Mengistu Neway

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Brigadier-General Mengistu Neway (executed 30 March 1961) was the commander of the Ethiopian Imperial Bodyguard during the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie. He is noted for being one of the early dissidents of the Emperor's regime and for organizing the 1960 coup attempt with his brother Germane Neway.

With the support of the commissioner of police and the commander of the security forces, on the evening of 13 December 1960, the plotters managed to take hostage several ministers and other important figures present at Genetta Leul palace in Addis Ababa while the Emperor was out of the country. The next day, units of the Imperial Bodyguard surrounded the principal military bases in the capital and took control of the radio station. The Emperor was proclaimed deposed and his son Crown Prince Asfa Wossen was appointed in his place. However, the rest of the military and the Ethiopian Church rallied to support the Emperor, and by 19 December the coup was crushed, although 15 of the 21 notables taken hostage were killed.^[1]

Mengistu and Germane evaded capture until 24 December when they were surrounded by the army near Mojo. Rather than face capture, Germane committed suicide; Mengistu surrendered.

His second wife, Woizero (Lady) Kefey Taffere, died in April 1999. He is survived by his two sons, Neway Mengistu and Girmamae Mengistu.