HIM was a thief who lived in luxury on the money he stole from his hungry people.
This is what they tell about His Majesty so often. Since Mengistu this propaganda is spreaded through out the world. Even Ethiopians got brainwashed after 17 years of Red Terror telling such lies. Now I n I must burn down this lies!
Prof Edward Ullendorf is the greatest expert on Ethiopia in the last (20th)century. He knew His Majesty personally for decades and HIM asked Ullendorf personally to translate his Autobiographie into english. His "The Ethiopians" is internationaly aknowledged as the best work on Ethiopia. This Professor Ullendorf answered when he was confronted with the question about HIMs luxury in an Interview the following:
QUESTION: "Did he(HIM) or did he not stash pounds away, hundred million pounds, US dollars, hundred million he stashed away in bank count in Switzzerland."
ULLENDORFF: "First, may I address myself very briefly to the two points which you made...You spoke of the life of luxury. Emperor personally lived very a frugal life, of course is a fact that he lived in palace, he was the head of state, the Emperor of the ancient realm, but he personally was unselfish, modest and frugal person. He did not stole away any money whatsever. I have personal knowledge of this."
After the Derg arrested HIM it's main justify to do so was the claim, which they sread world wide, to get back the money which they said that he had stolen from the people. This also had an influence on the people, because they did not know what was going on actually and nobody did tell them the truth.
So in that time many times the Derg used this pretext and visited HIM with the press at his arresting place and asking again and again the same question... to destroy his great reputation which he had in the world.
One time, it is said, Mengist said sarcastically: "Surely Your Majesty must have had some savings put away for hard times, for your retirement." The Emperor is said to have replied: "Retirement? The Emperor of Ethiopia has no retirement. His retirement is death. Therefore there was never any need to save for retirement."
An other time Mengistu officially blamed HIM infront of the press of having stolen the sum of $20 Billion. For a country that in the 1970's when it's economy was at it's most productive since the beginning of his reign in the 1930's, had a Gross Domestic Product of U.S. $2billion, it was a truly ridiculous sum. So HIM just replied: "How poorly we have failed in educating you in math."
But though most of the world population, and also of the ethiopian people, did not know what was really going on and what was truth and what not. So I n I must always defend HIM reputation and stand firm for I n I Emperor! Burn all those lies!
Selah
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