King Haile Selassie: The failed vision of a united Africa

King Haile Selassie, the last Emperor of Ethiopia, is another giant of pan-Africanism who was instrumental in the formation of the Organisation of the African Unity (OAU). This pan-African organisation was seen by Selassie as a rebirth of Africa and in his inaugural address of the OAU in 1963, he said: “…Today, Africa has emerged from this dark passage. Our Armageddon is past. Africa has been reborn as a free continent and Africans have been reborn as free men. The blood that was shed and the sufferings that were endured are today Africa’s advocates for freedom and unity...”

In a series of three articles, we will feature the life of Haile Selassie as the Father of pan-Africanism who wanted a United States of Africa. Haile Selassie was born on the 23rd of July 1892 in the village of Ejersa Goro in the Harar Province of Ethiopia. He belonged to the long Ethiopian Dynasty of Solomonic Monarch beginning with King Menilek I of Ethiopia who was a descendant of the Biblical King Solomon of Israel, the Son of King David of the ancient Kingdom of Israel called Judea. The ‘Lion of Judah’, the title of King David is also given to his heir, including Haile Selassie, who was also recognised as the Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah.

The story goes that the Ethiopian Dynasty of which Haile Selassie belongs, are the royal descendants of King Solomon and Makeda the Queen of Sheba (Ethiopia). The queen visited Israel after her merchant Tamrin told her of the wonderful Solomon’s wisdom and generosity he had seen in his business trip to Jerusalem. The Queen then went to Jerusalem to witness the Wisdom of Solomon. King Solomon warmly welcomed the queen and he gave her great gifts in her stay in Jerusalem. Solomon and the Queen of Sheba spoke with great wisdom, and the queen was converted to Judaism.

Before she left, there was a great feast in the king’s palace. Makeda the Queen of Sheba stayed in the palace overnight and apparently they had adult contact with the king and she became pregnant. King Solomon gave Queen Makeda a ring as a token of love, and then she left to return to Ethiopia. As the journey to Ethiopia would take over a year on her way home, she gave birth to a son, whom she named Baina-leḥkem (Menilek).

After the boy had grown up in Ethiopia, he went to Jerusalem to meet his father carrying his mother’s ring, and was received with great honours. The king and the people tried in vain to persuade Menilek to stay but he refused and went` back to his royalty in Sheba.

In the kingdom of Ethiopia (Sheba); Menilek was anointed king Menilek I of Ethiopia.

King Haile Selassie I is, therefore, a descendent of Menelik I of Ethiopia and before becoming King was known as Ras Tafari. Ras Tafari was named king in 1928, and was crowned as “…Haile Selassie I, King of Kings of Ethiopia, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Elect of God…” on the 2nd of November 1930 on his coronation day he was given widespread publicity throughout the world.

This publicity created interest on the Caribbean island of Jamaica that was inhabited by black people from Africa who had been slaves in the Americas and had come to settle in the Island after the abolishment of the slave trade.

Amid this publicity the Jamaicans; remembering their ancestral African roots; saw Emperor Haile Selassie as a symbol of pan-Africanism and of black liberation.

Because of his kingly titles given to him at the coronation day that he was “the King of Kings, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Elect of God”; a belief in his divinity also arose among the Jamaican to form the Rastafari Movement of which King Haile Selassie I was now regarded as the religious symbol for God-incarnate among members of the Rastafari movement.

Dr Kafumu is the Member of Parliament for Igunga Constituency