Mereja Forum

[Naga Tuma]

If I am not mistaken, ሀቀ in Afan Oromo means the same as ሀቅ in Amharic.

I was tempted to express this opinion when I read on the internet the stunning news of the death of ሃጫሉ ሁንዴሳ. I wished the opinion to reach his loving father if he wishes to hear it or other dads who wish to advise their loved activist children to think ten times before speaking once, however challenging that might be especially in this age. As I make this suggestion, I am reminded of an expression I heard when I was young from a carpenter who said measure three times and cut once. He used to live and work in the same Kebele of the parents of ሃጫሉ ሁንዴሳ, very close to what used to be called እንጨት መሰንጠቅያ.

I decided to not express my feeling then, at the time of the family's mourning.

Even if I haven't ever met or personally known the late ደራራ ከፈኒ and ሃጫሉ ሁንዴሳ, the news of the deaths of both stunned me equally. One was a rising businessman and another was a rising vocalist. Both could have gone much farther in their respective vocations.

I remember writing several months ago on this forum that I wished the later ሃጫሉ ሁንዴሳ would go to Borana, or a ገዳም in Gojam, or to Aksum in order to deepen his knowledge of Ethiopia's culture and enrich his musical talent. I have no idea what he would have thought of hearing such a suggestion but I hoped that someday I would get an opportunity to suggest to him the same thing in person.

Only a few weeks ago before I heard the news of his death, I came across on the internet one of his lyrics. A line in it says the following: ከን ስት በቀቴስ፣ ከን ስት ዸለቴስ. The moment I heard the line, I couldn't help saying in introvert: ብየ ነማ ቀበቴ ከን ስት በቀቴ ህን ጄዺን፤ ሃጫሉ ሁንዴሳ፣ ጉደዹ ሙጫ። This is a true story.

The line sounded to have been written in good faith. However, it is logically wrong and only reinforced my suggestion months ago to deepen his knowledge of the broader Ethiopian history.

Since his death, I have listened to one VOA news about him and come across a clip of him talking about ኣጼ ምኒልክ.

In the VOA news, I heard for the first time that there is a part of his home town, which I can also call my hometown to an extent, that has been named ቶርበን ኩታዬ. When I heard the name for the first time, I also couldn't help asking the wisdom of having a family's name for a portion of a big town or city.

The clip of him talking about ኣጼ ምኒልክ reminded me, among others, a brief conversation I had over the phone with an elderly man a few years ago. He called me for a participation in activism about the political situation in Ethiopia and I politely declined it because I was focused on a research at the time. He gracefully accepted it, suggesting that research is also a worthwhile thing to undertake and that I continue keeping my focus on it.

During that brief conversation, his blame of ኣጼ ምኒልክ also came up. After hearing it, I politely asked him the following question: ጋፈ ኣደዋ ኣጼ ምኒልክ ኦቶ ከኤ ህንሎሌ መጨ ማል ተኣዩ? In short, it was asking him what would have happened to መጨ if ኣጼ ምኒልክ didn't decide to go to ኣደዋ.

I don't remember what his answer was or if he had an answer. May be he does.

Even under such difficult circumstances in which the family finds itself, I would ask the father, ኦቦ ሁንዴሳ ቦንሳ, a man I do not know personally, the same question. I would ask him: ኣጼ ምኒልክ ማል ቶልቼ? ማል በሌሴ? ኣጼ ምኒልክ ወጅን ከን ዻበቴ ፊታዉራሪ እብሳ ጉታ፣ እንስ ኩታዬ ዸ፣ ማል ቶልቼ? ማል በሌሴ? ደጃዝማች ገረሱ ዹኪ ጋፈ ፋሽስቲን ጣልያኒ ዴብኤ ዹፌ ዻበቴ ሎሉን እሳ፣ ኩታዬ ደበለቴ፣ ማል ቶልቼ? ማል በሌሴ?

In short, it is asking him what ኣጼ ምኒልክ and those who stood with him during Adwa, including those from ቶርበን ኩታዬ, did right and wrong. If they have done something right, do they have ሀቀ?

I am very positive that in deciding to go to Adwa, ኣጼ ምኒልክ and those who stood with him didn't have a certainty of victory but a certainty of determination. If they didn't have a certainty of determination, they would not have a possibility of victory. If their determination was lacking and failed to make that possibility a reality, would ኦቦ ሁንዴሳ ቦንሳ, let alone the late ሃጫሉ ሁንዴሳ, be born and raised in the kind of environment that they were born in and raised? Without going back in time, one can be reminded that the news of the death of ሃጫሉ ሁንዴሳ came more than a month after that of George Floyd and the manner in which it happened became international news.

