(Audio) Did Mengistu Hailemariam Abscond Or Was He Pushed Out?
እዚህ ታች ጫን ኣርገህ ስማ፡ኮሎኔል መንግስቱን ይዘዉ የወጡት ካፒቴን አዉሮፕላኑ ዉስጥ የሆነዉን ለመጀመሪያ ጊዜ ነገሩን።
Journalist Dereje Haile and Artist Azeb Worku, in Ethiopia, conducted a detailed investigation into how the brutal dictator Mengistu Hailemariam, the ex-president of Ethiopia from 1974-1991, left Ethiopia in May 20, 1991. Mengistu has always argued that he was tactically made to fly to Kenya to sign deals by his colleagues and then a coup took place against him.
Captain Yared Tefera, who was the co-pilot of the Dash Five, which carried Mengistu Haileamriam then, gave firsthand anecdotal testimony of the whole process from Addis Abeba to Nairobi, Kenya and then Harare, Zimbabwe.
Captain Yared Tefera is currently working as the pilot of the Ethiopian Airlines. This is said to be his first ever interview since the incident.
His testimonies reveal otherwise, Mengistu did forcefully order the pilots to fly to Nairobi, Kenya unlike to where it was planned “Bilaten Army Training Center, 40 minutes flight from Addis Abeba and then Asmera.”
So he did “abscond!” From Nairobi, he took another plane and flew to Zimbabwe! Captain Yared along with the main pilot Captain Mekonen flew back to Addis Abeba, the next day.
But even in a recent interview, Mengistu maintained his previous claims that he flew to Kenya to sign some secret geopolitical deals but was overthrown by his colleagues in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia.