Shewalul Mengistu

In 1973, Mengistu was employed by the Ministry of Information in Addis Ababa, where she produced radio and television programmes aimed at women.^[3]

Mengistu spoke Amharic and Oromo and wrote the song Erè Mèla Mèla, most known when sung by Mahmoud Ahmed.^[4] She also became a political writer, with her works including several poems (one of which was banned from broadcasting and publication) and a pamphlet critical of Ethiopian society.^[3]

She became a member of the Marxist-Leninist party of Mengistu Haile Mariam, who later became dictator. She was assassinated in Addis Ababa in 1977, dying after being shot.^[3]