1930 - Africa: A-F

Africa

Algeria

Benin
(Dahomey)

*Alphonse Alley, a Beninese army officer and political figure who became the Chief of Staff of the Army, was born in Bassilia, Dahomey (April 9).

Alphonse Amadou Alley (b. April 9, 1930, Bassila, Dahomey [now known as Benin] – d. March 28, 1987) was a Beninese army officer and political figure. He was most active when his country was known as Dahomey.  He was born in Bassila, central Dahomey, and enrolled in schools in Togo, Cote d'Ivoire, and Senegal before enlisting in the French army in 1950.  He saw combat in Indochina from 1950 to 1953, in Morocco from 1955 to 1956, and in Algeria from 1959 to 1961. After the coup in 1965, President Christophe Soglo promoted Alley Chief of Staff of the Army. Young army officer Maurice Kouandete was appointed Alley's chef de cabinet in 1967.

Kouandété launched another coup against Soglo on December 17, but he was forced to hand power to Alley two days later. His administration oversaw the creation of a new constitution and a presidential election, Dahomey's first since 1964. The results were annulled because of a boycott that prevented almost three-quarters of the country from voting. Alley lost popularity with the suggestion that the military should retreat back to the barracks, and was eventually reduced to a mouthpiece for Kouandété. On July 17, 1968, Alley was forced to hand power to Emile Zinsou, a veteran politician.

Alley's retirement was marked by a series of discharges from the military, trials, and prison sentences. At one trial, Zinsou's conduct sparked another coup led by Kouandété. On October 26, 1972, Mathieu Kerekou seized power in a coup. He ended Alley's military career, as well as that of every other senior officer, and named Alley commissioner of the National Oil Wells (SNADAH), a role with very little responsibility.  Kérékou accused Alley of plotting against him on February 28, 1973, and sentenced the latter to 20 years in prison. He died on March 28, 1987.

Alley was born on April 9, 1930, in Bassila, central Dahomey. He was a member of the small Widji ethnic group, based in the north. His father was also a military commander, who served the French in Syria during 1942 and helped train police in Togo. Alphonse enrolled in schools in Togo, Cote d'Ivoire, and Senegal until he enlisted in the French army in 1950. His first combat operation later that year was at the Indochinese Peninsula for the First Indochina War. Alley withdrew in late 1953, shortly before Operation Castor was launched at Dien Bien Phu. After this wartime experience, he went the Saint Maxient Non-Commissioned Officer School in France (now the National Active Non-Commissioned Officers School (France) or École Nationale des Sous-Officiers d’Actives (ENSOA)). He saw combat in Morocco from 1955 to 1956 and in Algeria from 1959 to 1961, where he became a paratrooper.

After Dahomey gained independence in 1960, Alley traveled back to his homeland and led a paratrooper unit. At first, he was a lieutenant, but he was promoted to captain in 1962 and major in 1964. Later that year he led several soldiers to the Dahomey-Niger border during a border dispute.

In Dahomeyan coups in 1963 and 1965, Alley urged General Christophe Soglo to seize power. After the 1965 coup, Soglo promoted Alley Chief of Staff of the Army. Alley made known his disagreements with Soglo on several occasions, though he remained loyal nonetheless. Young army officer Maurice Kouandete was appointed Alley's chef de cabinet in 1967 and his frequent opposition to Alley during staff meetings helped to create factions in the Dahomeyan Army.

Kouandété had aspirations of his own. On December 17, 1967, he and 60 other soldiers led a military coup and toppled Soglo. Kouandété seized the presidency, though he was unsure what to do with it. Members of his faction urged the new president to remain at his post, though the general public's opinion was against him. Meanwhile, France refused to aid Dahomey and would not recognize Kouandété.  Kouandete was forced to appointed Alley provisional president two days later, even though Kouandété had placed Alley under house arrest and accused him of shirking his duties. Kouandété served as prime minister thereafter.

Alley was one of the few figures who were trusted by northern and southern Dahomeyans alike. His role was only temporary, until power was to be ceded back to civilians in six months time. Among the events on the official timetable, which the military published on January 17, 1968, was the creation of a nonmilitary Constitution Commission on January 31, which would write a new Dahomeyan constitution. The document granted Alley strong executive power, and was adopted by the Comite Militaire Revolutionaire in early March. A national referendum on the constitution was held on March 31, which passed with 92 percent in favor.

The Comite decided to ban all former presidents, vice presidents, government ministers, and National Assembly presidents from the 1968 presidential election. This was to prevent Dahomeyan politics from repeating its practices of old. The Supreme Court ruled the proscription was unconstitutional, but Alley overruled the decision. He instead only recognized five candidates as legitimate.

In response to their disqualification, former presidents Hubert Maga and Sourou Migan Apithy staged protests while Justin Ahomadegbe-Tometin, another ex-president, supported an obscure candidate named Basile Adjou Moumouni.  The election was held on May 15, and was Dahomey's first since 1964. Moumouni won the election with 80 percent of the vote, but Alley declared the result void because the protest prevented nearly three-quarters of the electorate from voting. This result sparked further demonstrations, and Maga, Apithy, Ahomadégbé-Tomêtin, and former president Christophe Soglo were forbidden to enter the country, in an attempt to crack down on dissent. Alley felt he had made a mistake in disqualifying Maga, Apithy, and Ahomadégbé-Tomêtin, as he believed that only they could bring unity to Dahomey.

In a radio address on May 11, Alley announced that due to the nullification, the military would have to stay in power beyond June 17. He noted that his administration would require extra time to find a successor who was backed by everyone. Alley suggested that the military should retreat back to the barracks at Camp Ghezo and leave Dahomeyan politics to the career politicians. The view was unpopular, and he was outvoted by his military comrades. Alley eventually became little more than Kouandété's mouthpiece.

Alley attempted to remove Kouandété from the army, though to no avail.  By June his fellow officers had made up their mind as to the next president. After talks with unionists, civil servants, and academics, they entrusted the reins of power to Emile Derlin Zinsou for at least five years, who was charged to form a government of national union, as per a June 28 newspaper article by the state press.  On July 17, Alley handed power to Zinsou, a veteran politician.

After Alley was retired from the presidency, he was purged from combat in the army and was assigned the new post of military attaché in Washington, D.C, an appointment he refused to accept. Alley was discharged from the armed forces altogether in September, with Kouandété taking his place as Chief of Staff.

On July 11, 1969, Kouandété accused Alley of plotting to kidnap and murder him. Facing the death penalty, Alley was sentenced to ten years of hard labor at an open trial held on October 4.  Zinsou intervened for Alley, and it strained relations between the president and Kouandété.  The latter decided to lead another coup on December 10.  In the aftermath, Alley was released from incarceration and reinstated in the army.

In 1971, Alley allowed Togolese refugee Noe Kutuklui protection in Dahomey, despite official government policy to the contrary. On October 26, 1972, Mathieu Kerekou seized power in a coup. He ended Alley's military career, as well as that of every other senior officer. 

Kérékou accused Alley of plotting against him on February 28, 1973, and sentenced him to 20 years in prison. He was released on amnesty on August 1, 1984, as well as all other political detainees besides those involved in the "ignoble and barbarous imperialist armed aggression of Sunday, January 16, 1967," as the official press release states.

Alphonse Alley died on March 28, 1987. He was survived by his son, Zacharie.

*****

*Bertin Borna, a Beninese politician who served as Benin's minister of finance, was born in Tanguieta, Benin (November 20).

