On The Poetics and Politics of The Afar Kassow

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On the Poetics and Politics of the Afar Kassow
Article in Eastern African Literary and Cultural Studies · April 2017

DOI: 10.1080/23277408.2017.1323169
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Eastern African Literary and Cultural Studies
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Gidey Alemu Muauz & Mohamed Hassan Saleh
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and Politics of the Afar Kassow, Eastern African Literary and Cultural Studies, 3:1, 19-39, DOI:
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Download by: [University of Pretoria] Date: 13 July 2017, At: 05:52

Eastern African Literary and Cultural Studies, 2017
Vol. 3, No. 1, 19–39
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23277408.2017.1323169
© 2017 Informa UK Limited,
trading as Taylor & Francis Group
Gidey Alemu Muauz1,2* and Mohamed Hassan Saleh3

1
Department of Political Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
2
Wollo University, Wollo, Ethiopia
3
Research and Study Center of Djibouti (CERD), Djibouti city, Djibouti Republic
*Corresponding author email: muauzaga@gmail.com
Abstract: The Afar people have a rich poetic tradition pertaining to every aspect of their
pastoral way of life in the harsh condition of the Afar desert. One of the many genres of Afar
poetics is Afar Kassow the folk’s poetized performance art. Scholars such as Morin and Hassan
have identified the types and to some extent utilities of the various genres of Afar poetics,
including Kassow however none fully presented the rich poetic tradition of the Afar society. The
Afar Kassow is presented as poetry of accusation, defiance and resistance per se. Nonetheless,
the vital utility of Afar Kassow for building consensus, empathy and understanding across wider
geographic, political and social space has been unattended. It has a unique illocutionary and
creative power emended in addressing the immediacy of the concrete and existential needs of
the Afar people in the Horn. The poetics and politics of Afar Kassow have not been examined at
wider scale and in a cross-generational manner from the period of Tola Hanfexe the leading poet
of 19th century Afar to date. Therefore, this study, based on primary and secondary data, brings
to light the multidimensional utility of Afar Kassow and related genres from multi-disciplinary
vintage point. The authors argue that the imperative for invigorating the powerful role of Afar
Kassow to keep historical themes reverberating across generations in the service of ideal of
peace, reconciliation and democratic toleration of differences to the troubled local and regional
relations in the Afar-Horn states. Still more vital is its utility for reducing violence (in all its
forms and manifestations), increasing justice and constructive transformation of local and
regional conflicts.
Keywords: Afar Kassow, consensus, poetics, performative art, conflict resolution, civil
diplomacy
Introduction
The Afar Kassow is a poetized performative act of the Afar system of consensus building
applicable in case of critical issues or events threatening to disrupt the strong unity and
solidarity at all levels of the Afar society. The Afar for all purposes and utilities do have multiple
advanced constellations that constitute the Afar systems of building consensus, including
the clan-Kedo-based communitarian-egalitarian social organization, the customary legal and
conflict transformative system – the Madaqa and the Mablo, the custom-Qaada and the most
efficient information communication social network-Xaagu (Muauz 2014). All make their own
irreplaceable contributions to building consensus and maintaining equilibrium in Afar society. In
relation to the overarching system of consensus building and the multiple constellations, Kassow
is reserved for shaping social attitudes and behaviour to a unique and vital agenda. Kassow is
used to name unprecedented phenomena, resist political tyranny, denounce unruly behaviour and
build consensus (Hussien 2008). However, its potential to promote peace and reconciliation has
previously not been considered; that is the aim of this study.
The study is part of a long-term project on documenting the literary and customary political
practices of Afar society from multiple disciplinary orientations. As such, the study was informed
by multi-disciplinary methodological and theoretical assumptions. The theories, instead of being
Eastern African Literary and Cultural Studies is co-published by Informa UK Limited (trading as Taylor & Francis Group) and NISC (Pty) Ltd
20 G.A. Muauz and M.H. Saleh
addressed in a separate section, are embedded in each pertinent section to explain the nature and
utility of the Afar Kassow. The data for this study were collected at different times in the Afar
region of Ethiopia and in the Djibouti republic. Sources are Afar informants knowledgeable in
Kassow, oral narratives of Kassow lyrics, recordings of performances of Kassow, and secondary
materials. Data collection techniques used include unstructured interviews, performance,
non-participant observation, and document analyses using interview guidelines, performance
observation checklists and video analyses guidelines along with thematic selection checklists,
respectively.
The Context and Essence of Convening Kassow

This section describes the wider socio-economic and political contexts of the Afar society and
Kassow. The immediacy but historical embeddedness of the Kassow poetic makes it different from
the Aristotelian, anthropological poetics and Gastonean understanding of the poetic. Most of the
daily activities of Afar society involve aspects of poetic expression requiring immediacy of poetic
creativity which are also embedded in collective archival of poetic tradition. Hence, the poetic of
Afar Kassow is as much immediate in creativity as trans-generational in its message.
The Afar Socio-Political Complexion

The Afar people are known for their unique, consensual egalitarianism on all matters pertaining to
the individual and society. The clan-Kedo is the basic unit of Afar social organization and is at the
centre of every affair. A vital institution that serves as referent of rights and obligations, it is the
basis of the overarching communitarian egalitarian system of the Afar. Almost every major issue
is communal and never personal; the Kedo provides the social framework. Even crime and guilt
are never personal in the strictest sense; every Kedo member bears their own share of culpability
and accountability (Muauz 2010).
Social organization follows the family (Buxa) up through house (Merra) to the formation
of clan confederacies that constitute the Afar people in the Afar-Horn states of Djibouti, Eritrea
and Ethiopia. The juxtaposed territorial distributions of different clans are unified by allegiance
to similar customary judicial and conflict transformation system of the Madaqa-Mablo-Qaada
trinity (law-resolution-custom). Clan segments settling in different territorial divisions keep their
solidarity either by subscribing to the same Madaqa-Mablo-Qaada trinity or their lineage or both.
Clan and family lineage with paternal system of filiations and the practice of cross-cousin marriage
(Absuma) plays a determining role in social relations. Moreover, reciprocal alliances for resource
sharing or security may define inter-clan relations. Custom, tradition and wisdom transmitted by
oral tradition are valued most (Muauz 2012).
Except for a few agropastoralists in the Lower Awash Valley, fishers in the Red Sea and traders
in Djibouti, transhumant pastoralism is the dominant mode of economic production and social
reproduction among the Afar. The patterned seasonal trekking across ecosystems to survive the
harsh wilderness of pastoral existence has necessitated the development of communal ownership
and use of land and water resources. They have undivided allegiance to the unity of all Afar in
the Afar-Horn demonstrated in daily life by caring and kin man solidarity (Muauz 2010). Perhaps
next to water, information (Xaagu) is the most important resource, used regularly to enhanced their
perseverance against all odds (Walta 1996).
The Afar people have high regard for political autonomy, freedom of mobility, and homeland
which, although unfortunately divided into three sovereigns, is not significantly compromised
because of the above-stated social and information trajectories. The grand aspiration of an
undivided homeland continues to haunt generations. Overall, Afar life has a poetic character and
poetry is employed to describe and transcend the difficulty of desert life.
Eastern African Literary and Cultural Studies 21
The Poetic Genres of Afar Society

