Border diplomacy and state-building in north-western Ethiopia, c. 1965–1977

ABSTRACT

In the first half of the twentieth century, the north-western lowlands of imperial Ethiopia were the typical interstitial frontier of the Ethiopian–Sudanese borderlands. Starting in the early 1960s, a cash crop revolution paved the way to the transformation of the Mazega into a settlement frontier and the emergence of a dispute with Sudan for demarcation of the international border. This article explores the entanglement between the political economy of frontier governance and border diplomacy in the contested area. It highlights how the management of the border dispute was deeply affected by the contradictory interests of the various layers of government and “twilight” entities that projected Ethiopian statecraft at the periphery.

KEYWORDS:

• Ethiopia
• Sudan
• diplomacy
• governance
• border
• frontier

Acknowledgements

The article was written during a visiting research stay at the Nordic Africa Institute in Uppsala.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

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7. In 2015, following major skirmishes between local groups from the two sides of the boundary, the Sudanese ambassador to Ethiopia pledged its commitment to the Ethiopian government to contain violence at the border, but at the same time blamed the Amhara regional state for encouraging armed disturbances against the will of Addis Ababa. http://hornaffairs.com/en/2015/11/23/ethiopia-sudan-border-ambassador-blame/. Last accessed February 22, 2017.

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29. Interview with businessman from Kafta Humera, Addis Ababa, 30 November 2014 and Interview with high-school teacher, Gondar, 3–4 December 2014.

30. Crummey, Land and Society, 223–5.

31. Mantel-Niecko, The Role of Land Tenure, 98.

32. Ibid., 143.

33. NA, FAO/IBRD Cooperative Program, Report of the Project Identification Mission to the Northwestern Lowlands, 14 November 1968, 10.

34. IES, Report of the Survey Mission, 61.

35. IBRD/IDA, Economic Growth and Prospects in Ethiopia: Volume II, AE9, Eastern African Department, September 1970, 23.

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38. Institute of Ethiopian Studies (IES), Ministry of Agriculture of Imperial Ethiopia, 1964 F.Y. Annual Work Programme, Hamle 1963, Addis Ababa.

39. IES, Report of the Survey Mission on the Agricultural Development of Setit Humera Area, December 1967, Institute of Agricultural Research, Addis Ababa, 60.

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41. Aalen, “Ethiopian State Support,” 630.

42. National Archives and Library of Ethiopia (hereafter NALE), Folder 233/3, 1657/1, Translation of an Article Published in Khartoum Al Ray El A., Newspaper Edition no. 6098 of 8/9/1964; Folder 172353, Box 1657/6, Report 167, 30 June 1967; Translation of a News Report Published By Al Ray El Am on 29 September 1968.

43. Bayissa, War and Peace and Yihun, “Ethiopia’s Role.”

44. Morone, “The Unsettled,” 99–100 and Yhun, “Ethiopian Foreign Policy.”

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46. NA FCO 39/56, from British Embassy in Addis Ababa to North and East African Department, 9 January 1967.

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49. NA FCO 51/76, Tel from British Consulate in Asmara to FO, 3 July 1968 and Nur, “The Sudan-Ethiopia Boundary,” 211.

50. NA FCO 39/56, Tel. 187 from Khartoum to Foreign Office, 29 May 1967; Tel. 194 from Khartoum to FO, 1 June 1967; Tel. from British Interest Section of the Italian Embassy in Khartoum to FO, 8 July 1967; NA, FCO 39/60, Tel. from British Embassy in Khartoum, 10 February 1967; 23 March 1967; NALE, 172353, Memorandum on Ethio-Sudanese Relations, 8; 172353, Note MFA/1/4.C.3, from Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Imperial Ethiopian Embassy, 15 February 1967, Khartoum, 14.

51. NA FCO 39/60, Attachment to Tel. 56 from Foreign Office to Khartoum, Confidential.

52. NA FCO 39/60, Tel. 56 from Foreign Office to Khartoum, Restricted, 13 February 1967.

53. NA FCO 39/60, Tel. from Hartland-Swann to Griffith, 17 February 1967.

54. NA FCO, 39/914, Tel. 414, from Campbell, 9 November 1971.

55. NA FCO 39/60, British Interests Section of the Italian Embassy, Khartoum, 31 August 1967.

56. Erlich, The Struggle, 39–41; 500; NA, FCO 39/54, Report on the Eritrean Liberation Front.

57. NA FCO 39/492, Tel. 3/11 from FO to Khartoum, 16 October 1969; Tel. 1/12, Secret, from British Embassy in Addis Ababa to FO, 1 October 1969.

58. NA FCO 39/54, Tel. from British Embassy in Addis Ababa to Foreign Office, 23 September 1968; NA Dominions Office (hereafter DO) 213/75, VA 1015/30, Situation Report on Eritrea, 25 August 1965; FO 1043/78, Report from British Consulate in Eritrea, June 1965.

59. NALE, Box 172.3.30, Folder 1657.1, Memorandum of Conversation Between General Kebbede Guebre, Minister of National Defence, and H. E. Osman Abdallah Ahmid, Sudanese Ambassador to Ethiopia, 28 October 1971.

60. NA FCO 39/54, “Report from Swann: Discussions with Asrate Kassa,” 9 October 1968.

61. UNICREDIT Archives, Fondo Banco di Roma, XI, 4.2.2, F. 778, b. 48, Letter from Asmara Branch to Board Delegation, 3 April 1970.

62. Gondar Provincial Archives (GPA), Box 33, Folder 09/2-5/33, Report of the Governor-General of Begemder to the Ministry of the Interior, no date.

