Remembering unique Eritreans in contemporary history

A

short biographical sketch

Of

General Aman Andom

Compiled and edited from the internet

By

Emnetu Tesfay

 Stavanger, Norway                                                                                                                 November 2012

Early life

Aman Mikael Andom was the first post-imperial acting Head of State of Ethiopia. He was an Eritrean originally from the village of Tsazega in Hamassien province of Eritrea. Born in Khartoum, the Sudan, on July 21, 1924, Aman Andom attended Comboni College and later St. George's Military School in Khartoum. After Mussolini and the Italians invaded Ethiopia in 1935, Andom joined the Sudanese forces of Haile Selassie to fight the Italians, becoming a second lieutenant.

At war's end, he traveled to Ethiopia and rose rapidly in the military establishment, becoming a major general in 1962. In May 1964, Andom was assigned as military attaché to the Ethiopian Embassy in Washington, D.C. There, he received a bachelor's degree from Howard University. Upon his return to Ethiopia in July 1965, the general was named defense minister in Haile Selassie's cabinet.

A special mention is warranted for the great General Aman Michael Andom, the darling of the Ethiopian Army; also known as the Desert Lion. General Aman Andom led Ethiopian forces to the Korean war. He was the recipient of the highest honor, from the UN for his accomplishments; and thereby brought honor to Ethiopia in the process. General Aman is perhaps best remembered for his heroics in Ogadien in the early sixties; General Aman was elected by the Derg regime as its Chairman in 1974, primarily because of his immense popularity within the then Third Army Division stationed in Harar. He was well known for his fair mindedness; which was why he was opposed to the proposed wholesale executions of the detained ex-Ministers and other dignitaries, belonging to Emperor Haile Selassie’s regime; fifty-nine in all. The unwarranted executions took place immediately after General Aman was killed. General Aman Andom, after a brave last stand against Mengistu’s tanks, was killed on November 23, 1974 http://www.aigaforum.com

Desert Lion

As commander of the Third Division, General Aman had been beating back the encroachments of the Somali army on the eastern border with a zeal and success that he was known as the "Desert Lion." However, in 1964 the Emperor dismissed General Aman Andom when he began to attack into Somalia in violation of an order from the Emperor, and Aman afterwards served in the Ethiopian Senate in a "political exile". In September, following minor popular uprisings against Haile Selassie's regime, the military overthrew the emperor and named Andom as provisional head of government in addition to chief of staff and minister of defense. They did this because General Aman had respect among the soldiers as the hero of the Ethio Somali war. There is some evidence that indicates he had contacts with the officers of the junta as early as February and March 1974, but by July he was appointed chief of staff to the military junta. Three days after the junta removed the Emperor from his palace to imprisonment at the headquarters of the Fourth Division, this group appointed him their chairman and president of Ethiopia. At the same time, this group of soldiers assumed the name "Provisional Military Administrative Council", better known as the Derg.

Initial reports identified Andom as the strongman who had initiated the coup, but these were soon to be violently refuted as the bloodless coup turned bloody on the night of November 23, 1974. That night, a purge of the old aristocracy resulted in the executions of 59 former government officials. The same evening, at the direction of Mengistu Mariam, later revealed as "the true moving force" of the coup, military units were sent to Andom's home and, during a two-hour gun battle, the general was killed. It was speculated that Andom, born to Eritrean parents, was killed because of his conciliatory attitude toward the continuing Eritrean struggle for independence from Ethiopia.

From the first day of his presidency, the Ottaways note, "the general found himself at odds with a majority of the Derg's members over most major issues, including whether he was 'chairman' of the ruling military body or simply its 'spokesman.'" Aman fought the majority of the Derg over three central issues: the size of the Derg, which he felt was too large and unwieldy; the policy to be taken towards the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF); and over the punishment of the numerous aristocrats and former government officials in the Derg's custody. His refusal to sanction the execution of former high officials, including two former prime ministers and several royal family members and relatives, put his relations with the majority of the Derg on an especially bitter footing.

General Aman Andom making a speech to the nation

As an Eritrean, General Aman found himself fiercely at odds with the majority of the Derg. He wanted to negotiate a peaceful settlement; his opponents hoped to crush the ELF by military force. Aman went as far as making two personal visits to Eritrea -- the first 25 August to 6 September, the second in November—giving speeches stating that the end of the Imperial regime was also the end of old practices towards Eritrea, that a government dedicated to national unity and progress would restore peace and prosperity to Eritrea, and lastly that he would begin investigations concerning crimes that the army had perpetrated on Eritreans and punish the guilty.

However, at the same time the Derg had begun the task of eliminating opponents within the military. The three significant units were the Imperial Bodyguard, the Air Force, and the Corp of Engineers; of the three, the most recalcitrant were the Engineers. So on 7 October soldiers loyal to the Derg stormed the Engineers' camp, killing five, wounding several and detaining the rest. As Bahru Zewde observes, "With that, the illusion that the revolution would remain bloodless was exploded."

General Aman responded with a personal campaign to seek support outside the Derg, amongst the rest of the army and the country where he was popular. On 15 November he sent a message to all military units that was highly critical of the Derg. During a general assembly of the Derg two days later, Mengistu Haile Mariam demanded that 5,000 men be dispatched to Eritrea and six imprisoned Imperial officials be executed; Aman Andom refused, resigned his official posts and retired to his house where he secretly sent appeals to his supporters, especially those in the Third Division. But Mengistu managed to intercept these appeals.

End of life

 General Aman died in a battle with troops sent to his home to arrest him. The actual cause of his death remains unclear, whether he was killed or committed suicide. That same night, the political prisoners that the Derg had marked for execution were taken from Menelik prison, where they had been held, to the Akaki Central Prison where they were executed and buried in a mass grave. "It appears that the general had outlived his usefulness," Bahru Zewde concludes, "and was in fact becoming an obstacle to the Derg's exercise of power

A biography book of General Aman Michael Andom has come out. It is authored by Mezgebu Gebre Amlak who is a resident of Atlanta, Georgia (USA) and is entitled: General Aman Andom - A profile in Courage.  The book is published in 2005 and has 116 pages.

Source: Wikipedia