004). Society Must Be Defended: Lectures at the Collège de
France, 1975-76 (D. Macey, Trans.). London: Penguin Books.
Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the Oppressed (M. B. Ramos, Trans.). Mid-
dlesex: Penguin Books.
Freud, S. (2010). The Interpretation of Dreams: The Complete and De-
finitive Text. New York: Basic Books.
Frost, S. B. (1952). Eschatology and Myth. Vetus Testamentum, 2(1),
70-80.
Gebra Yohannis, E. (2011 [2003 EC]). የከፍተኛ ትምህርት ዘይቤ. አዲስ አበባ:
አርቲስቲክ ማተሚያ ድርጅት.
Gebre Giyorgis, L. (1997). ጥንታዊ፡ ስርዓተ- ማህሌት፡ ዘአቡነ፡ያሬድ፡ ሊቅ።. Ad-
dis Ababa, Mekele: Maison Des Estudes Ethiopie and Tigray Insti-
tute of Language.
Gedle Lalibela. (2001). ገድለ ላሊበላ( የቅዱስ ላሊበላ ገድል): ደብረ- ሮሃ ደብር.

215
Native Colonialism

Geertz, C. (1983). Local Knowledge: Further Essays in Interpretive An-

thropology. New York: Basic Book Inc.
Ginzberg, L. (1913). The Legends of the Jews (H. Szold, Trans. Vol. 1).
Philadephia: The Jewish Society of America.
Gobat, S. (1850). Journal of Three Years in Abyssinia. New York: M.W.
Dodd.
Grosfoguel, R. (2011). Decolonizing Post-Colonial Studies and Para-
digms of Political-Economy: Transmodernity, Decolonial Thinking,
and Global Coloniality. TRANSMODERNITY: Journal of Periph-
eral Cultural Production of the Luso-Hispanic World, 1(1).
Hable-Sellassie, S., & Tamerat, T. (1970). The Church of Ethiopia: A Pan-
orama of History and Spiritual Life. Addis Ababa: Ethiopian Ortho-
dox Church.
Habte, A. (2010). The History of Education in Ethiopia with Special Em-
phasis on Higher Education. Washington D. C.: Library of Congress.
Haile-Selassie, T. (1996). የኢትዮጵያና የታላቇ ብርታኒያ የዲፕሎማቲክ ግንኙነት ከ
፩፯፱፰ ፡ ፩፱፮፮. Addis Ababa: Addis Ababa University Press.
Haile, G. (1983). Documents on the History of Ase Dawit (1382-1413).
Journal of Ethiopian Studies, 16, 25-35.
Haile, G. (1988). The Forty-Nine Hours of Sabbath of the Ethiopian
Church. Journal of Semitic Studies, 33(2), 233-254.
Haile Selassie. (1967). Selected Speeches of His Imperial Majesty Haile Sel-
lasie I, 1918 - 1967. Addis Ababa: The Imperial Ethiopian Ministry
of Information.
Hamilton, M. B. (2001). Sociological Dimensions of Christian Millenar-
ianism. In S. Hunt (Ed.), Christian Millenarianism: From the Early
Church to Waco. London: C. Hurst & Co. Publishers.
Hardison, K. (2015). World Bank dam and foreign land-grab force out
Ethiopian tribes. farmlandgrab.org: The Global Rush for Farmland
and Peoples’ Struggle Against It. Retrieved from http://www.farm-
landgrab.org/post/view/24576-world-bank-dam-and-foreign-land-
grab-force-out-ethiopian-tribes

216
 Bibliography

Hardt, M., & Negri, A. (2000). Empire. Cambridge: Harvard University

Press.
Hartmann, M. (2004). The Sociology of Elites. New York: Routledge.
Hegel, G. W. F. (1956). The Philosophy of History. New York: Dover.
Hiroshi, Y. (1995). Samurai and Self-Colonization in Japan. In J. N. Pi-
eterse & B. C. Parekh (Eds.), The Decolonization of Imagination: Cul-
ture, Knowledge, and Power. London: Zed Books.
Hoffer, E. (1951). The True Believer: Thought on the Nature of Mass
Movements. New York: Harper and Rowl Publishers, Inc.
Hountondji, P. J. (1996). African Philosophy: Myth and Reality (H. Evans,
Trans.). Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.
HPR. (2009). Higher Education Proclamation 650/2009. Federal
Negarit Gazeta, 15( 64), 4976-5044.
Hubbard, D. A. (1956). The Literary Sources of the Kebra Nagast. PhD
thesis, University of St. Andrews.
Human Rights Watch. Lessons In Repression: Violations Of Academic
Freedom In Ethiopia, 24 January 2003, A1502 Retrieved 30 August
2013, from http://www.refworld.org/docid/3f4f59533.html
Isaac, E. (1971). Social Structure of the Ethiopian Church. Ethiopian
Observer, 14(4), 240-288.
Isaac, E. (1983). New Light upon the Book of Enoch from Newly-Found
Ethiopic Mss. Journal of the American Oriental Society, 103(2),
399-411.
Isaac, E. (2007, 2-4 March). Ethiopian Cultural Legacy and the Role of
Youth. Paper presented at the Afroflag Youth Vision Youth Confer-
ence on Culture, Leadership & Development, Addis Ababa.
Isaac, E. (2013a). The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church. New Jersey:
Red Sea Press.
Isaac, E. (2013b). [An Open Letter to an Inquisitive Young Ethiopian
Sister: Ethiopian History is not Three Thousand Years!].
Ja’far al-Tayyar. A letter to Al-Najash, from http://www.al-islam.org/gal-
lery/kids/Books/companion2/7.htm

