Momodou Jallow om den nya rättegången mot Dan Park och galleriägaren,

http://thegambia.nu/2014/08/10/momodou-jallow-om-den-nya-rattegangen-mot-konstnaren-och-galleriagaren/

The Nkosi and the Negasi, by Aman Gebremeskel

The Nguni and Ge’ez terms for king must have common ancestry! Or maybe one is derived from the other. But there is another connection that is too hard to miss. Over the past century two kings from each civilization have captured the imagination of the world... and transformed it forever.
As romantic as it may sound to speak of the lives of Madiba and Teferi in glorious terms the reality is a lot messier and all too human. Both stories – set apart by 40 years – start off with two modern young African men who attempted to satisfy their thirst for power by ingeniously leveraging the power of their occupiers. 
Both Madiba and Teferi were largely educated by colonial Europeans but due to their African royal heritage they were also immersed in their traditional doctrines. Both were turned into world icons – Teferi in the 1940s and Madiba in the 1980s – turning on its head the natural hierarchy of the races that had established itself since the mid 19th century. And both died old men after 60 years of active political life leaving their nations proud and free but swimming in a pool of political and economic mess.
Physically speaking the two couldn’t have been more different. Madiba was a tall muscular boxer while Teferi was a small frail man. However both realized that the power of 20th century kings lay in ideas rather than armaments. As such they devoted a great deal of time speaking and writing rather than fighting with swords.
If Tefari’s Geneva speech to the League of Nations was proud and impassioned in the midst of his collapsing nation then the statements from the docks of the Rivonia trials by Madiba a generation later would confound his captors for its confidence and power in the face of his certain death. Stories from old scripture of empty handed weak men who brought their captors and victors to their knees were brought back to life in the 1930s and 60s.
But the most striking aspect of these two kings is how they exploited the crisis and weakness of the global powers of their time to further their own goals. In the 1980s Madiba offered a largely destructive western civilization salvation in the eyes of its own rebelling children by lending his legitimacy to the capitalist cause, just as Teferi had done in the 1940s by convincing the world that a victory for the Allies – a desperate grouping of oppressive imperialists – meant freedom for all people of the world.
In the end both kings were criticized bitterly by their own people for forgiving and embracing their tormentors in exchange for Italians and Afrikaners helping to run aspects of their nations that were too technical for Africans. By the 1970s Ethiopians revolted and pursued an aggressive policy of indigenization... choosing political and economic sovereignty over economic development. Forty years later all signs point to South Africans pursuing a policy of indigenization... but maybe this time with economic success in tow.

Reproduced with permission.

Here is an excellent piece from an Addis female aid worker... A friend has translated as best he can...

ሰባተኛውን ጥያቄ ስጠይቃት ‹‹ያምሻል እንዴ?›› በሚል አይን አየችኝ፡፡
When I asked the seventh question she looked at me as if I were mad.

ያለሁት ብዙአየሁ ቤት ነው፡፡ 
I am at the place of Bizu'ayehu.

ብዙአየሁ በምሰራበት ‹‹ኤን ጂ ኦ›› ከድፍን አዲስ አበባ በምርጥ የድህነት ናሙናነት የተመረጠ ሰፈር የምትኖር ሴት ናት፡፡ 
Bizu'ayehu lives in one of the poorest neighborhoods of Addis which was carefully sampled at my "NGO".

ብዙአየሁ ሴተኛ አዳሪ ናት፡፡
Bizu'ayehu is a prostitute.

ብዙአየሁ አባት ያላቸው ግን የሌላቸው ሁለት ህፃናት እናት ናት፡፡
Bizu'ayehu is the mother of two fatherless children who have dads somewhere.

ቤቷ በአራቱም ማእዘን ከሁለት እርምጃ በላይ አያስኬድም፡፡ ከግድግዳው ምርግ ይልቅ ሽንቁሩ ይበዛል፡፡ እዚህም እዚያም በላስቲክ እና በጋዜጣ ተወታትፏል፡፡ 
Her house can be traversed in two steps in both directions. There are more holes in the wall than solid mud. Some holes have been plugged by plastic bags and others with newspapers.

የቤቱን ወለል ከደጁ መለየት ይቸግራል፡፡
It is hard to tell apart the inside floor from what is found outside

በነተበ ጣሪያዋ ቀዳዳዎች በሚገባው ብርሃን በአይኔ የያዝኳቸውና በስሟ ያሉት ብቸኛ ንብረቶች የሚከተሉት ናቸው፡፡
The holes in the roof allow just enough light to enable one to count all of her possessions.

ከወንዶችም ከልጆቿም ጋር የምትተኛበት 90 ሳንቲሜትር ሽቦው የረገበ አልጋ፣
A 90cm bed with an old mattress where her children and customers sleep.

ሁለት ተሸራርፈው እያለቁ ያሉ አሮጌ ባልዲዎች፣
Two old zinc water containers that are cracked and chipped.

ከአራት የማይበልጡ ከንፈራቸው የተሸራረፈና በቡና የወየቡ ስኒዎች፣ 
Four chipped and coffee stained cups

አንድ ጀበና፣ አንድ ረከቦት፣ ሁለት የነሱ ያልሁኑ ክዳኖችን የደፉ ድስቶች፣ አንድ ማማሰያ፡ አንድ ባለቆርኪ ቡሽ በርጩማ፣ አንድ ውስጡ ምን እንዳለ ያላወቅኩት የእንጨት ሳጥን እና በተቦተረፈ ፌስታል ውስጥ የታጀሉ ልብሶች፣ አልጋ ስር ያሉ ሁለት አሮጌ ጫማዎች፡፡
One coffee pot, one pot seat, two pans with oversized covers, one wooden spoon, one stool made of corks, one wooden box the contents of which are unknown and clothes wrapped in a torn plastic bag. Under the bed one can see two old shoes.

