Short Life History of
Patriot-Martyr Seyoum
Ogbamichael,
Chairman of
the ELF-RC
(from
The patriotic
struggler/Tegadalay Seyoum Ogbamichael was born on 24 January 1946 in the
He attended
elementary grades at a school run by the Cistercian Catholic missionaries in
The Seyoum was intelligent and attentive from childhood. His
sisters and brother tell that he loved reading books from the very time he
mastered the alphabet. His classmates recount
that he was a very good student at school. Seyoum
acquired nationalist awareness from his early age and actively participated in
nationalist politics as of his high school days. As such he was one of the few
key leaders of the student movement in
Seyoum joined the ELF in the field in early 1965. In August of that
year, he and his friend Woldedawit were sent from Kassala to
Characteristically,
Seyoum was not to be intimidated and crushed by the
torture and extremely bad treatment in Ethiopian prisons. In the contrary, his
determination to fight for national liberation was enhanced and he continued
the fight from inside the prison. Seyoum was creating
national awareness among prison mates. He was convinced that he will one day
conquer the prison walls and join his comrades in the field. To this end,
his contacts with the liberation movement were maintained. And on 12 February
1975, his dreams came true through an operation
that he took part in. The operation succeeded to release all prisoners from the
Adi Quala and Sembel (
As noted, Seyoum used his prison years not only in recruiting
fighters for the liberation movement but also in enriching his political and
academic knowledge through diverse books that could be smuggled into the prison
cells from time to time. It was also in prison that he taught himself Arabic,
French and some Spanish on top of his already acquired command of Italian,
English, Amharic and of course Tigrinia.
After the
liberation from prison, Seyoum
did not think of taking time to rest and visit his family members. He
immediately joined the front. After the second national congress of the ELF in
1975, he was appointed as political commissioner of ELF’s
Administrative Unit 10 (Akele-Guzai). He later became
Administrator of the
Seyoum never failed to defend the correct political line of his
organization at all times of crises and splits
that were occasionally experienced within the ELF. He played a
significant role in building the ELF-RC into a dynamic democratic organization.
His services in the Executive Committee as head of organizational affairs and
head of the foreign relations office were notable. In particular, Seyoum effectively projected the national democratic ideals
and programmes of the ELF-RC at the international level and in addition played
a huge role in the exposure of human rights violations and the denial of
political and civil rights in
Between August
2002 till his martyrdom, Seyoum served the ELF-RC
with success as its chairman. Seyoum was a devoted, selfless and
ever optimist fighter. His steadfast struggle for those long decades was
first for national independence and then for peace, justice, democracy and
respect of human rights in
Our
comrade-in-struggle Seyoum continually and
successfully projected the objectives of the ELF-RC and the Eritrean opposition
camp through repeated missions to the neighbouring countries as well as to
On 23 November
2005, the ELF-RC Chairman Seyoum went to
The untimely
martyrdom of Seyoum Ogbamichael is a great loss to the ELF-RC, the Eritrean
opposition and in general the cause of the Eritrean people for change. It
is understandable that it will be difficult to fill the huge gap left open by
the loss of this iron-steeled fighter with long experience, high communicative
skills and clear vision.
Dear
Compatriots,
Seyoum belonged to us all as Eritreans. And now it
is all of us who lost him. There is no specific person or group to
receive condolences from others. Instead, each one has to condole oneself.
This steadfast
struggler for national cause for over 40 years, should have in a normal
situation, seen his dreams realized after Eritrean gained its independence. Or
he should at least have the opportunity of being buried under the Eritrean
soil.
It was a big
misfortune for Eritreans to lose a long-time fighter like Seyoum
who still had the great potential to serve his people with devotion. Seyoum was an
advocate for peace, justice and democracy, and as such the primary loser
because of his untimely death is the camp of the opposition struggling for
peace, justice and democracy.
Seyoum was head of a family and father of six children. His death is a
bitter news to his family members in Eritrea and abroad who loved him and
were always proud of him not of what he did for them, because he could do
little, but what he was contributing the Eritrean people’s cause. Seyoum is not bequeathing any material inheritances but the
love of the
Dear Martyr Seyoum,
You have gone
before consummating the objectives for justice, democracy and the supremacy of law for which you gave your entire life. But rest
assured that your objectives shall be achieved by the redoubled struggle of
those you have left behind who are armed with your vision and courage.
Glory and
Eternal Memory to our Martyrs!
ELF-RC
leadership and members
Source : http://www.seyoum.org/biography.html