Bertin Babliba Borna (b. November 20, 1930, Tanguieta, Benin – d. June 15, 2007) received an international education. Borna attended the Parakou Congress of 1957 and aligned himself with Hubert Maga. Borna served as vice president of the National Assembly from 1959 to 1960. He was minister of public works from 1958 to 1960. That year, he was named finance minister, a post he held until the coup in 1963.  Christophe Soglo brought him back as finance minister in 1966, but his appointment led to agitations that resulted in the 1967 coup. Borna was accused of being involved in the 1975 coup attempt and was sentenced to death in absentia on March 7, 1975. Remaining in Abidjan and Lome, Berta remained active in international trade. He became a United Nations director for the Sahel in 1982. After returning to Benin in 1990, Borna unsuccessfully ran for president in 1991. He did manage to be elected to the national assembly that year however. 

Bertin Borna died on June 15, 2007.

*****

Cameroon

*Castor Afana, a Marxist economist and militant nationalist who died in 1966 while fighting as a guerrilla against the government of Cameroon, was born in Ngoksa near Sa'a, in the Centre Region of Cameroon.

In 1948, Castor Osendé Afana (b. 1930, Ngoksa near Sa'a, Centre Region, Cameroon - d. March 15, 1966, Ndelele, Cameroon) was admitted to the seminary at Mvolye, where he became a strong friend of Albert Ndongmo, the future Bishop of Nkongsamba.  He left the seminary in 1950 and became a militant nationalist. At that time Eastern Cameroon was under French colonial rule, and would not gain independence until 1960. Afana joined the Union of the Peoples of Cameroon (UPC), a left-wing movement agitating for independence and led by Ruben Um Nyobe. 

Osendé Afana went to Toulouse, France to study Economic Science, and by 1956 was a vice-president of the Black African Students Federation in France (Fédération des étudiants d'Afrique noire en France – FEANF), and was managing director of the FEANF organ L'Etudiant d'Afrique noire. As a UPC militant, Osende Afana ensured that the issues of Cameroon were well-covered.  While he was managing director, the moderate viewpoint of the magazine shifted to a harder and more incisive tone. In 1958, Osendé Afana was General Treasurer of FEANF, as well as being responsible for the UPC in France.

In 1958, after Ruben Um Nyobé died, Osendé Afana decided to abandon his thesis and rejoin the leadership of the UPC, proposing himself as a candidate for the new Secretary General. Osendé Afana was designated UPC representative at the Afro-Asian People's Solidarity Conference in Cairo in December 1957 – January 1958. The conference was dominated by supporters of the Chinese version of communism, and later Osendé's Maoism was to arouse suspicions with the UPC leadership in Accra.  Osendé Afana completed his studies in Paris in September 1962 and traveled to Accra.

In April and May 1955, the UPC held a series of angry meetings, circulated pamphlets and organized strikes. On July 13, 1955 the French government dissolved the UPC by decree. Most of the UPC leaders moved to Kumba in the British-administered Southern Cameroons to avoid being jailed by the colonial power. In July 1957, under pressure from the French, the British authorities in western Cameroon deported the leaders of the UPC to Khartoum, Sudan. They moved in turn to Cairo, Egypt, to Conakry, Guinea and finally to Accra, Ghana. After Cameroon gained independence in 1960, UPC rebels who had been fighting the French colonial government continued to fight the government of President Ahmadou Ahidjo, whom they considered to be a puppet of the French.

On September 6, 1962 the UPC leadership in exile met in Accra at Ndeh Ntumazah's house, and decided to exclude the "criminal clique of Woungly" from the administrative secretariat. At ten that evening, when the attendees were about to leave, a bomb exploded without causing any injury. The Ghana authorities were not amused and threw the entire UPC leadership in jail. In October they freed Massaga, Tchaptchet and Ntumazah, but kept Abel Kingue in prison.  On September 13, 1962, the UPC organized its first Assemblée populaire sous maquis in Mungo, where the Revolutionary Committee was named. The committee was presided over by Ernest Ouandie.  Other members were Abel Kingué, Michel Ndoh, Ndongo Diye, Osende Afana, Nicanor Njiawe and Woungly-Massaga.  A two-headed leadership was theoretically in place, with Abel Kingué leading the exiles from Ghana and Ernest Ouandié in the maquis. The organization functioned poorly due to communication problems and also to the Sino-Soviet split. The next year it split, with Abel Kingué and Osendé Afana allied with Ntumazah and opposed to the other leaders.

In 1963 Osendé Afana left Cairo, where he had taken refuge. He traveled to Conakry, Guinea, and then to Accra, Ghana, where he met the core of the leadership in exile. He spent the following months in Brazzaville before secretly entering Cameroon with the intent of establishing a new maquis, a second front in the Moloundou region, a corner of Cameroon that borders the Republic of the Congo.  In August 1963 there had been a popular revolution in Congo Brazzaville in which the neo-colonial regime of Fulbert Youlou was replaced by a government led by Alphonse Massemba-Debat.  This government was relatively friendly to the UPC rebels, opening the possibility of supply from the Congo.

Details of his activity in the period that followed are sketchy, but Osendé Afana seems to have made several visits to the extremely poor Moloundou region, where he made contact with the local people, mostly Bakas. On September 1, 1965, a small party led by Asana entered Moloundou, mainly aiming to educate the people rather than start an uprising, but was forced to leave quickly. He intended to establish a politico-administrative organization on Maoist lines, but the population of this very backward part of Cameroon was not receptive to these ideas.

A few months later Osendé Afana's small group returned to Moloundou. By March 5, 1966, they had been detected and encircled by troops that were far more at home in the forest than they were. Osendé, a myopic intellectual, lost his spectacles and his sandals. On March 15, 1966, his party was ambushed by a Cameroon army unit. He did not take flight, as did most of his companions. Taken prisoner, he was killed and decapitated, and his head was flown by helicopter to Yaounde so that President Ahmadou Ahidjo could look into the eyes of the dead man.

*****

Cape Verde

*Eugenio de Paula Tavares, a Cape Verdean poet known for his famous poems (mornas) written in the Crioulo of Brava, died in Vila Nova Sintra, Cape Verde (June 1).

Eugénio de Paula Tavares (b. October 18, 1867, Brava, Cape Verde - d. June 1, 1930, Vila Nova Sintra) was born on the island of Brava in October 1867 to Francisco de Paula Tavares and Eugenia Roiz Nozzolini Tavares. His family is mainly descended from Santarem, Portugal.  He was baptized at the Saint John the Baptist (São João Baptista) church in Brava. A few years later, his father starved to death and he was adopted by José and Eugenia Martins de Vera Cruz. José Martins de Vera Cruz, a physician and surgeon who was also mayor (now president) of Boa Vista and Sal (Sal was not its own municipality until the 1930s) and later of Brava after he moved.

In 1876, Tavares attended Nova Sintra's primary school (Escola Primaria). However, most of his times, Tavares never attended school.  Along with another Cape Verdean poet, Jose Lopes, he was self-taught.