I am guessing that after hearing such torrent of questions, ኦቦ ሁንዴሳ ቦንሳ might say ኣጼ ምኒልክ ሀቀ ቀበ. If he says so, it goes without saying that ሃጫሉን ዱአ ለመ ዱኤ። ቶኮ ሉቡን። ክን ብራ መቃን። ነምን ሀቀ ደብሴ ዱኤ ዱአ ለመ ዱአ። ዱአ መቃ ከን ጅሩቱ ደንደመቺሰ።

አከ አነት ፈካቱት ኦቦ ሁንዴሳ ቦንሳ ለሚ ታጀቤ እራ ገረገሉ እረ ታጀቡስ እት ገረገሌ ከን ጎርሱ እሰ በርባችሰ።

Redeeming (ደንደመቺሱ) may not be an easy thing to do. However, the difficult things are what fathers are called up on to face.

When I was much younger, my late father had a dispute with his neighbor over land. When I heard that the neighbor was at one point being aggressive, I went to the gate of the neighbor to say how dare you? The dispute didn't go beyond verbal interactions. When I told my late dad what I had said to the man, he gave me a scornful look, turned away and continued to talk to his friend without saying anything about what I had said. Only then did I realize that what I had said was out of bounds.

While I was in school or went to its busy Saturday market, it wasn't uncommon to see traditional duels, fighting using ዱላ, in Ambo in the late afternoons. It wasn't uncommon to see ያደ ሰሙ በኤፍ ሰሙን ቡሩቁ, head injuries potentially permanently because of the ideas it generates after one afternoon's dose of local mead after a busy market day.

My late father talked to his children about ቶርበን ኩታዬ, which literally means the seven children of ኩታዬ, who was himself one of three children of a ቦረና man. If my late dad said እን ዱቢ ቤከ አከ ቦረናት ሃሰኣ, he meant he is a wise man who talks like a Borana.

Those wise people in the old generation knew about ሀቀ/ሀቅ very well. In cases of reconciliation efforts after disputes, they focused on ሀቀ/ሀቅ and tried to find out which party had it and decided in favor of it.

The wisdom to get it may not come easily. The late Laureate ጸጋዬ ገብረመድህን and the late musician ሃጫሉ ሁንዴሳ may write different lines of art. Those lines reveal different levels of depth of wisdom.

Naturally, the older generation is wiser and the younger generation inherits that wisdom and makes it better. It seems to me that for some reason, observing from a distance, there seems to be an apparent gap in Ethiopia between the wisdom of the older generation, even if they appeared to have little formal education, and the much younger generation, or at least a section of it. I am hoping that as a wiser member of older generation, ኦቦ ሁንዴሳ ቦንሳ would be able to ask those who speak on behalf of his late son what wisdom there is to go to the home of ኣጼ ምኒልክ ዱራ and open one's mouth against ኣጼ ምኒልክ ለመፋ, especially as a Professor.

That gap is what I am suggesting that ኦቦ ሁንዴሳ ቦንሳ find and try to redeem his son's name if he is convinced that ኣጼ ምኒልክ has ሀቀ that his son didn't fully understand.

ሀቀ እረት is probably where the wiser older generation met, where the ቶርበን ኩታዬ meet, what the Borana probably realized in ancient times and lived by it, and where man met civilization in ancient times and lived by it despite all the challenges it has been facing over the ages.

[tolcha]

If you really wrote this craps, you better start school from 6th grade.

[Naga Tuma]

If you really wrote this craps, you better start school from 6th grade.

It is obvious that I wrote it and posted it. I will consider taking your advice to go back to school when you show me that you have a better teaching evaluation score than mine or if you show me that you passed Ethiopia’s 6th Grade National Examination with a better score in your class nationwide than mine.

[Genesis]

Dear Naga,

What a wonderful essay. Yes the older generation be it my side of north Ethiopia or your side of south Ethiopia, people were wise deep thinkers and problem solvers. Unfortunately, we their children failed them very badly. Look at the Oromo wannabe Tigre called tolcha. As his value gets lower and lower in human scale, he can’t even be proud of his Tigrayan heritage so he has to hide under an Oromo name. What you wrote is great example about our ancestors, their patience and wise behavior. be it Oromo or amahara they are not different in their upbringings. Unfortunately we live with saboteurs, thieves and liars like mr tolcha here. I am sorry for Ethiopia to have these kind of charlatans as citzens. I can go back hundreds of years and find their sabotage, jeolesy and treason. Anyway again thank you for a wonderful lesson giving essay. Pleas write more. Forget these snake like dirt actors.