Almayahu Haile

Who is Almayahu Haile?

Captain Almayahu Haile was a member of the Derg, the military junta that ruled Ethiopia during the Ethiopian Revolution.

An Amhara, Almayahu was a graduate of the Dina Police College in Addis Ababa and of Haile Selassie University; his education leads the Ottaways to suspect that this was a factor in his feud with Mengistu Haile Mariam. They comment that he "was certainly no moderate and as remembered by his university professors as a very articulate, argumentative student who believed in radical policies as the only means to bring even moderate change to a feudal country such as Ethiopia." At the time of the Ethiopian Revolution, Almayahu was a member of the Ethiopian police force.

He was a key member of the Derg, and was chairman of the committee for administrative affairs. After the reorganization of the Derg announced 29 December 1976, Almayahu became its Secretary-General, "a post with such ill-defined limits that it could confer vast powers." In short, Almayahu Haile appeared at this point to be the most powerful member of the Derg, more powerful than his rival Mengistu.