217
Native Colonialism

Jembere, A. (1998). Legal History of Ethiopia 1434 - 1974: Some Aspects

of Substantive and Procedural Laws. Rotterdam: Erasmus University.
Jones, A. H. M., & Monroe, E. (1955). A History of Ethiopia. Oxford:
Clarendon.
Kalewolde, E. (1965). Collection of Sources for the Study of Ethiopian Cul-
ture: Documents on Traditional Ethiopian Education (in Amharic).
Addis Ababa: Institute of Ethiopian Studies.
Kaplan, S. (1984). The Monastic Holy Man and the Christianisation of
Early Solomonic Ethiopia. Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner.
Kazufumi, M., & Befu, H. (1993). Japanese Cultural Identity. An Em-
pirical Investigation of Nihonjinron. Japanstudien 4, 89-102.
Kebede, A. (2010). The Social Origins of Military Dictator-
ship in Ethiopia. Journal of Developing Societies 26(295). doi:
10.1177/0169796X1002600302
Kebede, M. (1999). Survival and Modernisation. Asmara: The Red Sea
Press.
Kebede, M. (2003a). Eurocentrism and Ethiopian Historiography: De-
constructing Semitization. International Journal of Ethiopian Studies,
1(1), 1-19.
Kebede, M. (2003b). From Marxism-Leninism to Ethnicity: The Side-
slips of Ethiopian Elitism. Northeast African Studies, 10(2), 163-186.
Kebede, M. (2006). The Roots and Fallouts of Haile Selassie’s Edu-
cational Policy. UNESCO Forum on Higher Education, Research,
and Knowledge, (10). Retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/
images/0014/001473/147348e.pdf
Kebede, M. (2008a). The Civilian Left and the Radicalization of the
Dergue. Journal of Developing Societies, 24(2), 159-182.
Kebede, M. (2008b). Radicalism and Cultural Dislocation in Ethiopia,
1960-1974. New York: University of Rochester Press.
Kebra Nagast. (1932). The Queen of Sheba and Her only Son Menyelik I
(W. Budge, Trans.). London: Oxford University Press.
Keleb, D. ታሪከ ነገስት[Tarike Negest].

218
 Bibliography

Kraemer, K., Dedrick, J., & Sharma, P. (2009). One Laptop Per Child:
Vision vs. Reality. Communications of the ACM, 52(6), 66-73. doi:
10.1145/1516046.1516063
Krawczuk, M. (1934). Gadla Yemrehanna Krestos: The Life of Yemrehan-
na Krestos, Emperor of Ethiopia, Zagwe Dynasty, 11-12th Century.
Retrieved from http://www.scribd.com/doc/54427782/Gadla-Yem-
rehanna-Krestos-the-life-of-Yemrehanna-Krestos-emperor-of-Ethio-
pia-Zagwe-dynasty-11-12th-Century
Krishna, A. (2003). Escaping Poverty and Becoming Poor: Who Gains,
Who Loses, and Why? World Development, 32(1), 121-136. doi:
10.1016/j.worlddev.2003.08.002
Krzeczunowiczi, G. (1963). The Ethiopian Civil Code: Its Usefulness,
Relation to Custom and Applicability. Journal of African Law, 7(3),
172-177.
Legesse, A. (1973). Gada: Three Approaches to the Study of African Soci-
ety. New York: Free Press.
Leher, R. (2004). A New Lord of Education? World Bank Policy for
Peripheral Capitalism. Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies,
2(1).
Lehmann, H. (1991). The Germans as a Chosen People: Old Testament
Themes in German Nationalism. German Studies Review, 14(2),
261-273.
Lemma, B. (2006). Plasma Television Teachers - When a Different Real-
ity Takes over African. In L. Dahlstrom & J. Mannberg (Eds.), Criti-
cal Educational Visions and Practices in Neo-liberal Times (pp. 67-84):
Global South Network Publisher.
Levine, D. N. (1974). Greator Ethiopia: The Evolution of Multiethnic So-
ciety. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Lockheed, M. E., & Verspoor, A. M. (1991). Improving Primary Educa-
tion in Developing Countries. New York: Oxford University Press for
World Bank.
Lyons, C. H. (1970). The Educable African: British Thought and Ac-
tion, 1835-1865. In V. M. Battle & C. H. Lyons (Eds.), Essays in the

219
Native Colonialism

History of African Education (pp. 1-32). New York: Teachers College

Press.
Makumba, M. M. (2007). Introduction to African Philosophy: Past and
Present. Nairobi: Paulines Publications Africa.
Mammo, T. (1999). The Paradox of Africa’s Poverty: The Role of Indig-
enous Knowledge, Traditional Practices and Local Institutions -- The
Case of Ethiopia. Lawrenceville: Red Sea Press.
Mazrui, A. (2000). The World Bank, the Language Question and the
Future of African Education. In S. Federici, C. G. Caffentzis & O.
Alidou (Eds.), A Thousand Flowers: Social Struggles Against Struc-
tural Adjustment in African Universities (pp. 43-59). Trenton: Africa
World Press.
Mazrui, A. A., & Wagaw, T. (1982). Towards Decolonizing Modernity:
Education and Culture Conflict in Eastern Africa. Paper presented at
the Symposium on The Educational Process and Historiography in
Africa, Dakar (Senegal).
Mbembe, A. (2001). On the Postcolony. California: University of Cali-
fornia Press.
McLean, B. H. (2002). An Introduction to Greek Epigraphy of the Helle-
nistic and Roman periods from Alexander the Great down to the Reign
of Constantine (323 BC-AD 337). Ann Arbor: University of Michi-
gan Press.
Mignolo, W. (2003). The Darker Side of Renaissance: Literacy, Territo-
riality and Colonization (2nd ed.). Ann Arbor: The University of
Michigan Press.
Mignolo, W. (2011). The Darker Side of Western Modernity: Global Fu-
tures, Decolonial Options. Durham: Duke University Press.
Milkias, P. (1980). Zemecha: Assessing the Political and Social Founda-
tions of Mass Education in Ethiopia. Studies in Comparative Interna-
tional Development (SCID), 15(3), 54-69.
Milkias, P. (2006). Haile Selassie, Western Education, and Political Revo-
lution in Ethiopia. New York: Cambria Press.

