Prince Alamayu was the son of Ethiopia’s Emperor Tewodros II
He was taken to Britain after his father killed himself during British siege in 1868
King Charles is facing fresh calls to return the remains of a ‘stolen’ Ethiopian prince who is buried at Windsor Castle.
A favourite of Queen Victoria, Prince Alamayu had been brought to Britain after his father, Emperor Tewodros II, killed himself as British forces stormed his hilltop palace in northern Ethiopia in 1868.
Prince Alamayu was educated at Sandhurst military academy but tragically died at the age of 18 from pneumonia in 1879 and was buried in catacombs next to Windsor’s St George’s Chapel.
In 2019, the Queen refused to allow the repatriation of his bones, but now a new book about his life has led to renewed calls by campaigners to return them.
However, experts have insisted that moving his bones now would be a mistake. Royal historian Hugo Vickers told MailOnline that it would be ‘pointless’ to return his remains and explained that Queen Victoria ‘generously’ took the prince in as a ‘great honour’.
The Ethiopian government first demanded the return of Alamayu’s remains in the 1990s.
But Palace officials have insisted that they cannot recover them without disturbing those of others. Campaigner Alula Pankhurst, who sits on Ethiopia’s cultural restitution committee, told The Times that the argument is just an ‘excuse for not dealing with it.’
‘Bringing this young man home means unearthing uncomfortable truths that people don’t want to think about.’
New book The Prince and the Plunder, by Andrew Heavens, re-tells the story of the prince and his family.
It tells how Alamayu’s father, King Tewodros II, known as ‘Mad King Theodore’, had wanted to be friends with the British and wrote a letter to Queen Victoria in 1855.
After she failed to reply to that and a follow-up letter, Tewodros took the British consul and several missionaries hostage in a high mountain jail.
A huge army of nearly 40,000 British troops were sent to rescue the 44 hostages. As the successful mission neared its conclusion, Tewodros took his own life.
Tewodros’s wife, Alamayu’s mother, died on her way down the mountain, leaving her son an orphan.
Alamayu was put under the care of towering colonial officer Captain Tristram Speedy and taken back to Britain.
According to Speedy, Alamayu’s mother had told him that he ‘take my son and treat him as your own’.
Alamayu was taken to Osborne House on the Isle of Wight to meet Queen Victoria, who later wrote in her diary that he was ‘a very pretty sight, a graceful boy with beautiful eyes and a nice nose and mouth, though the lips are slightly thick’.
Whilst the Queen had wanted him to remain on the Isle of Wight, he went first with Speedy to India before the Treasury ordered that he be properly educated.
He was sent to Cheltenham and Rugby and then on to Sandhurst, but struggled with his studies.
The prince caught pneumonia when he fell asleep outside one night. After refusing to eat, he passed away whilst living in Headingly, in Leeds.
After learning of his death, Victoria wrote: ‘It is too sad! All alone in a strange country, without a single person or relative belonging to him… His was no happy life, full of difficulties of every king.’
Near his burial spot is a plaque bearing the inscription: ‘I was a stranger and you took me in.’
Responding to the calls to return his remains, Mr Vickers said: ‘Queen Victoria generously took him in as a great honour and allowed him to be buried next to St George’s Chapel, and he should remain there because that is what everyone wanted at the time.’
Referring to the military coup which ended the life and reign of Ethiopia’s Emperor Haile Selassie, Mr Vickers added: ‘I don’t know why they want him back since in Ethiopia they killed the last emperor in 1975.
‘Are they so keen to have their imperial family back now?
‘He had a pretty awful time, this poor prince. It is pointless sending him back. I don’t understand why on earth they want to do that.’
Fellow historian Alexander Larman added: ‘The Palace are unyielding on things like this.
‘I suspect they won’t do anything because if they set a precedent there will be other things they have to do.
‘I would be amazed if they ever do anything. It is quite standard policy with the Royal Family to ignore these things and hope they go away in due course.’
