Articles
Ato Ketema Yifru
OAU
Farewell to Ketema Yifru
06:42
It was in the
late fifties continuing into the sixties when "The Wind of Change” began to blow strongly across the continent of
Africa. The sixties was a special decade because the torch of freedom and
independence was cascading rapidly from one African country to the other, as
the shackles of colonialism kept [to fall] and continues to do so until we all
witness the burial of the last vestige of colonialism with the impending
independence by the fact that one eminent Ethiopian will not be around to witness when Nelson
Mandela will soon be extolled at the helm of Independent South Africa. This
Ethiopian is none other than great Ethiopian and an avowed Pan-Africanist, who
passed away last week in Addis Ababa. Ironically, some thirty years ago, when
the white South African security force apprehended Nelson Mandela, two
articles were confiscated from his pocket; one, was the memento from Emperor
Haile Selassie and the other was a small photo of Ketema Yifru which Mandela
kept from his days in Ethiopia.
Ketema's death
may evoke many different memories to everyone who remembers him, be it in
Ethiopia or elsewhere? To those of us who closely followed the path of
his career and worked with him, we remember him most for the brilliant
achievements he garnered both for himself and for Ethiopia when serving his
country as a Foreign Minister for more than a full decade. After all, that was
enjoying great respect for their achievements and visionary thinking, both
domestically and internationally. Those were the days when all Africans were in
upbeat mode, many of them dazed with exuberant celebrations on the
occasion of their newly acquired independence. Dignitaries of all shades
from every African state were criss- crossing the continent, first time for
most of them, to attend these celebrations. Ethiopia too was in the take of
those happy period; dies one remember when Prince Sahle Selassie was sent to
Accra representing Emperor Haile Selassie for the occasion of Ghana's
independence celebration in 1957?
It was because of
the very causes leading to these happy events that Ketema should all the more
be remembered. It was he, more than any Ethiopian Foreign Minister in
memory, who astutely, diligently, indefatigably and with a dedicated sense of
politically nationalistic support, escorted most of the African freedom
movement fighters, later turned leader, during their trying period of
political struggles en-route to independence. Taking arduous trips, from
Algeria to Southern Africa or from Guinea Bissau across to neighboring Kenya,
it was Ketema's unending diplomatic initiatives in Africa, not to mention his
other efforts outside Africa that helped Ethiopia achieve a most successful
foreign policy during the eventful period of the sixties. His work
schedules at headquarters too, attested to no lesser task of activities; typically,
Monday might be meeting with Amilcar Cabral, a week later was Nyerere, Kaunda
was on continuing on and on, as the retinue of distinguished Africans visiting
Ketema's office kept on coming.
For Ketema, these
series of meetings with his African counterparts were
terribly important as they served him well in shaping Ethiopia's foreign policy.
It was the cumulative experience he gained from such meetings that
helped him most in playing a leading role in the African political landscape of
the sixties during which period Ethiopia was crowned to seat the headquarters
of the Organization of African Unity. It was an enviable prize with which
Ketema was closely identified with French backed Senegal. Needless to
mention, Ketema's diplomatic performances and participation in the Non-Aligned Movements and in the Group of Seventy Seven are not to be
underestimated for his contributions to their respective deliberations be it in
Belgrade, Bandung, Cairo, United Nations, Montevideo, etc. In point
of fact, for a long time, Ketema Yifru was a household name that
appeared daily with high regard and affection in the news media throughout
Africa. At one time, even figures like J. Wachuku, the ebullient External
Minister of the Nigerian Federation, had gone to the extent of refusing to
greet any Ethiopian he met after hearing the news that his friend Ketema Yifru
had been detained by the Derg.
It was under such
background that Ketema' professional talent and his individual character as a
person came to the limelight of outside observers. To begin with, he was a
great communicator with people both socially as well as in official capacity.
Apparently, his Ethiopian schoolmates recognized this in early times at
Wisconsin and Boston Universities where Ketema received his higher
education. In the late fifties, serving for three years as Vice Minister in
the politically charged post of the Ministry of Pen, Ketema distinguished himself
with exceptional political acumen in Ethiopia's intricate domestic
politics. He used to say how important his work in this ministry meant to
him by way of grasping firsthand knowledge that he felt to have missed in his
youth and about which, his uncle, Ato Teklu, used to narrate for him on the
unique traditional system of administration practiced in the Ethiopian Imperial
Court. During fascist occupation of Ethiopia, uncle Teklu and Ketema both lived
together in exile with other Ethiopian refugees first, in Menchasein,
Somaliland, and later at Taveta, Kenya.
As a person,
Ketema always behaved in a humble and disarmingly simple manner with a special
knack of imparting a relaxing gesture even to officials who are noted to
personify stiff protocol. I can understand that, at times, his behavior may
give away somewhat of an impatient if not flippant impression, to someone who
encounters Ketema for the first time. This perception, however, is a
superficial element and eludes a lot of his enduring qualities. His
colleagues have watched Ketema chairing a large conference or a special
political committee's work in a ten to twelve hours marathon session without
budging one bit and in perfect control of the conduct of those meetings.
Ketema has also been known as an avid reader of history. His friends
could hardly cope supplying him with reading materials when he remained under
detention by the Derg for eight years. Incidentally, in spite of being robbed
eight years of his productive life and the separation from his family, Ketema
came out of detention, more mellowed and with no vengeance to speak of. He just
looked fresh and ready to resume serving his country. However, the prevailing
circumstances obtaining Ethiopia did not offer him with such an
opportunity. His wealth of knowledge and experience would have served
well in the need of present day Ethiopia. Instead, Ketema opted to serve the
African peoples by joining the World Food Program of the United Nations Agency first,
at the Headquarters in Rome and later on in Nairobi, where he worked as an
international civil servant until his retirement last October. Three months ago
he returned to his home in Addis Ababa where he fell ill and passed away two
weeks ago.
In bidding
farewell to Ketema, all his friends and especially his former colleagues, bow
to him with their highest respect and immense appreciations for his lasting
contributions to the well being of Ethiopia and to his fellow compatriots.
We, friends
of Ketema would also like to express deepest condolences to his surviving wife
Rahel, his sons, Mulugeta, Yohannes, Mikael and Mekonnen during their day
of mourning. May God rest their father's soul in peace.
Ato Ayalew Mandefro is
former Ethiopian Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the
United States November 22, 1977 June
4, 1978.
0 comments