President of the Crown Council of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, His Imperial Highness Prince Ermias Sahle Selassie, is urging members of the local Rastafarian movement to bury their differences.

In an exclusive interview with the Jamaica Observer on Wednesday, Prince Ermias, a grandson of the late Emperor of Ethiopia Haile Selassie — who Rastafarians regard as divine — said he is disappointed by a lack of unity among members of the faith.

During his visit Prince Ermias met with Rastafarians at Pitfour Nyahbinghi Centre in Montego Bay, St James, on Saturday, before meeting with representatives of the Rastafari Coral Gardens Benevolent Society for a ‘reasoning’.

Prince Ermias also attended a communion service at Holy Trinity Ethiopian Orthodox Church on Maxfield Avenue in St Andrew and met with members of the Orthodox community.

Additionally, he toured Trench Town Culture Yard in south St Andrew and meet with members of the Rastafari community there.

Prince Ermias, who was accompanied on his trip to Jamaica by his wife, Princess Woizero Saba Kebede, as well as members and advisers of the Ethiopian Crown Council, said while these talks were good, he was not pleased.

“I have tried to reach out and the Government has been extremely hospitable, for which I am grateful… and I have tried to meet with as many Rastafarians as I could, and I think we have done a very good job of having good outreach to them and it is important to send them a message that it pains us to see them divided and they should unite,” said Price Ermias, who was in the island as a special guest of the Government to mark Heritage Week.

There are three main orders of the Rastafarian movement in Jamaica — the Boba Shanti, Nyahbinghi, and the Twelve Tribes of Israel — which hold different beliefs and symbols.

But Rastafarian elder Edward “First Man” Wray told the Sunday Observer that any disunity in the movement is caused by a lack of recognition from the Government and State entities which continually ignore the rights of Rastas and particularly their economic and social rights.

According to Wray, there have been many attempts to unify the Rastafarian movement in Jamaica but the constant struggles for their rights have led to rifts and separation among the groups.

One area of unity among the Rastafarians is a call for an apology for slavery — which ended in 1834 in Jamaica — as well as reparation for the wrongs committed under colonial rule.

This is a call fully supported by Prince Ermias who told the Sunday Observer that the first step should be a formal apology for slavery.

“I think restorative justice has to come with the recognition of faults, of mistakes, of periods in human history that you have to recognise in order to overcome and move forward and we haven’t even gotten that,” said Prince Ermias.

He pointed to the history of Ethiopia, which is yet to get a formal apology from the Italian Government for the atrocities “not only in World War Two, but in the 19th century, and yet we are still also looking to repatriate artefacts that were stolen from us”.

“We need a better recognition from those who victimised that healing takes both forms. If they can’t apologise how are they going to pay reparation?” added Prince Ermias.