Buckingham Palace has been approached for comment. A spokesman previously said: ‘We are aware of this sensitive and complex issue and have communicated with the Ethiopian government over a number of years.’
In 2019, Ethiopia’s ambassador to London, Fesseha Shawel Gebre, urged the Queen to consider how she would have felt if one of her relatives was buried in a foreign land.
‘Would she happily lie in bed every day, go to sleep, having one of her Royal Family members buried somewhere, taken as prisoner of war?’ he asked. ‘I think she wouldn’t.’
He insisted that the boy was ‘stolen’.
The Ethiopian government has previously said that it will repeat its demand at every meeting its ministers have with their British counterparts.
In 2007, the Ethiopian government wrote to the Queen requesting the return of his body so he could be buried beside his father.
‘Had he not been taken, had he not lost his father, he would have been the next king of Ethiopia,’ Fesseha previously said.
The embassy claimed that a letter from the Queen’s private secretary said that she sympathised but there were concerns about disturbing the remains of others buried alongside him.
It is understood more than 40 bodies were buried in the catacombs between 1845 to 1887. It is claimed that it would therefore be impossible to identify and exhume his body.
Ethiopia’s economic stagnation under EPRDF policy stemmed from the start of the Ethiopian millennium. Agricultural-led industrialization prioritizes agricultural development to reduce poverty levels and generate industrial capital. The approach had two parts: promoting exports and supporting domestic industries, which are connected to each other in agriculture and industry. To encourage a market-oriented economy, the government has deregulated the investment framework through official declarations. The investment code has been revised twice since 1992, expanding opportunities for foreign investors. GTPs I and II were designed with the objective of achieving Ethiopia’s national vision of becoming a middle-income nation by the year 2025.
The governmental body implemented a series of policy amendments and strategic plans in order to facilitate economic reforms within the country. The commencement of the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) has sparked a sense of initiation and national engagement, as well as elicited the support of nations beyond Ethiopia, prompting introspection among even those who think the marginalized segments of society within the country. At this juncture, the Ethiopian investment has become blurred, necessitating significant government intervention to sustain in its breakeven level with those various challenges. It is of paramount importance for the government to prioritize investing on peace over economic investment as the former constitutes the highest privilege.
The economic development of a nation is adversely impacted by the fragility of its peace condition, manifested in multiple ways. These include the restraint of foreign direct investment that arises from apprehensions associated with the unstable peace condition, the reduction in foreign aid support as a result of the violation of civilian rights that frequently accompany ongoing conflicts, the suboptimal output levels of manufacturing enterprises that emanate from the overall disruption of the enabling factors, and even the reduction in remittances that is exploited as a tool by political adversaries. The phenomenon of investment reduction occurred prior to the upward trend observed during the reform period, specifically from 2015 to 2017. Expectations were high that the investments would experience a resurgence during this time. Regrettably, the initial optimism deteriorated into despair. Upon examination of investment patterns, it becomes evident that they closely align with levels of peace and security. Therefore, allocating resources towards peace and security initiatives yields a secure environment, regardless of location or terrain.
The occurrence of investment shrinkage during a period of transformation is reminiscent. The overwhelming nature of the government reform at the time was accompanied by riot-induced destruction of numerous investments in and around Addis Ababa. In order to address the current economic fluctuations, it is recommended that the government take measures to solidify peace and security. This will enable factories to resume operations, irrespective of their operational capacity. The aforementioned approach facilitates the restoration of historical operations such as production, employment, tax, and investment trends. It further empowers establishments to optimize their operational capacity even in the absence of any governmental support. Secondly, the peril of passive investment is pronounced in the manner in which the government manages it, as it poses a significant threat to the forthcoming settlement of the national debt. The railway project represents a salient instance where both the light railway and cross-country railway systems remain inactive for a protracted duration. The Ethiopian Government has recognized the strategic potential of the transport sector in sustaining the nation’s positive economic growth trajectory. Nonetheless, the government is endeavoring to address the issue by means of vehicular investment that entails a consideration of opportunity costs. The cross-country railway performs a fundamental role in addressing the transport requirements of this landlocked economy. The act of idling railways (Woldya to Djibouti, a $4bill investment)) and trying to resort through vehicular transport has been further aggravated by the surge in fuel expenses whilst a notable reliance of the country on imports.