Poetic expression of daily experiences and articulation of paradoxes are frequent among the Afar.
Words of wisdom are cited in ordinary talks, official and customary arbitrations, and conflict
resolution processes. Even in Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) parliamentary
debates televised nationally, Afar members of parliament are sources of humour due to their skilful
articulation of melancholy, paradox, and the grotesque face of opposite ideas. A living example is
Hussien Sule, a wise man and clan leader from zone five, who articulates the perpetual continuity
of Issa-Afar violence in a federal government-organized peace-making meeting:
An Afar woman got pregnant and but she could not give birth despite the fact that other women who
got pregnant after her naturally gave birth. Puzzled by the mystery people asked her when she would
be giving birth. And she replied “how could I give birth unless the man stops impregnating me with
more babies every night before I am done with the first”. Issa-Afar peace is like that before ending the
first issue of violence they are adding more every other time (ANRS-AJSAB 2007).
Despite having such a robust poetic tradition, Afar oral literature was not captured in scripts
until the mid-1970s in Djibouti. According to Saleh Mohamed Hassan, the poetic experience in
Afar society assumes different forms and purposes based on multiple factors:
Traditionally, each folk song is a genre in itself, consisting sometimes of several melodies and
regional variations. For example, all the names of the songs mean different genres: Women songs
like Malabo [nuptial song from Tadjourah], and Karambo’ggad [sung like sitting with a tambourine],
saxxaq [praise or lyric], qadar [epic] Kassow [song of the evening], and different male songs and
dances like horra, keeke, Laale and Royyan1, etc. Many others are appointed by generic terms such as
Gad, or Saare, which means song or praise depending on the number of participants. The praise that
involves more than one person is usually referred to as “Gad”, as the term “Saare” denotes those who
are executed by one person (Hassan 2012, 7).
Poetic genres are further differentiated depending on whether the genre involves performance,
is executed individually or in groups, involves a mixture of performances (singing and dancing
or just singing) or not, and variations on melody. Various forms also have different purposes and
utilities.2 Training children early in the structure and melody of poetic utterance underlies the
poetic exuberance of youth and adult. Accordingly, poetic genres like the qadar (the most popular
literary genre) are “… created to celebrate the fateful moments of nomadic life or during the night
watches, traditional poetry is always introduced by a rate imposed by the rhythmic clapping of
hands, the sounds of the tambourine, and choreography.” (Hassan 2012, 4). These elements add
aesthetics and power to works of art.
Other poetic genres may also exclude melody and dance, performed as either lamentations or
elaborations expressed in different circumstances. Hassan gave us the Saare [praise or lyric], Qadar
[epic], Maxhaxis [nostalgia], Heebal [elegy], Dorro [oral version of the game oratory], and song
of the evening called “Kassow”, Dabal [epinikia and self-aggrandizement] and Dooqà [prayer]
(Hassan 2012, 7). Because Kassow involves poetic debate and dramatic artistic performance, it is
a poetic performance (Aden 2015; Hadigton n.d.). This conforms to Hassan’s description of the
emergent forms of the Kassow that “today men can perform the Kassow through a person, a letter,
or an audio recording, without having organized the vigil” (Hassan 2012, 6). According to Morin,
“the appearance of identical verses in different recitations probably counts as the best evidence
for the quality of a poet”. The word kas, the root word for “poetic”, also means both “memory”
and “intelligence”, affirming the fact that poetry is at the heart of “afarrem” [afar-le-ml — what
the Afar have (until now) in common, that is what they have been accustomed to do and hold in
common (Morin 1996). Therefore, the poetic of the Afar Kassow is essential to the Afar cosmology
and cognitive system.
Despite regional variations, gender-specific poetic arts of the Afar women are incorporated into
the world of Afar poetics in the making of shared experiences in the Afar world view. Women have
their share in the constitution of the Afar poetic tradition. Hassen depicts the specifics of regional
variations of Afar women poetic as,
Given the context in which the songs are composed, poetic regional specific genres have been
developed. For example, women in Tadjourah, well dressed and bejeweled, marching behind marriage
procession have created the Malaabo, while women in rural areas, with little things to exhibit and
residing in their traditional habitat, created the Karambo Gad (sung like sitting with a tambourine).
Thus, the mixed game (Saxxaq) has two variants that differ in the extent and choreography. Melodic
differences were woven in two variants of the game (Hassan 2012, 6).
From the Malaabo, the Karambo Gad and the Saxxaq in the above quotation, we can easily
grasp how the Afar people adopt poetic performances in a way that suits circumstances and
utilities, making it an integral part of their lives. Hence, the vitality of the Kassow which is “the
only kind of poetry that Afar oral poetry breeds outside [sic] sung and danced, and having unique
shape is the Kassow (song of evening where men throw Verve)’ (Hassan 2012, 6).
Convening Kassow
Convening Kassow (hereafter Kassowing) is to be done when a commonplace or unprecedented
case, idea or event causes division and polarization in the communitarian consensus which
characterizes the Afar. Among the Afar, forming an opinion is simplified by the Xaagu, a very
advanced information networking system. For every Afar or non-Afar who lived among the Afar,
to do Xaagu (hereafter Xaaguing ) is a routine performance, the first thing after providing water
with every encounter. So, it is a matter of a few days’ engagement to identify and establish that a
case requires convening Kassow by the elders. Any news can get to every hamlet and to the trekker
behind his cattle in the Afar-Horn within unimaginably short time (Ibrahim H. 2008). Therefore,
Kassowing employs the utility of Xaaguing to survey opinion and to ascertain the need to convene.
Kassowing can also be used by groups of people aggrieved by an act supposedly unjust
and contravening the covenantal laws, norms, values and customs of Afar society. The specific
utility of Kassowing is to remind and pressurize the other party into acceptable behaviour or to
beckon the intervention of powerful elders to this effect. Individual interest-initiated Kassowing
is not traditionally acceptable; recent politically motivated Kassowing by influential personalities
wanting to sway public opinion in their favour has been observed to be a futile exercise. Specific
variations notwithstanding, this particular type of Kassowing, viewed against the wider context,
is meant to maintain the age-old and steadfastly-held consensus on acceptable and abominable
attitudes and behaviours (Ibrahim M.A. 2008). This is in line with the Aristotelian idea of the
essence and utility of the poetic as tool for engendering moral action. The poetics experience
in general, and the poetic-prerogative art in particular, carries ethical command experienced in
empathy. The poetic work of drama by presenting the fate of the tragic stands for a reminder of
the audience of their own vulnerability and frailty that enables the formation of inter-subjective
meaning. It creates moral sensibilities and diminishes impediments to moral action: to see oneself
in the shoe of others (Bucher 1902; Bywater 1962). This idea of empathy and inter-subjectivity
is furthered by Bachelard Gaston as a process of integration of the self and the other in the poetic
experience detailed as trans-subjectivity below (Bachelard 1994). The power of Afar Kassow
in creating con censual views among society employs empathy and sharing of inter-subjective
meaning between people standing for rival views.
The other unique dimension of Kassowing is its poetics and organization. The first step is the
challenging process of framing contentious issues in manageable form. This involves condensing
and reducing conflicting views and positions into two comprehensive categories. In doing so, they
try to ensure every variant of view is represented in one of the major topics. In case of two clearly
identified opinions, the elderly determine and make public the plans for the feast, slaughtering of
cattle and other preparations for the event. Next, individuals known for their poetic, argumentative
and entertaining natures are identified and told to attend. Other than the topic, details are totally
unknown to the performers until the Kassow night. The details of arguments and the eventual
results thereof are unpredictable and determined on stage during performance. Performers are,
however, at liberty to do continuous auditions for two months so that they can gather relevant ideas
and hone their artistry.
In literary criticism and performance studies an important contribution to the understanding of
the poetic is the realization that the mixture of imagination and artistic performance in the poetic
experience (poetic performance) as essence and form (Briggs and Charles 1990). The capacity of
poetic performances like the Afar Kassow utilizing heterogeneous stylistic resources, generating
“context-sensitive meanings, and bringing conflicting ideologies into a reflexive arena where they
can be examined critically” (Briggs and Charles 1990, 60) adds to the utility of creating empathy
and shared understanding. Viewed this way, poetic performances like the Afar Kassow are not
mere speech moments but multiple ones that connect past and future. Hence it is more than an
act solicited by context of social platform rather than a composition of multiple role actors and
styles to critically establish poetic messages based on critical thinking. Therefore, imagination (of
the heart) is fused with logic (of the mind) making communication of poetic performance beyond
sentimental utterance that connects people in shared meaning.
Unlike staged plays and theatrical performances, the outcome of Kassowing is not determinable
by preparation. Staged plays are rehearsed and practiced beforehand by performers to emulate as
much as possible specific characters as provided by a script. Kassow is different in many respects.
First, the final script of Kassow is produced on stage by the dynamic interaction and cooperation
of competent performer groups and the active audience. The name of the play is known beforehand
but the true scripts are made on stage. Second, there is no prior casting of roles, and audio-visual
and other effects are made on stage. Third, audience members are not passive observers but are
encouraged to join one of the performer groups as active participants in the performance. Finally,
owing to these unique features, the outcome of Kassow is totally unpredictable until the end of the
performance. These features of Kassow add spice to its poetic nature.
On the night of the Kassow, the audience forms a circle and the performers take centre
stage in two groups arranged in formation. The unbelievable skill of automatically constructing
entertaining arguments accompanied by songs and rhythmic dance, gives the Kassow superb
poetics in the service of society. It is a social art performed in front of an active audience, huge
social gathering, using the most refined and poetized language to convince and win the support of
a rival group that argues to establish a case for rival idea (Ibrahim 2008).
The second dimension of Kassowing poetics is its governing rule of game. The process and end
result of Kassowing are governed by no other rule of game than the art of mutual outsmarting and
impressing, and openness to acknowledging the poetics by joining the other side. Performers act
energetically and wholeheartedly up to the end of the performance to get their respective stances
accepted by their counterparts and the audience. Until the end, every idea and line of argument
is heard as potentially consensus building. The debate often goes on for the whole day and even
through the night, until the two groups finally merge in unison in support of one of the topics.
Performers impressed and convinced by the argument of the rival group may at any time leave
their group to join the other. During the process, the audience acts as a neutral but active arbiter
by applauding and cheering. In the context of Kassow, both ideas and arguments are taken as
equally true, believable and convincing until convinced otherwise. Neither the performers nor the
audience attach a prior position, heightening the thrilling effect of Kassowing (Ibrahim, 2008). In
this, switching sides is not taken as a sign of infirmity but rather confirmation of a commitment
to recognizing the quality and power of argument in consensus building. The number of people
supporting a topic is irrelevant; until the end, the last man standing on a side still has a chance to
present a persuasive argument which could turn the tide. Finally, the Kassowing merges in unison,
bringing the whole society into consensus. The idea/action supported by Kassow is irreversible
and final; dissent thereafter is not tolerated without consequence of social exclusion or banishment
from society. Defiant groups are totally excluded from society and sharing of communal pastoral
resources. Social exclusion in extremely communitarian societies like the Afar is cruel enough to
force one into self-imposed exile. In cases involving security, the group will be forced to leave the
clan territory (Said 2010). However, this is not the only mode of convening Kassow; at times it can
be made in the absence of a concrete audience in the immediate present under the assumption of a
wide audience paying attention to the message.
The politics of Kassow pertains to the fact that most issues requiring Kassowing are often
political. The cases presented in this paper cover issues ranging from national unity to election
campaign to critiquing political leadership. Recently, Kassow is convened by powerful individuals
for their own political utility; the practice of using Kassow during election times, in particular,
has marked these communitarian performances as political. On the other hand, the traditional
use of Kassow as an instrument of critiquing unacceptable practices of leaders and influential
personalities as well as resisting tyranny and injustice makes Kassow political. On another
dimension, political circumstances influence topics requiring Kassow and the overall nature of the
process, as much as the inverse is true (Said 2010).
The Poetics and Politics of Kassow

