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?rhdt 1966
Translated by
Getachew Tedla
Preface .................98
Introduction ........101
l. Involvement in Political Activities......'.............. ........112
2. Appointm€nt to the Ethiopian Embassy in Paris .........125
3. ViceMinisterattheMinistryofPen ........139
4. The Paris Peace Confercncc with ltaly... ..................... 157
5. My Stnrggle to Rcunite Eritrea with Ethiopia................................166
6. Strivc to Reunite Afambo ......L97
7. Efforts to Draft New Constitution /1955/.. ..................206
List of Promincnt Ethiopians Referred in the Book ....221
Glossary.... ..........225
"If by killing us you could redeem Eth@ia from
poverSt, we then accept your action as a
blessing"
Aklilu,s income and survival during the hard times of the Second World
War. A biography of Aklilu has yet to be written'
Two extracts from important books on the reign of Haile
Selassie, however, gives us a glimpse of Aklilu's personality and
his role
in tying up the nation together after the colonial expulsion' One of the
most knowledgeable persons with regard to Ethiopian government and
its foreign relations during the period when Aklilu was Foreign Minister
was the distinguished American Professor John H. Spencer' In
his book
September 17,1974
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Educational Background
impoverishment,
During the hot season and vacation periods the Egyptian
government moves its office from Cairo to Alexandria' lncidentally, the
office had moved to Alexandria at the time. Along with one of my
friends, Meshesha Hailu (who now become a Member of Parliament), we
went to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and demanded to see the
Minister. After a long wrangling they allowed us in. The official we met
Involvement in political Activities r l3
whose name I cannot recall was in fact the Minister of Communication
and Acting Foreign Affairs Minister. lncidentally, he was a Copt.
c) to buy them each two sets of clothes' (It was a$eed that the
clothes should be bought while we were still in Cairo to assist
the treasurer in the Purchases')
For six months things seemed improving and the students lived
in better conditions. After a while, we received another message that said
the situation had relapsed. When we check, we realized they nearly were
in a saddening situation. This time there was not much we could do' I
immediately sent a telegram to the Emperor stating the students' misery.
Our consul in Jerusalem, Alo Paulos, arrived in Cairo at the executive
order of His Majesty and arranged for the students' return to Addis
Ababa.
It was Mussolini's agreement with France that gave him the impetus to
invade Ethiopia. France is an old friend and traditionally supporter of
Ethiopia. This is mainly because of the Addis Ababa-Djibouti railway
line, which was constructed by the French. For example, when the
Emperor and his entourage toured Europe in 1924, he established a
makeshift at Paris and it was from there he had visited London, Rome
and Stockholm.
When the Italian ambassador saw that I was seated next to him,
he was very annoyed and started shouting madly at me. Enraged, I
shouted back even anglly. Everyone watched the fracas. The chief of
Protocol immediately placed an offrcial from the Foreign Affairs
Ministry to seat in between. At the evening dinner reception, the new
protocol alrangement was preserved. All delegates were evasive of being
seen with me by the ltalian. However, the president of the parliament,
President Herriot along with Prime Minister L6on Blum came to me,
hold my hand, and led me to the buffet. We had a meticulous discussion
of the current Ethiopian situation. Both statesmen assured me that they
would stand by Ethiopia in every possible way.
The next day, I reported to His Majesty the Emperor, who was in
London, about the discussion. lndeed, both statesmen and their party
kept their promise to the end in supporting Ethiopia. ln recognition of his
ll8 Aklilu Remembers
Support, the Emperor had decorated President Edouard Herriot with the
Sellasie Cordone.
a) I had intimate ties with many joumalists which paves the way to
explain them the reality. I evidenced that Ethiopia is a Christian
country since many past centuries and because of its unique
civilization, the nation had maintained its independence for a long
period. I also demolished that Italian incrimination of slave trading
was fictious by drawing on numerous facts and concrete evidences.
The next day newspapers, particularly publications of the three main
parties, published a report of my statement.
When the war started, some countries sent Red Cross teams to
Ethiopia. Likewise, the French Red Cross asked its government
permission to send a delegation to Ethiopia; but the French government
denied the permission. Instead, it collected financial contributions and
amenities (beds, clothes), put together a volunteer medical doctor's team,
and sent a non-governmental mission under the leadership of A[onsieur
Jean Goulet. The French benevolence was greatly admired and
acknowledged by the Secretary of the Ethiopian Red Cross, Ato
Akalework Habtewold.
