Ever since the cornerstone for the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) was laid in 2011, every diplomatic effort to explain the benefits of the Dam to lower riparian countries has been disregarded. Right from the beginning, the candour of the news caught the world by surprise to make headlines to in the cover page of the global media. It was, however, sad to witness that many of the media reports have been destructive to Ethiopia’s development endeavour (there is no concealed political manuever on Ethiopian side than development).
In fact, the Nile Basin Initiative had been desperately trying to realize mutual cooperation, equitable utilization of the Nile River for many years. But all the efforts yielded no result, as lower riparian countries (particularly Egypt) showed no interest to share the Nile river with any of the riparian countries. After repeated attempts, five of the nine riparian countries including Ethiopia came together and signed a Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA) in 2010; aiming at a fair share of water from the Nile, which was, of course, strongly opposed by Egypt and Sudan. Ethiopia made the icebreaker move by launching the GERD in the coming year, though it has nothing to do with the quest for a fair share of the river.
Go back to history as far as you like; and you will not find a single case where Ethiopia interfered in other countries’ affairs or being held accountable for conspiring on internal affairs of other nations. Ethiopia is always content with its own resources, did not invade any country in history. But, on the contrary, we have plenty of experiences from other nations plotting to disintegrate us until this day. In the last 200 hundred years, for instance, Egypt invaded Ethiopia twice so as to control Abay(the Blue Nile) from the source. Italy tried to colonize Ethiopia twice. Siad Barre’s Somalia also tried to invade Ethiopia once. However, all of these wars of perpetrators ended with heavy blows and shameful defeat by Ethiopians. The victories were not mainly attained by formal military forces, but just by the people, who are reputed to unite for freedom despite internal disputes.
Ethiopia is a poor nation. It is striving to become food self-sufficient even today; largely being dependent on foreign aids to feed the 110 million people. The world knows Ethiopia has been afflicted by repeated droughts and famines in the past. Topographically, the country is named as ‘the water tower of East Africa’ due to its high altitude and geographic terrain. But water is always scarce in the country, most of the year. Erosion has drained the land, leaching vast areas of the country’s soil.
Despite all these bottlenecks and prevalence of deep-rooted poverty, peace, love and freedom are our virtues. Ethiopia holds one and the same since day one of the construction of the GERD. By the time the cornerstone was laid, the late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said, “ nothing can stop us from exercising our rights; the other Dams we plan to build are less challenging than this, the Millennium Dam (later to be renamed GERD). So, the first message is that we not only have a plan, but we also have the capacity to assert our rights”.
Still today, the country singlehandedly upholds nothing but an assertion of right concerning the River. Unfortunately, lower riparian countries, especially Egypt, have been disseminating various propaganda about GERD, sometimes with coercive tones. Besides, Egypt and its parastatal media opposed the project days in and days out; as if Ethiopia’s motive were malicious that was deliberately meant to harm lower riparian nations. Later, Cairo abandoned opposing the construction and started complaining over the height of the dam, urging Ethiopia to lower thereby decreasing the amount of water it reserves. And now, when Ethiopia is set to start filling the Dam this rainy season thereby producing some electricity from it, Cairo came up with another complaint.
Things need to be clear for all rational and professional media in the globe. Ethiopia has no intention to harm any nation, especially Sudan and Egypt. These three ancient nations share many socio-economic, historical and religious ties in common since time immemorial. Politicians of both Khartoum and Cairo know how desperately Ethiopia needs this Dam in order to meet the huge demand for electric power so as to speed up the country’s development endeavour. Other than that, Ethiopia is a peaceful nation having no enmity with any nation. Poverty is our enemy.
Cognizant to these, it is time for lower riparian countries to focus on the crux of the matter, which upper basin countries are raising following the astronomical growing population among them year after year. This is in fact the real deal for lower riparian countries to pay attention to and the GERD is out of the question. The dam has nothing to do with water sharing and is totally an internal development issue.
Egypt and Sudan signed an agreement to have a total monopoly of this big river between them, leaving the rest including Ethiopia, during the era of colonization. Ethiopia could not recognize any unjust colonial treaties for that matter. First of all, the country has never been colonized. Second, colonial treaties are usually tit for-tat deals. Many of the border disputes in Africa today are mainly caused by either colonial demarcations their influences. Nothing fair and just has so far been experiences from colonial eras. Cairo has to face reality, the inevitable one; as dependency on the river is growing among all riparian countries. They are demanding equity; if not equality.
This is the most critical pending issue urging immediate solution from the riparian countries today, or else the coming generation may go to imminent bloody war. Egypt should be more focused on resorting to alternative water sources, agriculture and other policies.Upper riparian countries, as sovereign nations are being frustrated for not being able to exercise their legitimate rights. The situation is precarious. Only responsible politicians of Egypt and Sudan can avail their countries from dialogues with the rest of the basin countries to get a win-win solution peacefully, not by military might.
History tells that the existing design of the GERD was prepared during the era of His Imperial Majesty Hailesellassie, some 60 years ago. The construction of the Dam could not be realized at the time, as the country could not access loan from international financial institutions. In other words, the project is not something that is launched by taking the Arab spring as an advantage, as some Egyptian papers wrote. After all, Ethiopia need not plot to exercise its legitimate rights. The coincidence was wrongly interpreted by the majority of the Middle East media.
Ethiopia has been reiterating what Meles said during the onset of the project. ‘The Dam will not harm lower riparian countries; it rather regulates the flow of water throughout the year and hence is beneficial,’.No harm to come.
In short, the Cooperative Framework Agreement an equitable share of water among all the riparian countries is the only positive move not to be overlooked by lower riparian countries. This inquiry may be latent today or tomorrow. The demand for using the Nile will be there. The unsolved tension in the Nile is likely to get tougher and more precarious in the near future.
For the record, Abay is Ethiopian by birth or virtue. The name‘Blue Nile’ is as strange as Lake Victoria – a wrong identification given to purely African water mass. Unfortunately, Abay has to go down and transit in Khartoum; where it gets mixed up with another river long after crossing Ethiopian boundary. There, the name‘Nile’ might fit it.
In short, Ethiopia has all legitimate rights to use Abay within its jurisdictions today or tomorrow. (Stay Safe, Stay at Home)
The Ethiopian herald June 4,2020
BY ENDALE ASSEFA
