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Author: Mohamed Yimam – 222 pages
“Wore Negari†is a memoir that reads like a mega thriller full of suspense and actions. It is so tantalizing
one has to debate with oneself before putting it down even for a brief break. The best thriller is the
result of the most creative mind. As a result, the story in it is as twisted and dramatic as the creative
imagination of its author can stretch. While this book is based on real life and experience yet to the
reader it comes across as the best of the best thrillers. It is just unimaginable how one’s real life reads
like a fiction. The book is so spellbinding even the most stubborn and aloof reader could not resist
experiencing the life the author once lived – feeling his pains and sharing his agony while teetering on
the brink of possible death. At times the reader is forced to feel that the author is sitting next to him
sharing his experience commanding his undivided attention. As a result, the reader could not help
feeling the author’s feelings, experiencing his emotions and thought process ultimately his whole self. I
have never been to Wonji, Metahara, Gragn Meda, and Asaita but through the author’s powerful
penmanship I was transported to these places, and I would not be surprised years from now if I start
talking about my memory of these places without ever having been there. “Wore Negari†is definitely a
masterpiece and a material for a movie worthy of an award at the Cannes International Film Festival just
to mention one.
In a nutshell, “Wore Negari†is the story of an unfortunate generation that started out with good
intentions and noble ideals but due to miscalculations and self-righteousness to a degree ended up in
disarray paying unnecessary sacrifices with the country succumbing into an abyss and darkness. The
author has brilliantly captured the essence of the dangerous and adventurous journey of the
unfortunate young generation of the ‘70s Ethiopia, and he was at every turn and corner narrating it
through his own experience. What his mother and father went through because of him also happened
to other parents. What his brothers and sisters and close relatives including aunts, cousins, nephews,
and nieces went through is the same across the board. His story drags in everybody: his parents,
siblings, extended family, the whole community, the whole generation and then the whole country.
Personally, as a youth of the ‘70s who has paid his dues though not to the scale the author and his
friends did, I have always believed that had MEISON and EPRP had worked together in handling Derg,
things would have been a lot different today. Instead, they chose not to and started ‘cannibalizing’ each
other dragging the country into an era of instability and bloodshed paving the way for the most
murderous dictatorship that terrorized the country for the next 17 years. They also left behind a
devastating legacy that encourages the mushrooming of scores of parties in the Ethiopian political
landscape – parties different only in name but not in the substance of their programs. Ultimately, the
story of EPRP and MEISON is as the author puts it the story of “elite factions†whose miscalculations
deprived the country of its youth and hope. Such might be a hindsight observation of most of us but not
of the author of ‘Wore Negari†who was around the central leadership of EPRP that gave him the
advantage to closely observe the ins and outs of the party, how it operated, and to a certain degree the background of some of its movers and shakers in addition to experiencing first hand all that being a
party member entails. So, only very few if any could challenge his analyses and assertions in the book.
However, I still feel his criticism of EPRP is a tad harsher. Nonetheless, truth be told, the author has also
been unsparingly very critical of himself as much as of EPRP which is a testimonial that his main mission
is not reducing EPRP to a worthless ‘phenomenon’ but to tell the truth as he saw and understood it.
However, the author’s criticism of EPRP is not overshadowing the fact that ‘Wore Negari†is also equally
about the unswerving dedication of a gallant generation to a noble cause – that never materialized
despite the immense sacrifices paid.
On the cover of the book, we see the illustration of a man standing on the edge of a cliff blowing Imbilta-
a horn like musical instrument – traditionally used to summon a crowd for the purpose of making a very
important announcement. That is what “Wore Negari†is all about. The author is inviting all stakeholders
to revisit the nightmarish ‘70s through his own experience that he powerfully narrated with no less
commanding effect as a decree that used to follow the sound of Imbilta in the bygone eras. Yes, several
books have been written about the blood drenched Ethiopia of the’ 70s but “Wore Negari†is one of a
kind in that it also address the emotional and psychological scars sustained at all strata of the Ethiopian
society: the individual, the family, the neighborhood, the kebele, ….., and the nation as whole. It
explores why we become what we don’t want to be: the mob madness, the savagery and viciousness,
the senselessness, the self-destructiveness that gripped and ruined our nation. Our time was so cruel,
even hopping for the better was denied and life was only a day to day lease. There was no future for
that generation only a flying present the essence of which is brilliantly captured in “Wore Negariâ€.
