Book Review
Derege Demissie, Abate Yachin Se'at:
Major General Demissie Bulto and the coup
d'etat of May 1989,
4 November, 2009 | Teodros Kiros (PhD)
Great books arrive on the reading scene at the right time and for the right
reason. So does Derege Demissie’s, Abate Yachin Se’at: Major General
Demissie Bulto and the Coup d’ etat of May 1989,
from all walks of life are ready to read again. They are ready to engage
literature, to consume it, to discuss it, to take positions on its behalf, and
criticize it when they can and must.
The narrative begins with an elegantly written portrait of General Demissie as a
father who is being bombarded by his curious son about how to correctly
estimate distance in directing artillery fire at an enemy position during combat.
The General addresses the question but the son was not satisfied. He wanted
to test his father’s ability to visually call the distance between two points. The
father responds tactfully and in turn challenged his son who at the time is
playing with an orange, while asking many penetrating questions. From early
on, one senses the maturity of Derege and the father’s decision to sculpt that
maturity from competence to brilliance. Father and son are making history.
Father and son finally agree to bet on the precise measurement from where
they were standing to a building further down. Should the father’s estimate
prove to be accurate, then he will eat the juicy orange Derege has spent hours
massaging.
The interaction is a moving revelation of Major General Demissie as rational,
conversational, delicate and tactful. Rarely are these features combined in a
soldier, whom the world typically stereotypes as stubborn, tyrannical,
uncompromising and excessively stern.
Major General Demissie combines the bravado and strength of the soldier
with the moral and rational frame of a thinker, a philosopher. Derege
convincingly narrates these characteristics by showing us the General’s action,
without preaching us. Like a great writer, he shows us what we need to see,
without telling us what we should think. The author is quietly reflective and
calmly firm.
The military adventure begins in Asmara where the young Derege goes to
spend time with his father. There he observes very closely his father’s heroic
struggles to overcome EPLF and later the major strategies of the TPLF. He
worked from dusk to dawn commanding the respect of his soldiers. With few
hours sleep, his diaries, compiled at the end of the book, display an impressive
array of facts and plans, detailed with the precision of a scholar and the vision
of a strategist- aiming at victory, against all odds.
A skillfully organized chapter provides the context for the diary, in a moving
discussion of two successful campaigns against EPLF, called ZEMECHA
BAHIRE NEGASH and KEY BAHIR ZEMECHA.
Like Sun Tzu before him, Major General Demissie takes the art of war
seriously. On many occasions he suggests to Mengistu Haile Mariam, that the
Eritrean war cannot be won with ill-trained conscripts and had to be contained
diplomatically. Mengistu does not listen.
On his own, amidst the coup of 1989, Major General Demissie, offers a
non-military solution to Isayas Afework, and Isayas accepts. As confirmed by
the person who was engaged in the negotiations with the EPLF, Isayas was
willing to settle for a solution short of cessation. When the coup fails, the offer
cannot be enforced, and the EPLF was able to defeat the demoralized army
that was robbed of its ablest commanders. The loss of military leaders such
as Gen. Demissie had mighty consequences for the Ethiopian regime.
Derege narrates this remarkable story movingly to the benefit of the Ethiopian
reader.
The greatness of Major General Demissie is captured brilliantly in an eloquent
speech, which was delivered to the military unit. He said: Our attempts to
replace the existing regime are being done for you, and not for us. For we
have already achieved our individual goals, as army commanders. What is
power for us beyond what we have? We are already Generals in charge of
the army. For a soldier what we have is the fulfillment of the ambition. Should
we desire more power, all that we need to do is follow orders and satisfy the
whims of the leader. We have decided to sacrifice our life to bring out a new
regime and put the country on a path of peace and out of perpetual war. Our
goal is to give Ethiopians a genuine democracy and the much-needed self-
reliance with which the Ethiopian people can govern themselves, free of
domination. (P, 271)
The speech reveals the selflessness of the mission, the depth of the General’s
commitment to Ethiopianity, to the preservation of our history, and his
profound respect for the dignity of the Ethiopian person.
This greatness is also present in the moral decision that Major General
Demissie made, in that final hour, where words lose all meaning, and the
struggle between life and death is poignantly present. Unafraid and untempted
by the desire to live, he chose death, guided by the revolutionary respect for
principles.
Once again the humanity of the great Major General is disclosed in the purity
of his moral choice that led to his eventual death.
He chose death with dignity, and impregnated his legacy with the signs of
moral greatness, for which we Ethiopians ought to be grateful.
Great literature is born out of the fragments of memory, and so this great book
created by the moral imaginary of Derege Demissie, who patently and
masterfully creates a historical and political narrative destined to make a name
for itself as great literature.
This is a great book on a man larger than life.
Derege Demissie, Abate Yachin Se'at:
Major General Demissie Bulto and the coup
d'etat of May 1989,
4 November, 2009 | Teodros Kiros (PhD)
Great books arrive on the reading scene at the right time and for the right
reason. So does Derege Demissie’s, Abate Yachin Se’at: Major General
Demissie Bulto and the Coup d’ etat of May 1989,
- Such books create their own readers.