63. Ibid.

64. National Archives and Record Administration, College Park MD (NARA), RG 286, Public Safety, Box 7, Confidential, Monthly Report for Public Safety, USAID/E, February 1968.

65. IES, Report of the Survey Mission, 7.

66. NALE, 172353, Memorandum on Ethio-Sudanese Relations, 8; Note MFA/1/4.C.3, from Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Imperial Ethiopian Embassy, 15 February 1967, Khartoum, 14.

67. NALE, 172351, 1657.1, 8.3.1, Tel. from Begemder to Ministry of the Interior, 16 January 1974.

68. NA FCO 39/914, Tel. from British Embassy in Khartoum, 29 March 1971.

69. NA FCO, 39/914, Tel. from British Embassy in Addis Ababa to East African Department, 14 June 1971; NA FCO 39/1159, Tel. from British Embassy in Khartoum to FO, 10 January 1972; NALE, 172.3.330, 1657/1, Secret, Agreement Between the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Sudan and the Government of Ethiopia Relating to Matters of Security Between the Two Countries, 6 November 1971, Addis Ababa.

70. NA FCO 39/1159, Tel. from Dorman to FO, 13 July 1972.

71. Yihun, “Ethiopia in African Politics,” 46.

72. NALE, Box 17.2.351, Folder 1657.4, Tel. from Ethiopian Embassy in Khartoum to Ethiopian Ministry for Foreign Affairs, 6 December 1970.

73. Erlich, Ethiopia and the Middle East, 173–4.

74. Woodward, The Horn of Africa, 42–4; NA FCO 39/914, Tel. from British Embassy in Khartoum to FO, 6 September 1971; NALE, 172.3.30, 1657.1, Memorandum of Conversation Between General Kebbede Guebre and H. E. Osman Abdallah.

75. NA FCO 39/1159, Tel. from Goulty to East African Dept., 5 August 1972.

76. GPA, Box 91, Folder 17/2-3/46, Letter from Gazaign Tokhon to Ministry of Finance of the Provisional Military Government, 13 May 1977.

77. NALE, 172.330, 1657.1, 2, 2, Tel from Governor-General of Eritrea to Governor Kassala Province, 12 February 1972; 1657.1, 2, 2, Tel. from Governor-General of Eritrea to Ministry of the Interior, 30 December 1971; 172.330, 1657.1, 2, 2, Tel. from Governor-General of Eritrea to Governor of Gash Setit Awrajia, 11 March 1972; 172.351, 1657.1, 8, 3, Tel. from Governor-General of Begemder to Ministry of the Interior, 20 December 1972.

78. NALE, 172.330, 1657.1, 2, 2, Trade Agreement Between Ethiopia and Sudan During the Visit of Haile Selassie to Khartoum, 31 December–4 January 1972.

79. Yihun, “Ethiopia in African Politics,” 49.

80. Nur, “The Sudan-Ethiopia Boundary,” 228; NALE, Box 172.330.02, Folder 1657.1, Tel. from Minister of Interior Ato Getahun Tessema to Prime Minister Aklilu Habte Wolde, 30 March 1973.

81. NALE, 172330, 1657.1.2, Letter from Legesse Bizu to Governor-General of Begemder and Governor of Setit Humera, 11 March 1972.

82. NA FCO 39/1159, Tel. from Dorman to East African Department, 13 July 1972.

83. NALE, Folder 1657/1, Tel. from the Crime Investigation Bureau to the Ministry of the Interior, 12/08/1964 E.C.

84. NALE 172351, 16571, 8, 3, Tel. from Police Department to Governor-General of Begemder, 11 December 1972; Tel. from Governor-General of Begemder to Ministry of the Interior, 27 December 1972.

85. NALE, 172.330, 1657.1, 2, 2, Tel. from Governor-General of Begemder and Semien to Ministry of the Interior, 20 August 1974.

86. GPA, Box 91, Folder 17/2-3/46, Letter from Gazaign Tokhon to Ministry of Finance.

87. NALE, 172.351, 1657.1, 8, 3, Tel. from Begemder Police Department to Ministry of the Interior, 21/01/1965; Tel. from Governor-General of Eritrea to Ministry of the Interior, 3/06/1966 E.C.

88. NALE, 172.351, 1657.1, 8, 3, Tel. from Police Chief of Haikel Town to Office of Begemder Police, 1 October 1966 E.C.

89. NALE, 172.3351, 1657.1. 8.3, Tel. from Police to Governor-General of Begemder, 6 January 1973.

90. NALE, 172.3351, 1657.1. 8.3, Tel. from Police to Governor-General of Begemder, 11 January 1973.

91. NALE, 172.3351, 1657.1. 8.3, Tel. from Deputy Governor of Begemder to Getahun Tesemma, 26 February 1974.

92. GPA, Box 129-120, F. G8-6-28, Tel from Begemder Deputy Commander to Gondar Provincial Office, 25 April 1975.

93. For instance, the Ministry of the Interior recommended that the provincial police monitor the activities of the Matoaleqa Teferra Workineh, who was forging close contacts with the Sudanese authorities in Gedaref. See: NALE, 172.3351, 1657.1. 8.3, Tel. from Ministry of the Interior to Police, 20 June 1974.

94. GPA, Box 91, F. 17/2-3/46, Tel. from Deputy-Minister to Minister of Finance, Provisional Military Government, 5/09/1969 EC.

95. GPA, Box 129-13, F. 1721-37, Tel. from Begemder Police to Governor-General of Begemder Nega Tegegne, 12 June 1975.

96. NA FCO 31/2103, Secret, Political Relations Between Ethiopia and Sudan, Telegram from Palmer, 2 May 1977.

97. Puddu, “State Building.”

Additional information

Funding

Research for this article was funded by Fondazione di Sardegna.