The city of Mindelo was largely marked by the Bravense child, later he went to the public farm in Tarrafal de Santiago. At the age of 15, Tavares made an anthology known as the Almanaque de lembraço Luso-Brasileiro, an almanac which he wrote until his death, the remaining were posthumously published in 1932. He returned to his native island in 1890, first he received his own farm and married D. Guiomar Leça. When Serpa Pinto was colonial governor, he congratulated the poet. He published several "morna" poems, his new themes included love, island, sea, women, emigrant and health. Between 1890 and 1900, Tavares was the "dolphin" of Cape Verde". One of his works did not appear until 1996 in Cape Verde and was "Hino de Brava" ("Hymn of Brava") which became the island's official anthem. As hunger affected the island along with the archipelago, Tavares lived in New Bedford, Massachusetts, in the United States of America between 1900 and 1910, there he wrote articles for A Alvorada, a Portuguese language exile newspaper. When Portugal along with its empire became a republic, it promoted criticism in the colonies. He went back to Cape Verde afterwards. A year after his return, he published one of the most influential newspapers at the time, A Voz de Cabo Verde (Voice of Cape Verde) up to 1916.

The name of Eugenio Tavares is honored in the name of the town square in Vila Nova Sintra along with a statue, where his home is located which is now a museum. Later, a street name was named in the western part of the capital city of Praia in Cidadela which runs for about 500 meters and intersects the Praia-Cidade Velha road, near the Jean Piaget University of Cape Verde.

Cape Verdean singers and musicians including Cesaria Evora and Celina Pereira sang songs based on Tavares' morna.

The poem "morna aguada" was featured in a Cape Verdean escudo note in 1999. Between 2007 and 2014, Tavares was featured on a Cape Verdean $2000 escudo note.

In 2007, the Monument to the Emigrants which features one of Tavares' mornas on top was erected in Praia's Achada Grande Tras at a circle or a roundabout intersecting the Praia Circular Road (Circular da Praia), Avenida Aristides Pereira and the road to Nelson Mandela International Airport. 

*****

Central African Republic

(French Equatorial Africa)

*David Dacko, the first President of the Central African Republic, was born in the village of Bouchia, near Mbaiki in the Lobaye region, which was then a part of the French Equatorial African territory of Moyen Congo (Middle Congo) (March 24).

David Dacko  (b. March 24,1930, Bouchia, Moyen-Congo, French Equatorial Africa [now in Central African Republic] – d. November 20, 2003, Yaounde, Cameroon) was the first President of the Central African Republic from August 14, 1960 to January 1, 1966, and the third President from September 21,1979 to  September 1, 1981. After his second removal from power in a coup d'etat led by General Andre Kolingba, he pursued an active career as an opposition politician and presidential candidate with many loyal supporters. Dacko was an important political figure in the country for over 50 years.

David Dacko, a former teacher, held ministerial posts under Barthelemy Boganda,  the prime minister of the autonomous Central African Republic. Claiming a family relationship, Dacko succeeded to the prime ministership in 1959 after Boganda’s death. In 1960, the republic gained its full independence, and Dacko became the country’s first president. He ruled the Central African Republic as a one-party state and in 1962 easily won the presidential elections. Dacko was unable to improve the country’s failing economy, however, and, with the Central African Republic facing bankruptcy, he was overthrown by Jean-Bedel Bokassa on the night of December 31, 1965/January 1, 1966.

On September 21, 1979, after 13 years of brutal rule (which included Bokassa’s proclamation of a “Central African Empire”), Dacko, aided by French troops, in turn overthrew Bokassa, announcing that the country would revert to a republic with Dacko as president. His presidency was again plagued by numerous problems. Soon after taking office, Dacko survived an assassination attempt, and, following his re-election in 1981, there were riots in Bangui. Dacko was removed from office in September 1981, when General André Kolingba seized power. Dacko unsuccessfully ran for president in 1992 and 1999.

*****

*Bernard Ayandho, a Central African politician and diplomat who served as Prime Minister of the Central African Republic from September 26, 1979 to August 22, 1980, was born in Bangassou, French Equatorial Africa, now the Central African Republic (December 15).

Bernard Christian Ayandho (b. December 15, 1930, Bangassou, French Equatorial Africa (now the Central African Republic) – d. December 18, 1993, Central African Republic) was a member of the Yakoma ethnic group. He was educated at College moderne in Bambari and Ecole normale and Ecole des cadres in Brazzaville.  On September 24, 1951, Ayandho became a deputy secretary in the civil service of French Equatorial Africa.  Ayandho worked in the payment service in Bangui from 1951 to 1954, at which time he became secretary to Fort Crampel.  In 1955, he became a finance agent. Ayandho was appointed leader of the Bimbo district in 1957 and served in this position until 1958. He received further education at the Ecole national de la France d'outre-mer, and after graduation returned to the Central African Republic. On August 17, 1960, Ayandho was appointed secretary-general of the Council of Ministers by President David Dacko. He became Minister of the national economy on May 1, 1964, and was appointed minister of rural action on January 1, 1962.

He was appointed high commissioner by President Jean-Bedel Bokassa on January 20, 1966. Ayandho became deputy minister of economic planning and technical assistance on February 28, 1969, then head of the ministry on September 17. He was named minister of industry, mines, and geology on February 4, 1970, and the ministry was renamed mines and energy on September 13, 1971. He served in this role until October 19. He became regional representative for Air Afrique in Gabon on December 31, and was appointed economic counselor at the Central African Republic embassy in Libreville on September 27, 1975.

After Bokassa was overthrown, Ayandho was named prime minister on September 26, 1979. He had been disgraced for a number of years prior. He was considered a potential successor as President.  On August 22, 1980, he was dismissed due to opposing President Dacko. Sylvestre Bangui resigned from the government in protest. Ayandho ran a private firm from 1980 to 1985, when he was named president of the Chamber of Commerce by President Andre Kolingba. Ayandho died on December 18, 1993 in Paris.

*****

Chad


*Hadje Halime, a Chadian activist, educator, and politician called the "mother of the revolution", was born in Salamat, Chad.

Hadjé Halimé Oumar (b. 1930, Salamat, Chad - d. 2001) was born in the town of Salamat in 1930 to a mother from Salamat and a father from Abeche. She became involved with the Parti Progressiste Tchadien (PPT) in 1950 while working as a Quranic instructor. She was able to bring in more women who did not know French due to her knowledge of Chadian Arabic. At the time she had only a limited grasp of French. She was particularly close to Gabriel Lisette, the founder of the party, and his wife, Lisette Yéyon. She became responsible for recruiting Northern women following the General Meeting of April 2, 1950.  Halimé harshly criticized the colonial administration's poll tax, and declared that if the PPT secured a victory, the poll tax would be abolished for all despite the platform calling for ending the tax only on women. She declared that Lisette was the undisputed leader of the party, despite the rise of Southern Chadian politician Francois Tombalbaye, and traveled to France on Lisette's urging to meet with the French politician Rene Coty. 

However, in 1959 and 1960, Tombalbaye gained power and Lisette was removed from power.  Halimé became the target of repression soon after independence, unlike her PPT female colleague Kaltouma Nguembang.  As part of a purge of those near to Lisette, Halimé's only son was murdered, and she was arrested in September 1963. At first, she was taken to Massenya in Chari-Baguirmi Region, then to a central prison in Chad's capital of N'Djamena, and finally to a dreaded prison at Kela. At the Kela prison, she was regularly tortured by guards through electrocution while French and Israeli army officers supervised. Her torture resulted in her losing all her fingernails and hair. Despite Tombalbaye wanting Halimé to be killed, a French officer spared her life. In an interview, she stated that only her faith was able to keep her going through the difficult circumstances of torture. She was finally released on April 28, 1975, days after the overthrow of Tombalbaye and his regime. Out of 600 people who were imprisoned during this purge, she was one of only 45 who lived.

