Shekacho History: from Independence to Slavery in the Abyssinian Hell (Fake ‘Ethiopia’)

In an earlier article – call for freedom (published under the title ´Liberate the Shekacho Nation from the Abyssinian Tyranny – Stop the Shekacho Genocide Now!´ - http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/66247), I focused on the tyrannized nation of Shekachos, and published an ´Appeal to International Community to help the Innocent Shekacho People in South Western Ethiopia´ released by Alemayehu Dasho, a Human Rights advocate.

In a second article (entitled ‘The Shekacho Genocide – The ´Ethiopian´ Final Solution for a Glorious African Nation - http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/67206), I republished a report issued by IRIN on the Tepi killings carried out by the ruling Amhara and Tigray Monophysitic Abyssinians against the long tyrannized Shekachos, who are a very ancient and highly civilized African nation – undeservedly and shamefully disregarded by the supposedly democratic and humanist societies and administrations of Europe and America. I also published an Introduction on the Shekachos, first posted in the SEPAG website.

The Southern Ethiopian People´s Action Group (SEPAG) is based in Reading in the UK and in the town of Masha, Sheka Zone, in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples´ State (SNNPS), Ethiopia. SEPAG is a registered Charity in England and Wales (charity registration number 1070812); SEPAG was founded by members of the Shekacho ethnic group, but it is committed to working for the benefit of all people from the southwest of Ethiopia.

In this article, I will republish an informative feature on the Modern History of the Ancient Nation of the Shekachos, who fell victims of the monstrous campaigns of the cruel and barbaric pseudo-king Menelik of the Abyssinians, Africa’s most repugnant gangster and at the same time colonial England’s best friend.

First published in the SEPAG website (http://www.sepag.org/19thCentury.htm and http://www.sepag.org/20thCentury.htm), the brief article sheds light on the travails of a most noble African nation that lost its independence, endured 11 decades of slavery, and still struggles for Liberation, Independence, Freedom, Dignity and Justice.

The article demonstrates at the same time the true face of the criminal state of Abyssinia (fallaciously re-baptized ‘Ethiopia’) and the intended genocide they perpetrated – as in so many other place – in the Shekacho Land which was not theirs, and which will – like all the rest – get soon its independence and freedom. In further articles, I will complete the portrait of the Shekachos, one more nation passionately desiring to secede from the Cemetery of African Nations "Ethiopia".

The fallacy ‘Ethiopia’ has not a chance in the septillion to survive.

Justice will be made at last, and the criminals will dearly pay for their deeds.

The Shekachos in the 19th century

Until just over a hundred years ago most of the current SNNPS was outside the Abyssinian kingdom – the ancestor of today's Ethiopian state.

The situation changed in the 1890s in the reign of the Abyssinian King Menelik II. Abyssinia might have been the only area of Africa which successfully withstood European military invasion - Menelik roundly defeated the Italians at Adwa in 1896 – but at the same time that this anti-European war was taking place, Menelik was launching his own ruthless imperialist attack on the southern kingdoms.

Each year in the 1890s Menelik's generals extended their master's empire. Their campaigns were marked by a ferocity that is still remembered by the people of the south today. It would be a mistake to think of the various southern kingdoms as less well-organized or sophisticated than the Abyssinian state to the north.

They had elaborate political and military systems (including elaborate defensive embankments) – what they lacked was rifles. In the conquest of Kaffa Ras Wolda Giyogis, Menelik's army commander, had an army of 31,000 troops with 20,000 rifles against which the Kaffa King Gaki could only muster 300 obsolete firearms. The result was inevitable.

