Republicans on the Throne is a memoir spanning the author Tekalign Gedamu’s early life during the waning days of the old feudal order, his six-decade career in the United Nations, the African Development Bank, and the government of Ethiopia.  The book describes the author’s university education and early career as an international civil servant. It focuses on Ethiopia’s modernization and her painful quest for democracy.  For a brief spell, the author was privileged to be an eyewitness and a modest participant to that process.

Republicans on the Throne offers a glimpse into the problems of a new educational system.  The expansion of education left in its wake a demand for more fundamental reforms which Emperor Haile Selassie’s government was increasingly unable to meet. The result was a coup d’état in 1960 that failed and another in 1974 that succeeded and triggered a ‘Marxist’ revolution that promised a new era of equality, democracy, and revitalized nationalism. The book examines closely the fundamental forces behind the revolution along with its failed attempts to improve the country’s fortunes on both the economic and political fronts. 

Seventeen years later, left wing insurgents in the North who had been active throughout the revolution, overthrew the government, allowing the country’s northernmost province to secede and install a regime guided by yet another brand of Marxism (the Albanian variety) at a time when the ideology was entering a period of historic decline.  

The book provides an assessment of the policies and practices of the new rulers, how the country is faring under their leadership, and concludes that major challenges remain in the struggle for democracy, fundamental freedoms, national cohesion, and the fight against poverty.

The legacy of the country’s past, the continuing struggle for democracy, and the likely direction of the country’s future are the central concerns of the last part of the book.  While there is little doubt that the curtain has fallen on Ethiopia’s monarchy, this has not prevented a new breed of tyrants from taking power. Ethiopia’s heritage of autocracy therefore survives, but in a far less paternalistic and more sinister form than before. This leads many to be apprehensive about the prospects for democracy and other key challenges. But the author is more hopeful and offers his perspective in the concluding chapters of the book.    

Reviews:

“A valuable autobiograpy by a patriotic Ethiopian who analyses his country's government in the post-Menelik era. The author, a child of modern education, played a significant role in Ethiopian government and African banking, besides being active in numerous humanitarian causes. He is well placed to comment on the trends and aspirations of post-revolutionary Ethiopia.”

--Richard Pankhurst, Author of The Ethiopians: A History

“Republicans on the Throne is a gripping story of how the little boy, born in a remote small town in Ethiopia’s far west, made it to the highest levels of achievement in Addis Ababa and – a rare thing – in continental Africa. Tekalign Gedamu moved in his career from a planner to a minister to a banker (in the African Development Bank and in Ethiopia). Therefore, it has much to tell us about the economic and political realities of the governments of Haile Selassie, Mengistu Haile Mariam and Meles Zenawi, because the author firmly sets the national context within which his life is narrated. It is an engaging book, which provides a good read for anyone interested in the unfolding drama of development in an African country through the eyes of one of its leading practitioners.”

--Shiferaw Bekele, Professor of Ethiopian History at the Addis Ababa University

“Tekalign Gedamu’s autobiography is a tour d’ horizon of Ethiopian history from the early reign of Emperor Haile-Selassie to the current EPRDF regime. Tekalign, who grew up in Gore and began his education in a monastery school, represents the cohort of Ethiopian intellectuals who benefited from Emperor Haile Selassie’s program of modern education and went on to ably serve their homeland in a variety of ways. His Republicans on the Throne is a well-written, straightforward account of what has happened in Ethiopia during the past three-quarters of a century. I recommend it highly.”

--Professor Theodore M. Vestal, Author of The Lion of Judah in the New World

About the Author:

Born and educated in Ethiopia and subsequently in the U.S., Tekalign Gedamu started his career as an economist working for the UN in New York in 1959. Eight years later, he joined Emperor Haile Selassie’s Government and served in various capacities. He held a cabinet post in the short-lived civilian government of Endalkatchew Makonnen on the eve of the soldiers’ takeover in 1974.  After an uneasy year-and-a-half with the soldiers, he resigned. In 1977, he became economic advisor to the African Development Bank in Abidjan and later served as vice president. In 1995 he returned to Ethiopia and help found a private commercial bank that he managed for seven years. Simultaneously, he served on the boards of a number of national and international NGOs: the Rotary Club of Addis Ababa, the Hamlin Fistula Foundation, and the Gondar Development Association, among others.  Now retired, he lives in Pennsylvania with his wife and three children.