Lisette, who had been exiled in France, helped bring her to Paris to receive medical treatment. Halimé spent time in a hospital in Cote d'Ivoire, where the president Felix Houphouet-Boigny mandated that her medical care be free. She later joined the National Liberation Front of Chad or FROLINAT, which was based in Libya. In 1978, she moved to Tripoli and returned to politics. FROLINAT members dubbed her "the mother of the revolution", and the party seized power in 1979. She also began educating girls in Libya and founded an Islamic school, the Rising New Generation, where she taught religion, home economics, and child care. She taught over 3600 girls at the school during her years there.

Halime returned to N'Djamena in 1980 with the Popular Armed Forces (FAP) leader Goukouni Oueddei. She was then the president of the women's faction of FROLINAT. After the election of Hissene Habre in 1982, she left with forces loyal to Oueddeï in Libya. While in Libya, Halimé taught military skills to exiled Chadian women. She returned to Chad in 1991, a year after the overthrow of Habré by Idriss Deby.  Many people told Deby they would support him only if he received the backing of Halimé, which she eventually gave. Shortly after her return, she won a seat in Chad's parliament and served there until 1996.

In 1993, Halime participated in the National Sovereign Conference (CNS), and was one of the most fervent defenders of the Arabic language. In 1994, she created an association called Women Az-Zara. On behalf of the association, she was voted among ten women candidates to be a member of the Higher Council of Transition, staying four years. In June 1996, she ran for parliament as a member of the opposition National Front of Chad party, as it was impossible to run as an independent. She was defeated but maintained the election was rigged. Halimé afterwards cared for orphans whose parents were killed during the Habré regime. She also opened an Arabic school in N'Djamena.

Halime went on six pilgrimages to Mecca in her life, including one last trip in 2000. She died on January 7, 2001.

*****

Democratic Republic of the Congo

(Belgian Congo)

(Zaire)

*Paul Panda Farnana M'Fumu, the first Congolese intellectual and a Pan-Africanist, died in Matada, Belgian Congo (May 12).

Paul Panda Farnana M'Fumu (b. 1888, Zemba-lez-Moanda in the Bas-Congo Province of the Congo Free State - d. May 12, 1930, Matada, Belgian Congo). He was the son of Luizi Fernando, a government-appointed chief. A Belgian official, Lieutenant Derscheid, offered to bring Farnana to Belgium to receive an education. He accepted, and they arrived in Brussels on April 25, 1900. Upon Dersheid's death, Farnana was adopted by the lieutenant's widow, Louise. He attended secondary school at Athénée Royal d'Ixelles. In 1904, he passed an entrance exam and was enrolled in a horticultural and agricultural school in Vilvoorde, graduating three years later with distinction. In 1908, Farfana studied at an institute for tropical agriculture in Nogent-sur-Marne, Paris, France. That same year he studied English in Mons. He was the first Congolese to receive a diploma of higher education in Belgium.

In 1909 Farfana was hired as an agricultural specialist by the Belgian colonial government which, by then, was running the former Congo Free State as the Belgian Congo. In June, he was assigned to the Botanic Garden of Eala, near Coquilhatville.

Shortly before the outbreak of World War I, Farfana was living in Belgium. He served in the Belgian Army during the war, though he spent most of it as a German prisoner of war. Afterwards, he founded the Union Congolaise to advocate for the interests of other Belgian-Congolese veterans.

Farfana participated in the first and second Pan-African Congresses in 1919 and 1921, respectively. He also attended the First National Belgian Colonial Congress in 1920. He actively criticized Beglium's colonial practices, arguing that the ban on forced labor in the Congo was not consistently obeyed and that schools for the native population were inadequate. He also called for the Congolese to be granted political rights.

In 1929, Farfana went to Matada to manage an oil mill. He died there nine months later.

Farfana is considered the first Congolese intellectual. Following his death, Belgium forbade any further Congolese from studying in Belgium.

Farnana's work was largely forgotten by the public until Congolese historians began uncovering details about his life in the 1970s and 1980s. A Belgian documentary was made about him in 2008.

*****

*Marcel Antoine Lihau,  a Congolese politician and law professor who served as the President of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Congo and was involved in the creation of two functional constitutions for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was born in Lisala, Equateur Province, Belgian Congo (September 30). 

Marcel Antoine Lihau or Ebua Libana la Molengo Lihau (b. September 29, 1930, Lisala, Equateur Province, Belgian Congo – d. April 9, 1999, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States) was the eldest of eight children. Circumventing regular colonial restrictions on education of Congolese, sociologist Willy De Craemer actively prepared Lihau for the Jury Central exam for admission to the Universite catholique de Louvain. For tutoring Lihau in Latin, Greek, and Flemish, De Craemer was blacklisted by the Governor General of the Congo. Regardless, Lihau passed the exam with an exceptionally high score and was enrolled in the university to study Roman philology. In reality, he took courses related to law (then not offered to Congolese students) with the help of De Craemer and Jesuit educators. For the duration of his studies he stayed with the family of Karel Theunissen, the former director of Leopoldville Radio. Lihau served as president of the small Congolese-Ruanda-Urundi student association in Belgium.

In 1958, a conference of Belgian missionaries was held to discuss expansion of tertiary education in the Congo. Lihau was invited to give a speech in which he encouraged Belgian clergy to join the side of Congolese activists and abandon the attitude of "clerical paternalism". In 1962, restrictions on Congolese education were loosened and Lihau became a PhD law student. By January 1963 he had earned his degree with distinction, being the very first Congolese to study law in Belgium.

Lihau married Sophie Kanza on December 26, 1964. They had six daughters: Elisabeth, Anne, Irene, Catherine, Rachel and Sophie. Due to his political activities and flight from persecution they spent most of their later lives separated.

Marcel Lihau died on April 9, 1999, seven days after the death of his wife. He was buried in Gombe, Kinshasa. 

*****

*Mobutu Sese Seko, a President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was born in Lisala, Belgian Congo (October 14).

Mobutu Sese Seko (aka Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga, b. Joseph-Desiré Mobutu, October 14, 1930, Lisala, Belgian Congo – d. September 7, 1997, Rabat, Morocco), was the military dictator and President of  Zaire [now the Democratic Republic of the Congo]  from 1965 to 1997. He also served as Chairperson of the Organization of African Unity from 1967–1968.
Mobutu Sese Seko was educated in missionary schools and began his career in 1949 in the Belgian Congolese army, the Force Publique, rising from a clerk to a sergeant major, the highest rank then open to Africans. While still in the army, Mobutu contributed articles to newspapers in Léopoldville (now Kinshasa). After his discharge in 1956 he became a reporter for the daily L’Avenir (“The Future”) and later editor of the weekly Actualités Africaines.

Through his press contacts Mobutu met the Congolese nationalist leader Patrice Lumumba, whose Congolese National Movement (Mouvement National Congolais or MNC) he joined soon after it was launched in 1958. In 1960 Mobutu represented Lumumba at the Brussels Round Table Conference on Congo independence until the release of Lumumba, who had been jailed for his nationalist activities in the Congo. During the conference, Mobutu supported Lumumba’s proposals (which were adopted) for a strongly centralized state for the independent Congo.

When the Congo became independent on June 30, 1960, the coalition government of President Joseph Kasavubu and Premier Lumumba appointed Mobutu secretary of state for national defense. Eight days later the Congo’s Force Publique mutinied against its Belgian officers. As one of the few officers with any control over the army (gained by liberally dispensing commissions and back pay to the mutineers), Mobutu was in a position to influence the developing power struggle between Kasavubu and Lumumba.