The book is so compellingly
presented that readers cannot wait
until they wrap themselves around
with it. It has created a new
CULTURE OF WRITING and with
it a new breed of readers. The
newness of the readers is a function of
the literary merits of the author.
Derege writes well. In his hands,
classical Amharic has returned to the
literary scene, and subtly imposes its
musicality on our ears, and its
elegance on our eyes. Like all great
books, it engages all our senses. The
from all walks of life are ready to read again. They are ready to engage
literature, to consume it, to discuss it, to take positions on its behalf, and
criticize it when they can and must.
The narrative begins with an elegantly written portrait of General Demissie as a
father who is being bombarded by his curious son about how to correctly
estimate distance in directing artillery fire at an enemy position during combat.
The General addresses the question but the son was not satisfied. He wanted
to test his father’s ability to visually call the distance between two points. The
father responds tactfully and in turn challenged his son who at the time is
playing with an orange, while asking many penetrating questions. From early
on, one senses the maturity of Derege and the father’s decision to sculpt that
maturity from competence to brilliance. Father and son are making history.
Father and son finally agree to bet on the precise measurement from where
they were standing to a building further down. Should the father’s estimate
prove to be accurate, then he will eat the juicy orange Derege has spent hours
massaging.
The interaction is a moving revelation of Major General Demissie as rational,
conversational, delicate and tactful. Rarely are these features combined in a
soldier, whom the world typically stereotypes as stubborn, tyrannical,
uncompromising and excessively stern.
Major General Demissie combines the bravado and strength of the soldier
with the moral and rational frame of a thinker, a philosopher. Derege
convincingly narrates these characteristics by showing us the General’s action,
without preaching us. Like a great writer, he shows us what we need to see,
without telling us what we should think. The author is quietly reflective and
calmly firm.
The military adventure begins in Asmara where the young Derege goes to
spend time with his father. There he observes very closely his father’s heroic
struggles to overcome EPLF and later the major strategies of the TPLF. He
worked from dusk to dawn commanding the respect of his soldiers. With few
hours sleep, his diaries, compiled at the end of the book, display an impressive
array of facts and plans, detailed with the precision of a scholar and the vision
of a strategist- aiming at victory, against all odds.
A skillfully organized chapter provides the context for the diary, in a moving
discussion of two successful campaigns against EPLF, called ZEMECHA
BAHIRE NEGASH and KEY BAHIR ZEMECHA.
Like Sun Tzu before him, Major General Demissie takes the art of war
seriously. On many occasions he suggests to Mengistu Haile Mariam, that the
Eritrean war cannot be won with ill-trained conscripts and had to be contained
diplomatically. Mengistu does not listen.
On his own, amidst the coup of 1989, Major General Demissie, offers a
non-military solution to Isayas Afework, and Isayas accepts. As confirmed by
the person who was engaged in the negotiations with the EPLF, Isayas was
willing to settle for a solution short of cessation. When the coup fails, the offer
cannot be enforced, and the EPLF was able to defeat the demoralized army
that was robbed of its ablest commanders. The loss of military leaders such
as Gen. Demissie had mighty consequences for the Ethiopian regime.
Derege narrates this remarkable story movingly to the benefit of the Ethiopian
reader.
The greatness of Major General Demissie is captured brilliantly in an eloquent
speech, which was delivered to the military unit. He said: Our attempts to
replace the existing regime are being done for you, and not for us. For we
have already achieved our individual goals, as army commanders. What is
power for us beyond what we have? We are already Generals in charge of
the army. For a soldier what we have is the fulfillment of the ambition. Should
we desire more power, all that we need to do is follow orders and satisfy the
whims of the leader. We have decided to sacrifice our life to bring out a new
regime and put the country on a path of peace and out of perpetual war. Our
goal is to give Ethiopians a genuine democracy and the much-needed self-
reliance with which the Ethiopian people can govern themselves, free of
domination. (P, 271)
The speech reveals the selflessness of the mission, the depth of the General’s
commitment to Ethiopianity, to the preservation of our history, and his
profound respect for the dignity of the Ethiopian person.
This greatness is also present in the moral decision that Major General
Demissie made, in that final hour, where words lose all meaning, and the
struggle between life and death is poignantly present. Unafraid and untempted
by the desire to live, he chose death, guided by the revolutionary respect for
principles.
Once again the humanity of the great Major General is disclosed in the purity
of his moral choice that led to his eventual death.
He chose death with dignity, and impregnated his legacy with the signs of
moral greatness, for which we Ethiopians ought to be grateful.
Great literature is born out of the fragments of memory, and so this great book
created by the moral imaginary of Derege Demissie, who patently and
masterfully creates a historical and political narrative destined to make a name
for itself as great literature.
This is a great book on a man larger than life.
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