Yeshe-Aleka Marsha Negedo

Father's name: Negedo Anbram

Mother's name: Fatag Hendi

Year of birth: 1938

Place of birth: Semien Manta, Semien

Region in Ethiopia: Simien

Main occupation in Ethiopia: Senior officer in the army

The language of the interview: Amharic

eshe-Aleka Marsha Negedo, nature, agriculture, shepherding, senior officer in the army, farming songs, singing, dancing, district manager, tax collection, maintaining order, judge, shamgalla, theft of bulls, murder, blood feud, senior captain, deputy district ruler, army, fighting, death, recruitment, distribution of weapons, Derg, Emperor Haile Selassie, EHAPA, Semien Manta, Semien, Ochara, Lasta, Telemet, Tigray, Debarq.

Summary of the testimony:

Yeshe-Aleka Negedo describes his family tree and his village. He talks about working the land and sings various songs they used to sing while working. When he grew up, he was invited to sing and dance at weddings and events, and he talks at length about this job.

For 18 years, during the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie, he served as a tchika – the regional manager responsible for security, tax collection, enforcing law and order, and resolving disputes. As he sat on a prominent and central hill, people would come for him to judge and mediate on a range of topics such as allocation of lands, marital disputes, theft, murder, and blood feuds. In the hierarchy of the Ethiopian legal system, the tchika was above the shemgaollach (the sages of the community) and below the district judge. He received his wages from the tchika tax, which was set according to the size of the area and the yield of each farmer’s produce.

Yeshe-Aleka Negedo used to leave his bulls to graze in the meadow at the end of the work day and carry on working with them the following day. One day, he discovered his bulls had been stolen. He set out on a year-long journey to locate the thief. With the help of the district judge, he managed to bring his bulls home. After that incident, every time bulls were stolen in the area, the victim would ask him to investigate and return the stolen bulls.

After the Derg party revolted and deposed Emperor Haile Selassie, the role of tchika was abolished. The lands were re-allocated to all residents, but the price of living rose and hunger became widespread. Yeshe-Aleka Negedo was appointed by the regime as a senior commander in the army and as deputy ruler of the province. He was responsible for five captains. He was stationed in a government office Ochara, in the province of Lasta. His job included maintaining order and security in the province, catching criminals and thieves, distributing weapons, and recruiting people to the army. When the rebel organization EHAPA began to operate in the area, he fought many battles against them.

After a year in his position as a senior officer, he was appointed as deputy provincial commander in Telemet in the province of Tigray. His role was to rid the area of law-breakers and members of the rebel organization. He describes the fighting.

He was re-stationed on the Debarq – Ochara line. While there, he divorced and remarried. In his position as deputy commander of the province he was responsible for conscription to the army, training the recruits, and distributing equipment and weapons in the various camps. He describes his position and the process of training the soldiers.