ጥያቄውን ደገምኩላት፡፡ 
I repeated the question.

‹‹አንቺና ልጆችሽ በሳምንት ስንት ጊዜ ስጋ ትበላላችሁ?›› 
"How many times a week do you and your children eat meat?"

ለነገሩ እኔ ጠየቅኳቸው እንጂ ለብዙአየሁ የተዘጋጁት ጥያቄዎች የወጡት አሜሪካ በሚገኙ ፈረንጅ አለቆቼ እና አለቆቻቸው ነው፡፡ 
Even though I am asking the questions, they were prepared by my bosses and their bosses in the US.

‹‹ቤዝ ላይን ሰርቬይ ቱ አሰስ ዘ ሌቭል ኦፍ አርባን ፖቨርቲ ኢን አዲስአበባ›› ይላል ወረቀቴ ላይ ያለው የመጠይቁ ርእስ፡፡
"Base line survey to asses the level of urban poverty in Addis Ababa" is the title of the questionnaire.

የአንዲት ምስኪን ኢትዮጵያዊት ሴተኛ አዳሪን ‹‹የድህነት መጠን›› ለመረዳት በእንግሊዝኛ የተዘጋጀ መጠይቅ ነው ይዤ የመጣሁት፡፡
I have in my hand an English questionnaire that attempts to understand the "poverty level" of an Ethiopian prostitute

በእንግሊዝኛ የተዘጋጁትን ‹‹የድህነት መመዘኛ›› ጥያቄዎች ወደ አማርኛ መልሼ ለመጠየቅ፣ ጠይቄም መልሶቹን ለመፃፍና ሪፖርት ለማዘጋጀት ነው የተቀጠርኩት፡፡
I was hired to ask the English "poverty assessment" questions in Amharic and then develop a report.

ፈረንጆቹ ለስራዬ በቀን ሁለት መቶ ሃምሳ ብር ይከፍሉኛል፡፡
The foreigners pay me 250 birr per day to do this work.

ስለዚህም በአይኔ የማየውን ችላ ብዬ የተጻፈውን እጠይቃለሁ፡፡
So I ignore what I see with my bare eyes and ask the written questions.

‹‹በሳምንት ምንም ጊዜ፡፡ በወር ምንም ጊዜ፡፡ በአመት ምንም ጊዜ›› የሚለውን የእሷንም የልጆቿንም ፊት እና ቤት እያየሁ፣ ጥያቄዬ በማየው ሁሉ እየተመለሰ፤‹‹በሳምንት ምን ያህል ጊዜ ስጋ ትበላላችሁ?›› ብዬ እጠይቃለሁ፡፡
"None per week, None per month, None per year" is what I see in her and the children's faces. Even though I can see the answer, I still ask the question "How many times a week do you eat meat?".

መቼም አንዴ ጭንቅላቴ ላይ በሆዴ ተኝቻለሁና፤
And now that I am laying on my head with my stomach...

በጠዋቱ ደጃፍ ቁጭ ብለው ዝምብ እያባረሩ በረሃብ የሚያዛጉ ልጆቿን እያየሁ ‹‹ልጆችሽ የተመጣጠነ ምግብ ይበላሉ?›› ብዬ እነዘንዛታለሁ፡፡
I look towards the hungrily yawning children who are chasing flies away sitting in the morning doorway and nag her further "Do your children have a balanced diet?".

በአይኔ ቆጥሬ የጨረስኩትን ንብረቷን ግምት ንገሪኝ ብዬ አስጨንቃታለሁ፡፡
I ask her to tell me the monetary value of her property that I have already counted

በሰላሳ አምስት ጥያቄዎቼ መሃል ሰላሳ አምስት ጊዜ ድርብ ሳል እየሳለች ደረቷን ይዛ ‹‹እህ!›› ስትል እየሰማኋት ‹‹ሳትታመሚ ሃኪም ቤት ሄደሽ አጠቃላይ ምርመራ የማድረግ ልምድ አለሽ? ›› እላታለሁ፡፡
በደጇ የሚፈሰውን ሽንት እና ምናምንቴ ዘልዬ ገብቼ በንፁህ አካባቢ ስለመኖሯ እጠይቃታለሁ፡፡
While I heard her cough in pain for every one of the thirty five questions, I still asked "Do you have a habit of visiting a medical center for general checkup without being ill?". I then asked if she lives in a sanitary area totally ignoring the feces that I crossed to enter her house.

ድህነት የተጫወተበት ጭቁን ፊቷን እና ጭቁን ቤቷን እያየሁ ድህነቷን በሰላሳ አምስት ጥያቄ ለማረጋገጥ ያለማቋረጥ እጠይቃለሁ፡፡
What I see in her poverty ridden oppressed face and house I ignore and tirelessly ask her thirty five questions to ascertain her poverty.

የሷን እና የልጆቿን ርሃብ በመመዘገብ እና በመዘገብ
እኔ ጠግቤ አድራለሁ፡፡
By recording and reporting her and her children's hunger I can live with a full stomach.

Name of interviewer: Hiwot Emishaw