Machaho Tellem Chaho

BEST READ OF MY WEEK : A DIALOGUE The Case of the Valiant Torturer by Hama Tuma An ex-torturer of the Red Terror is presenting his 'achievements' to the Derg's court. The court is going to punish him for complaining he was not getting enough 'anarchists' to torture and meet his quota: "Well, you remember how the country suffered from lack of rain? We suspected foul play. A few priests who were preaching that God has cursed us, in other words saying that God was against the State, were arrested and brought to us. Within two hours, all the priests confessed that they were part of an anarchist plot. Using these confessions we grilled again around thirty anarchists we already had in custody and who had all confessed to being central committee members of their party. All of them now revealed that their party had sabotaged the rain. It was a stupendous success and the newspapers highlighted it, revealing that the anarchists were responsible for the drought and...

This is a rather old article, as news time-counting goes (February 2010), but it is written by my favourite Ethiopian author, Hama Tuma, so I cannot resist him nor the urge to share. So here goes: a presentation of two of Africa's plight 'Ze politicians' Zuma and Zenawi. I have chosen to copy here the latter part of his article which deals with Zenawi. For the full version, use your index finger. "Zenawi versus Zuma : 'Ze burlesque' follies of Africa" by Hama Tuma (an article posted on Hama Tuma's website and also published in Afrik.com , for whom he is a regular columnist.) "If Zuma is funny son of Zenawi aka Meles is dull and boring. This is the man who invaded Somalia and claimed it was not an invasion; "we just crossed the border". This is the man who blamed the West for the famine in Ethiopia: "they did not send food aid in time". This is the very man who indefatigably claims the economy is growing by 10% per year whi...

The case of the Criminal Walk and Other stories by Hama Tuma, Outskirts Press, 2006. It was published in 2006 but I do not know when the stories were written. “As people say, misery is a brother and happiness just a passerby.” Readers, please excuse but I am going to be rambling on for the next three paragraphs which you are more than welcome to skip, don't miss Hama Tuma's quotes though, am sure you'll love his style. I never wanted to study History, I always used to dodge lessons or snore in the front row so that I would get thrown out of class. There isn’t much I find remotely mentally titillating in the records that human beings - or should I say ‘man’ beings ;-) - keep. The earliest examples of writing, as archaeological findings indicate thus far, does not recount romances, love, not even hate nor war, but economy, pure and simple mathematical calculation (actually not that simple!). History's body is literature, through it, with it, it thrives, invites, seduc...