Aleta Wondo: the Coffee Capital of Sidama Country
Photo by sweet maria's |
Dejazmach
Balcha Safo,
Governor of Sidamo,
originally constructed his ketema
or
fortified camp in Wendo, but he later moved it to Hagere
Selam.
While passing through the area February 1909, Dr. Drake Brockman
notes that the governor of Western Sidamo, Dejazmach Tessema
Nadew made
this town (which he calls "Alata") his headquarters.
American
naturalists arrived at the Wendo village 29 December 1926, and
camping outside the village for a while. Grazmach Kebede Dihala
Mikael, the village potentate, implored them to camp near his house,
explaining that there were plenty of shiftas
or
outlaws in the area.
Wendo
was occupied by the Italian Laghi
Division on
30 November 1936. It was retaken by the 1st
Gold Coast Regiment on
22 May 1941, without a single shot fired. The Allied forces accepted
the surrender of a Brigadier General and some 3,000 prisoners.
By
1958 Wendo was one of 27 places in Ethiopia ranked as First Class
Township. Telephone service reached the town within the next 10
years.
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