Not much is written or accessible except for the pioneering work of Saleh Mohamed Hassan
on the origin and genesis of oral art of the Afar, and Shekh Gemaludin’s short description of
Hanfare bin Tola’s long poetry. The discussion in the following sections is divided in two : the
first addresses the early period and the second addresses the modern poetics and politics of Afar
Kassow, primarily the post-1991 period.
The Early Poetics and Politics of Tolaytu Kassow: Canfaxe bin Tola
The early emergence of current Kassow is associated with the Afar poet Tola Hanfare who
pioneered the creation of fables and the need to apply poetry to the utility of the entire society
and in service of portraying nature. He initiated the politics of his poetic work in furtherance
of his friend, the Sultan’s (Mohammed Hanfare) power. Most interesting about Tola is that he
used poetry for the promotion of freedom of expression and forwarding political criticism of the
incumbents of his time. This tradition was continued by his successors. For example:
Hadigto Mussa used to send anti-monarchical messages during the reign of the Derg in Ethiopia. And
in 1985, Hassan Mohamed Hassan introduced into the theatre the play called Kuum xaltiiy, galto wayti
[mother of thousand, no one take care of her]. which was performed for a birthday party of the UDC
[Union pour le développement culturel/Union for Cultural Development]. Finally, this poetic genre
gives distinctions to those who use it in any form, oral or singing.(Hassan 2012, 6).
Two points are vital for the discussion here. First, because of his poetic power of imagination
and his ability to touch the hearts and minds of people far apart, Tola Hanfare was believed to be
capable of foreseeing the future and communicating with the spirits and animals (Gemaludin and
Gemaludin 2000). This supports the argument that the poetic power of imagination promoted in
modern literature and the concept of reverberation introduced by Malinowski and transformed into
phenomenological inquiry by French philosopher Gaston Bechelard, have long been recognized
by the people of Afar.
Second, Gemaludin and Gemaludin as well as Saleh Mohamed Hassan tell us that Tola Hanfare
had, ahead of his time, introduced the poetics and politics of art in general and the Afar Kassow
in particular by challenging the power of authority on many occasions. Tola used Kassow to
mercilessly criticize the friendship between Sultan Mohamed Hanfareh and the sultan of Goba’ad
whom he suspected of being an agent of the white man and the Issa. The moral courage of wishing
death upon the powerful sultan of Goba’ad in the last stanza (“I wish I see Assaouka as widow”)
remains unthinkable to this day. Saleh Mohamed Hassan gives us the translated version of the
above poetic piece in Afaraff as
When he goes to Turkish, he is said to be their man
When he goes to the Issas, they say he is their man
Behind him, we sharpen our knives
When he return home, we use his hand twice

I wish I see Assaouka as widow3 (Hassan 2012, 9)
Tola’s fear of the Issa invasion was prophetic in that it happened a hundred years after his
poetic work appeared. The poetic prophesy was repeated with the same spirit by, for example,
Hanfere Bin Tola who once poetically warned Sultan Mohammed Hanfere against yielding to the
evil intentions of Italian colonial ambition to annex the Danakil territory. Hanfere the poet, in the
usual Afar paradigm of judging the present and envisioning the future with unique turnedness to
the past, composed the following poetry embodied with a trans-generation message that appeared
to be prophetic for generations in the face of events that unfolded hundreds of years later. This
is elaborately presented in the long account of Sheikh Gemaludin and his son Hashim, where
the warning is narrated at length (Gemaludin and Gemaludin 2000, 356–357). The same theme
provided by the historian Sheikh Isma’elAbona; the translation by Maknun and Hayward (cited for
the sake of brevity) goes as follows:
May I speak about the intention of the Greedy?
If you keep quiet, he plans to take Kalo4 from you
If you speak out, he plans endless war against you
You opened indeed; it was better to know how to shut!
None but you would have the authority for it
The little ones would not have the strength for it
But you do not bow the head for want of velour!
Neither is you strained by want of money!
Nor do you hesitate as if short of kingly power!
Money is the stone they carry about for our destruction
There is no end for the love of money!
Tell him! I go knowing the country to be lost
Tell him! Stay! But know the country is lost (Maknun and Hayward 1981, 327).
It is common to have different versions of the same poetic work but the central theme remains
the same. The message of being watchful against the trickery of those coming with money to take
the Afar homeland presented in the last stanza of Tola Hanfaxe has resonated across generations.
The same theme has been reiterated by poets of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. A case in
point is the song of Alwan Bourhan and the Doro of Arbahim Mala respectively.
The spirit of Tola is first reflected in the modern song of Alwan Bourhan (1993):
rabta way ma bakaqta lakqo tuble’ntï
The eyes which saw the money will never crash even dead
Lakqo baaxo bayissu meekisan xeeti
Money is stones they are making turn to destroy the country
Alwan Burhan has reiterated the same
Ma bakaqta rabta way lakqo tuble’nti
The eyes which saw the money will never crash even dead
Iyye num tu’yyeh
He has said an important thing;
[The man who said that eyes which saw the money will never crash even dead
Has said something very important.]
Woh lem sacuwuuy sulaadeh’saxuwu
This is envy and greed of money
Sahda neh sulaade lageegissa
So the covetousness will kill our people
(1993, translation by Saleh M. Hassen)
The same spirit is found in the Dorro stanzas of Arbahim Mala:
Tolaytuk neh lakqo wakta qadar sugeeh
There was a poem of Tola about money
Rabta way ma bakaqta lakqok iyye’yyen
He said that the money will never crash even an eye of the dead (Arbahim Mala 2010, oral poetry
translated by Saleh M. Hassen)
The ever-present theme of the division of the Afar homeland has long been warned against
and was indeed engraved in the heart of every successive generation for use as a rallying political
agenda. Successive generations of political dissidents and armed groups up the Ugugumoo of our
time have heard and owned the poetic message. Gemaludin Abrahim Khalil Al-Shami and his son
observed the same, reflecting that continuity in the persona of Sultan Ali-Mirah Hanfere:
Sultan Ali-Mirah Hanfere objected to the inclusion of the Danakil Afar territory with Eritrea but was
not accepted by EPRDF. For by then the EPRDF leadership was pursuing the considerations related
to prevailing real politics of the time (Gemaludin and Gemaludin 2000, 433).
Among the Afar, the division of their homeland, finalized with the secession of Eritrea along
with Red Sea Afar from Ethiopia, is viewed as the mother of all predicaments for the Afar people.
An issue closely associated with this is the intractable, violent conflict with the Issa. The recurrence
of the undivided Afar homeland theme since the time of Tola to date exemplifies the connection
of people in poetic imagination and performance transcending subjective limitations promoted by
Malinowski but Bachelard as involving the act of transmission of a coded message in reverberation
(Bachelard 1994).
This is exactly what he meant by experiencing the ‘quality of inter-subjectivity’ of being
connected to the original being fused as one and the same for the transmission of a coded message
in reverberation (Bachelard 1994) in the mind creating encounter with the strange; a becoming
of the absent and the construction of the non-existent social reality that transcends the horizons
of space and time with illocutionary power over peoples’ attitude and behavior (anthropological)
(Andraş 2006)—internalization—as their own experience and making (Bachelard 1994). In a word,
poetic work creates and connects people in shared understanding of an idea resolving the divide
between the self and the other. This is in line with Aristotelian conception of the poetic drama,
anthropological and literary conceptions of creating inter-subjective meaning which Bachelard
furthered as trans-subjectivity. The Afar Kassow by transmitting cross generational themes, like
undivided Afar homeland, it reverberates connecting the past, the present and the future. This is
further observed in the Kassows discussed in the following sections.
The Derg Kassow: Radio Mogadishu versus Ethiopia Radio