The author in ‘Wore Negari†not only disassembles and critically exposes himself to the reader, he also
enters the minds of the other players whose life was cut short 30 plus years ago and analyzes and
presents them in a manner they will never be forgotten. In a way he resurrected them and brought
them back to life once again. In that regard, the book is certainly a befitting tribute to those fallen
heroes. In his very forceful and vivid account, there is no doubt the author has immortalized some of the
top leaders and foot soldiers of EPRP. Who is going to forget the handsome and brilliant Yohannes
“Arabu†who for the most part singlehandedly authored the ever popular Democracia issues? Who is
going to forget, the omnipresent, swift, and indefatigable Birhanu Ejjigu; the irreplaceable, affable, and
unlucky mother Mezy (Mezgebnesh Abayu); the fearless Mohammed Arabi; and the skinny poet Jale Bia
who was baptized by “fire� Who is going to forget Ethiopia’s “Schindler†Sirak Teferra who made IDs
happen – a very dear commodity during those bleak days-with the help of his anonymous sister and
saved several lives while losing his? Who is going to forget the perennial revolutionary Tekalegne
“Shimaglew†who finally succumbed near his childhood neighborhood where his own brother was one
of the “Killer Squads†that Derg called “Revolutionary Guardsâ€. Never again will Wolde Ab – the Goh
editor/contributor and a true Ethiopian despite his Eritrean origin be forgotten, thanks to this author.
Nobody, not even their parents knew which mass grave some of these heroes were unceremoniously
entered and bulldozed over. Now they are brought back to life in “Wore Negari†giving the reader a
chance to listen to them, to think like them, to walk with them in the mean streets of Addis Ababa
where dead bodies of the youth were strewn all over, to mingle with the Merkato crowd not to attract
attention, to go to the bars of Addis and get inebriated to numb oneself from the harsh reality, to sleep among them on the floor of a furniture store with clothes on and pay attention to the slightest
movement and noise, to run with them when they run for dear life with bullets flying. These timeless
heroes are now unforgettable thanks to “Wore Negariâ€.
“Wore Negari†is a very unique memoir in that from the beginning to the end it acknowledges the
untold sacrifices parents paid in the turbulent ‘70s.Their ever flowing tears, their fears and worries, their
sorrows and agonies, their parental instincts have been immortalized in Wore Negari. The author’s
father knew very well that he would never see his son again when he kissed him goodbye in the middle
of the Denakil Desert. Considering the youth was by and large a willing actor in the catastrophic drama,
of the ‘70s, parents were instinctively drawn into the mix like a tiger protecting its cubs, or as we say
“Gosh lelijua sitle tewegach†and the price they paid was unbearably hellish and unparalleled. When I
returned back home after many years of absence, I remember my father telling me that my mother
cried every morning for two years in a row until they found out I was safe and alive in a faraway country.
Many of us have heard the same story about our parents. Finally, their monumental sacrifice is
remembered and celebrated in “Wore Negariâ€. In this regard, the book is a trail blazer.
After so much suffering and mistakes committed, have we, as a people, learned anything? Is our country
in any better condition today? Such questions jump out of the book and face the reader squarely. Our
country is still hopelessly engulfed in tensions and contradictions. Like in the ‘70’s today’s Ethiopian
Youth is faced with the same issues: dictatorship, injustice, absence of democratic rights, etc. Like in the
‘70s, today’s Youth has no choice but to leave the country in droves facing uncertain future and certain
death in most cases. The reader could not help sensing that what “Wore Negari†is not about, it indeed
is, and concluding the current system in Ethiopia as the spit image of the system it replaced 21 years
ago. The similarity is unbelievably thorough ‘to a fault’, to borrow a phrase from the author: the idol
gazing, the one party system, the self-serving cadres, the centralized economy, the systemic corruption,
the suppression of basic human rights, the kangaroo courts, the bulging prisons, the powerful state
security apparatus, etc. Surprise! Surprise! Surprise! Most of the top leaders of EPRDF do belong to that
‘70s generation!
“Wore Negari†is a must read not only because it is a chronicle of the trials and tribulations of an ill-fated
generation, it is also a great literary work in par with the best of its kind the likes of which we very rarely
come across. In his first and only book so far, the author has established himself as a master of prose
and story- telling. No doubt, the abundance of infinite tragedy in the ‘70s of Ethiopia is unfortunately a
gold mine for a great literary work. However, the author’s captivating and mesmerizing writing skills and
his convincing analyses and conclusions with his no holds barred exposition of what he witnessed are
what establish “Wore Negari†as one of a kind. After crossing the border to Djibouti, the author, Mr.
Mohamed Yimam, reiterated, “I was free, and I was experiencing it with all my being.†I beg to differ
with him. He was never ‘free’ until now, until he published “Wore Negari†getting the huge burden that
he kept to himself for more than 30 years off his chest and sharing it with us.
“Wore Negari†is available at amazon.com
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