220
 Bibliography

MOE. (1994). Federal Democratic Republic Government of Ethiopia

Education and Training Policy. Ministry of Education Retrieved
20/08/2013, from http://www.moe.gov.et/English/Resources/Doc-
uments/education_and_training_policy.pdf
MOE. (2006). History Student Text Grade 11. Addis Ababa: Kuraz In-
ternational Publisher
MOE. (2008). General Education Quality Improvement Package (GEQ-
IP) Retrieved from http://info.moe.gov.et/ggdocs/GEQIP_Plan.
pdf.
MOE. (2009a). Civics and Ethical Education: Student Text, Grade 11.
Addis Ababa: Berhanena Selam Printing Enterprise.
MOE. (2009b). Civics and Ethical Education: Student Text, Grade 12.
Addis Ababa: Berhanena Selam Printing Enterprise.
MOE. (2010). Education Sector Development Strategy Program IV
(ESDP IV). Addis Ababa: Federal Ministry of Education Retrieved
from http://info.moe.gov.et/ggdocs/ESDPIV.pdf.
MoFED. (2010). Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP) 2010/11-
2014/15 [Draft]. Retrieved from http://www.mofed.gov.et/English/
Resources/Documents/GTP%20English2.pdf.
Molvaer, R. K. (1980). Tradition and Change in Ethiopia: Social and Cul-
tural Life as Reflected in Amharic Fictional Literature ca. 1930-1974.
Leiden: E.J. Brill.
Moodie, T. D. (1980). The Rise of Afrikanerdom: Power, Apartheid, and
the Afrikaner Civil Religion. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Mudimbe, V. Y. (1988). The Invention of Africa: Gnosis, Philosophy, and
the Order of Knowledge. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Mudimbe, V. Y. (1994). The Idea of Africa. Bloomington: Indiana Uni-
versity Press.
Munro-Hay, S. (2001). A Sixth Century Kebra Nagast? Annales
d’Ethiopie, 17(17), 43-58.
Nahum, F. (1997). Constitution for a Nation of Nations: The Ethiopian
Prospect. Asmara: The Red Sea Press.

221
Native Colonialism

Nandy, A. (1983). The Intimate Enemy: Loss and Recovery of Self Under
Colonialism. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Ndlovu-Gatsheni, S. J. (2013). Coloniality of Power in Postcolonial Africa:
Myths of Decolonization. Dakar: Codesria.
Negarit Gazeta. (1977). Zemecha, Proclamation no 11.
Negash, T. (1990). The Crisis of Ethiopian Education: Implications for
Nation-Building. Uppsala: Uppsala University.
Negash, T. (2006). Education in Ethiopia: From Crisis to Brink of Col-
lapse. Stockholm: Elanders Gotab AB.
Negash, T. (2010). The Curse of English as Medium of Instruction in
the Ethiopian Education System. In P. Milkias & M. Kebede (Eds.),
Education, Politics and Social Change in Ethiopia. California: Tsehai
Publishers.
Nelson, G. A. (1997). Rastafarians and Ethiopianism. In S. Lemelle & R.
D. G. Kelley (Eds.), Imagining Home: Class, Culture and Nationalism
in the African Diaspora. London: Verso.
Oruka, H. O. (1990). Sage Philosophy: Indigenous Thinkers and Modern
Debate on African Philosophy. Leiden: E. J. Brill.
Ottaway, M. (1977). Land Reform in Ethiopia 1974-1977. African Stud-
ies Review, 20(3), 79-90.
Ottaway, M. (1978). Democracy and New Democracy: The Ideological
Debate in the Ethiopian Revolution. African Studies Review, 21(1),
19-31.
Pankhurst, R. (1990a). Foreign Educated Ethiopians in Ethiopian Ser-
vice at the Time of Atse Yohannes In T. Beyene, R. Pankhrust & S.
Bekele (Eds.), Kasa and Kasa: Papers on the Lives, Times and Images
of Tewodros II and Yohannes IV (1855-1889) (pp. 253-267). Addis
Ababa: Institute of Ethiopian Studies.
Pankhurst, R. (1990b). Tewodros as Innovator. In T. Beyene, R.
Pankhrust & S. Bekele (Eds.), Kasa and Kasa: Papers on the Lives,
Times and Images of Tewodros II and Yohannes IV (1855-1889). Ad-
dis Ababa: Institute of Ethiopian Studies.

