From: Biniam Haile \(SWE\) (eritrea.lave@comhem.se)
Date: Sat Apr 25 2009 - 19:17:23 EDT
>From The Times
April 21, 2009
General Goitom Ghebrezghi: chief of the Eritrean Police Force
General Goitom Ghebrezghi came to international prominence when he
deserted the Derg regime of Ethiopia in 1974 and joined the Eritrean
Liberation Front. The event was seen as a big political development in
the region at the time and was reported internationally, including by
the BBC.
The Ethiopian military commander in Eritrea at the time had planned to
mount a military operation against the civilian population for perceived
collusion with the liberation struggle. As the police chief, Goitom
Ghebrezghi told the commanding general that if army units were deployed
against civilians he would order the police commandos to defend the
population. The ensuing stand-off averted a massacre, and Goitom
Ghebrezghi has since been credited with defending the civilian
population of Asmara, the Eritrean capital. Because of this, now known
as the Weki-Zaghir incident, the Derg regime saw General Goitom as a
serious obstacle to their plans in Eritrea and decided to put him to
death. But he fled the country on the eve of the intended execution.
As a young man, Goitom Ghebrezghi joined the Eritrean Police Force in
the late 1940s under British administration - from which he learnt a
great deal. He was quickly promoted through the ranks and became a
training officer at Dekemhare, southeast of Asmara. He was later given
the post of district police inspector, and was promoted to the rank of
major during the time of the Ethio-Eritrean Federation.
After the Government of Emperor Haile Selassie dissolved the federation,
Goitom Ghebrezghi was promoted to the rank of colonel and transferred to
Ethiopia, where he worked in the provinces of Gondar, Sidamo and
Ilubabor. It was during that time that he was promoted to the rank of
general. When the Derg regime came to power in 1974 he was transferred
back to Eritrea, which he had to leave within a few months.
After he fled, General Goitom went to Khartoum, the Sudanese capital,
where the Eritrean liberation movements had headquarters. Despite the
deprivation, Goitom Ghebrezghi decided to stay there to help the
Eritrean effort for liberation. He strongly believed that it was only
through unity that liberation could be achieved, and he did his utmost
to promote this. As an elder, he was an active participant in many of
the reconciliation meetings that were held between the various Eritrean
liberation movements. He once went to Uganda as a member of a
reconciliation delegation. Besides his political contribution to bring
about Eritrean unity, he participated in the Eritrean community in
Khartoum to provide support and encouragement to individuals, families
and groups.
After a number of years of struggle in Sudan, he emigrated to the United
States in 1980. He lived first in Boston and later moved to Washington
where he started a small business to support himself and his young
family.
In the ensuing years many Eritreans had started to emigrate to America
as a result of the worsening condition at home including the fighting in
western Eritrea. After observing the isolation, mental trauma and
deprivation of many Eritrean immigrants in the Washington area,
Ghebrezghi took it upon himself to find a solution to the problem, and
with two other elders,Solomon Kahsay and Mr Woldesellassie, decided to
establish an Eritrean community and later a church for marriages,
baptisms and other services. According to witnesses, Goitom Ghebrezghi
sometimes went from door to door to help individuals and groups in need.
As a result of the tireless effort of the general and his colleagues, a
vibrant Eritrean community and a church were established. It became
obvious to Goitom Ghebrezghi that such services were needed in other
parts of the US as well and he spread his net first to Philadelphia and
then throughout the US. General Goitom was the pioneer of Eritrean
communities in America.
Goitom Ghebrezghi was born in 1925 in the village of Mefalso, near
Mendefera, the provincial capital of Seraye in western Eritrea. He was
the fourth child in a family of eight children. He also had roots in Adi
Baro, Tsilima, where his father's line was from.
Also known as Wedi Ma'ke, Goitom Ghebrezghi had a modest upbringing and
was self-taught, with no formal education. But he had a sharp mind and
was fluent in five languages: Tigrigna, English, Italian, Arabic and
Amharic. In his early years he taught English in Asmara part-time. He
was also a fine footballer and tennis player in his youth.
He was distinguished by his decency and goodness in bringing people
together, even at his own expense. He had love not only for his own
family, but for all.
General Goitom is survived by five sons and a daughter.
General Goitom Ghebrezghi, Chief of the Eritrean Police Force and
Eritrean expatriate community leader in the US, was born on May 12,
1925. He died on March 3, 2009, aged 83
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article6134913.ece
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