Upon the delegate's retum, a big meeting'was held to hear their
report. Monsieur Jean Goulet declared that he had not seen any evidence
of slave trade in Ethiopia, and that he was impressed to discover
Ethiopians being more free and civilized than the invading ltalians' The
remark commended a warrn applause.
Gaston Jeze was a special advisor to the delegation. I still have the
written permit issued by the Swiss Government on March 13, 1935 in my
archive.
"To bring peace between Italy and Ethiopia, the best solution is
to detach a portion of the country- Harer, Sidamo, and Bale provinces -
as Italian colonial land, and to keep the Ethiopian boundary restricted to
the Amhara areas, namely, Gonder, Gojam, and Tigre..,"
make a deal on this matter the whole idea was dropped from further
consideration.
residential houses were burnt down; the Italians, equipped with modern
armaments and aeroplanes, had exterminated the barefooted Ethiopians,
who had only a handful of conventional firearms. He inquired, how those
who claimed to spread civilization were destroying a country and its
people. The booklet dominated public opinion and many were so grieved
that they even wept publicly when they read the account. After the
distribution throughout Europe, the vast majority of
of the booklet
Europeans gave strong support to the Emperor and to Ethiopia' A
symposium was held at Geneva in support of the Ethiopian cause.
During the invasi<ln cr1'Ethiopia by lascist Itlly Aklilu is here secn welcoming l:mpcror
llaile Selassic at a Paris railwav slation.
126 Aklilu Remembers
phone. The Emperor said, "We wanted to inform you of the good news
that the League of Nations has now decided that the national integrity of
Ethiopia is still intact."
When the Emperor realized the defection of the Minister was definite, he
officially dismissed Blatengeta Woldemariam and sent a letter to the
French government announcing my appointment as Officer-in-Charge of
the Ethiopian Embassy in Paris. I resumed my assignment and continued
my struggle for the next five years. (A copy of my letter of appointment
is still available in the archive.)
When Hitler was only days away from capturing Paris, Italy
joined the war on the side of the pervading German army. Immediately I
booked an appointment to see Monsieur Patl Reynaud and was given
one with a precise day and time. As scheduled, I went to see him only to
find out that the French government had already moved its office to
Bordeaux overnight, just a day before Paris fell into the hands of the
invading German forces. On my way back, I observed that banks,
garages, shops, and all other business were closed. Some had notices on
their doors telling that they have moved to Bordeaux.
good friend of Britain that I was given the necessary assistance. Before I
left Paris, I gave my old passport to the United States Ambassador
Admiral Leatry (who later became chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff;,
to ship it to their Embassy in Lisbon. When I arrived in Lisbon, I went to
the American Embassy and collected my passport.
,
!., a
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. Along witb Monsiezr Charles Mathew, I wrote the first decree (it
was published in the Negarit Gazetta) detailing the
responsibilities and obligations of Ministers of the Imperial
Government of Ethiopia.
r At the founding of the Ethiopian National Bank and currency I
had to beat the British proposal in a ferocious argumentation to
have the headquarter based inland, and restrict the board
membership to Ethiopians.
A) Though Italy was defeated and had withdrawn from Ethiopia, from
the legal point of view, we were still at war with Italy since no
Armistice or Peace Treaty had yet been concluded between
Ethiopia and Italy. Besides, other governments were also fighting
with the German, Italian, and Japanese forces.
142 Aklilu Remembers
vii) the British ambassador has priority over all other ambassadors in
the country;
viii) the British Commander-in-Chief has precedence over all other
army officers in the country etc.
Desta and myself. Lord De La Warr and I were the main negotiators.
We were on par with each other (For further details, see the official
government document).
"Ethiopia was the first victim of fascist Italy and the first to free
itself fiom colonial grips. How come, you, the British, who werc our
main ally, change your mind now and get tempted to divide up our
country; I strongly protest and do not accept such an opinion,,.