222
 Bibliography

Pankhurst, R. (1993). Ethiopia Revealed: Merchants, Travelers, and

Scholars. In R. Grierson (Ed.), African Zion: The Sacred Art of Ethio-
pia. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Pankhurst, S. (1955). Ethiopia: A Cultural History. Essex: Lalibela House.
Pelikan, J. (1984). The Vindication of Tradition. New York: Yale University.
Pinderhughes, C. (2011). Toward a New Theory of Internal Co-
lonialism. Socialism and Democracy, 25(1), 235-256. doi:
10.1080/08854300.2011.559702
Rahmato, D. (2009). The Peasant and the State: Studies in Agrarian
Change in Ethiopia 1950 - 2000s. Addis Ababa: Addis Ababa Uni-
versity Press.
Rahmato, D. (2011). Land to Investors: Large-scale Land Transfers in
Ethiopia. Addis Ababa: Forum for Social Studies.
Rahmato, D. (2014). The Perils of Development from Above:
Land Deals in Ethiopia. African Identities, 12(1), 26-44. doi:
10.1080/14725843.2014.886431
Ralph, L. (2011). Symbolic Interpretations in Ethiopic and Ephremic Lit-
erature. PhD thesis, University of London. Retrieved from http://
eprints.soas.ac.uk/12742/1/Lee_3262.pdf
Ranger, T. (1965). African Attempts to Control Education in East and
Central Africa 1900-1939. Past & Present(32), 57-85.
Rank, O., Richter, G. C., & Lieberman, E. J. (2004). The Myth of the Birth
of the Hero: A Psychological Exploration of Myth. Baltimore: Johns
Hopkins University Press.
Relph, E. (1976). Place and Placelessness. London: Pion.
Rodwell, J. M. (1864). Æthiopic Liturgies and Prayers ( J. Rodwell,
Trans.). London: Williams and Norget.
Russell, B. (2004). Sceptical Essays. London: Routledge.
Russell, M. (1833). Nubia and Abyssinia: Comprehending their Civil His-
tory, Antiquities, Arts, Religion, Literature, and Natural History. New
York: J. & J. Harper.

223
Native Colonialism

Said, E. (1978). Orientalism: Western Concepts of the Orient. Harmond-

sworth: Penguin.
Samoff, J. (2013). Institutionalizing International Influence. In R. F. Ar-
nove, C. A. Torres & S. Franz (Eds.), Comparative Education: The Di-
alectic of the Global and the Local (Fourth ed., pp. 55-88). Maryland:
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Santos, B. d. S., Nunes, J. A., & Meneses, M. P. (2007). Opening Up the
Canon of Knowledge and Recognition of Difference. In B. d. S. San-
tos (Ed.), Another Knowledge is Possible: Beyond Northern Epistimolo-
gies. London: Verso.
Schaefer, H. (2006). Reexamining the Ethiopian Historical Record on
the Continuum between Vengeance and Forgiveness. In S. Uhlig
(Ed.), Proceedings of the XVth International Conference on Ethio-
pian Studies, Humburg 20-25 July 2006 (pp. 348-355). Wiesbaden:
Harrassowitz Verlag.
Scott, W. R. (1978). Black Nationalism and the Italo-Ethiopian Conflict
1934-1936. The Journal of Negro History, 63(2), 118-134.
Seeman, M. (1959). On The Meaning of Alienation. American Sociologi-
cal Review, 24(6), 783-791.
Semail, L. M., & Kincheloe, J. L. (1999). What is Indigenous Knowl-
ede and Why should We Study It? In L. M. Semail & J. L. Kincheloe
(Eds.), What is Indigenous Knowledge: Voices fom the Academy. New
york and London: Flamer Press.
Senghor, L. S. (1964). On African Socialism. London: Pall Mall Press.
Seo, J. M. (2011). Identifying Authority: Juan Latino, an African Ex-
Slave, Professor and Poet in Sixteenth-Century Granada. In D. Or-
rells, G. K. Bhambra & T. Roynon (Eds.), African Athena: New Agen-
das (pp. 258-276). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Shelemay, K. K. (1992). The Musician and Transmission of Religious
Tradition: The Multiple Roles of the Ethiopian Däbtära. Journal of
Religion in Africa, 22(3), 242-260.
Shils, E. (1960). Political Development in the New States. Comparative
Studies in Society and History, 2(3), 265-292.

224
 Bibliography

Shinn, D. H. (2003). Ethiopia: The “Exit Generation” and Future Lead-

ers. Tsehay Journal, 1(1).
Singer, N. J. (1970). Modernization of Law in Ethiopia: A Study in Pro-
cess and Personal Values. Harvard international law, 11(73).
Sjostrom, M., & Sjostrome, R. (1983). How do You Spell Development?:
A Study of Literacy Campaign in Ethiopia. Uppsala: Scandinavian In-
stitute of African Studies.
Skutnabb-Kangas, T. (2000). Linguistic Genocide in Education- or World-
wide Divesity and Human Rights. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates.
Spencer, J. (1984). Ethiopia at Bay: A Personal Account of the Haile Se-
lassie Years (2nd ed.). Holly Wood: Tsehai Publishers.
Spivak, G. C. (1999). A Critique of Post Colonial Reason: Towards a Hi-
sory of the Vanishing Present. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Spring, J. (2006). Pedagogies of Globalisation: The Rise of Educational Se-
curity State. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Sumner, C. (1976). Ethiopian Philosophy Volume II: The Treatise of Zera
Yacob and of Walada Hiwot. Addis Ababa: Commercial Printing
Press.
Sumner, C. (1981). Ethiopian Philosophy Volume IV: The Life and Max-
ims of Skendes. Addis Ababa: Commercial Printing Press.
Sumner, C. (1998). Philosophy in Ethiopia. Routledge Encyclopedia of
Philosophy (Vol. 3). London: Routledge.
Sumner, C. (2004). The Light and the Shadow: Zera Yacob and Walda
Heywat: Two Ethiopian Philosophers of the Seventeenth Century In
K. Wiredu (Ed.), A Companion to African Philosophy. Oxford: Wiley
Online Library.
Sumner, C. (2005). Indigeneous Knowledge Systems in Ethiopia. Pa-
per presented at the The First National Workshop of the Ethiopian
Chapter of OSSREA, Addis Ababa.
Sumner, C. (Ed.). (1980). Ethiopia: Land of Diverse Expressions of Phi-
losophy, Birthplace of Modern Thought. Addis Ababa: Addis Ababa
University.