Mobutu covertly supported Kasavubu’s attempt to dismiss Lumumba. When Lumumba rallied his forces to oust Kasavubu in September 1960, Mobutu seized control of the government and announced that he was “neutralizing” all politicians. In February 1961, however, Mobutu turned over the government to Kasavubu, who made Mobutu commander in chief of the armed forces. Many believe that Mobutu bore some responsibility for the death of Lumumba, who was arrested by Mobutu’s troops and flown to Katanga, where, it is believed, he was killed by Congolese or Katangese troops.
As commander in chief Mobutu reorganized the army. In 1965, after a power struggle had developed between President Kasavubu and his premier, Moise Tshombe, Mobutu removed Kasavubu in a coup and assumed the presidency. Two years later Mobutu put down an uprising led by white mercenaries attached to the Congolese army. His efforts to revive the Congo’s economy included such measures as nationalizing the Katanga copper mines and encouraging foreign investment. Agricultural revitalization lagged, however, and consequently, the need for food imports increased.

As president, Mobutu moved to Africanize names. The name of the country was changed in October 1971 from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Congo [Kinshasa]) to the Republic of Zaire (the country reverted back to its earlier name in 1997). In January 1972 Mobutu changed his own name from Joseph-Désiré Mobutu to Mobutu Sese Seko Koko Ngbendu Wa Za Banga (“The all-powerful warrior who, because of his endurance and inflexible will to win, will go from conquest to conquest, leaving fire in his wake”).

Mobutu attempted to soften the military nature of his regime by filling government posts with civilians. He sought to build popular support through his Popular Movement of the Revolution (Mouvement Populaire de la Révolution or MPR), which until 1990 was the country’s only legal party. Opposition to his rule came from numerous Congolese exiles, ethnic groups that had played decisive roles in previous governments, small farmers who gained no share in the attempted economic revival, and some university students. He also faced a continuing threat of attacks on the Shaba region (Mobutu’s Africanized name for the Katanga province) by Katangese rebels based in Angola.

In 1977 Mobutu had to request French military intervention to repel an invasion of Zaire by Angolan-backed Katangese. He was re-elected to the presidency in one-man contests in 1970 and 1977. Over the years Mobutu proved adept at maintaining his rule in the face of internal rebellions and attempted coups, but his regime had little success in establishing the conditions needed for economic growth and development. Endemic governmental corruption, mismanagement, and neglect led to the decline of the country’s infrastructure, while Mobutu himself reportedly amassed one of the largest personal fortunes in the world.

With the end of the Cold War in the 1990s, Mobutu lost much of the Western financial support that had been provided in return for his intervention in the affairs of Zaire’s neighbors. Marginalized by the multi-party system and ill, Mobutu finally relinquished control of the government in May 1997 to the rebel leader Laurent Kabila, whose forces had begun seizing power seven months earlier. Mobutu died in exile a short time later.

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*Frederic Etsou-Nzabi-Bamungwabi, the foremost Roman Catholic prelate of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1991 to 2007 who became a Cardinal and Archbishop of Kinshasa, was born in the Belgian Congo (December 3).

Educated  by Roman Catholic missionaries, Frédéric Etsou-Nzabi-Bamungwabi (b. December 3, 1930, Belgian Congo – d. January 6, 2007, Leuven, Belgium) joined the CICM missionaries (Latin: Congregatio Immaculati Cordis Mariae, or the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary) in 1959. He was ordained as a priest on July 13, 1958, and assigned to the city of Leopoldville.  He later studied sociology and theology in France and Belgium before returning to the Congo in the late 1960s.

Etsou became Archbishop of Mbandaka-Bikoro on November 11, 1977, and Archbishop of Kinshasa in 1990. He was proclaimed a Cardinal-Priest of S. Lucia a Piazza d'Armi by Pope John Paul II on June 28, 1991, succeeding the first Zairean Cardinal, Joseph-Albert Cardinal Malula. He took charge of the Congo's Catholic Church in the final years of the rule of longtime dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, and it was said at the time that he was chosen with Mobutu's support. After Mobutu was overthrown in 1997, Etsou spoke out against what he described as the strong-arm tactics of the new leader, Laurent Kabila, the father of the current president of the DRC, Joseph Kabila, who took power in 2001 following his father's assassination.

Etsou was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2005 papal conclave that selected Pope Benedict XVI. 

In a statement to the Congolese nation and to the international community released on November 11, 2006 from Paris, the Cardinal seemed to doubt the independence of the country's Independent Electoral Commission (headed by a Catholic priest, Apollinaire Malu Malu) and the outcome of the runoff of the first direct presidential election in the more than 40-year history of the country pitting the incumbent Kabila against his challenger vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba.  He warned of what he called international meddling and accused several officials with Kabila's transitional government of stealing from the state treasury and demanded their resignations. These statement created tension in the capital city, the stronghold of the challenger, whose family is close to the Cardinal who also hails from the same Equateur Province.  The results of the second round of the presidential election, published on November 15, 2006, gave the incumbent a win with 58.05% and his opponent 41.95%.

Frédéric Etsou-Nzabi-Bamungwabi died of diabetes and pneumonia at the University Hospital in Leuven, Belgium, on January 6, 2007.  He was buried in Kinshasa.

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Djibouti

*Barkat Hamadou, the Prime Minister of Djibouti from October 2, 1978 to March 7, 2001, was born in the Dikhil Region of French Somaliland (January 1).

Barkat Gourad Hamadou (Arabic: بركات غوراد حمادو‎‎) (b. January 1, 1930, Dikhil Region, French Somaliland) was a member of the Afar ethnic group and was born in the Dikhil Region, in the southwest of Djibouti. Prior to Djibouti's independence, he was a member of the Senate of France; he was first elected as a Senator on  September 26, 1965, and he was re-elected on September 22, 1974.  After Djibouti became independent in June 1977, Hamadou served in the government as Minister of Health. President Hassan Gouled Aptidon then appointed him as Prime Minister on September 30, 1978, and his first government was formed on October 2, 1978; in addition to serving as Prime Minister, Hamadou held the Ports portfolio in that government.

Hamadou was the first candidate on the candidate list of the ruling People's Rally for Prgoress (RPP) for the District of Djibouti in the December 1992 parliamentary election.  Following the election, Hamadou was reappointed as Prime Minister by Gouled on February 4, 1993, with a government composed of 18 ministers (including Hamadou).  A peace agreement with the Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy (FRUD), an Afar rebel group, was signed in 1994; Hamadou played an important role in this agreement. A new government that included members of FRUD was formed on June 8,1995. Hamadou remained Prime Minister in this government and was additionally assigned the development portfolio.

Hamadou was the first candidate on the RPP/FRUD candidate list for the District of Djibouti in the December 1997 parliamentary election.  After this election, he was again reappointed as Prime Minister, with a 17-member government (including Hamadou), on December 28, 1997. After Gouled was succeeded by Ismail Omar Guelieh in May 1999, Hamadou was retained as Prime Minister.

On the night of March 9, 2000, Hamadou was admitted to the French army hospital in Djibouti due to heart trouble. He was then moved to Paris, where he was hospitalized from March 2000 to October 2000. Although he was re-elected as Vice-President of the RPP in early 2001, he subsequently submitted his resignation as Prime Minister to President Guelleh on February 6, 2001 due to poor health. Guelleh accepted the resignation, and Hamadou was succeeded by Dileita Mohamed Dileita on March 7, 2001. Hamadou later resigned as RPP Vice-President due to his health and was succeeded in that post by Dileita on July 3, 2003.  He was instead made an Honorary Member of the RPP Executive Committee.