The next day, he protested to the Emperor that the letter must be
withdrawn, lest he would retum to Britain. The meeting was intemrpted
for three days. I refused to withdraw the letter; some of our delegates
were inclined to withdraw it. I threatened to resign if the letter is
retrieved. My aim was to regain the ogaden, to knock down the British
idea of Greater somalia, and to expose the British conspiracy against
Ethiopia to other nations. After three days of diplomatic tug-of-war, the
negotiation resumed without withdrawing the letter (As the subject is too
detailed, see official documents).
without prejudice of her sovereignty and until the end of the war,
Ethiopia accepts to put Ogaden under the British military
administration." (See the agreement')
3.3.3 FinancialAssistance
During the war, we were running the day-to-day govemmental activities
with the twelve million pound sterling aid we received from the British.
ln essence we were rebuilding the country, official activities and taxation
had just resumed. We did not issue our crurency yet. The East African
Shilling was still used widely for trading. The British wanted to appoint a
regulatory committee to supervise how we spent the money; otherwise,
they declined to release the donation. I protested and notified them, "This
is not diff'erent fiom protectionism. As an independent nation, we prefer
to forfeit the subsidy and keep our independence rather than living under
your control."
Vice Minister at the Ministry of Pen 147
I had a firm belief that we could cope with the limited resources
we had. The Emperor also agreed totally with my stand. After this
statement the British stopped fighting over the proposal.
Subsequently, I
explained to Mr. Meschev [?] what Bevin had
said and even showed him notes and a map of ogaden. I affirmed to him
about the British conspiracy to take away one third of Ethiopia's territory.
When he retumed to his country Mr. Meschev declared at a press
conference that "the colonialists" are conspiring to take away aquarter of
Ethiopia's land. He strongly denounced the British government,s
intentions. There was a strong suspicion by the British and Americans
that the Soviets would attack and occupy territory by invading Turkey
and Iran. Britain was rocked with fear of the incident. The House of
commons deliberated on the issue and made Bevin responsible for the
diplomatic mishap. He replied to the House repentantly that he did
everything out of pity for the Ogaden people; he would not intend to do
anything without the accord of Ethiopian govemment.
pM Mohammcd IIarji lbrahim Egal olsomalia and PM Akliltr Habte Wold of Ethiopia giving
a prcss confercnct: al thc Addis Ababa Intenlalioual airport irt I963
Vice Minister at the Ministry of Pen l5l
A highJevel British delegation came to Addis Ababa to impress
on us that Prime Minister churchill's cabinet would not relinquish its
position and give up the "Reserved Area". I walked out of the meeting
and sent a message to the British government tluough our ambassador,
Ato Abebe Retta, our decision that unless they give back the ,Reserved
Area', we will present the case before United Nations Security Council.
Eventually, the British were forced into negotiation; however, due to
many reasons the case was delayed (Refer to the official document).
When the Emperor was on his first official visit to London [after
the liberationl, the British proposed to pick up the discussion about
ogaden in Britain. I declined the invitation as we were there for other
purposes, it was not appropriate to discuss the Ogaden issue then. They
announced that if we refuse the offer the matter could be delayed for
months. The Emperor took the ship to London, I stayed behind and
resumed the discussion with Mr. Anthony Eden and flew there a day
before the Emperor's arrival. I and Mr. Eden came to an agreement that
Britain would hand over the 'Reserved Area' to Ethiopia witlun one
month.
Churchill was on his way back from the Yalta Conference when
he picked up news of the Emperor's meeting with the American
President. Through Roosevelt, we received a message that Churchill
would also like to meet with the Emperor for talks. America was behind
this invitation. Present at the meeting was Mr. Eden. We gave them a
similar position paper. We emphasized the Eritrean question and the war
reparation we demanded from Italy. Throughout our prolonged
discussion Mr. Eden opposed our proposals on the ground that the
Vice Minister at the Ministry of Pen 153
Italians had built many roads and other infrastructure, that this is enough
a compensation Ethiopia should not lay no more claims. Cynical and
rigid as Mr. Eden was we stopped the discussion and I went back home,
When the San Francisco conference approaches, we were invited
like other independent ally countries. We were invited because of the
support we had from the United States government. Ethiopia, Liberia and
Eglpt were the only three countries invited from Africa. No country was
invited from Asia; India was under occupation. The total number of
oountries who were signatories at the founding of the United Nations was
fifty-two. The Ethiopian delegation to the conference was led by Prime
Minister Bitweded Mekonnen Endalkachew, and I was deputy head of
the delegation. The other members were:
. Blata Ephrem Teweldemedhen
t Ato Amanuel Abraham
t Ato Ambaye Woldemariam
t Ato Minasse Lemma
. Ato Petros Sahelu
Due to language and other problems the head of delegation,
Bitweded Mekonnen, had to leave the conference and I replaced him as
Head of the Ethiopia team. The conference began its discussion in San
Francisco in May 1944 and the Ethiopian delegation contributed a
number of critical viewpoints for amendment. (As this topic is very
broad, for the details see the United Nations document). lndeed, referring
to previous experiences with the Italians, I intervened and commented
several times on various issues. One significant example of the
amendments that sprang from my proposal and is worth mentioning was,
"If a country cries it is threatened by another country and calls the
Security Council to investigate the matter, the Security Council should
meet and do so accordingly."