There exist numerous industrial projects, both privately and state-owned, that have yet to be transitioned to the production phase as a consequence of protracted delays in their implementation. An illustrative example can be observed through the analysis of the top 20 industrial projects (investment cost of Birr20.26 billion) executed by the Development Bank of Ethiopia (sole investment financing institution); It is notable that not more than 64% of the projects were executed within the stipulated timeline.
It should be also imperative for the government to prioritize the regulation and mitigation of capital flight and asset withdrawal, while the framed economic policy is home grown economy. According to empirical evidence, capital flight from Ethiopia is primarily attributed to factors such as political instability, corruption, and debt-generating inflows. The phenomenon of illegal capital flight is pervasive in many African countries. Let consider the case of Ethiopia, Transparency International’s study in September 2018 on illicit financial flows reveals that the annual outflow of capital from the country constitutes an estimated 11% to 29% of its total trade, 40% to 97% of foreign aid, or 10% to 30% of the government’s yearly revenue. Ethiopia is confronted with a distinctive challenge that is characterized by an aggressive escalation of illicit financial flow, whilst simultaneously grappling with a high level of indebtedness. Consequently, exerting control over the illicit outflow of capital has become a pressing apprehension in current times. In conclusion, there is a pressing need for extensive attention to be directed towards the national economy. This is owed to the presence of an alarmingly high rate of unemployment, an enormous gap in foreign exchange demand, as well as a surplus of resources laying idle. A substantial portion of investments (both governmental and private) that have yet to transformed productive stage shall commence to productive stage as prior. The aforesaid matters will be addressed upon the government’s initial investment in prioritizing peace and security as an integral obligation. Unless peace is immediately upheld, the present homegrown economic strategy will prove to be a mirage.
For more than 150 years, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has spearheaded global telecommunications which has shaped the world to what it is today. Founded in 1865 to facilitate international connectivity in communications networks, the ITU has allocated global radio spectrums and satellite orbits, developed the technical standards that ensure networks and technologies for seamless interconnections, and strived to improve access to ICTs to underserved communities worldwide. As a matter of fact, every time you make a phone call through your mobile, access the Internet or send an email, you are benefitting from the work of ITU. To better understand the works of the ITU in the region, Capital’s Metasebia Teshome reached out to Anne-Rachel Inné, the ITU Regional Director for Africa for in-depth insights of the organization’s developments. Anne-Rachel, in her diverse work portfolio also serves as liaison to the African Union and UNECA. She also has 25 years of experience in international telecommunications – Internet/ICTs, and has worked as an executive at several global Internet root organisations. She holds an MBA in International Finance/Economics-International Management. The following are excerpts from the candid interview;
Capital: What is the ITU doing in the region and in Ethiopia?
Anne-Rachel Inné: Established in 1865 to manage the first international telegraph networks, the International Telecommunication Union has worked ceaselessly since then to connect the world. Over the years, the Union’s mandate has expanded to cover the invention of voice telephony, the development of radio-communications, the launch of the first communications satellites, and most recently, the telecommunications-based information age. Along the way, ITU’s structure and activities have evolved and adapted to meet the needs of this changing mandate.
By 1992, the ITU had three bureaus namely; Radiocommunication, Telecommunication Standardization and Telecommunication Development. At the time, following the expanding needs of the work of the Telecommunication Development Sector which is supported by its Secretariat, the Telecommunication Development Bureau, the Secretary General of ITU then had asked countries to express their willingness to host the ITU to which Ethiopia came forward to host as the capital of Africa. Since then the regional office has been based here in Addis Ababa and we cover 44 of the Sub Saharan Africa countries. We also work in tandem with the other 10 Arab countries which have their base in Cairo.
