Hama Tuma,born in Ethiopia in 1949,does not primarily define himself as a writer. A political activist who struggled for democracy in Ethiopia and elsewhere he had been forced to endure the bitterness of exile in several African countries and Europe. He has worked as a journalist over the years and he has been banned from his country as a persona non grata by three succesive repressive regimes. His life long companion,Ghnnet Girma, is also a politically committed activist and they have a daughter called Tsedeye born on January 8,1985. Otherwise known as Iyasou Alemayehu and by very other names, he is a founding member of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party (EPRP), the first ever modern and progressive political party in Ethiopia. Hama Tuma says I am an African born in Ethiopia who feels as a citizen of the world. An attitude that has not endeared him to many immigration police. Irreverent and satirical, Hama Tuma has,as Ngugi Wa Thiongo said, captured "the contradictions that define  modern Ethiopia" while never failing to see the optimism of the people subjected to the tragedy that is called life or survival. It is said when the sky is dark enough you can see the stars but Hama Tuma claims he can see stars at noon.