t54 Aklilu Remembers
liorcign Aflhir Minister Aklilu Ilabetewold signinu thc L-lnited Nations Chartcr on June
26, 1945. Standing behind him arc, lell to right ,l/r., Minasse l.emnu, llo Apranuel
-l'eweldemedhen, 'l-cslirvc 'l'egegne
Abraham, Blata Ephrem and lro .
My efforts paid back. Ethiopian Airlines now flies all over the
world by intemationally accredited Ethiopian pilots and is managed by
our own people. All my effort to establish and strengthen the Ethiopian
Airlines could be seen from the archive.
4
The Paris Peace Conference with ltaly
ii) The United States, Britain, France, Soviet Union and China
determined the number and type of governments that can participate
at the Peace Agreement with Italy. They proclaimed that the
conference aimed at settling the war against Italy that started in
1940, and that only those countries which actually participated in the
war on European soil could take part in the Peace Conference. This
means we cannot sit for signing the Peace Agreement with Italy
along with the countries we consider as our allies. I knew this would
make Ethiopia greatly venerable. If we opened a dialogue with Italy
alone, it would undoubtedly reject all of our demands.
158 Aklilu Remembers
iii) I started discussions with the governments of the Big Four nations,
namely, the United States, Britain, France and the Soviet Union. I
started the dialogue fust with the Americans, who since the end of
the war were sympathetic to us. I presented a well-written
memorandum with the following points.
a) We did not yet sign an Armistice with the Italians since the war was
not over despite the fact that France had already signed Armistice
with Germany;
b) During the hve years of Italian aggression, Ethiopian patriots
continued fighting with the Italians while the Emperor, despite many
inducements by the Italians, was in Geneva appealing to the League
of Nations. Hence Italy's occupation was restricted to certain towns;
much of the country was unoccupied land controlled by Ethiopia.
c) If we had not resisted the invasion, Italy would have used Ethiopia as
a major fortress and passage to easily occupy Sudan, Egypt, and
Kenya.
d) It was for this reason (cited in C) that in 1940, Ethiopian patriots
defeated the Italians with the assistance of a few British soldiers.
e) Therefore, we should be considered as one of the allied countries.
Thus, we substantiated our claim for a legitimate participation in
the Peace Conference. The Americans accepted our proposal with
sympathy and informed us that they would approve our participation, yet
they told us that we should convince the Soviets, as it was them who
restricted participation of other countries. (As the majority of countries
side with the West, the Soviets put up this hurdle to prevent the
participation of many countries, therefore, the three western countries,
would not win on majority vote.)
The Paris Peace Conference with Italy 159
I reminded the Soviets that our country was the first victim of
fascist Italian aggression, and that we had all the right to participate at
the peace negotiation. I said, "Are you not the defendants of the rights of
African and other small nations? How can one forget the long-standing
relationship between the Soviet Union and Ethiopia'l Were you not our
supporters at the League of Nations hearing in Geneva?"
For the Paris Peace Conference, I prepared a position paper outlining our
arguments to focus on the follorving three points:
i) to make sure that Italy fbrfeit all her colonial territories and grant
their independe,nce;
ii) to prepare a position thesis regarding Eritrea and Somalia; and
iii) to state in detail all the crimes and destruction incurred on the
people and the country, and ask for reparations.
They're built around mountains; not across meadows or rivers for local
people's use. Hence it all was made to accelerate the war,"
worth millions of dollars. [t must also be recalled that the Koka dam was
constructed in compensation for ltalian war crimes.
