SEPAG - Southern Ethiopian People's Action Group

20th Century

By the beginning of the twentieth century the Abyssinian kingdom had become an empire. A source of pride to many modern Rastafarians, who venerate Haile Selasse, this achievement appears in a very different light to those subjugated peoples who now found themselves subjects of the Abyssinian emperor.

Mengistu Haile Mariam

In the south the twentieth century was a period of stagnation. After the conquest fortified villages were built across the new territories. In these villages Amhara military families settled – neftegna, the bearers of the gun. It was the beginning of a period of subjugation which, in the eyes of many southerners, has continued in various ways until today.

The area was viewed as a potential source of wealth and it did provide a useful source of revenue. However, the Amharic regime in Addis viewed the various peoples of the region as ignorant savages and there was little investment in roads, hospitals, schools or other infrastructure projects that might have benefited local people. Access into the forests was difficult and generally involved days of horseback travel along tracks that for much of the time were deep in mud. Rather than a source of wealth the area was increasingly seen as a useful place of exile, a bit like Siberia was in the eyes of the Czarist/Soviet state. Individuals who had fallen foul of the government were often sent to cool their heels as administrators as a warning that they should mend their ways.

The situation drifted on in this manner under the overthrow and eventual murder of Haile Selasse. The Derg Marxist regime, led by Mengistu Haile Mariam, which came to replace the monarchy initiated a programme of land reform. There were many injustices in the traditional caste systems which were (are) widespread in Ethiopia, including the south west, but it was the Derg's policy of villagization which led to trouble in the south.

Villagization involved the forced removal of tens of thousands of people from the north to the south west. Ostensibly this was done to alleviate the suffering caused by terrible drought in the north. It came in for widespread criticism at the time, as it was perceived to be as much a punishment of rebellious northerners as it was for their benefit. People were forced from their homes and dumped in an alien environment. Little attention was given to the perspective of the host communities, but they were equally disturbed. People were forced from their homes to make way for immigrants and the forests were cleared. Southerners, too, were rounded up and compelled to resettle on collective farms, often with no time to harvest their crops.

Tank Road

As a result of these pressures the south erupted in rebellion against the regime in Addis. Again, many in the west are familiar with the military campaigns waged by the Eritreans and Tigrayans from the north, but there is little awareness of events in the south. Ultimately, of course, the northern groups were successful in defeating the Derg, whereas in the south the less well organized resistance was gradually eliminated. Tank roads were built into the region and the rebels rounded up and shot.

Last updated 31/01/06 by Graeme Watson