After the overthrow of the monarchy of Emperor Haile Selassie, Sultan AliMirah Hanfere did
not go into exile immediately; he left the country after the bloody battle of Aysaeta between the
Derg army and the rebel army of the sultan. The provisional military government invited the
sultan to come to the capital, intending to throw him to jail. The sultan quickly identified the plot
and went into exile in Somalia. He founded the first modern armed resistance movement, the
Afar Liberation Front (ALF), which was trained and armed by Siad Barre of Somalia. As part
of the anti-Ethiopia Greater Somalia project, Siad Barre had opened Amharic and Afaraff radio
programmes bent on airing offensive media propaganda. The Ethiopia Radio Service from Addia
Ababa had been reciprocating similarly. Stationed in Mogadishu during the early days of the
Ogaden war, the ALF found itself available for the utility of the Siyad Barreh regime. One of the
programmes used for the mutual propaganda campaign was the use of Afar Kassow. This time, the
Kassow was done in a mutually accusatory logic of the pre-war period. The ALF and the pro-Derg
Afar in Addis Ababa had been hurling critiques at each other. According to Loren F. Bliese, the
following Kassow composed by Qabdu Gedda, a pro-Derg Afar, was broadcast on Ethiopia radio.
The Kassow shows the Ethiopian government’s line of narrative which is based on the accusation
of the exiled Sultan AliMirah Hanfere.
I worry like a man whose cousin-wife was taken.
Oh Modayto tribe,
I became a man who having worried doesn’t revenge [an offense].
Oh you who hide out for early morning plan,
We are serious about our women
God help you, we are serious at the time of [attack on] our women
You [AliMirah, deposed sultan] said,

“Listen, we have placed Mohammad [AliMirah’s son] in Asmara
You said, “Hanfade [AliMirah’s son] is with the lower representatives
In the time of your administration the four Awsa regions were destroyed.
Oh you causer of starvation, you refused wisdom greater than that of the boys
You refused to advise the Afar Unity Group
They said, “Divide the land to the poor.”
They said, “Share the administration with the poor
You said, “I’ll destroy them rather than divide the land to them (Bliese 1982/83, 74–75).
When it comes to Afar Kassow, even the most intransigent military government has recognized
its impressive utility in getting its message across, resorting to its use in service of war time logic
(Bliese 1982/83, 74–75). The central message of the Kassow is presented in the last three stanzas
of the poetry above. Tuning into the spirit of the declaration “Land to the tiller!” (not the herder,
though), the pro-Derg Afar Kassow accuses the exiled Sultan of Awsa of arrogance and selfish
intent to choose the destruction of his people rather than sharing the bounty of his country with
his people.
The Gutubila Reconciliation Kassow