Various Europeans witnessed the slaughter. One of the most interesting was a Russian, Alexander Bulatovich, who traveled with the Abyssinian army. He was appalled by what he saw. A devout Christian (he ended his life as a monk) Bulatovitch sometimes tried to retrain the Abyssinians, but to little effect. His book, Ethiopia Through Russian Eyes (1896-1898) has been translated by Richard Seltzer and can be read on line (see links). Here is his description of entering the Kingdom of Kaffa:

From the Gojeb Valley, which was overgrown with high grass and sparse small trees, we climbed the mountains that surrounded it and entered a very dense forest, the trees of which are striking for their enormous size. At the summit of the mountain range, we saw bamboo groves; and in the foothills in the valley of rivers and streams, there were groups of beautiful date palms. The forest abounds in flowers which fill the air with fragrance. The sky was cloudless. The sun was almost at its zenith, but in the forest there was a cool breeze. The eye rested in the green of the surrounding thick foliage. In nature some kind of joy of living was felt -- a surplus of strength hidden within it. The charming beauty of the place carried one off to some place far away, to a magical world. It seemed as if you heard and saw a marvelous tale while awake... It was as if in front of you stood the enchanted forest from Sleeping Beauty. All that was missing were the princess, her palace, and her subjects. But instead of the poetic circumstances of a fine story, before us appeared the dreadful signs of death and destruction. Amid the green grass, the white of human bones shone here and there. Settlements were nowhere to be seen -- only thick weeds, growing on plots of recently cultivated earth, bear testimony of the people who once lived here. An evil fairy of war destroyed them, and scattered their bones across the fields. The closer we came to the capital of Kaffa, the more noticeable became the signs of recent battles. Near the town itself, clearings were completely strewn with human bones...

After the campaign in Kaffa was completed, the king of Kaffa, Gaki Sherocho, was sent to Addis to live in silver chains and his palace was burned to the ground – it took days for the huge timbers to be reduced to ash. Then the Abyssinian army turned their attention to their next campaign.

This pattern of invasion and harsh conquest was repeated all across the south-west.

The Shekachos in the 20th century

By the beginning of the twentieth century the Abyssinian kingdom had become an empire. A source of pride to many modern Rastafarians, who venerate Haile Selasse, this achievement appears in a very different light to those subjugated peoples who now found themselves subjects of the Abyssinian emperor.

In the south the twentieth century was a period of stagnation. After the conquest, fortified villages were built across the new territories. In these villages Amhara military families settled – neftegna, the bearers of the gun. It was the beginning of a period of subjugation which, in the eyes of many southerners, has continued in various ways until today.

The area was viewed as a potential source of wealth and it did provide a useful source of revenue. However, the Amharic regime in Addis viewed the various peoples of the region as ignorant savages and there was little investment in roads, hospitals, schools or other infrastructure projects that might have benefited local people. Access into the forests was difficult and generally involved days of horseback travel along tracks that for much of the time were deep in mud. Rather than a source of wealth the area was increasingly seen as a useful place of exile, a bit like Siberia was in the eyes of the Czarist/Soviet state. Individuals who had fallen foul of the government were often sent to cool their heels as administrators as a warning that they should mend their ways.

The situation drifted on in this manner under the overthrow and eventual murder of Haile Selasse. The Derg Marxist regime, led by Mengistu Haile Mariam, which came to replace the monarchy initiated a programme of land reform. There were many injustices in the traditional caste systems which were (are) widespread in Ethiopia, including the south west, but it was the Derg's policy of villagization which led to trouble in the south.

Villagization involved the forced removal of tens of thousands of people from the north to the south west. Ostensibly this was done to alleviate the suffering caused by terrible drought in the north. It came in for widespread criticism at the time, as it was perceived to be as much a punishment of rebellious northerners as it was for their benefit. People were forced from their homes and dumped in an alien environment. Little attention was given to the perspective of the host communities, but they were equally disturbed. People were forced from their homes to make way for immigrants and the forests were cleared. Southerners, too, were rounded up and compelled to resettle on collective farms, often with no time to harvest their crops.

As a result of these pressures the south erupted in rebellion against the regime in Addis. Again, many in the west are familiar with the military campaigns waged by the Eritreans and Tigrayans from the north, but there is little awareness of events in the south. Ultimately, of course, the northern groups were successful in defeating the Derg, whereas in the south the less organized resistance was gradually eliminated. Tank roads were built into the region and the rebels rounded up and shot.

Note
Picture: the daily hard and bitter life in the illegally occupied Shekacho Land will change with the most demanded destruction of the criminal tyrannical state ‘Ethiopia’.