225
Native Colonialism

Takala, T. (1998). Making Educational Policy Under Influence of Ex-

ternal Assistance and National Politics: A Comparative Analysis of
the Education Sector Policy Documents of Ethiopia, Mozambique,
Namibia and Zambia International Journal of Educational Develop-
ment, 18(4), 319-335.
Tamene, G. (1998). Features of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and the
Clergy. Asian and African Studies, 7(1), 87-104.
Tamrat, T. (1993). Church and State in Ethiopia: The Early Centuries.
In R. Grierson (Ed.), African Zion: The Sacred Art of Ethiopia. New
Haven: Yale University Press.
Tekleselassie, A. A. (2005). Teachers’ Career Ladder Policy in Ethiopia:
An Opportunity for Professional Growth or ‘A Stick Disguised as a
Carrot?’. International Journal of Educational Development, 25(6),
618-636.
Teshome, A. (2006). Agriculture, Growth and Poverty Reduction in
Ethiopia: Policy Processes Around the New PRSP (PASDEP), from
http://www.future-agricultures.org/publications/research-and-
analysis/research-papers/97-agriculture-growth-and-poverty-re-
duction-in-ethiopia-policy-processes-around-the-new-prsp-pasdep/
file
Tessema, K. A. (2006). Contradictions, Challenges, and Chaos in Ethio-
pian Teacher Education. Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies,
4(1).
Tibebu, T. (1995). The Making of Modern Ethiopia, 1896-1974. New
Jersey: Red Sea Press.
Tiruneh, A. (1993). The Ethiopian Revolution 1974 - 1987: A Trans-
formation from Aristocratic to a Totalitarian Autocracy. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Tolossa, F. (2007). Alienation: A Result and Impact of Western Educa-
tion on Ethiopian Intellectuals Retrieved 24/05/2010, from http://
nazret.com/blog/index.php?blog=15&title=ethiopia_alienation_
impact_of_western_ed&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1
Trimingham, J. S. (1965). Islam in Ethiopia. London: Frank Cass & Co.

226
 Bibliography

Tronvoll, K. (2012). Epilpgue The ‘New’ Ethiopia: Changing Discourses

of Democracy. In K. Tronvoll & T. Hagmann (Eds.), Contested Power
in Ethiopia: Traditional Authorities and Multi-Party Elections (pp.
269-288). Leiden: Brill.
Truong, N. (2012). Langauge of Instruction: Unlocking Effectiveness of
Education and Sustainable Development in Sub-Saharan Africa. In-
ternational Education, 42(1), 6-21.
Tubiana, J. (1965). “Turning Points” in Ethiopian History. Rassegna di
Studi, 21, 162-166.
Ullendorff, E. (1965). The Ethiopians: An Introduction to Country and
People. London: Oxford University Press.
UNESCO. (1961). Conference of African States on the Development
of Education in Africa: Final Report Retrieved 15/04/2015, from
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0007/000774/077416e.pdf
UNESCO.(1962).ConferenceontheDevelopmentofHigherEducationinAf-
rica, from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001428/142840eb.
pdf
Vail, L. (1989). Ethnicity in Southern Africa History. In L. Vail (Ed.), The
Creation of Tribalism in Southern Africa (pp. 1-20). Oxford: James
Curry Ltd.
Vanderlinden, J. (1966-1967). Civil Law and Common Law Influences
on the Developing Law of Ethiopia. Buffalo Law Review, 16, 250-266.
Vawda, A. Y., Moock, P., Gittinger, J. P., & Patrinzos, H. A. (2001). Eco-
nomic Analysis of World Bank Education Projects and Project Out-
comes POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPER World Bank.
Vestal, T. M. (1999). Ethiopia: A Post-Cold War African State. Westport:
Praeger.
wa Thiong’o, N. (1982). Devil on the Cross. Johannesburg: Heinemann
Publishers
wa Thiong’o, N. (1993). Moving The Centre: The Struggle for Cultural
Freedoms. London: Villiers Publications.
Wagaw, T. G. (1990). The Development of Higher Education in Africa: An
Ethiopian Experience. Michigan: Michigan University Press.