The Gutubila Reconciliation Kassow (see brief summary below) highlights the reconciliatory
essence and utility of its poetics within the context of sharp political animosity. The Gutubila
is one of the clans of the Awsa area, traditionally composed of two segments known as
Datta-Gutubila and Qassa-Gutubila referring to the black and the red Gutubila respectively. The
conflict began during the coming of the Derg to Awsa immediately after Sultan Alimirah Hanfexe
left for exile. The Datta-Gutubila became partisans of the Derg and the Qassa-Gutubila rebelled
against the Derg and its sympathizers including the Datta-Gutubila. The conflict between the two
sub-clans of the Gutubila escalated into armed confrontation as an extension of the armed struggle
between the armies of the Derg and ALF. From 1974 to 1994, three years after the fall of the Derg
regime, the animosity lasted for twenty years. In the ending of the animosity and the constructive
transformation of their relations, the Gutubila Kassow was composed by both sides in defence
of their respective positions of supporting and opposing the Derg. Casan-Mala and Qalii-Darsa
performed the act representing the Qassa-Gutubila and the Datta-Gutubila respectively. The
Kassow was performed in three acts composed of 28 scenes. In the first act composed of 19
scenes, both Casan-Mala and Qalii-Darsa performed the customary Xaaguing about the wellbeing
of the family, clan, women, children and cattle. Although it was the first discussion after twenty
years of animosity, it was conducted in the spirit of information exchanges. Next, Qalii-Darsa
introduces the case that he came to defend his clan, the Datta-Gutubila’s name against the treason
allegation by the Qassa-Gutubila clan during their battle against the Derg. Casan-Mala presented
his accusation against the Datta-Gutubila for betraying their fellow Qassa-Gutubila clan by
collaborating with their enemy, the Derg.
This Kassow was a bit different from the other Kassows on three counts. First, this was perhaps
the first time Afar people had gone into a cut-throat struggle against each other on grounds of
supporting and opposing a third party that they considered external. Second, owing to the
sensitivity and extremely polarized stances held by the two groups for two decades, a jury of
elders was convened to have the final say on the consensual and reconciliatory stance to be taken.
Third, convening a jury of elders was a pragmatic approach informed and dictated by the course
of post-Derg political dynamics in Ethiopia. Hence, the poetics of the Kassow was seen engaging
in mutual causation with the political dynamics of the day that required ending mutual animosity
of the Gutubila to respond to the political requirements of the day. The imperative to create an
undivided Afar solidarity in the face of the most dreaded adversity of forthcoming secession of the
Red Sea Afar from Ethiopia and the uncertain political environment in Ethiopia wherein the fate
of the Afar people was hanging on a string.
This underscores the need to emphasize the reconciliatory and consensus-building capacity
of Afar Kassow and not the accusatory dimension per se. Also, the convening of a jury of elders
to preside over proceedings can be considered as the agile, adoptive and responsive nature of
the Afar Kassow to the requirements of unfolding circumstances. Yet, limiting it to accusatory
and rigid proceedings could be a misunderstanding of the Afar Kassow. As the root verb of the
term Kassow, Kass means the power of memorization, knowledge and intelligence. The cross-
generational impact each Kassow leaves behind continues to reverberate, calling for reckoning of
similar themes at different ages.
The poetic arguments and counter arguments of the Gutubla Kassow are summarized here
(transcribed and translated by Saleh Mohammed Hassan, Djibouti, 2016):
Cassan-Mala [Hassan the thinker] QaliDarasa [Ali the Student]
First Act Scene 5 Second Act, Scene 1
Amànalgexaanamakfardi nee xiqah Casanow, duma’llesugne’nnataaxigeh = oh Hassan,
A marolcabaay, yabinkittohnehgacis you know how we were living before
YabinkimansayyàhnehgacisQaliyow = oh Ali, make Yi labhàkabba’sihtekkecàrralitoh = you use to be
clear our subject of debate the legal representative of our men
Meelàsittadeesaassemtekkehixxica = confess that Yi baahoyooceelakbeytecàrralitoh = you did acted
you have been indifferent about helping us proudly for my case as it was me
Koo ma deesaasinniyooycatehko’xxic = Or tell me Madqàkoolihabaksugecaxàlyabnek = we use to
that you have not been indifferent, tell me that you share the same Madqa
came to rescue us Ummattày, caalatellesugemtamanna = oh men, that
Baacàh’innal’ankactiyekkehixxica = tell me that was how we were living
kind of indifference has occur before Casanow, afakyaarrennumhinniyo = you cannot
Oobehiktukokelletaysegubguftee = I came down, so accuse me without any evidence
did you attend your favorite place? Tuggaruqku’umuuy, tuggaruqanumayyu = the
breakdown came from your side, not from me
Kolrabaamakafàlkedoytay’abtaamaah = before I
come to your rescue, consider me as relative
Second Act, Scene 1 Scene 3
Lafàlukan’absuma ‘c caddotk’abbixe = I have SekMalaw, Baaca’ttiyàtnabamyabta = Oh sheikh
always considered as an Absuma Mala, you insist on the case of Baaca
XalàykeeqàrsatkoogeyakQaliyow = if I could Baxuwwah’aytit tan xag-qad’abteeni = you show it
remain your brother in law as the earring that wears a young girl
Y’absumaw, laakeebax’ayrokoowagtek = if I had Baacàh’imwadirik, kedoytay’abtaama : before the
expect your aid when it was the matter of child and case of Baaca5, you should consider me as a brother
cattle
Scene 2 Scene 4
Rasultemqemelletemqenumakkale = I suppose you FarmokolQogàgaltemeeteFaataytow = oh son of
are as well as everybody Fatuma, you heard the message at Qogag
Qaliimalàkraaqek, raaqeweemwagita = just analyze Yoh ma seecittooy, y’ummata’xcehemeete = you
if Ali has been associated to the plot or not didn’t invite me, I came my self
Kokwaammayyuuy, kookedoh ma faxa’tte = you told
me that you don’t want my brotherhood
Baacàh’imwadirik, kedoytay’abtaama= before the
case of Baaca, you should consider me as a brother
Scene 3 Scene 5
Numuuy kabuki jabhatlukyemeete Nanukasnasaakutubbaxsiyekkehiiy = not long ago,
Macxiseefafaxa’yyehummatahseece = there had been a breakdown
Woo qaxaay a qaxa’nkihelleseeceeni = people have Nee hinnaaywohqafar’baxaloobebaxsa = not only
been called from both sides us, but all Afars have been divided
Koo malàk ma cabiyyo, ellekohseece = I didn’t Qafaràkmariiykabuksittayoogoreh = there was a
exclude you from my get-together conflict between Afars
Y’abbahinnitoyokte, seefàyolcinteh = you denied CasanQalii’kacnuhtewqelabhàkatee = Hassan
me from being your notary follow those who were the Ali’s6 partisans
Y’absumawisihabtebaxsayokwayta Gexxelabhàkateekalellekokraaqe = I didn’t follow
Scene 4 those guys, I stayed there
Subciraddegirà’yrokorru tam sugte = the battle Qafar’migaq korus naqbuhyittikiyyee= those Afars
lasted all day were engaged in armed against Christians
Lac inkîkellaqolnekyenehQaliyow = you were our Isinyinaqbuh way tittikiyyeeniih = you were
neighbors engaged against us
Yangicillemarahrasuk ma dagtoonu = you had so Jabhatiinoyohabtekol= you founded the rebellion
many armed men against me
[But you did not come to our support]
[confess that you have been indifferent about
helping us ]
Third Act, Scene 1 Third Act, Scene 4
kolliyomdigifikdigaalà may kinnii? = I’m Ata’ abewayteemiiyummatabtematan = nobody did
complaining for homicide, not for punishment worse than what you did
Qaliicalyokmalkitaah, àlamalkita = Ali is Ginaadàduyye’llih assay itteeniih = you let our
complaining about natural attitude7, but I’m cadaver10 laying all day
complaining about “animal”8 attack Muslimiinsittal ma bahtayolbahtem = no Muslim
Ala9 keecaalaklaftanumwagita = is a human being can do to Muslim what you did to me
worse than animal? Ah macaayrabiseemataalleyokkahweem = why
Alakeecaalaktatranumwagitay = so, which case is didn’t you respect my loss?
the worst? Scene 5
QiddenumCasanowcaneh may qiddee = did you kill
the man for revenge?
Malseyoh ma wiinto’mmay, yooyikascate = you did
conspire against us, we had self-control
Scene 6
Meglohellegexan Kabul maaygexxe = did you run
away from us?
Megloyokgarilellehàyyahayteeni= you kept your
position by facing us.
In the first Act, Hasasan of Qasa-Gutubla accuses the Data-Gutubla of failing to be on their
side in the fight against the Derg army. In scene five of this act, Hassan is seen arguing for their
declaration of truth and recognition of guilt (Or tell me that you have not been indifferent/ tell me
that you came to rescue us?). In so doing, he capitalizes on the unprecedented and unspeakable
nature of the crime of indifference to one’s fellow Afar (tell me that kind of indifference has
occur before?). In scene one of the same act, Qali-Darasa counter argue, stating the problem
beyond the Bacca incident (the breakdown came from your side, not from me) and put blame
on the Qasa-Gutubla. Central to Qali-Darasa’s argument is that the social responsibility of the
Data-Gutubla is conditioned to the reciprocal recognition of their solidarity by the Qasa-Gutubla
(before I come to your rescue, consider me as relative); that the expectation made from
Data-Gutubla clan to rescue their kin the Qasa-Gutubla was invalidated by the fact that the latter
had long denigrated the sacrosanct Afar custom of standing by the side of one’s clan during times
of adversity.
In the second act, the same argument and counter argument are taken further by both sides
providing their premises. From scene one up to scene four, Hasasan-Mala keeps on explaining
that the Qasa-Gutubla always considered the Data-Gutubla to be their close relatives and did
not excluded them from any social event. Hasasan-Mala argues that the latter have denied the
Qasa-Gutubla their traditional role of being a notary of the Data-Gutubla. Central, however, to
the argument is that, despite the social responsibility and the capability of the Data-Gutubla to
protect their kin, they denied them during their darkest hour. He further reinforces his argument
by referring to the non-negotiable nature of the responsibility to protect the safety and security of
children and cattle (if I had expected your aid when it was the matter of child and cattle). Hassan-
Mala emphasizes the jury of elders and the attending assembly to examine whether failing the
responsibility to protect was not part of the Derg plot to destroy the Qasa-Gutubla (just analyze if
Ali has been associated to the plot or not).
Qali-Darsa, in scenes three and four, reiterates the argument of the primacy of recognizing clan
solidarity to the responsibility to protect. In scene five, he brings a twist to the narrative stating that
the divide created between the Gutublas was not exceptional to them during the period because
a rift was created in the Afar people between those supporting the Derg (referred in the stanza as
“Christians”) and those resisting it. As part of the logic of the day, the Data-Gutubla did not take
sides with the rebelling sultan’s army of which the Qasa-Gutubla formed part. The butt of the
narrative comes with the framing of the issue from line six up to eight: unlike the rest of the Afar
who were fighting the “Christians”, Qali-Darasa argued, the Qasa-Gutubla went against their kin
(those Afars were engaged in armed against Christians /you were engaged against us/you founded
the rebellion against me).
In scene one of act three, Hassan-Mala argues for the higher moral weight of denying support
to one’s sister clan under predatory attack and correcting human offence. Implicitly came to
recognize the slain man of Data-Gutubla yet emphasizing the higher gravity of omission of support
by the latter when the condition was the issue of protecting children and cattle. Qali-Darsa, on the
other hand, counter argues, stating a lack of sensitivity to their loss and victimization caused by
the abuse of the dead body of the victim and their active enmity in facing their Gutubla brothers
rather than the enemy, the Derg. In sum, Qali-Darsa emphasizes the recognition of the loss of
his clan and the mistakes made by the Qasa-Gutubla which are not justified by customary or
religious moral establishments of Afar society, and requests that Hassan-Mala accept the bitter
truth and recognize the loss so that mercy and peace can be restored. At this point, the case was
brought to the deliberation of the jury of elders which delivered the decision that, even though
both sides had committed mistakes and should have stood united during the darkest times, in
light of the primacy of Afar custom to honour and recognize clan solidarity, and recognizing the
loss of a sister clan, the Qasa-Gutubla had failed its responsibility as much as the Data-Gutubla
omission of their responsibility to protect while the Qasa-Gutubla were in distress. They ruled that
each group should recognize their respective wrongs and forgive each other in order to replenish
and transform their relationship with solidarity. Both sides accepted and were reconciled with
an elaborate ceremony of reconciliation that restored the peace lost for almost two decades. The
rendering of the reconciliatory utility of the Gutubila-Kassow underscores the need for maintaining
the solidarity and fraternity of the Afar people at all levels of social organization. This is considered
to be a supreme good taking primacy over other values and the required imperative of recognizing
truth, accepting mistakes and requesting mercy to ensure peace and justice. This reiterates the
continued vitality of the poetic message of Tola Hanfexe for Afar solidarity: a Spirit haunts Afar,
the spirit of Tola Hanfere. The same issues articulated by him continued to reverberate, as is
reflected in the lyrics of the Kassow for an undivided homeland, below.
The Kassow for Undivided Afar-Homeland: The Spirit of Tola

The Kassow composed in Awsa during the Eritrean referendum (the authors, collaborating
with Slavoj Žižek’s conception, preferred to call it “less than nothing”11) was sung in a public
demonstration forcefully called by EPLF authorities in Assab to masquerade the Afar support.
What of the talk on the air?!
Does it mean anything at all?!
People of Afar, can you unknot this puzzle;

tell me not, this is mere hassle;
wisdom not, to partition Assab from Afar-homeland,
destroy a nation by loose of Tajura severely wounded.
Still hard to name, drunkenness or insanity,
the new men of same tongue divulge in obscenity;
death to Afar homeland, happily declared,
As if not, in tribulation and agony of death,
For freedom, treacherous lands they cruised?!
Ponder not, it is nothing, less than nothing;
Insanity not, for it has bounds;
Nor ephemeral euphoria and drunkenness,
Or bad dream up on awakening transpires;
It is just vanity, vanity of vanity!
They mean not nothing but less than nothing.
Less than nothing, Afar know not naming,
What the ear bears not to hear,
In the words of wisdom of the elderly
’ayana teenim hina’ they mean just nothing
Less than nothing (Awol 2008; FGD-K 2008).
According to eye witnesses, the people sang in anguish “ayana teenim hina” which, tragically,
EPLF authorities (though they knew the people were coerced) erroneouly mistook for an
expression of support, giving it international media coverage.
Prison Kassow: “Die as Afar or none”