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Ethiopia

In early 1930, Gugsa Welle, the husband of the empress Zewditu and the Shum (Governor) of Begemder Province, raised an army and marched it from his governorate at Gondar towards Addis Adaba. On March 31, 1930, Gugsa Welle was met by forces loyal to Negus Tafari (the future Haile Selassie) and was defeated at the Battle of Anchem.  Gugsa Welle was killed in action. News of Gugsa Welle's defeat and death had hardly spread through Addis Ababa when the empress died suddenly on April 2, 1930. Although it was long rumored that the empress was poisoned upon the defeat of her husband, or alternately that she died from shock upon hearing of the death of her estranged yet beloved husband, it has since been documented that the Empress succumbed to a flu-like fever and complications from diabetes. 

With the passing of Zewditu, Tafari himself rose to emperor and was proclaimed Neguse Negest ze-'Ityopp'ya, "King of Kings of Ethiopia". He was crowned on November 2, 1930, at Addis Adaba's Cathedral of Saint George.  The coronation was attended by royals and dignitaries from all over the world. Among those in attendance were George V's son the Duke of Gloucester, Marshal Franchet d'Esperey of France, and the Prince of Udine representing the King of Italy. Emissaries from the United States, Egypt, Turkey, Sweden, Belgium, and Japan were also present. British author Evelyn Waugh was also present, penning a contemporary report on the event, and American travel lecturer Burton Holmes shot the only known film footage of the event. One newspaper report suggested that the celebration may have incurred a cost in excess of $3,000,000. Many of those in attendance received lavish gifts. In one instance, the Christian emperor even sent a gold-encased Bible to an American bishop who had not attended the coronation, but who had dedicated a prayer to the emperor on the day of the coronation.

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*On March 31, 1930, Gugsa Welle, the husband of the empress Zewditu and the Shum (Governor) of Begemder Province, was met by forces loyal to Negus Tafari (the future Haile Selassie) and was defeated at the Battle of Anchem.  Gugsa Welle was killed in action.

Gugsa Welle (1875 – 31 March 1930), also known as Gugsa Wale, Gugsa Wolie and Gugsa Wele, was an army commander and a member of the Royal family of the Ethiopian Empire. He represented a provincial ruling elite which was often at odds with the Ethiopian central government.Gugsa Wale was born in Marto in Yejju Province. He was the son of Ras Welle Betul and the nephew of Empress Taytu Betul. His half-sister, Kefey Wale, was the second wife of Ras Mangesha Yohannes, the natural son of Emperor Yohannes IV.

Taytu Betul arranged the marriage of Gugsa Wale to Leult Zewditu, the eldest daughter of Emperor Menelek II and an earlier wife. Gugsa and Zewditu were married in 1900, six years before her elevation to Empress. Gugsa was her fourth husband. Upon his marriage to Zewditu, Gugsa Wale was immediately promoted to Ras over Begemder Province. This alliance allowed Empress Taytu to extend her influence over this important province. Despite the political nature of this marriage, the two were happy. However, in 1909, Gugsa was summoned to Addis Ababa by Menelek II to respond to the charge that he had mistreated Zewditu.

Ras Gugsa came close to becoming the power behind the throne during the intrigue that characterized the years of Emperor Menelik II's senility, for in 1909, the Empress Taytu made a serious effort to prevent the accession of Lij Iyasu as Menelik's successor. This led to the rumor that Empress Taytu and her brother, Ras Wale Betul, intended to move the capital to Gondar and make Ras Gugsa the Emperor.  However, the Shewan aristocracy agreed that their authority, positions and honors depended on obeying Menelik's wishes, and they united behind Lij Iyasu as the successor. Despite this setback, Ras Gugsa initially supported the resulting status quo: when Dejazmach Abraha Araya rebelled in Tigray, Gugsa supported Dejazmach Abate Bwalu who was sent to suppress this threat, helping him to defeat Dejazmach Abraha in the Battle of Lake Ashenge on October 9.

However, once Iyasu was secure as Emperor the following year, Ras Gugsa was arrested on a murder charge. By late April, he was in chains in Addis Ababa and no longer a potential threat to the government. This confinement proved to be cruel. Gugsa was kept in chains for so long that his legs became swollen and the metal cut into his flesh. Zewditu begged Iyasu's short-lived Regent, Ras Tessema Nadew, to ease conditions for Gugsa. But it was not until 1915, when she was relegated to Falle, that Gugsa was released and the two were allowed to live together.

In 1916, a successful coup d'etat against Iyasu resulted in his being deposed and Zewditu being proclaimed Empress. Iyasu's father, Mikael of Wollo, then invaded Shewa Province with an army to restore Iyasu. Mikael was defeated in the Battle of Segale.  With Iyasu deposed, Zewditu became "Queen of Kings" and Empress of Ethiopia, and her young cousin Tafari Makonnen became heir to the throne and Regent of the Empire.

Empress Zewditu and Gugsa were restored to good graces. But the Shewan leadership, leery of a resurgence of the influence of Dowager Empress Taitu and her family, forced Gugsa to separate from Zewditu and he was sent to Gondar where he served once again as Governor of Begemder. Gugsa also served as Governor of Semien at this time.

The crowning of Tafari Makonnen was controversial. He occupied the same territory as Zewditu rather than occupying a far off region in the empire. In Ethiopian history, two monarchs, even with one being the vassal and the other the Emperor (in this case Empress), had never occupied the same location as their seat. Conservatives, including Balcha Safo, agitated to redress this perceived insult to the Empress and to the dignity of the crown. This state of agitation ultimately led to Ras Gugsa's rebellion in 1930.  Gugsa saw Zewditu remaining as Empress and himself as the future Emperor. However, Empress Zewditu did not authorize or openly support his rebellious actions.

In January, Gugsa raised an army in Begemder. On March 28, Gugsa marched from his governorate at Gondar towards the capital. But, on March 31, he was met near the border by the Army of the Center (Mahel Sefari) and he was defeated and killed at the Battle of Anchem. News of Gugsa Wale's defeat and death had hardly spread through Addis Ababa when the Empress died suddenly on April 2. Although it was long rumored that the Empress was poisoned upon the defeat of her husband, or alternately that she died from shock upon hearing of the death of her estranged yet beloved husband, it has since been documented that the Empress succumbed to a flu-like fever (possibly typhoid) and complications from diabetes.

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*Zewditu, the Empress of Ethiopia from 1916 to 1930, died (April 2).  

Zewditu (also spelled Zawditu or Zauditu; Ge'ez: ዘውዲቱ; b. April 29, 1876 – d. April 2, 1930) was Empress of Ethiopia from 1916 to 1930. The first female head of an internationally recognized state in Africa in the 19th and 20th centuries, and the first Empress regnant of the Ethiopian Empire perhaps since the legendary Makeda, the Queen of Sheba, Zewditu's reign was noted for the reforms of her Regent and designated heir Ras Tafari Makonnen (who succeeded her as Emperor Haile Selassie I), about which she was at best ambivalent and often stridently opposed, due to her staunch conservatism and strong religious devotion.

