(October 02, 2011, Jamaica Observer)--THE dream of many people, especially Rastafarians, to take up an offer made more than 60 years ago by Emperor Haile Selassie I to settle on 500 acres of fertile land in Shashemene, Ethiopia has been shattered by political changes in that east-central African country.
According to Steven Golding, president of the Marcus Garvey-founded Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) Kingston Chapter who visited Ethiopia in May this year, the land offer no longer exists.Going there, we found in actuality, there is not a land grant offer to take up," Golding, whose father, Bruce, is Jamaica's prime minister, told the Sunday Observer.
In fact, according to the younger Golding, persons who actually took up Selassie's offer many years ago have lost some of the land and are now living in unacceptable conditions.
Shashemene gained international attention in the African diaspora when 500 acres of its fertile land was granted to the 'Black People of the West' in 1948 by Selassie, the Ethiopian emperor at the time.It was a gesture of appreciation for their massive support to Ethiopia during the Italian occupation of 1935-1941.
Over the past 40 years, the global Rastafari community established a community at Shashemene with several individuals and families settling on the land, some raising children and grandchildren.
However, problems arose during the reign of Haile Mariam Mengistu who became head of state in 1977, three years after Selassie was deposed and the country's new military rulers declared it a Socialist state.
Mengistu's military dictatorship — known as the Provisional Military Administrative Council or the Derg — encouraged Ethiopians to capture land occupied by supporters of Selassie.
The situation deteriorated further under the government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who assumed office in 1995, and more land has been taken from the settlers.
Golding recalled that after Selassie visited Jamaica in 1966, a number of people, particularly among the Rastafarian movement, began sending people to Ethiopia to take up the land offer. "I think when I visited there the eldest person had been there since 1973. Not eldest in age, but in terms of time being in Ethiopia," Golding said.
Golding recalled that after Selassie visited Jamaica in 1966, a number of people, particularly among the Rastafarian movement, began sending people to Ethiopia to take up the land offer. "I think when I visited there the eldest person had been there since 1973. Not eldest in age, but in terms of time being in Ethiopia," Golding said.
"We know, of course, that in 1974-75 there was the military overthrow of the monarchy in Ethiopia, which then brought up some questions for those who had taken up the land grant offer as to what was going to happen to them.
And the members who had been there now, coming up to 20 years, were forced to sort of lose parts of the land that they had occupied to development being brought by the government," said Golding.
"That is what affected the first set of groups when it came to the land grant, and why they will tell you, according to them, there is no longer any 500 acres." FULL ARTICLE AT Jamaica Observer »
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