(Photo: Anteneh Aklilu)
ITU is the only organization where you have six regions instead of the regular five of the UN. This is because one of the issues that we have actually on the internet is bringing people on board in the sphere of the various languages, which we are aggressively working on. So by that construction, we actually have two offices in African because the Arab region office is in Cairo and the regional office for the sub Saharan Africa is in Addis Ababa. We have three other area offices in Dakar, Yaoundé and one in Harare. We have what we call host country agreement here in Ethiopia and we are actually located in Legehar, in the offices of Ethio telecom, which is a government office. Here in Addis we are taking care of issues on telecommunication and ICTs for the whole continent.
Some of our primary focus areas include looking into the agenda 2063, digital transformation for Africa, and also the national strategies like the one in Ethiopia with regards to digital transformation. On a daily basis, we talk to member states helping them best shape their digital transformation goals on actual projects that we have in their countries and work on the overall development landscape with partner groups in their countries. Of course every country has its own digital transformation aspirations so our work varies from country to country.
We also tackle the important areas of development such as: How to get the infrastructure? How to get the skills? How to get in a continent that is as large as 30 million square kilometers with a population of 1.4 billion people?
Capital: How do you think the continent benefits from digitalization? Do you think that Africa is accordingly growing with digital technologies in compatible ways to our development?
Anne-Rachel Inné: We’re the youngest continent and we’re going to continue to be the youngest continent. About 65 percent of our population is under the age of 25. However on the down side, 60 to 80 percent of our population in general is in rural communities.
If we really want universal connectivity, we have to ask, what are the areas that can be of competitive advantages for Africa to really get to development? Once we have identified those priorities, then we are on a good trajectory to development.
Right now, the continent is working aggressively to fully implement the Africa continental free trade area. For instance, Africa has the highest proportion of women entrepreneurs that is 25 percent, which is a global high. For some of the women that we’re helping here that are in leather, coffee, and garments industry, we need them instead of shipping outside, to be able to give the opportunity to all of the other countries in Africa to benefit from those resources that we have in Ethiopia.
Take the case, for example, some things like the best of sugars that we have that come from cultivation, we send them to Europe or to America instead of trading with ourselves. Why? Because we don’t have roads, trains, planes, or elaborate logistics systems in short. We don’t have harmonized policies around all of these, but that narrative must change. Down the road, having an African passport will be integral to the continent’s success which will enhance connectivity. Such initiatives will streamline commerce activities across the corners of Africa.
(Photo: Anteneh Aklilu)
And if you ask where’s digitalization here? Well digitalization will be instrumental in helping us to know who has what, helps us to have contact information access, conduct transactions online, anywhere, and at any place. As a result of building this foundation what remains will be utilizing technology and data to lead in more informed decision-making in various aspects of society, including environmental sustainability and governance. It is important to continue exploring and implementing these tools to address complex challenges facing our world.
But for that to happen, we need to make sure that going digital will indeed speak the language of our people, and respect our cultures and integrate with our everyday lives. We don’t want to be just consumers of tech, or copy paste technology. We need to tailor tech to work to our needs which might not be the same for the rest of the globe.
With regards to compatibility of technology with our development we need to be cognizant of our situation. For example, as I stated earlier, 60 to 80% of the population is in rural areas and even going to school is hard, not to mention being connected. We have challenges of connectivity. It needs to be affordable. We also have challenges in taxation in terms of how much tax do we get on these instruments and then on the equipment in general, whose prices need to be lowered.
Capital: There are lots of challenges our population is facing including Infrastructure, lack of skill, and affordability of new technologies. How do you think we can cope with these?
Anne-Rachel Inné: We all have a role in working to minimize these challenges. We can’t wait for government to take lead in everything. Starting from the media, we need to trickle the right amount of technological information to the citizens, not only for entertainment but to inspire them to take hands on approach towards their own technologies for the country’s development. We need to be producers of the technology; that is the Africa that we want. We need to help our people not just simply be on the receiving end.
This can be achieved by investing in STEM education and creating a conducive environment for innovation and entrepreneurship. With these efforts, we can empower Africans to create and implement technological solutions that address the unique challenges faced by the continent.