Baptised as Askala Maryam ("Askal of Mary," a type of flower), but using the given name Zewditu, the future Empress was the eldest daughter of the then Negus (or King) Menelik of Shewa, the future emperor Menelek II of Ethiopia. Zewditu is an Amharic word meaning "the Crown", though it sometimes appears erroneously Anglicized as "Judith", with which it is not cognate. Her mother, Weyziro (Lady) Abechi, was a noblewoman of Wollo and a brief companion of Menelek. Her mother had separated from Menelik when Zewditu was very young, and the future empress was raised by her father and his consort Baffana.  Negus Menelik later married Taytu Betul, but had no children by this wife. Menelik had three acknowledged children: Zewditu herself, a son Asfaw Wossen who died in infancy, and another daughter Shewa Regga, the mother of Lij Iyasu, Menelik's eventual heir. However, the Emperor remained closest to Zewditu, who also had good relations with her stepmother Empress Taytu, and was part of her father's household for most of her life.

In 1886, the ten-year-old Zewditu was married to Ras Araya Selassie Yohannes, the son and heir of  Emperor Yohannes IV. The marriage was political, having been arranged when Menelik agreed to submit to Yohannes' rule. Yohannes and Menelik eventually fell into conflict again, however, with Menelik launching a rebellion against Yohannes' rule. Zewditu's marriage was childless, being very young during her marriage, although her husband had fathered a son by another woman. When Araya Selassie died in 1888, she left Mekele and returned to her father's court in Shewa. Despite the hostility between Menelik and Yohannes, Zewditu managed throughout the conflict to maintain good relations with both. In a sign of his high regard and affection for his daughter-in-law, Emperor Yohannes IV sent Zewditu back to Shewa with a large gift of valuable cattle, at a point that relations between him and her father were at a particularly low point.

Zewditu had two further marriages, both brief, before marrying Ras Gugsa Welle. Ras Gugsa Welle was the nephew of Empress Taytu, Zewditu's stepmother. Zewditu had already been on good terms with Taytu, but the establishment of a direct tie between the two helped cement the relationship. Unlike her prior marriages, Zewditu's marriage to Gugsa Welle is thought to have been happy.

Upon the death of Emperor Yohannes IV at the Battle of Metemma against the Mahdists of the Sudan, Negus Menelik of Shewa assumed power and became Emperor of Ethiopia in 1889. This restored the direct male line succession of the dynasty, as Emperor Yohannes' claim to the throne was through a female link to the line. As the daughter of Menelik II, Zewditu would be the last monarch in direct agnatic descent from the Solomonic dynasty. Her successor Haile Selassie was also linked in the female line. In 1913, Menelik died, and Lij Iyasu, the son of Zewditu's half-sister Shewa Regga, who had been publicly declared heir apparent in 1909, took the throne. Iyasu considered Zewditu a potential threat to his rule, and exiled her and her husband to the countryside.

Due to fears of instability that might be caused, the cabinet of ministers decided not to publicly proclaim the death of Menelik II. As a result, Iyasu was never officially proclaimed as Emperor Iyasu V. However, both Menelik's death and Iyasu's de facto accession were widely known and accepted. The Church authorities, the Lord Regent Ras Tessema, and the ministers agreed that Iyasu's coronation should be postponed until he was a bit older and had taken Holy Communion with his wife making his marriage insoluble in the eyes of the Orthodox Church. However Iyasu quickly encountered problems with his rule and he was never crowned. He was widely disliked by the nobility for his unstable behavior, and the church held him in suspicion for his alleged Muslim sympathies. After a troubled few years, Iyasu was removed from power. Zewditu was summoned to the capital, and on September 27, 1916, the Council of State and the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church officially announced the death of Emperor Menelik II and deposed Iyasu in favor of Zewditu. Zewditu's official title was "Queen of Kings" (Negiste Negest), a modification of the traditional title "King of Kings" (Negusa Nagast).

Initially, Zewditu was not permitted to exercise power herself. Instead, her cousin Ras Tafari Makonnen was appointed regent, and her father's old loyal general, Fitawrari Hapte Giorgis Dinagde was made commander in chief of the army. Ras Tafari was also made heir apparent to Zewditu – none of Zewditu's children had survived to adulthood. In 1928, after an attempt to remove Ras Tafari Makonnen from power failed, the Empress was compelled to crown her cousin Negus.

While the conservative Ethiopian aristocracy was generally supportive of Zewditu, it was less enthusiastic about many of her relatives. Zewditu's stepmother and the aunt of her husband, Dowager Empress Taytu Betul, had withdrawn from the capital after Menelik's death, but was still distrusted somewhat due to the evident favoritism she had practiced during the reign of her late husband. In an attempt to limit her influence, the aristocracy arranged for her nephew (Zewditu's husband Ras Gugsa Welle) to be appointed to a remote governorship, removing him from court. This move, while intended as a strike against Taytu rather than against Zewditu, is believed to have upset Zewditu considerably. Zewditu also suffered guilt for taking the throne from Lij Iyasu, who her father had wanted to succeed him – while she believed that Iyasu's overthrow was necessary, she had admired her father greatly, and was unhappy at having to disobey his wishes. Her separation from her husband and her guilt about Iyasu's overthrow combined to make Zewditu not particularly happy as Empress. Increasingly, the Empress retreated from state responsibility into a world of fasting and prayer, as the progressive elements that surrounded the heir, Tafari Makonnen gained in strength and influence at court.

The early period of Zewditu's reign was marked by a war against Lij Iyasu, who had escaped captivity. Backed by his father, Negus Mikael of Wollo,  a powerful northern leader, Iyasu attempted to regain the throne. The two failed to effectively coordinate their efforts however, and after some initial victories Iyasu's father was defeated and captured at the Battle of Segale.  The Negus was paraded through the streets of Addis Ababa in chains, carrying a rock of repentance on his shoulders, before entering the throne room and kissing the Empress's shoes to beg for her mercy. The heir to the throne, Ras Tafari Makonnen was not present at this spectacle out of consideration for the feelings of his wife, who was the granddaughter of Negus Mikael.

Upon hearing of his father's defeat and humiliation, Iyasu himself fled to Afar. After years on the run, Iyasu was later captured by Dejazmach Gugsa Araya Selassie,  the son who Zewditu's first husband had fathered by another woman. Gugsa Araya was rewarded with the title of Ras from his former stepmother, and Princess Yeshashework Yilma, the niece of Tafari Makonnen, as his bride. When Iyasu was captured, a tearful Empress Zewditu pleaded that he be kept in a special house on the grounds of the palace where she would see to his care and he could receive religious counsel. She found Ras Tafari and Fitawrari Hapte Giorgis to be unbendingly opposed, and so gave up. She did however make sure that special favorite foods and a constant supply of clothing and small luxuries reached Iyasu at his place of arrest in Sellale.

As Empress Zewditu's reign progressed, the difference in outlook gradually widened between her and her appointed heir, Ras Tafari Makonnen. Tafari was a modernizer, believing that Ethiopia needed to open itself to the world in order to survive. In this, he had the backing of many younger nobles. Zewditu, however, was a conservative, believing in the preservation of Ethiopian tradition. She had the strong backing of the church in this belief. Slowly, however, Zewditu began to withdraw from active politics, leaving more and more power to Tafari. Under Tafari's direction, Ethiopia entered the League of Nations, and abolished slavery. Zewditu busied herself with religious activities, such as the construction of a number of significant churches.

In 1928, there was a small conservative uprising against Tafari's reforms, but it was unsuccessful. Empress Zewditu was compelled to grant Tafari, who now controlled most of the Ethiopian government, the title of King (Negus). While Negus Tafari remained under the nominal rule of Zewditu (who was still Negeste Negest, Queen of Kings or Empress), Tafari was now effectively the ruler of Ethiopia. A number of attempts were made to displace him, but they were all unsuccessful. In 1930, Zewditu's husband Ras Gugsa Welle led a rebellion against Negus Tafari in Begemder, hoping to end the regency in spite of his wife's repeated pleas and orders to desist, but was defeated and killed in battle by the modernized Ethiopian army at the Battle of Anchem on March 31, 1930.

