Aman Andom
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Aman Mikael Andom (; ti, ኣማን ሚካኤል ዓንዶም; 21 June 1924 – 23 November 1974) was an Eritrean general and the first post-imperial acting
head of state of Ethiopia This article lists the Emperor of Ethiopia, emperors of Ethiopian Empire, Ethiopia, from the founding of the Zagwe dynasty in the 9th/10th century until Ethiopian Civil War#1970s, 1974, when Haile Selassie, the last emperor from the Solomonic dyn ...
. He was appointed to this position following the coup d'état that ousted
Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
Haile Selassie Haile Selassie I ( gez, ቀዳማዊ ኀይለ ሥላሴ, Qädamawi Häylä Səllasé, ; born Tafari Makonnen; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as Regent Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia (' ...
on 12 September 1974, and served until his death in a shootout with his former supporters.


Early life

Aman Mikael Andom was born in the village of
Tsazega {{refimprove, date=June 2012 Tseazega (Tigrinya: ጸዓዘጋ) is a village in Central Eritrea located in the former province of Hamasien. It is 5.6 miles (9 km) north-west from the capital city, Asmara. It is an entirely Christian village i ...
,
Italian Eritrea Italian Eritrea ( it, Colonia Eritrea, "Colony of Eritrea") was a colony of the Kingdom of Italy in the territory of present-day Eritrea. The first Italian establishment in the area was the purchase of Assab by the Rubattino Shipping Company in ...
. He had four other siblings. Aman was a
Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
.


Military career

Educated in
Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
, Aman returned to Ethiopia with the British forces who defeated the Italians and restored Emperor
Haile Selassie Haile Selassie I ( gez, ቀዳማዊ ኀይለ ሥላሴ, Qädamawi Häylä Səllasé, ; born Tafari Makonnen; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as Regent Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia (' ...
to the throne. He proceeded to distinguish himself in a brilliant military career, commanding Ethiopian contingents in Korea and the Congo. In 1962 he was promoted to major general. During the 1964 Ethiopian–Somali Border War he was given the nickname the "Desert Lion" after defeating Somali forces in the
Ogaden Ogaden (pronounced and often spelled ''Ogadēn''; so, Ogaadeen, am, ውጋዴ/ውጋዴን) is one of the historical names given to the modern Somali Region, the territory comprising the eastern portion of Ethiopia formerly part of the Harargh ...


Head of State

Aman's official title was Chairman of the
Provisional Military Administrative Council The Derg (also spelled Dergue; , ), officially the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC), was the military junta that ruled Ethiopia, then including present-day Eritrea, from 1974 to 1987, when the military leadership formally " ...
(better known as Derg), and he held the position of Head of State in an acting capacity as the military
regime In politics, a regime (also "régime") is the form of government or the set of rules, cultural or social norms, etc. that regulate the operation of a government or institution and its interactions with society. According to Yale professor Juan Jo ...
had officially proclaimed Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen as "King-designate" (an act that would later be rescinded by the Derg, and which was never accepted by the Prince as legitimate). 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 A military junta () is a government led by a committee of military leaders. The term ''junta'' means "meeting" or "committee" and originated in the national and local junta organized by the Spanish resistance to Napoleon's invasion of Spain in ...
. On September 15, three days after the junta removed the
Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
Haile Selassie Haile Selassie I ( gez, ቀዳማዊ ኀይለ ሥላሴ, Qädamawi Häylä Səllasé, ; born Tafari Makonnen; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as Regent Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia (' ...
from his
palace A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...
to imprisonment at the headquarters of the Fourth Division, this group appointed Aman their chairman and head of state of Ethiopia. At the same time, this group of soldiers assumed the name "Provisional Military Administrative Council" (''Derg''). From the first day of his of him becoming chairman, 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 Derg, which he felt was too large and unwieldy; the policy to be taken towards the
Eritrean Liberation Front ar, جبهة التحرير الإريترية it, Fronte di Liberazione Eritreo , war = the Ethiopian Civil War, Eritrean War of Independence and the Eritrean Civil Wars , image = , caption = Flag of the ELF ...
(ELF); and over the punishment of the numerous aristocrats and former government officials in Derg's custody. His refusal to sanction the execution of former high officials, including two former
prime ministers A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
and several royal family members and relatives, put his relations with the majority of Derg on an especially bitter footing. 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 Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...
—the first 25 August to 6 September 1974, the second in November 1974—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 Kebur Zabagna or Zebenya ( am, ክቡር ዘበኛ, kəbur zãbãňňya, lit=honorable guard) was the Ethiopian imperial guard. Also known as the First Division, this unit served the dual purposes of providing security for the Emperor of Ethiopi ...
, the
Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...
and the Corps of Engineers; of the three, the most recalcitrant were the Engineers. So on 7 October 1974 soldiers loyal to the Derg stormed the engineers' camp, killing five, wounding several and detaining the rest. As Bahru Zewde observation he said that, "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, among the rest of the army and the country where he was popular. On 15 November 1974, 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 Mengistu Haile Mariam ( am, መንግሥቱ ኀይለ ማሪያም, pronunciation: ; born 21 May 1937) is an Ethiopian politician and former army officer who was the head of state of Ethiopia from 1977 to 1991 and General Secretary of the Work ...
demanded that 5,000 men be dispatched to Eritrea and six imprisoned Imperial officials be executed; Aman 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.


Death

On 23 November 1974, Aman died in a battle in his home with several troops sent there to arrest him. That same night, the political prisoners that the Derg had marked for execution were taken from Menelik prison, where they had been held, and shifted to the
Akaki Central Prison Alem Bekagn ( am, አለም በቃኝ, "Farewell to the World"), or 'Kerchele Prison', was a central prison in Ethiopia until 2004. Located in Addis Ababa, the prison possibly existed as early as 1923, under the reign of Empress Zewditu, but beca ...
to be
executed Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
instead and buried in a mass
grave A grave is a location where a dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as 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.


Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aman Andom 1924 births 1974 murders in Ethiopia 1974 deaths 20th-century Ethiopian politicians Deaths by firearm in Ethiopia Leaders who took power by coup Presidents of Ethiopia Defence ministers of Ethiopia Unsolved deaths