Capital: Inclusivity is among the major issues in the digital world especially, ‘Gender Inclusivity’, and when it comes to Africa this expands even to a greater scale. How do you think we can manage it?
(Photo: Anteneh Aklilu)
Anne-Rachel Inné: The global route of the internet is multi-stakeholder and has been dominated by males since day one. To change this, each person needs to participate and help people understand technology.
We have spent the whole of last month talking about gender and ICTs. Right now we are at a point where even in developed countries around 30% of people want to get off the internet because they’re tired of; being scammed, harassed, and seeing things that they don’t want to see that are really counter to what is culturally acceptable to them. If we don’t cater to all of these, we’re not going to be able to advance and this is one of the reasons why we also want young ladies coming into the tech sphere. This is because the technology right now is not right for women, and it is also because the algorithms are taught by men. We need to change that. So the biases that are ingrained you know are those of men so it is important that is brought back into the core technology so that we can really help our population, get on board and be able to use these things for development.
Girls in ICT should be encouraged to embrace it. We work with different partners including embassies and even Ambassadors who are based in Addis Ababa who have agreed that this is not enough and that they will take this to the their governments as a whole. For instance, we would like to organize girls’ ICT days in all of the schools that are here and maybe even some in the regions. The ambassadors believe that promoting ICT education among girls will help bridge the gender gap in the technology industry. They hope that the government will support their initiative and allocate resources to make it happen.
We would like to help a few schools organize it and make it part of the curriculum, so that not only girls but also boys know the reasons why this should happen. The most important details is that we should not waiting for the government to do it. Instead, private sector people, the EU, UN agencies and development partners, and ambassadors have all expressed an interest in being part of the project.
Capital: What is your view of Ethiopia’s 2025 digital plan and how is the ITU working to support the country?
(Photo: Anteneh Aklilu)
Anne-Rachel Inné: We are actually right now in the process of working with the Ministry of Innovation and Technology and the Ethiopia Communication Authority (ECA) to look into ways of measuring where we are now as a nation given in 2019 we made huge efforts to achieve this digital plans by 2025. So both the ministry and authority is going to take stock of what has happened nationally, that is, in between the projects and everything that has been put together into platforms, and places like INSA and others as it’s an ecosystem. Once we know where we currently stand and identify the gaps, we will work with all of the development partners to better assess what to do next?
Ethiopia has been opening up the telecommunications sector and the regulator itself, ECA, has also put forth its national policies. For example, Ethiopia being a large country, issues of cooling fiber everywhere for connectivity do arise. One of the technologies that we can use is satellite for connectivity in a lot of remote areas, especially in northern mountain areas and in areas where it may not be easy to pull fiber. So those are the types of things for example where we will be sitting with the regulator and the ministry to look into what is needed.
We also work on national frequency allocation tables, trainings in ironical and maritime issues, and the need for countries to be aware of international regulations. To address this in particular, Ethiopia is looking at technologies such as connectivity, mapping, and working with the Universal Postal Union to connect schools and communities with postal offices. The goal is to come together and connect communities. By coming together, we can bridge the digital divide and ensure that everyone has access to the same opportunities. This will help to create a more equitable and inclusive society where everyone can thrive.
Being digital is transversal and once Ethiopia has national platforms that have everything, ECA as a regulator needs to be able to talk to electricity, water, and all of the relevant service bodies to be on the same page. This integration of digital platforms with other essential services can lead to efficient and effective delivery of services to the citizens of Ethiopia. Additionally, it can help in creating a digital ecosystem that promotes innovation and growth in the country. For this we need to build confidence and trust, and we equally need skills, infrastructure, and the young population on to be savvy.
The modern world teaches or orients or educates mostly to perpetuate the lopsided globalization. This lopsided globalization includes not only the totality of collective human affairs, but also the world of nature. The things the system considers important and practical are usually the ones that are destined to undermine the human animal in its comprehensive existence. Certainly the prevailing system is not in the business of enlightenment. We do not think there are serious critical thinkers who still believe that the main purpose of our global order is the wellbeing & enlightenment of individuals. The ideology of the system is unadulterated greed. Its aggressive implementation leverages all of the formal/informal institutions of orientation across the planet!