227
Native Colonialism

Wallerstein, I. (1997). Eurocentrism and its Avatars: The Dilemmas of

Social Science. Sociological Bulletin, 46(1), 21-39.
Waugh, E., & Hamilton, J. M. (2007). Waugh in Abyssinia. Baton Rouge:
Louisiana State University Press.
Whitman, A. (1975). Haile Selassie of Ethiopia Dies at 83, The New York
Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/
onthisday/bday/0723.html
Wodajo, M. (1959). Postwar Reform in Ethiopian Education. Compara-
tive Education Review, 2(3), 24-30.
Wolde-Aregay, M. (1990). The Sources of the Aims of Tewodros
(የቴዎድሮስ ዓላማወች ከየት እንደመነጩ). In T. Beyene, R. Pankhrust & S.
Bekele (Eds.), Kasa and Kasa: Papers on the Lives, Times and Images
of Tewodros II and Yohannes IV (1855-1889) (pp. 69-116). Addis
Ababa: Institute of Ethiopian Studies.
Wolde-Meskel, M.-S. (1970 [1962 EC]). ዝክረ ፡ ነገር[Zikre Nagar] (2 ed.).
Addis Ababa: Artistic Printing House.
Work, E. (1934). A Plan for Ethiopia’s Educcation System Journal of Ne-
gro Education, 3(1), 66-68.
World Bank. (2002). Operational Guideline for Text Books and Reading
Materials.
World Bank. (2005). Education in Ethiopia: Strengthening the Founda-
tion for Sustainable Progress. Washington, D.C.
World Bank. (2013a). First Adaptable Program Loan for the General
Education Quality Improvement Project (2009-2013) for Ethiopia,
General Education Quality Improvement Project - APL 1 (GEQIP).
Retrieved from http://www.worldbank.org/projects/P106855/gen-
eral-education-quality-improvement-project-apl-1-geqip?lang=en
World Bank. (2013b). Second Phase of General Education Quality Im-
provement Project for Ethiopia (2013-2018). Retrieved from http://
www.worldbank.org/projects/P129828/ethiopia-general-educa-
tion-quality-improvement-project-ii?lang=en
Yenesewu, A. (1959 [1951 EC]-a). ትቤ፡አክሱም፡መኑ፡ አንተ? Addis Ababa:
Nigid Printing House.

228
 Bibliography

Yenesewu, A. (1959 [1951 EC]-b). የካም መታሰቢያ ፥ የኢትዮጵያ ፊደል

መሰረትነት መታወቂያ. Addis Ababa: Kokebe Tsebah Printing House.
Yimam, B. (2008). Academic Freedom at Addis Ababa University: An
Overview of its Past and Current Experiences. In T. Assefa (Ed.), Aca-
demic Freedom in Ethiopia: Perspectives of Teaching Personnel. Addis
Ababa: Forum for Social Studies.
Yizengaw, T. (2005, 23-25 May 2005). Policy Development in Higher Ed-
ucation in Ethiopia and the Role of Donors and Development Partners.
Paper presented at the A Changing Landscape, Hague.
Yoshino, K. (1992). Cultural Nationalism in Contemporary Japan: A So-
ciological Enquiry. London: Routledge.
Zahorik, J. (2011). Ethnicity and Nationalism in Ethiopia: Some Recent
Reflections. The Annual of Language & Politics and Politics of Iden-
tity, 5, 91-108.
Zewde, B. (2002). Pioneers of Change in Ethiopia: The Reformist Intel-
lectuals of the Early Twentieth Century. London: James Currey Ltd.
Zewde, B. (2008). Society, State and History: Selected Essays. Addis Aba-
ba: Addis Ababa Universtiy Press.
Zewde, B. (Ed.). (2010). Documenting the Ethiopian Student Movement:
An Exercise in Oral History. Addis Ababa: Forum for Social Studies.

229
 Index

A Colonialism  3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12,

Addis Ababa University  50, 179, 14, 20, 21, 50, 56, 95, 102, 128,
186, 187 134, 152, 195, 196, 199, 223, 224
All Ethiopians Socialist Party Colonization  3, 9, 10, 20, 118, 196,
(Meison)  133, 146, 149 206, 218, 221
Amharic  6, 53, 62, 65, 77, 83, 98, Covenant  23, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 33,
115, 123, 124, 141, 157, 159, 160, 37, 38, 42, 51, 52, 55, 62, 142,
171, 187, 190, 215, 216, 217, 222 204
Ark of the Covenant  24, 26, 27, 28, Covenant land  27, 32, 33, 37, 38, 42,
29, 30, 31, 33, 34, 36, 39, 40, 41, 70, 78, 97
42, 55, 62, 65, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, Creative Incorporation  80, 88, 207,
73, 110, 111, 113, 117, 204, 205 208, 209
importance to national identity Crocodile Society  132, 134
Axum (place)  24, 37, 71, 72, 89, 110,
111, 117, 189, 209
D
Derg, the  5, 12, 134, 135, 136, 137,
B 138, 139, 140, 143, 144, 146, 147,
Battle of Adwa  39, 96, 113, 114, 116, 149, 186, 192, 198
196 Dualism  47, 48, 49, 50, 130, 156

C E
Center (as notion in Ethiopian Education (traditional)  1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
philosophy)  12, 13, 27, 32, 40, 6, 7, 10, 12, 13, 14, 16, 18, 21, 23,
41, 42, 50, 51, 55, 58, 60, 61, 62, 27, 33, 35, 38, 40, 41, 42, 44, 45,
68, 69, 72, 80, 84, 92, 96, 102, 47, 50, 51, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59,
104, 109, 111, 112, 123, 128, 136, 60, 61, 63, 66, 67, 70, 71, 74, 75,
143, 149, 150, 166, 167, 168, 174, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 88, 89,
181, 183, 194, 199, 201 91, 92, 93, 97, 98, 99, 103, 104,
Centeredlessness  153, 168, 190, 191, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 112,
201 113, 114, 115, 116, 118, 120, 122,
Native Colonialism