The following is a unique Kassow composed by Able-Hkaysemale clan youths in Semera Police
Commission custody, accused of alleged human trafficking and joining the armed insurgency12.
The boys, resisting injustice by law enforcement authorities, held a hunger strike accompanied by
vehement, radical critique of authorities. This prison Kassow differs from common Kassows in
the following ways. First, the audience of this Kassow is the imagined, wide audience of the Afar
people which goes beyond the immediate audience of the inmates and police authorities. Second,
it was carried out in the context of a hunger strike rather than the usual feasting. Third, it is
performed by twenty-three young men sardined into a four-meter-square cell rather than in an open
space or a public arena. Fourth, despite these precarious conditions, the Kassow was performed
with absolute confidence that it would win their freedom.
We are the true sons of Afar,
Undivided by boundary, politics and passports,
in freedom brought up unrestrained;
For love country and patriotism renowned.
We are Revered as much by our people as our foes.
We are heroes of Afar homeland, lions of the desert,
Unsuspected of ills of any sort;
Defenders of the clan of Able, mighty spell of Khaysemale.
Now but never!
Humiliated by impostors of Afar,
and like goats we are caged;
Our true yearning for our kin misjudged,
as eluding home and country-
alien name, unprecedented to the Afar labeled;
‘Kolbay’ and ‘Askolbay’ we are named.
Now but never!
We are reduced in to zombie by the new naming,
More so their ignorance of Afarness,
Our identity they dared our names to erase.
Nay to hear this taboo to our dead bodies
Leave alone alive and kicking.
Not until, our honored name, Afarness, is restored,

We are resolute and prefer to die of Hunger,
than live named other than Afar (Muauz 2012, 9).
Human trafficking has long been the most terrible crime to be accused of in the Afar region,
the hub of traffickers and transit point to the gulf. Before the coming of the Khaysemale boys, on
average the Semera police station accommodated about fifty migrants every day. No resistance was
ever heard of except on one occasion when forty migrants sardined into a small room collapsed.
From the outset, the Khaysemale boys on the other hand were vehemently opposed to being
called Kolbay (in the local dialect) to mean Koblay in Amharic [illegal migrant] and insisted
on their undeniable right to visit their family in Djibouti, a silent denial to recognize the state
boundary between Ethiopia and Djibouti. This view which the Khaysemale boys later articulated
unequivocally in their Kassow, is prevalent in the Afar Horn. Resorting to a hunger strike and
articulating the matter in the Afar historical paradox of one people with a homeland divided into
three states, they invoked an enduring and emotional issue of unity, managing to win even the
sympathy of commissioned police officers. As a result, they were released from custody after
four days of hunger strike for fear of instigating conflict between the local government and the
Khaysemale clan and to avoid unnecessary consequences (Muauz 2012).
They beckoned the spirit of Tola and got his message properly to win their freedom. The power
of the Kassow to engender moral action would not have been effective if it had emerged simply
from the immediate context of being suspected of trafficking and attempting to join the armed
struggle but, instead, because their articulation of the problem was brewed from indexed utterances
which constitute the cognitive structure of society, shared by all. The kassow triggered a sense of
empathy in the jailers because it was rooted in a communal, shared value system. Not sharing the
meaning amounts to a denial of belonging to the identity that such values promote: the being and
becoming of Afarness.
Kalluwanle Poetics and Politics: Adal and Election

The Kalluwanle song is different from the Afar Kassow. It is a mixed genre with one lady singing
and men asking her about the future, sometime making antagonist verses. The two songs are
metrically different. It is the feminine version of the male known as Ginnili (the mind reader)
whose non-predicative song is known as Aba’ana, who is also poet and warrior. The Kalluwanle
does not sing the Kassow. Her song is called Adal (prediction and message), and the questions
or verses performed by the male singers are called Sabo. So, we have the Kalluwanle’s sabo, but
have not Kalluwanle’s Kassow (Bliese 1982/3, 52). The Kalluwanle song is relevant here because
of its similarity to the Kassow in terms of its poetic performance but is different from the latter
in lacking the unique dialogical way of argumentation and generating inter-subjective meaning
between poetic competitors. Instead, the Kalluwanle is like a medium of the oracle of Athens
whose advice and prediction is required about the outcome of a forthcoming battle. Who will die
and survive? But in the Afar Kalluwanle, unlike the oracle of Athens, a mixture of respect and
slander is used. There is no fear about what the gods might say through the oracle. The Kallunwale
acts both as a medium of message transmission and as a reflective agent having its own opinions.
The enquirers present gifts to the Kalluwanle encircled by the men questioning her and singing
the Sabo. They begin with a greeting and make slanderous statements that “the oracle knows
nothing” and, with hand clapping and feet tramping, accompanying the Sabo, they would drive the
Kalluwanle, covered with heavy clothes and bathed in incense smoke, into a trance from which
the oracle rings a bell and sings her slanderous prediction. At last, the audience leaves the stage
with the assurance that the Adal is accepted and noted. As primordial as it may seem, the power of
the Adal to command moral action and desirable behaviour is as powerful in encouraging violence
and battle as it could be in propagating peace and reconciliation, as well as rectifying practices and
values supporting violence and repression. This is the shared feature with Kassow.
The Kalluwanle singing composed at Semera during the 2009 national election was sharp, a
critique against the Afar National Democratic Party (ANDP) leadership. The Kalluwanlea fortune
teller, forecasting the election results to the dismay of its host, boldly exposes the leadership
without any heed of potential consequences. The central part of the Kassow exposes the tyranny of
the leadership by comparing it to the Afar view of a deserved leader and ruler as follows:
Leaders of the people have merits
Tojustify their rule and accentuate misdeeds;
Someare gifted with charisma, others with charm or with eloquence;
The very lucky ones are gifted with wisdom,
However not charming, a leader is glorified by honest and humbleness;
Dead or alive, he leads the people in peace and abundance.
Some do rule by charisma,
Only if not fuzzy and endowed with wit and eloquence;
Others rule as per their gifts offsetting weakness;
But all have some merits to their names,
Though not knowledgeable, a leader who listen advices,
Not meek hearted to be moved by vanity and flattery;
Fond of criticism, abhor injustice and inequality,
Have no wrath but compassion to the poor,
We do accept for a ruler.
Yours [is fateful tragedy,
Afar have never seen in ages
O! you are nothing but wrath of heavens,
be sent on us to punish our transgressions;
We sought and got nothing among rulers’ merits,
To rule over the great people of Afar and country,
Not least, to accentuate your rude manner and tyranny.
We are troubled to find one poor reason,
Gives us one poor reason,
Leave alone for a leader,
To merit you be our ruler?! (Kalluwanle 2009)
The message was readily accepted by the people because, prior to this event, one of the
dominant resentments against the ANDP leadership in general and the presidential incumbent in
particular was that of being impostors of Afar. Therefore, the Kalluwanle criticism of the president
of the region as unworthy of leading the Afar people had immediate popularity. However, unlike
the prison Kassow, it was not capable of commanding action to oust the incumbent president
from office because the modern party constellation had begun to manipulate informal and formal
channels of communication among leading political actors towards a negotiated settlement.
The Prosopies Julifora, alien weed: Dergie-Harra or Weyanne-Harra