On April 2, 1930, two days after Ras Gugsa Welle was killed in battle, Empress Zewditu died. It is known today that Zewditu suffered from diabetes, and was seriously ill with typhoid, but it is not universally agreed that this was the cause of her death. According to some popular histories, Zewditu died of shock and grief at hearing of her husband's death, but other accounts contradict this, claiming that Zewditu was not informed of the battle's outcome before her sudden death. Some diplomatic sources in Addis Ababa reported at the time that the fever stricken Empress was immersed in a large container of frigidly cold holy water to cure her of her illness, but that her body went into shock and she died shortly thereafter. The timing of her death immediately after news of the outcome of the battle reached Addis Ababa has caused considerable speculation as to her cause of death. Some, particularly conservative critics of her successor, Emperor Haile Selassie, allege that once the rebellion had been decisively defeated, he or his supporters felt safe in poisoning Zewditu. Accordingly, speculation as to the cause of Zewditu's death continues today.

Empress Zewditu was succeeded on the throne by Negus Tafari, who took the name of Emperor Haile Selassie.

*****
*Hirut Desta, the granddaughter of Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie, was born in the Ethiopian Empire (April 20). 

Hirut Desta (also Ruth Desta) (b. April 20, 1930, Ethiopian Empire - d. 2014, London, England) was the daughter of Ras Desta Damtew and Princess Tenagnework Haile Selassie, and granddaughter of Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia.  She was the widow of General Nega Tegegu, who was governor of the provinces of Begember and Semien. 

Princess Hirut was educated at the School of St. Clare (renamed Bolitho School), Penzance, Cornwall, and Clarendon School, Abergele, North Wales.

Princess Hirut was imprisoned by the Dergue from 1974 until 1988. Princess Hirut Desta died in London aged 84 in 2014, and her funeral was conducted at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Addis Ababa. 

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*Ras Tafari, who took the name Haile Selassie when he was proclaimed Negus (King) two years ago, was crowned King of Kings at Addis Adaba (November 2).  He would reign until 1974 and be regarded by Jamaican Rastafarians as the living God.  He was seen as fulfilling a prophecy of Marcus Garvey, "Look to Africa, where a black king shall be crowned, for the day of deliverance is near."

On November 2, 1930, after the death of Empress Zewditu (on April 2), Ras Tafari was crowned Negusa Nagast, literally King of Kings, rendered in English as "Emperor". Upon his ascension, he took as his regnal name Haile Selassie I. Haile means in Ge'ez "Power of" and Selassie means trinity — therefore, Haile Selassie roughly translates to "Power of the Trinity".  Haile Selassie's full title in office was "By the Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I, King of Kings of Ethiopia, Elect of God". This title reflects Ethiopian dynastic traditions, which hold that all monarchs must trace their lineage to Menelik I, who in the Ethiopian tradition was the offspring of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.  

*****

*Italy built a fort at the Welwel oasis (also Walwal, Italian: Ual-Ual) in the Ogaden and garrisoned it with Somali Ascari (dubats) (irregular frontier troops commanded by Italian officers).

The Italo-Ethiopian Treaty of 1928 stated that the border between Italian Somaliland and Ethiopia was twenty-one leagues parallel to the Benadir coast (approximately 118.3 kilometres [73.5 miles]).  The fort at Welwel was well beyond the twenty-one league limit and the Italians were encroaching on Ethiopian territory.

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*'Abd Allah II ibn 'Ali 'Abd ash-Shakur, the last Emir of Harar, died. 

'Abd Allah II ibn 'Ali 'Abd ash-Shakur, also known as Amir Hajji 'Abdu'llahi II ibn 'Ali 'Abdu's Shakur, (18??-1930) was the last Emir of Harar from 1884 (or 1885, various sources carry various dates) to January 26, 1887, when the state was terminated, following the defeat of the Harari troops at the Battle of Chelenqo (January 6).

Emir 'Abd Allah was the son of Muhammad ibn 'Ali 'Abd ash-Shakur by Kadija, the daughter of Emir 'Abd al-Karim ibn Muhammad.  To secure his hold on the emirate of Harar, his father had married 'Abd Allah to the daughter of Ahmad III ibn Abu Bakr, his predecessor. When the Egyptians evacuated Harar, 'Abd Allah became the logical choice to rule Harar, and was given a few hundred soldiers trained by one of the British officers, 300 to 400 rifles, some cannon, and munitions, a force barely sufficient to garrison Harar and Jaldessa, let alone police the trade routes and ensure the security of the state.

Emir 'Abd Allah grew paranoid of the growing Ethiopian threat to his domain, and accused the resident Europeans of co-operating with Negus Menelik II.  His situation deteriorated by July 1885.  The population grew uncontrollable, European traders became virtual prisoners in their homes and shops, and the adjacent Galla raided the town.  In response, Emir 'Abd Allah introduced a new currency which impoverished the local population.  The neighboring Oromo and Somali deserted Harar's markets and the town's economy collapsed.

Emir 'Abd Allah responded to the first Ethiopian military probe with a night attack on their camp at Hirna which included fireworks. The unmotivated troops panicked at the pyrotechnics and fled toward the Asabot and Awash Rivers. When the Negus Menelik personally led a second attack a few months later, the Emir misjudged the quality of these troops and attempted to repeat his earlier success of a second night attack. Had he allowed the enemy to attack the walled city, where his few Krupp cannon might have been effective, the Shoans might have suffered a defeat with serious political consequences. But that is not what 'Abd Allah did.  As a result, the battle at Chelenqo destroyed 'Abd Allah's army in fifteen minutes.

With his wives and children, the Emir fled into the empty country east of Harar, leaving his uncle Ali Abu Barka to submit to Menelik and ask clemency for Harar.

The former Emir 'Abd Allah later returned to the town to live as a Sufi or religious scholar.  'Abd Allah died in Harar in 1930.

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*Bulcha Demeksa, an outspoken Ethiopian politician and businessman who became the founder of the Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement, one of Ethiopia's largest opposition parties, was born. 

Bulcha Demeksa (b. 1930) is an outspoken Ethiopian politician and businessman. He is the founder of the Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement (OFDM), one of Ethiopia's largest opposition parties.

In 1967, Demeksa was appointed vice-minister of Finance before representing his country at the board of the World Bank. In 1974, when the Ethiopian Revolution started, he left Ethiopia and was hired by the United Nations administration. Demeksa took his retirement in Ethiopia in 1991, and in 1994, he created the Awash International Bank which became a success.

Bulcha Demeksa has been one of the most outspoken opponents of the late Meles Zenawi's government and the opposition leader most referred by the international media. With other opposition officials, he helped the creation of Medrek, a larger opposition alliance.

Bulcha resigned as OFDM party chairman in late 2010 but continued as an adviser for the leadership. His retirement from OFDM and his harsh criticism of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and on the 2010 elections were a regular feature story on dozens of private Amharic and English newspapers in the country.

At the end of 2008, Bulcha was named "Person of the Year" by Jimma Times, the online version of the defunct Afan Oromo private Yeroo newspaper. He was chosen for his work in the financial sector and his work for human rights and democracy as well as peace activist between different warring sections of the Ethiopian society.

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