123, 124, 126, 130, 131, 133, 134, introduction under Menelik
136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, II  102, 114, 115, 116, 119
143, 145, 150, 151, 152, 153, 155, job prospects  183, 184
156, 157, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, quality vs relevance  2, 4, 6, 7, 13,
172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 187, 188, 20, 21, 30, 45, 55, 81, 99, 118,
190, 191, 193, 195, 196, 197, 199, 121, 126 130, 161, 162, 163,
200, 201, 204, 205, 206, 207, 209, 164, 165, 166, 168, 176, 186,
210, 214, 216, 227 199, 201, 202, 208, 213, 222,
Kidassie Bet (House of Holy 229
Mass)  59, 61, 67, 68, 209 teacher and student
Metsehaf Bet (House of relations  179, 180, 181, 182
Books)  59, 62, 70, 77, 78, 80, technology (plasma TV)  100,
89, 90, 93 101, 114, 155, 156, 157, 162,
Nibab Bet (House of Reading)  5, 164, 165, 166, 217
58, 61, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 209 under Ethiopian People’s
Qine Bet (House of Poetry)  59, Revolutionary Democratic
62, 70, 75, 76, 77, 80, 89, 90, Front (EPRDF)  5, 149, 154,
93 161, 183, 184, 186, 192, 198
Zema Bet (House of Hymn)  58, under Haile Selassie  114, 120,
59, 62, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 122, 125, 132, 186
209 Elitdom  7, 20, 21, 104, 105, 120,
Education (western)  3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 125, 127, 128, 138, 152, 153, 156,
12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 162, 167, 168, 176, 178, 184, 188,
26, 28, 29, 47, 48, 50, 51, 56, 61, 190, 191, 192, 193, 198, 199, 201
81, 86, 88, 89, 90, 95, 96, 102, English  6, 13, 14, 19, 39, 82, 100,
103, 106, 108, 109, 111, 112, 113, 102, 115, 122, 123, 124, 129, 156,
114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 120, 123, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 163, 165,
125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 167, 179, 187, 191, 193, 199, 203,
132, 133, 134, 136, 137, 143, 150, 215, 222, 227
151, 152, 153, 155, 156, 158, 160, English as medium of
164, 169, 170, 173, 174, 176, 186, instruction  13, 19, 122, 124,
187, 190, 191, 192, 193, 195, 196, 129, 156, 157, 158, 160, 163,
197, 198, 199, 200, 201, 203, 204, 167, 187, 191, 193, 199
205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 213, 216, Epistemology  12, 13, 18, 19, 96, 109,
221, 223, 224 132, 151, 204, 205
academic freedom  154, 180, 181, epistemic location  7, 12, 13, 14,
186, 189, 193, 213, 219 15, 16, 19, 20
as source of alienation/ epistemic violence  7, 10, 11, 12,
centeredlessness  153, 201 13, 15, 20, 21, 95, 152, 196,
grades  178, 179, 181, 183, 191 199, 200, 201, 202, 204, 205

232
 Index

Eritrea 106 History  2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 12, 13, 15,

Ethiopian Education and Training 16, 17, 18, 25, 59, 61, 75, 79, 82,
Policy (ETP)  154, 155, 157, 164, 90, 92, 95, 96, 101, 102, 103, 105,
165, 167, 188, 192, 198, 199 107, 108, 112, 115, 117, 128, 129,
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido 145, 146, 155, 156, 164, 185, 188,
Christianity/Church  3, 5, 8, 14, 189, 190, 191, 192, 198, 199, 200,
27, 37, 38, 40, 49, 50, 58, 59, 60, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216,
61, 68, 69, 72, 82, 83, 90, 92, 93, 217, 218, 219, 220, 222, 223, 224,
101, 104, 107, 114, 119, 120, 123, 225, 227, 228
138, 174 Humility  30, 37, 43, 45, 51, 52, 53,
Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary 54, 55, 56, 63, 81, 87, 100, 146,
Democratic Front (EPRDF)  5, 193, 205, 206, 209
149, 154, 161, 183, 184, 186, 192,
198
I
Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary
International standard  157, 158, 162,
Party (EPRP)  133, 146
165, 184, 187, 191, 193, 199, 203
Ethiopian Student Movement  18,
Isaac, E.  4, 32, 58, 60, 61, 82, 207
134, 137, 154, 155, 182, 212
Islam  14, 37, 38, 59, 153, 189, 211,
Ethnicism  182, 191, 192
219, 227
Ethno-nationalism  134, 135, 149,
relationship with Orthodox
154
Tewahido Christianity  14, 37,
Eurocentrism  96, 114, 168, 191, 192,
38, 52, 53
201
Italy  39, 112, 113, 114, 116, 124
occupation of Ethiopia  114, 116,
G 120, 126
Gada (Oromo)  4, 6, 8, 190, 205, 209
Ge’ez  5, 6, 15, 41, 42, 44, 60, 63, 64,
J
65, 66, 67, 68, 71, 75, 77, 82, 83,
Japan  116, 117, 118, 189
84, 85, 86, 89, 157, 207
Jembere, A.  103, 108, 109
Globalism  15, 20, 184, 199, 203
Gondar (place)  1, 62, 98
K
Kebede, M.  13, 24, 34, 55, 129, 197
H
Kebeles (local administrative
Haile Selassie I (TeferiMekonen)
offices)  143, 144, 147, 148
(King)  12, 19, 102, 103, 105,
role in student and Derg
107, 113, 114, 116, 118, 119, 120,
campaigns
122, 125, 126, 128, 132, 133, 134,
Kebra Nagast  7, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27,
138, 144, 145, 146, 150, 154, 186,
28, 29, 30, 31, 33, 36, 37, 38, 39,
196, 198