All the existing institutions wallow in irrationality when it comes to the interrogation of the global interstate system. We know of not even one university that systemically challenges the modus operandi of the existing order. The lunacy of the economic foundation (of the global order), mostly based on the stupid assumption of infinite growth and fractional reserve banking remain unchallenged. The idiotic infinite growth regime is easy to understand. The FRB (fractional reserve banking) is a globally entrenched system where fraud plays a prominent role. It is important to note that the current money system is based on fiat without anything backing all the currencies of the world. That is; it is money created out of thin air. By and large, this phony money is distributed to those loyal to the system. It robs the working poor and undermines nature, while creating parasitic oligarchs all over the world. Without questioning these two pillars of the system, no progress can be made in the fight for a more stable ecosystem and decent life. In the system, life and death matters are left out of the calculus. Let us simplify. First: the states are captured by the logic of the greed system. These states, almost without exception, are subservient to capital and are under the thumbs of the callous oligarch, whose only interest is to perpetuate this most destructive of all the world systems humanity ever devised. The sheeple (human mass) as usual, thinks these grabbers know better. Of course the bitter truth is they neither know nor do they care about what happens, not only to humanity but all life forms, including the life support system of the planet. The question is why can’t humanity stop this destruction? Herein lies the problem!
The existing institutions of orientation are there to make zombies out of people and not foster critical thinking within individuals. If these institutions try to enlighten, then obviously many questions will start to prop up. That will brew trouble. Private sector educational system can never teach criticality, as that will undermine their very reason d’etre. Non-profit organizations ultimately must secure their funding from somewhere. It is either from the state or the private sector. Again, this is a vicious circle or a catch-22 kind of affair. This poses a formidable challenge to change seekers. Who is going to awaken the sleeping giant, so to speak? After all, what is at stake is not a project of mere tweaking of an economic system gone berserk. One can think of the whole thing as resembling the proverbial precept of the golden goose. Killing the goose that was continuously delivering gold, is akin to what our stupid global system is doing.
Humanity is facing a challenge unseen before in its planetary tenure. It is unseen because the current system is comprehensively destroying life support systems, including non-renewable resources!
The choice is simple. Either humanity will challenge the stupid system or else it will go the way of the Dodo! It should be noted that enlightenment doesn’t necessarily mean the scary and fantastic concoctions of the system. The notion of humanity migrating to the outer world is one of the most preposterous narratives that is being pushed by the paid soldiers of the system, including the paid scientists. The exaggerated hoax of artificial intelligence is another. These are gimmicks to render the sheeple (human mass) docile. Just because the sheeple is ill educated doesn’t mean the scum of the earth should play on its fears. At this point, civil disobedience, which we have been tirelessly advocating might come in handy. But even that needs articulators, activist intellectuals, the likes of which are hard to come by, given the comprehensive indoctrination that prevails all around the world. New technics to fight entrenched interest that have a monopoly on all-important things imaginable, must come to the fore. Genuine reformers know the structural obstacles and the real power behind these obstacles. Even the process of democracy itself is used to stupefy the sheeple. Elections via representative democracy almost always have been farcical, especially when it comes to challenging establishment thinking!
Quietly, certain hopeful signs are emerging. The global youth is increasingly dropping out of it all! The new generation of youth has started to interrogate mindless consumption. Obviously, the world of its forefathers/parents is not going to be tenable anymore and the current crop of thinking youth knows it! Again the status quo is crying foul, because a segment of the youth is gradually abstaining from destructive consumption and stupidity worshipping. This challenges the system. Who is going to buy all the stupid gadgets that are being made in the make-believe world of non-stop growth (infinite growth)?
Campaigner Alula Pankhurst, who sits on Ethiopia’s cultural restitution committee, told The Times that the argument is just an ‘excuse for not dealing with it.’
