Written: December 1999
Published: December 28, 1999
Source: The Star (Johannesburg), 28 December 1999, p. 13
Digitalisation: Yale University Library
Proof-reading: Vishnu Bachani
HTML: Vishnu Bachani
Mengistu Haile Mariam is an angry and bitter man. Sitting in a boardroom at the offices of the Central Intelligence Organisation in Harare, Zimbabwe, he cuts a figure of a simple man.
He is short and lean, and does not fit the caricature of the megalomaniac who wielded power ruthlessly during his 17-year reign as leader of Ethiopia. He speaks softly, measuring his words to make sure his English expresses what he feels.
And in those words a conviction comes through of a man rooted in ideology who still sees the planet needing salvation from world capitalism through the collective efforts of socialist forces.
The voice picks up emotion as he speaks of the nine assassination attempts and the two bullets he still carries, and how his gains have been reversed. He is close to tears.
The interview took place in the presence of two representatives from the office of President Robert Mugabe and two CIO agents. Throughput the 90 minutes, no attempt was made to censor either questions or answers, or interrupt in any way.
He hates former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and blames him for the demise of socialism the world over. He has no regrets about his rule and is angry that all the good work of the revolution has now been undone by "narrow nationalists and counter-revolutionaries" now at the helm of Ethiopia.
Mengistu says the international situation today amounts to neocolonialist rule where "it is very difficult for one country to decide its own destiny" but is convinced that given a chance, he would be able to ride this wave too.
He refuses to be judged by the present government in Addis Ababa which he says came to power "by other people's force in a Trojan horse setting, supported by the United States and the then Soviet government. They have no legal or moral ground to judge the Ethiopian revolution."
He wants to be judged on the achievements of his revolution, and those doing so have to understand the circumstances prevailing then.
"I was a 32-year-old major, I knew nothing about politics and was not interested in public office and was not prepared for power."
"There was nothing working then in the feudal system that we took down. We found no vanguard party to replace the feudal system of Haile Selassie. The only viable social group in the whole country was the army, and we did not come by force but were invited by popular revolution."
"We did not fire a single shot, and our slogan was 'revolution without blood.' The day the feudal system fell, it was like holiday," Mengistu said.
He professed that he was surprised to be elected chairman of the National Democratic Revolution that was charged with overseeing the "fundamental change in Ethiopia, which was a very backward, archaic and feudalist system."
"Changing all these was not easy in the best of times, but when you were faced with war on so many fronts, it is an impossible deal," he said.
But his men and women got down to the task and organised land redistribution that saw every peasant given between 5ha and 10ha, depending on the size of family.
"Our land reform was a very very radical one, and even today, every Ethiopian has some land to himself or herself."
"We organised the peasants to defend and consolidate their gains. We were prepared for peace with our neighbours, but we were not willing to give one inch of Ethiopian soil. Our neighbours mistook our reasonableness for weakness and attacked."
"We organised workers and peasants into a strong armed force and repelled Sudan and Somalia. The fight with Eritrea was also on. This war of secession may be one of the reasons for our fall as at that time the Soviet Union under Gorbachev became the worst enemy of our revolution," he said.
His major surprise was to witness the "counter-revolutionaries" finally take over Ethiopia, and occupy Addis Ababa.
"I did not believe they could do that, or that the Ethiopian people would accept that."
But it happened and he flew to Kenya to mobilise supply routes and ended up in Zimbabwe. By then his fall was "a fait accompli."
Mengistu said he had not killed anyone personally, but gave orders in battle which resulted in the deaths of people. He insisted the "red terror" campaign for which he was blamed, during which thousands of people died, was "a fight between two different social groups."
"There was anarchy in the country for three months…The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party was formed as a guerrilla movement to overthrow the Workers' Party government. There were assassination attempts all over and nine on myself alone.
"A country cannot go on like that. Millions of people came to Addis and said, 'defend us or arm us.' We had to organise people into urban defence units and rural defence committees and peasants' associations to defend the country. The so-called genocide was this war in defence of the revolution."
Mengistu denied killing Haile Selassie and said: "He was 80 years old and a very weak man. We tried our best to save him but we could not keep him alive."
This version is different from the one that circulated after Mengistu took over. According to that version, he went to Selassie and told him to sign authorisation to repatriate, money, about $12 billion (R72 billion), in personal overseas bank accounts.
Selassie is said to have spat in Mengistu's face and told him he did not speak to slaves. In a fit of rage, Mengistu is said to have throttled Selassie, who then died.
Mengistu said this was untrue. "We asked and begged him about the money. We told him 'you are history and a father to the country. If you offer this money during this trying time, you will be one of the people to be remembered for saving the country.'
"He did not deny directly that he had money in overseas banks. He said 'I have the right, like every Ethiopian, to give something to my children and grandchildren…you have no right to ask me whether I have any money or not.'
"I said to him, you know all about the drought and the war, and that it is your duty as king. He said 'I have no such money and if I have, I have given it to my children.'
"We asked the children, and they said they have not been given any money but should it be found in their names, they would pledge it to Ethiopia.
"We tried other ways but we failed. In the end we got nothing and till today we do not know if there was any money there or not."
Mengistu said he was happy in his "second home" Zimbabwe but missed his own land. It pained him to see it being destroyed.
"I am a very unhappy man. I am a very wounded person. I am with friends here, close comrades with whom I fought side by side in the struggles for the liberation of Zimbabwe, Namibia, Angola, South Africa and Mozambique."
"But as I sit here, my comrades are dying behind bars for lack of medical attention. What can one do? I am so sorry for them, and the pain is so immense, but again what can one do? I feel bad because compared to them and those in graves, I am better."
In response to a question about what he would do differently if he found himself back in power, Mengistu said at 32 he had been "very ambitious and patriotic," determined to change the situation together with fellow Ethiopians to make the country progressive.
"But wishes and doing actual things are very different. We were able to replace the feudal system, bu rebuilding a country is very difficult, and I think what we did can be judged by history and Ethiopians."
"All I can say is that living for 17 years without rest from fighting, dealing with problem after problem, war after war, and crisis after crisis every day and every hour was very difficult."
"I was not a father to my children, I was not a husband to my wife. I completely forgot myself for that whole period to see the revolution through, and now later the results are very bad and sorrowful."
He was full of praise for the medical attention he received while in South Africa recently, and said he had missed the major part of the media frenzy around his presence as he was moving from one medical specialist to another. He had come to know, however, that "many journalists had been trying hard to interview me."
He said, contrary to wide speculation, doctors had found that he had "a huge ulcer and not a brain tumour or blood pressure or heart problems as many said in the South African papers." It had been a "very important moment for me to be treated in a free South Africa. They were organised and efficient and did their best for me."
Mengistu is writing a book which should be available in about 18 months' time.
[1] Given that the original scan is available, minor typos (principally punctuation) have been corrected without using [sic].