233
Native Colonialism

42, 43, 45, 46, 48, 52, 54, 55, 56, Messianism  7, 127, 132, 133, 147,
57, 65, 69, 78, 82, 85, 89, 93, 99, 151, 152, 153, 154, 167, 171, 176,
100, 112, 118, 120, 204, 205, 219, 186, 193, 197, 198, 200
222 Millenarianism  34, 218
and national identity  24, 25, 26, Missionarism  7, 127, 128, 129, 131,
55 132, 137, 151, 168, 175, 197, 199,
and power of kings  23, 24, 27, 200
32, 33, 36, 38, 52, 53, 55 Modernism  16, 17, 197, 198

L N
Lalibela (King)  31, 47, 53, 89 Native colonialism  3, 4, 7, 8, 10, 12,
Lalibela (place)  1, 2, 5, 31, 33, 40, 20, 128, 152
58, 60, 69, 72, 74, 169, 170, 209 Negash, T.  13, 157, 164
Law  5, 6, 23, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 35,
48, 69, 70, 72, 79, 83, 102, 103, O
104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 111, 112, Oromia 186
139, 140, 160, 187, 213, 220, 225,
228
1931 Constitution  103, 104, P
105, 109 Pankhurst, R.  97, 98, 99, 101
1955 Constitution  106 Place (as notion in Ethiopian
1960 Civil Code  79, 107 philosophy)  7, 11, 14, 23, 27,
1995 Federal Democratic 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 39, 40, 41, 42,
Republic of Ethiopia 50, 60, 64, 65, 66, 69, 70, 80, 82,
Constitution 154 91, 111, 112, 114, 127, 131, 132,
Indigenous Ethiopian Law 134, 144, 145, 149, 153, 168,
(FithaNagast)  79, 107 171, 176, 177, 184, 185, 190,
Literature (traditional)  7, 57, 61, 79, 191, 192, 193, 194, 201, 202,
82, 83, 117, 122, 188, 206, 207 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208,
209, 210, 214, 224

M
Marxism-Leninism  13, 135, 140, R
141, 143, 144, 197, 221 Radicalism (student)  13, 19, 132,
Menelik I  24 194, 221
Menelik II  102, 114, 115, 116, 119 Rahmato, D.  19, 112, 167, 202
Mengistu Hailemariyam (Chairman Reconciliation (irq) 18, 48, 50, 56
of the Derg)  147, 149, 150 Red Terror (Derg campaign) 136,
Meqdalla (place)  98, 99, 101, 102, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152,
112, 126 153, 211

234
 Index

Revolution (1974)  16, 19, 20, 127, 171, 172, 173, 175, 176, 178,
134, 135, 138, 139, 142, 144, 145, 180, 182, 186, 187, 188, 190,
146, 147, 149, 211, 212, 213, 214, 191, 192, 193, 197, 198, 199,
215, 216, 223 200, 201, 202, 204, 205, 206,
207, 208, 210, 213, 214, 222,
223, 225
S
Traditionalism  15, 16, 18, 20, 199,
Sheba, Queen of  24, 26, 42, 46, 65,
204
87, 100, 219
Skendes (Oedipus)  84, 86, 87, 88,
91, 226 W
Socialism  132, 152, 153, 224, 225 Westernization  3, 95, 96, 102, 103,
Solomon (King)  24, 31, 32, 36, 40, 114, 116, 196, 200
46, 64, 100, 174 consciousness of power towards
Sumner, C.  83–89 the West  103, 126, 128, 196
westernization of education
system  61, 114, 126, 128
T
westernization of legal
Tabot (replica of Ark of the
system  103, 107, 108
Covenant)  27, 39, 40, 62, 68, 69,
westernization of state  96, 113,
72, 73
117, 120, 125, 126, 132, 200
Tewodros II (King)  97, 125, 221,
Wisdom  1, 3, 4, 7, 24, 30, 32, 33, 36,
223, 225
37, 38, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 51,
Textbooks  120, 122, 124, 162, 163,
52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 60, 62, 63,
169, 187, 188, 189, 190, 199
70, 79, 80, 81, 84, 85, 86, 87, 89,
content  124, 129, 160, 164, 178,
92, 96, 99, 100, 112, 113, 146,
186, 189, 190, 293
157, 167, 170, 173, 174, 193, 200,
World Bank funding  162, 163
205, 208
Tigray  134, 154, 209, 217
according to age  44
Tirguaamme  5, 7, 80, 207, 209
as distinct from knowledge  43,
Tradition  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 13,
44, 45, 46, 47, 51, 55
15, 16, 18, 21, 35, 37, 47, 48, 50,
World Bank  157, 161, 162, 163, 164,
51, 53, 54, 56, 57, 58, 61, 66, 68,
166, 193, 196, 202, 203, 214, 218,
69, 71, 72, 73, 75, 78, 79, 80, 81,
220, 228, 229
82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 89, 90, 91,
93, 96, 102, 103, 105, 106, 107,
109, 110, 111, 113, 114, 115, Y
116, 117, 118, 120, 125, 126, Yemisirache Dimtse Literacy
127, 128, 129, 130, 132, 138, Campaign (Derg campaign) 122,
142, 145, 146, 149, 151, 152, 123, 138
154, 156, 164, 168, 169, 170, Yohannis IV (King)  14, 23, 37, 101

235
Native Colonialism

Z and Work Campaign) (Derg

Zara Yacob (King)  53, 107, 209 Campaign)  138, 139, 140, 141,
Zara Yacob (Philosopher)  3, 87, 88, 221, 223
89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 209 Zewde, B.  19, 115, 119, 134, 147,
Zemecha (Development through 197
Cooperation, Enlightenment

236