By Matt Gibbs,
It remains an odd sight to see an old Volkswagen beetle motorcar trundling around Addis Ababa. “Odd,” simply because I associate them with the swinging sixties, a relic of my parents’ generation. “Remains,” because they have been in the country for some time and yet still seem out of place – contrary to the bearing of the proud Ethiopian.
You can’t help but notice them. They are less common than the pervasive blue and white Ladas, used for taxis. But they are far more striking in their old fashioned oranges, limes and beige – probably not repainted since back in the day.And they hold a special place in the history of Ethiopia. A beetle was the very car that the former Emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie, was taken away in immediately following his dethronement. On the appointed day, he was arrested at his palace and whisked away in the back of yellow vee-dub, reportedly waving regally as the car – sans motorcade – made its way towards his prison where he would die less than a year later.
Since I learned that fact – and saw the photo to go with it – every time I see a beetle in Addis, I think of that diminutive monarch and wonder if the Dergue that overthrew him were being ironic in their choice of a Volksvagen: the “people’s car.” For, despite his rhetoric, his opulence and greed had shown he was anything but a man of the people.
On 12th September 1974, Ethiopia's autocratic Emperor, Haile Selassie, (the Lion of Judah) was deposed after more than 44 years in power.
Haile Selassie has long gone, as has the bloody dictatorship that overthrew him. His legacy lives on – not least in the African Union and the Rastafarian religion, the followers of which chose to revere the dictator as a god – but he is no more.
And the beetle lives on. They are still here, trundling around the city. Much like Ethiopians themselves, who have endured so much as a people, the beetle has endured. They are survivors. Fiercely refusing to give up in a context that is frequently less than hospitable. And carrying on with a certain dignity. Perhaps they are slightly out of their time, much like the Ethiopian pride in never having been colonised – it really is a thing of the past – but against the odds, they are driving inexorably on towards a future shaped by the past, but not restrained by it.Perhaps the Volksvagen colonised a generation of drivers the world over. Perhaps the Ethiopians were ultimately colonised – by aid money. But one day, the last vee-dub will break down. One day Ethiopia will have to stand on its own feet – as the role of that first yellow beetle promised. For Ethiopians craving real democracy and real development, I’m sure that day cannot come soon enough.
Source : colorful.com
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