Haile Selassie had been Ethiopia’s sovereign for half a decade when Italy launched its invasion. Born in a mud-and-wattle hut in 1892, his birthplace belied his genealogy and pedigree. His given name was Tafari Makonnen Woldemikael and he was a member of the Solomonic dynasty descended from King Solomon of Israel.CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>
In rising to power, Selassie had shown his political agility when outflanking his opponents. He was undeniably ruthless, too – a characteristic that his short, wiry frame seemed to disguise.
According to IOL, Haile Selassie became the Emperor of Ethiopia in the year 1930. After he was crowned emperor he took the name Haile Selassie I meaning(“Might of the Trinity”). Perhaps the reason why Rastafarians believe he was the ‘Messiah’.When Haile Selassie I died on August 27, 1975, official sources at the time attributed his death to natural causes, but evidence later emerged suggesting that he had been strangled on the orders of the military government that had deposed him the previous year and then kept him under house arrest.
There were rumours of complications during a medical procedure but the likelihood was that he was murdered. Emperor Selassie has been criticised for his suppression of Ethiopian nobles and for his inability to modernise Ethiopia. In 1992 Haile Selassie’s remains were discovered, buried under a toilet in the Imperial Palace. In November 2000 the late emperor received a proper burial when his body was laid to rest in Addis Ababa’s Trinity Cathedral.CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>