4.3 Conclusion
Once we were in the air, the pilot asked me what we should do. I
sensed that if we travel to Cairo, we would not make it for the hearing on
Monday, and would mar Ethiopia's interest. I, therefore, instructed the
pilot to. take a risk and fly along the Red Sea towards the Mediterranean
168 Aklilu Rernembers
B. The Soviets and the French delegates, on the other hand, reported
that thirty percent of the population sought to reunite with Ethiopia
whereas seventy percent did not. Both suggested the port of Assab to
be given to Ethiopia while the rest of the territory remains under
ltalian trusteeship,
The four nations failing to reach on a unanimous agreement, the
issue was forwarded to the United Nations, according to the protocol in
the Paris Peace Agreement. Before the United Nations begins dealing
My Struggle to reunite Eritrea with Ethiopia t7t
with the rnatter, I felt it was essential to meet with the foreign ministers
of the Big Four and elucidate our position.
I met Mr. Dulles and gave him the memorandum, briefing him in
the same manner as I did with General Marshall. He heard me out then
asked why I explained this issue to him. I replied, "You may become the
next Foreign Affairs Minister." Content, he roared with laughter and
promised to give me a reply in eight days after discussing the matter with
Govemor Dewey. He called back after eight days and reassured me that
if they win full support to
the presidential election, they would give us
reunite Eritrea with Ethiopia. (However, they lost in the election;
President Truman was re-elected. Mr. Dulles and I were staying in the
same hotel that we further discussed the matter.)
ii) With the British delegates I also had similar discussion' "How
do you recommend us to become a trustee to our brothers? Were you not
our close friands, who hosted the Emperor during his five years exile in
Britain, from whom we also expected greater support?"
The British delegates replied in the affirmative. 'l'hey
incriminated American delegates fcrr complicating the issue by excluding
Asmara and Mitswa from the reunification scheme. They guaranteed, if
the Americans agreed to amalgamate Asmara and Mitswa with the
exception of Aqordat, they would also accept this deal. They further told
me to shut my ears to Russian and French delegation's opinion as both
My Strugele to reunite Eritrea with Ethiopia t73
God! In the absence of airplanes that are fit for long flights, how dare
you fly with a small plane all the way from London? I take a slup even
when I travel to New York," he exclaimed.
I responded, "These are soldiers and their wives who came in the
subsequent five years after the invasion and some bunch of civilians,
who waited for a ship to travel back to Italy. Except 15,000 of them, all
have already departed. Both territories are impoverished and unsuitable
to be populated. During the sixty to seventy years of Italian colonization
in Eritrea and Somalia, they could not settle more than 400 to 1000
Italians. Their main aim in controlling these lands was to use them as a
springboard to invade Ethiopia. As evidence, you could refer to the
preface written by Mussolini to the book authored by the Italian writer
Mores Rav [?]. The book was published after Italy invaded Ethiopia."
When Mr. Frenandez responded he did not read the book, I
recited a few lines to him.
My Struggle to reunite Eritrea with Ethiopia 179
Why should Italy incur a loss spending lots of money from rts
coffers on these dessert countries, Eritrea and Somalia, which
brought no return?' nations were questioning. ,Is it simply to
be distinguished as a prestigious nation just like France and
Britain who govern colonies?' Let me tell you the reason. We
have been shovelling our cash on these two desert countries,
which from geographic and cultural viewpoints are known as
territories of Ethiopia, with the aim of occupylng the rich and
fertile hinterland of Ethiopia. And this goal has now been
achieved by Fascist Italy after a long period of time.
discovered not only it was inhabited by many Italians but they were also
involved in majority bf government businesses. They were not willing to
host us. After a one day stopover in Argentina, we left for Chile.
They declared that they did not vote against Ethiopia since it
won more than sufficient votes; as the resolution is one complete decree,
they resented, it was impossible to dismantle the cases. It became
impossible to reach on an overall agreement. l-he resolution received
only a simple majority vote, not the necessary two-thirds to pass. As a
result, the Bevin-Sforua Proposal failed and the Eritrean issue remained
unresolved.
population. This remark won acce,ptance of the assembly. The lone party
that supported us was Unionist Party that was led by Tedla Bahiru, its
Executive Secretary. (In the report presented by the Big Four
Commission it was indicated that this party represented 3040 percent of
the Eritrean population.)