Dergie-Harra or Weyanne-Harra is an alien weed (scientific name Proposies Juliefora) named
after the period in which it was introduced to Ethiopia during the early-1990s transition from the
Derg regime to the Ethiopian People Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF ruling FDRE since
then to date). This weed is believed to have been introduced from China to curb desertification in
the Lower Awash Valley where state farms supplying food for the army were located. However, to
the dismay of the Afar people, the weed turned out be an invasive species, taking vast pastoral and
farm lands out of the system of production. The tree has unique resistance to drought and desert
temperatures, and reproduced in all possible ways that plants do — the weed can reproduced itself
through cross-pollination of its flowers by wind, water and animal agents, by its seeds which easily
germinate with minimum moisture, and by vegetative reproduction using its stems and branches.
(Walta 1996).13
According to informants in Gewane and Amibera area in the Lower Awash Valley, because
of the evergreen appearance of the weed, it was thought to be a sustainable animal feed until
it was found to be undigestable and dangerous to cattle. Its thorns caused festering wounds
in animals and humans, its roots cracking roads and buildings. Moreover, it is resistant to all
forms of destruction (fire, chemical, deforestation) except water (FGD-Gewane 2009). A World
Bank-sponsored multi-million Birr campaign to destroy the weed instead exaccerbated its invasion
due to its resistant nature (Walta 1996).
In short, the Proposies Juliefora caused an environmental crisis in the fragile pastoral
ecosystem by causing land scarcity and reducing biodiversity vital for sustainabile pastoral
production and reproduction, thus becoming implicated in intra- and inter-ethnic conflict
(ANRS-AJSAB 2007; Muauz 2006; Muauz 2010).
The reserachers have not found the Kassow devoted to the weed, but the poetry below,
composed by cattle trekkers, sets out he communal framework that guides the behaviour of all
members of society in relation to the weed. Like the prison Kassow, this one has no concrete
audience. It is a disembodied message sent to all pastoralist Afar.
We do know trees of many kinds,
But we know not a tree,
With fire that blossoms,
Rids the wind and invades the lands,
In drought flourishes;
Uprooting never dries its roots.
We wonder, what tree might be
That dies of water?!
Its thorny parts poisonous to animal,
Cause festering wounds to the skin;
Unfriendly to plants, to the road and human.
We wonder, what to name it
Alien to animal and plant?(Anonymous 2008)
The poetic expression travelled vast distances in the Afar homeland, elaborating the nature of the
weed that threatened the precarious pastoral life and shaping public opinion for an appropriate
response and adoptive mechanism. The imaginative element of the poetic expression is put to
informative and educational use. There is also subtle politics in the naming and representation of
the weed as Derg-Harra/Weyanne Harra, reflecting two salient problems that characterized the
relationship of the Afar with central governments on the one hand, and satirical criticism of the
political system on the other.
At this juncture, the down-to-earth environmental knowledge system that preceded UNDP’s
policy is worth noting. The customary legal and conflict resolution system, the Afar Madaqa,
makes them among few traditional societies with elaborate environmental policies (Muauz 2013).
Hence, the impact on the fragile environment is felt very deeply. However, the impact of the
invasive weed is not limited to environmental damages only: it carries political implications which
affect the nature of relations between the Afar people and successive regimes.
First, it is common among the Afar to refer to damages caused by state policies pursued by
successive regimes. The most frequently mentioned example is the manner in which Prosopies
Julifora was introduced and the damage it caused. Second, among sceptics, the weed is often
presented as a tool introduced by the Derg (and not discontinued by its successor) to displace the
Afar and use it for non-pastoral utilities (FGD-Amibera 2009). Given the prevalent communal
memory of historical marginalization and exploitation of the Afar commons (Bekele 2006; Bekele
and Padmanabhan 2008; Bekele 2010), and current livelihood insecurity as its sequel (Muauz
2015), it is hardly valid to expect other interpretations.
The third political dimension of the naming demonstrates the Afar art of hurling sharp political
criticisms in an aesthetic manner. In the dominant highlander political culture of Ethiopia, political
criticism is dealt with animosity and often with harsh measures. Sharing meaning with the
subject of criticism is almost impossible because of polarized positions and the manner criticism
is forwarded. Here is where the Afar Kassow departs from the established highlander political
culture. It is poetic subtlety of presenting criticism enables sharing meaning between the very
subject of criticism and the critic. Because the subject of criticism is enabled to see a new image
of itself portrayed by the critic with minimum degree of animosity. The vitality of the poetics in
the Afar world is its power of enabling the subject of criticism to share the critic’s view. The self
and the other experience the sense of rapture out of their mutual exchange of their views and
images of each other. The self and the other experience a new encounter, interconnectedness and
inter-subjective meaning which goes beyond empathy. The element of fun, amazement and benign
criticism blended in a poetic expression, as in the Weyanne Harra Kassow, transcend the self and
other boundary of meaning and even beyond the Aristotelian concept of the empathy of poetics.
This is evident from the following discussion on the meaning of the Woyanne Harra.
Let us return to the naming. Derg-Harra is a mere reference to the period. The Weyanne-
Harra is the focus of the poetic and political construction. Weyanne in Tigrigna language
means revolution. The term is used to refer to the first Tigrian resistance against the monarch of
Hailessilasie (known as Kedamay Weyanne) and the Tigrian People Liberation Front (TPLF) led
armed struggle which brought about the demise of the Derg is considered the second Weyanne
(Young 1997). In the current usage of the term it refers to TPLF. In naming Prosopies Julifora
Weyanne Harra/Weyanne tree there is an imaginative matching of the nature of Prosopies
Julifora with both positive and negative qualities of the TPLF. Positively, the drought resistant,
resilience and strong survival quality of the weed matches to the tenacity, perseverance and superb
meticulousness of TPLF that overwhelmingly emerged victorious from the seventeen years of
protracted armed struggle and continued predominance and success. Negatively, the destructive
nature of the weed for other plant and animal species is used to epitomize the radical stance and
intolerance of the TPLF for any kind of political descent, especially for political opposition groups.
As the weed disturbs the ecology by invading the environment, the parallel in the metaphor is that
so does TPLF monopolizes the political platform (Anonymous-1, 2011).
Symbolizing the party with the weed is by itself a claim for a moral action: it got to be weed
out. Besides, the harsh measure of Ethiopian Revolutionary Democratic Front’(EPRDF) the ruling
party TPLF is senior founding member during the post-2005 national election is often associated
with the poisonous nature of the weed.
Such kind of metaphorical presentation of criticism side by side with positive appreciation
of strength is a rarity in the political opposition. Often it is considered as political capitulation
as was Lidetu Ayalew the only opposition following this kind of approach was vilified for being
a sale out for the ruling party (Lidetu 2002). in the same token the ruling party is tolerant of
no criticism either. The art of poetic metaphors and presentations, however, have the power of
enabling exchange of meaning between the subject of criticism and the critic. This is partly owing
to the humorous nature such metaphors.
The humourous side of the story is not stated but implied in the presence of the only twig
allegedly capable of causing burns to the Woyane Harra. This twig is named after the regime in
Asmara People Front for Justice and Democracy (PFJD) informally known as Sha’abya, the arch
enemy of the Weyanne; hence, Sha’abiya Harra. The only plant species which can cause harm on
the Woyanne Harra is believed to Sha’abiya Harra. Sadly, it does not cause lasting damage nor
sustain its existence. it winds itself around the weed and causes burns on the steam of the weed.
After wards, it dries and falls apart.
This expression carries a cruel political irony about the suicidal of the government in Asmara
which destroys itself by just becoming nuance to the TPLF. Whether the message is true or not is
not the important point here. The power of the Afar Kassow and poetic to send messages which
can easily get into the depth of peoples’ feeling and easily get their attention remains to be vital.
Such kind of poetic expressions will continue to reverberate across the tumulus region of the Horn
of Africa affecting our life positively and negatively.
HIV/AIDS: Have You Ever Thought the Same Way?

In Aysa’eta, prison inmates have long been discussing whether HIV/AIDS is a myth or a reality.
Opinions range from it having been caused by spirits through a white man’s myth and conspiracy,
to absolute denial. Meanwhile, AIDS patients deteriorate with the ugly consequences of the
disease. The elderly in the ward composed the following poetry to warn young inmates against
contacting HIV.
We know a disease that emaciates,
Leaves the body with bag of bones;
So do we that fattens,
In the Cage of the body, the soul imprisons;
That burns the skin and cover with sores;
Infests the bone with unsleeping worms
Do unspeakable cruel pains.
But, we know not,
A disease that shortens (Humed 2014)
The logic behind this articulation is the critical observation of how disease dehumanizes patients
without proper medical intervention. This was based on the preconceived assumption that no
disease shrinks human height whatsoever, though it might do many inhuman damages. The point
of poetics here is the power of imagination at work to influence proper moral action; in this case
to promote health-promoting behaviour. The impact of this poetics was incomparably immediate
and powerful compared to the fruitless, daily desiderata of the prison nurses and Ministry of Health
advertisement’s. This illustrates the vital use of Kassow poetics in social and developmental policy
as well as political mobilization. To sum up, this section addressed the overall importance of the
poetics and politics of Afar Kassow. The implications thereof are discussed below.
Rethinking the Multidimensionality of the Afar Kassow

