Exodus: British Rastas flock to land of messiah

Ethiopia, whose Emperor Haile Selassie gave new focus to a black Christian movement, plays host to the annual Bob Marley anniversary

Andrew Heavens in Addis Ababa and Sandra Laville

Guardian - Monday February 7, 2005

Jules Benji, a massed choir singing No Woman No Cry over his shoulder from a huge stage in Meskel Square, Addis Ababa, declared: "We're doing His Majesty's work here. This is a historic day for Ethiopia."

His clothes were traditional Ethiopian, shining white, with a ceremonial dagger at his side. But his accent was pure Moss Side, Manchester.

The 29-year-old was one of hundreds of British Rastafarians and reggae lovers who had made a pilgrimage to the Ethiopian capital yesterday to celebrate what would have been the 60th birthday of their hero and prophet, Bob Marley.

Up to 100,000 fans were jamming through the evening at the nine-hour free concert called Africa Unite - after one of Marley's best known songs - as Ethiopia, the symbolic homeland of Rastafarianism, hosted his birthday tribute for the first time.

Most of the British pilgrims had taken a week or a fortnight's holiday from jobs in Birmingham, London or Manchester to travel to Addis Ababa. Others, like Mr Benji, had taken one look at the bustling city, thrumming under a heat haze to the music of the reggae legend who died of cancer aged 36 in 1981, and decided that they were here to stay.

"There's lots of people coming and going between England and Ethiopia, Rastafarians and other people. I came out here three weeks ago and I'm here to live," he said.

A Rastafarian record producer and saxophonist, he is hoping to continue his musical career in Ethiopia, eventually moving from Addis Ababa to the Rasta community of Shashemene, 150 miles south of the capital.

As the tens of thousands poured into Addis Ababa yesterday morning to watch performances by Marley's widow Rita, Angelique Kidjo from Benin and the Ethiopian born Teddy Afro, the country revelled in its popularity. Cafes, bars and hotels were full, and the flow of money provided a welcomed boost to the economy and a chance to shed the negative stereotypes of war and famine.

"There's a real sense of freedom here," Mr Benji said. "All the west has got going for it is development. But Africa will have that soon, the roads, the schools.

"I am here to carry on Bob Marley's work putting the words of His Majesty [the late Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie] to music."

A few metres in front of him in the packed audience was another white-robed figure, parading up and down in front of the stage waving a huge red, gold and green flag with a snarling lion at its centre. Nine months ago Yohannes Ishijah was a familiar sight to commuters rushing through Leicester Square underground station in London.

"I was a busker. I used to play Bob Marley songs in the underground. I got arrested all the time," he said. Last year Mr Ishijah inherited some money from his father and left his home in Crystal Palace, south London, to emigrate to Ethiopia at the age of 41.

"This is great. I think it's incredible that so many years after Bob Marley's death he can still inspire such amazing shows in the name of the Most High. Bob Marley has penetrated through time. We are with the King of Kings."

Like Mr Benji, Mr Ishijah's move was motivated by a mixture of devotion to the Rastafarian faith and idealism about what he could achieve in Ethiopia. "I want to be the breast for those who need milk. If Jah [God] puts me in the right position, I would like to open schools here. I would like to open a park."

With the coronation of Ras (Prince) Tafari as the Emperor Haile Selassie in 1930, Marcus Garvey's Christian black nationalist movement adopted Ethiopia as its spiritual home and Haile Selassie, the Lion of Judah, as its messiah. For the first time yesterday Marley fans could combine a celebration of his birth with a visit to their promised land after Marley's widow Rita pressed for the birthday tribute concert to be held in Addis Ababa this year rather than in Jamaica, the country of his birth.

In the past week alone more than 3,000 reggae fans and rastafarians have flown in, at times shocking the predominantly Orthodox Christian population with their belief that smoking marijuana is a sacrament. Around the main square yesterday bars, hotels and nightclubs were awash with red, gold and green, the colours of Ethiopia and Rastafarianism. Portraits of Marley adorned taxi windows, and lyrics from his songs were printed on advertising hoardings around the city.

Leah Middleton, 65, a red-haired Rastafarian from Moss Side, who runs a guesthouse in Addis Ababa, was one of many to benefit from the influx of reggae fans. She first heard about Rastafarianism from a neighbour in Manchester, and went on to join the Twelve Tribes of Israel, one of the main groups of Rastafarians. The rooms were full of Rastas from London and Manchester yesterday, some staying, some passing through.

Until recently it was feared that Ethiopia's small population of Rastafarians was dwindling. Followers of the movement arrived in the 1950s after Haile Selassie offered black settlers 500 acres (202 hectares) of land around Shashemene. Most of it was confiscated by the military regime which took over after the emperor's death in 1975 and until this week Rastafarians remained a tiny and largely ignored minority in the country.

If this week's influx is anything to go by, that could change. "I am a Rastafarian at heart. This is the place we all aspire to be," said Don Ricardo, a musician from north-west London. "This is my first visit to Ethiopia. But it won't be my last."