I made the remark, "Iam quite aware of this fact. I raised the
question simply because you stated that you are the leader of the
'lntellectual Purty'; thus, I wanted to prove to the conference that your
statement is misleading, In fact, the Italians did not educate any Eritrean
but rather it
was Ethiopia who educated them. For example, these
Eritreans, who are at this very moment sitting beside me, Blata Dawit
184 Aklilu Rernembers
and Ato Gebremeskel, as well as hundreds of other Eritreans who are not
here with us, were educated in Ethiopia after they run away from Italian-
colonized Eritrea".
PM Aklilu Habtewold with Setretary (ieneral Nikita Khrushchev (middle) ol the USSR
reunion with Ethiopia. I invited them all for dinner to have casual
discussions and to bompromise their attitudes.
' South Africa and Burma suggested, Eritrea should be federated with
Erhiopia;
' Pakistan and Guatemala suggested, Eritrea should be given its
freedom;and
' Norway suggested, Eritrea should unconditionally be reunited with
Ethiopia.
t90 Aklilu Rernenrbcrs
Latin America, Asia and the commonwealth), they told me, will oppose
the idea of simple unification after hearing the commission's report.
Aklilu (then Foreign Affair Minister) being welconrcd by the people of Eritrea when
he anives at Asmara airport to negotiate with the United Nations Inquiry
Commission in early 1950's.
Afambo lies near the border of Ethiopia and the French Somaliland
(Djibouti), located on a strategic site inside Ethiopia. This elevated area
allowed control of Awssa and the French Somaliland. Primarily its
benefit is due to the availability of plenty of water in the area. The
French, with an ambition of extending their colonial territory of Djibouti,
always coveted the Awssa and Dire-Dawa regions. (Refer to the 1906
agreement between France, Britain and Italy with the aim of dividing
Ethiopia into different zones.)
After the 1944 agreenent, when the British left Ethiopia they
told us that the French had occupied Afambo. I summoned the French
Ambassador and firmly protested that France had to leave our territory at
once. He rejected my appeal arguing Afambo belonged to France. I
discussed the matter with the Emperor and the Council of Ministers. I
proposed to use military force to evict them, and also to occupy Djibouti.
The Defence Minister Ras Abebe Aregay, however, informed the
Council that we did not have a strong army to take on the French Army
stationed in Djibouti. As resort to military power was not a viable
solution, the Council instructed me to use diplomatic means.
I told the traffic police to ban him hosting his flag on his Core
Diplomatic vehicle.
He informed his govemment of his diplomatic immunity ban and
waited for the reply. A few days after, the French government (led bv De
Gaulle) instructed the ambassador, Monsieur De Blesson, to sign the
agreement. We also signed the cognizance protocol. Ultimately, his
diplomatic status was restored.
We asked the local people to help us trace the border, but they
had been bribed and testified the land belongs to France. There were no
installations-houses or other infrastructural signposts-we had built in the
area, As the names were switched and the witnesses bought off by the
French, we were troubled to gain a toehold for our claims.
The treaty signed (in the year 1902) between Atse Menelik and the
British colonial Administration (in the least it limits the frontier Ethiopia
shares with Sudan) stated that Gambela would remain in British hands,as
long as Sudan was governed by the British.
scouted the area often. Finally, the commission submitted its draft to the
respective governments and it was approved.
Everything was done in this fashion and frontier marks for this
part of the region were remade on the ground. A few years later, Kenya
became an independent state (1963). As our border with Kenya had been
delimited since long, we live in harmony and eamest brotherhood with
Kenyans.
ii) After the Second World War, the state of affairs had changed
dramatically throughout the world that we have to attune ourselves
for such changes.
iii) Having a modern, democratic constitution could earn us a favourable
image from the intemational community, that impression would give
impetus for our request.
Though the Emperor approve of the improvement, there was,
however, strong resistance from the nobility who pronounced the
amendment was uncalled for. After intense debating, it was agteed to sct
up a consultative commission that would marshal the change' The
members of this commission were Bitweded Mekonnen, Tsehafe T'ezaz
Woldegiorgis, Ato Yilma and myself. Amidst the members, I was the
only person who had legal training. Some expatriate lawyers, particularly
Monsieur Spencer used to work with us. At times, another foreign legal
specialist used to comment on our work.