The interplay of the poetics of Kassow and the political goals for which it is employed has
important implications for many dimensions of social life, emanating from its power to command
obedience and consensus in society because of the empathy it evokes in people’s hearts. Moreover,
like the works of the legendary poet Tola Hanfare, messages of poetic performance and its politics
can cross time and space, unifying people through shared political and social world views. The
ideas behind such powerful poetic works continue to reverberate in the Afar triangle, propelling
the people of Afar towards a common political agenda of a unified Afar homeland, thus far
unsuccessfully though. The Afar Kassow, therefore, stands as an addition to the literary and
philosophical literature of poetics; moreover, it casts light on and provides empirical evidence
of the multiple uses of poetic performances. The unique features of critical thinking, immediacy
and surprise of poetic creativity, have pervasive influence across geographic and symbolic space,
making the Kassow a unique illocutionary force affecting peoples’ attitudes and behaviour.
The lessons we draw from this have multiple applications in regional integration, civil
diplomacy and everyday inter-personal relations in the troubled Horn of Africa subregion, more
so in the Afar Horn towards the normalization of relations among Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti.
A point to ponder here is that the poetic message shrinks space and dissolves the binary divide of
rivals by sharing the pain of the other as one’s own. This promotes truth, justice, forgiveness and
mercy, the four pillars of reconciliation. The Afar Kassow has the ability to cross over disembodied
messages to and causing the same impact on distant people as on those nearby. The speed and
effectiveness of communicating messages and values across vast geographic space makes the
Afar Kassow vital input to be considered in the designing of Conflict Early Warning and Rapid
Response (CEWARN) and Famine Early Warning (FEW) systems in the drought and conflict
prone area of the Afar Horn.
On another scale, the Afar Kassow have unique potential to construct a desired social
reality and to negotiate meaning in a multicultural society like Ethiopia. This goes beyond
anthropologists’ narrow concerns for culture and identity, permeating environmental protection,
grassroots development, democratization and policy design. Building consensuses is fundamental
in garnering limited human and non-human resources towards developmental objectives. This is
most crucial in developing countries of the Horn. Thus, the Afar Kassow’s influence is an immense
opportunity to be considered in this light.
Although this study does not claim to present a complete image of the roles that Afar
Kassow can play in spheres other than performative art, it can also be taken note of in designing
interventions for interfaith dialogue. This is a timely agenda to address the potent force of religious
fundamentalism and radicalism.
Currently there have been attempts by the political elite to use the power of Afar poetic in the
service of narrow political interests as observed in the failed attempt of the authorities to use the
Adal, the Kalluwanle song, as self-fulfilling prophesy to win the 2009 regional election. However,
the Afar poetic, especially the Afar Kassow and Adal songs, have proved impregnable to such
efforts, asserting the strong social base and historically-rooted nature of the tradition. Thus, the
multiple uses of the Afar Kassow and other poetic genres beckon to further academic research.
Conclusion
The following summary conclusions are drawn from the nature and utility of the poetics and
politics of Afar Kassow. First, it still has the practical and theoretical validity in the context of the
Afar Horn, Ethiopia’s domestic reality, and at the grassroots level. At the national level, radicalized
and belligerent politics can learn a lot from the consensual and negotiated meaning-making of the
Afar Kassow. In Afar reality what is often taken as political infirmity and vacillation is not a vice
to accept and concede in a political interplay which the hierarchical and belligerent political culture
of the highland Ethiopia can and should learn from. Government policy designers and enforcers
can avail themselves of the opportunity that Afar Kassow provides in universal participation of
people, democratic management of difference and commanding the relentless and wilful loyalty of
the citizenry. Perhaps the first laboratory for indigenous system of democratic institutionalization
of democracy and conflict transformation can be among the Afar and Issa. Academics can also
use the Afar Kassow as a live platform for theorization and designing of alternative modalities of
social engineering towards tolerance and mutual trust.
One of the prominent themes reverberating since the period of Tola Hanfare is that of Afar
homeland unity and the honour of the Afar people which is constantly being challenged by the
power of Issa invasion. However, if the opportunities presented by the positive uses of the Kassow
are not properly utilized, it has equal potential for destructive objectives.
The use to which Afar Kassow can be put in CEWARN, FEW and wider regional integration
schemes as a bottom-up experiment can be anchored as an effort to empower the people of Afar in
the Horn over their strategic and immediate problems. This has to carefully examine the structural,
institutional and historical grievances constituted in the poetics and politics of Afar society in other
academic research. Finally, this study is an attempt to initiate the above-listed short-term aims as
well as long-term research engagement in the field.
At the level of theoretical discourse, the Afar Kassow demonstrates multiple modalities of
performing it, the uniqueness of democratic organization, performance, and immediacy of poetic
utterance. This gives it greater illocutionary power than Aristotelian poetics to generate empathy
and moral action. It also far exceeded the Gastonean concept of reverberation because the Afar
Kassow is the result of both the concrete performed in the immediacy of the hear-and-now, and
the existential demonstrated by the cross-generational transmission of epistemic categories. For
example, every generation has its own interpretations of the epics of Homer or Shakespeare, a kind
of phenomenological reverberation of sharing meaning with and becoming one with the authors. In
the Afar poetic, every generation preserves the originality of Tolaytu Kassow, creates HanfaxeTola
of his time and the old and the new are integrated in the immediacy of performing Kassow with
the sensation of surprise and cognizant of epistemological continuity. Therefore, the utility of the
Afar Kassow by carrying the requirement of the concrete and the existential, can be argued, carries
greater utility than the generating of mere empathy and moral action. It has immense illocutionary
power to unite polar opposites in sharing inter-subjective meaning and practical understanding
which can be used for the constructive transformation of historically-rooted violent conflicts.
Furthermore, it can be tailored to promote developmental programs, internalization of democratic
culture and enhance dialogue and mutual understanding among political and social actors. This, in
effect, can be garnered for the purpose of promoting peace and stability in the Horn of Africa.
Notes
1. These genres of songs and dances differentiated by the type of rhythm and choreography. They have no
exact English equivalent.
2. According Iniiniyyo (comtines of children), hayyoona (story), missila (proverb), ixig-ixiga (guessing),
xaagu (dialogue), qadar (traditional poetry) and dooqa (poetry of repentance), Gad (Modern Song),
Hadalle (novel), Ransà (theater) and Warènta (news) the eleven literary genres (Hassan 2012, 4).
3. Assaouka was the sister of Sultan of Awsa Mohammed Hanfare and the wife of the powerful Sultan
of Goba’adHoumedLaoïta (reigned 1867–1902) whom Tola wished his death than being a traitor
collaborating with the historical enemy of Afar – the Issa and Turks. Tola ironically wished Assaouka
his wife to be a widow lest her husband Sultan HoumedLaoïta trick Sultan Mohammed Hanfare into the
fatal mistake of collaborating with the Italians.
4. Kalo is the reference to Awusa, the place of dry season retreat, land preserved by tradition.
5. The place where the Derg and Qassa-Gutubla rebels fought.
6. This seems to refer to Hassan joining the supporters of the sultan of AwsaAlimirahHanfaxe, not
Qali-Darasa.
7. This is in reference to the fact that an Afar killing another Afar, as an individual offence, is an inevitable
fact of life as in any society. What is disturbing is when violence symbolizes sinister group (in this case
clan) intentions of hurting the other clan.
8. The “animal” derived from the Afar term “Ala” is used here to show that the attack from the Derg was
worse than individual inter-Afar homicide which can be resolved and reconciled via customary legal and
conflict resolution systems of the Madqa. Hassan-Malla is arguing that denying support to a sister-clan
when under predatory attack is worse than homicide and cannot extenuate the Gutubla indifference.
9. The Afar term “Ala” means animal (predator); in the Afar literature all enemies are called “Ala” and the
reference here is to the Derg as a predatory animal bent on hunting the Afar people.
10. This refers to the corpse of the slain Data-Gutubla man.
11. The Afar people faced with the most “disparate ontological domains” of further dismemberment of Afar
homeland they could not say it just “nothing” to mean either insane or nonsense because the experience
was beyond the ordinary they said “ayanamteenimhina”; we in the word of Slavoj Žižek since achieving
pure nothingness which they do not mean primarily requires to be something thus resorted to label it
“Less Than Nothing” (Žižek 2012).
12. The Able-Haysemale boys were caught on their way to Djibouti during which rumors of Dr. Abdela of
the Able-Haysemale clan, a political dissident living in the US, having come to Djibouti to commence
armed struggle against the government of Ethiopia. The boys were caught wearing the TPLF fighters’
legendary rubber shoes, uncommon among the Afar, further strengthening suspicions that they were
guilty as accused.
13. Reports have shown its indigestible seed surviving the acidity of animals’ digestive tracts, remaining
dormant under harsh temperatures for seventy years and germinating at the smallest hint of humidity. Its
pollen can travers 70 miles per hour to spread its species.
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On the Poetics and Politics of the Afar Kassow

Article in Eastern African Literary and Cultural Studies · April 2017

Muauz Gidey Alemu Mohamed Hassan Saleh

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On the Poetics and Politics of the Afar Kassow

Gidey Alemu Muauz & Mohamed Hassan Saleh

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On the Poetics and Politics of the Afar Kassow

Gidey Alemu Muauz1,2* and Mohamed Hassan Saleh3

The Context and Essence of Convening Kassow

The Afar Socio-Political Complexion

The Poetic Genres of Afar Society

The Poetics and Politics of Kassow

When he return home, we use his hand twice

The Derg Kassow: Radio Mogadishu versus Ethiopia Radio

You [AliMirah, deposed sultan] said,

The Gutubila Reconciliation Kassow

The Kassow for Undivided Afar-Homeland: The Spirit of Tola

People of Afar, can you unknot this puzzle;

Prison Kassow: “Die as Afar or none”

Not until, our honored name, Afarness, is restored,

Kalluwanle Poetics and Politics: Adal and Election

The Prosopies Julifora, alien weed: Dergie-Harra or Weyanne-Harra

HIV/AIDS: Have You Ever Thought the Same Way?

Rethinking the Multidimensionality of the Afar Kassow

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