I thanked the Emperor for the faith and trust he had on me,
assured him that the new constitution is essential for the legacy of his
Majesty's rule and for Ethiopia. I canvassed, in due course of time, a
more progressive constitution should be formulated and reassured His
Majesty this would not entail any harm but will boost the governance. To
circumvent undue responsibility, I wrote a note to the Emperor.
(Although the new constitution could not be considered fully democraric
because it was resisted, it markedly changed the pattern of the old
constitution.)
I
went to Europe to search for well-seasoned professionals.
Having located world class specialists, I employed Professor David to
Efforts to draft new Constitution (1955)
draft the Civil Code, and another Professor to draft the Conunercial
Code. Both professors taught at the Sorborure University. A professor
from a Swiss University was assigned to draft the Criminal Law, All
three specialists came to Addis Ababa and were taken in by the
commission which was formed to write the codes.
I;irst row: General Mered Mengesha, Defence; Teshafe T'Ezaz Aklilu Habtewold, Prime
Vlinister; Ato Yilma Deressa, Finance; Ato Abebe Retta, Agriculture; Dejazmaci Kebede
Tessema, Territorial Army.
Second row'. Ato 'Iadessc Yakob, Commissioner of Perrsion and Civil Service; ,4lo
Amanuel Abrham, Post, Telephone and Telegraph; Dejazmach Kefle Ergetu, National
Security; lto Seyoum Haregot, Minister of States, PM's office; Ato Ketwta Yifru, Foreign
Affairs; Dejazmach Germachew Teklehawariat, Public Health; Bitwoded As/Jrra
Woldemichael, Justice; Major Assefa Lemma, Mines; Dr Minasse Haile, Information.
Fourth row: llo Worku Habtewold, Vice Minister for Municipalities, lnterior; Ato Belete
Gebretsadik, Land Reform; Ato Gaahun Tessema, Community Development, ,4/o
Akalework Habtewold, Education; AtoMammo Tadesse, Minister, PM's office.
Efforts to draft new Constitution (1955) 2tt
When the commissions are through with one stage of the work,
we sat for debriefings with the supervising committee. The meeting's
deliberations were broadcasted on radio and newspapers.
A'ILI
:t
I, ;^*t?
t
i ,t, .?*r,
Yr,' ,,
rl ,l* {
Aklilu welcoming Ghanaian President Kwame Nkunltna rvhen the president came to Addis
Ababa for sisnin{ of lhc Alrican I Inion Charter'
During the United States - Cuba crisis, General Mered Mengesha, the
Minister of Defence, visited United States. ln 1966, the Emperor visited
President Kennedy. As a result, the following military hardware were
obtained:
. F5-8[?]
. 2000 LB (for training) [?]
Itwas agreed that I should travel and present the new proposal. An
appointment was requested with the United State govemment; however,
before I could undertake this mission, the governmental crisis fof 1974)
occurred.
220 Aklilu Remernbers
J
Mulugetta Buli, General 227
Mussolini, Benito 227
Jeze, Gaston, Profesor, 226
N
Johnson Lyndon 226
Nasser, Jamal Abdel 227
K
P
Kassa Hailu, Bas 226
Kebede Gebre, General 226 Paradise, Mr. 228
Kennedy, John 226 Paulo$ lro 228
Ketema Yifru 208,226 Peron, Domingo 228
Kifle Ergetu, Dejazmach 226 Petros Sahelu 228
Porjeze, Mr. 228
L
R
Langford, Mr. 226
Laval, Pierre 226 Rav Mores 228
Leahy, Admiral 226 Reni,Mayer 228
Lorerlzo Taezaz, Blatenageta 226 Reynaud, Poul 228
Lugar, Mr 226 Roosevelt,Theodore 228
Lukas, Mr. 226
S
M Seyum Birhane 228
Malgli, Mr. 226 Seyum Mammo, Dejazmach 228
Malik, Mr. 226 Count
Sforza, Carlo, 228
Mammo Tadesse 208,226 Spencer, John 228
Marshall, G.C. 226 Stafford, Frank 228
Mathew, Sir Charles 22',7
T
Matienzo, Eduardo Arze 227
Mekbeb Damte 131,220,227 Tadesse Yakob, 228
Mekonnen Desta 227 Colonel
Tamirat Yegezu, 228
Aklilu Remembers