Though the Nile River is one of the God-given natural resources, Ethiopia has been working around the clock towards a common goal. It does not have a selfish interest to cause significant harm to downstream countries.
Putting Ethiopia’s cooperation and fair utilization aside, Egypt has been throwing cold water on the effort of the incumbent government. Nowadays, due to Egypt’s uncompromising hesitant and selfish deportment and purposeless accusation, the two countries are at loggerheads.
In a similar vein, Ethiopians have been working around the clock in close collaboration with downstream countries intending to smash poverty from every corner of the country. The intended target of the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is to pull its people from the quagmire of poverty and take the country to the next level of success.
Of late, The Ethiopian Herald has a short stay with Bamlak Yideg Yitbarek, a Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science and lecturer at the University of Gondar. He has touched upon a wide spectrum of issues revolving around the Nile River, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, the dispute between Ethiopia and Egypt, the way forward, and other related aspects. Excerpts:
It is crystal clear that following the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and its filling, Ethiopia, and Egypt have been at loggerheads as Egypt is beating drums of war. What do you make of it?
There is no gainsaying the fact that Egypt has been standing firm to protect its national interest on the Nile Waters since time immemorial. They have been pouring cold water on the development endeavor of the country over and over again. To the surprise of everyone, Egypt has been getting itself involved in Ethiopian politics either directly or indirectly.
During the Ethio-Somalia war in 1977-78, Egypt had been standing by the side of Somalia over and over again. It was making an effort to give a hard time to Ethiopia. However, all their efforts went for nothing. They could not make their dream become a reality. They were supporting them.
Following the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), Egypt is provoking conflict in Ethiopia like supporting the incumbent Somalia government, instigating conflict between Sudan and Ethiopia and South Sudan and Ethiopia. The above mentioned facts in black and white indicate the fact that Egypt prefers to use proxy war instead of conventional war in Ethiopia. As a result, I do not think that Egypt will invade Ethiopia directly to stop the construction of the GERD.
As Egypt makes use of soft weapons to weaken Ethiopia, they leave no stone unturned to be triumphant over the Nile Waters.
What do you think must be done to solve problems concerning the GERD complaints? How can we achieve the intended target?
To begin with, Ethiopia has not signed so far any international agreement on the Nile River. Furthermore, Ethiopia has not been working by the sweat of its brow intending to introduce its ownership for the Nile River to the international community. Ethiopia has to be very strong enough diplomatically and should place emphasis on diplomacy works more than ever before. They should make an effort to familiarize pertinent bodes residing in the length and breadth of the world with the nuts and bolts of the truth about the Nile River.
In the same way, Ethiopia should place importance on persuading concerned stakeholders that Ethiopia has the right to use its natural resources to alleviate poverty. Moreover, Ethiopia has to attach importance to getting to the bottom of internal problems in the shortest possible time. Though it is natural to have a wide spectrum of outlooks concerning the national political arena, we must stand together for the national interest. We should all also stand together despite differences to achieve our common goal.
By the same token, the incumbent regime should make use of anybody either from opposition political parties or educated individuals from different organizations for Nile issues irrespective of their political outlook. In doing so, we can harvest the fruit of success devoid of problems and get on the right track.
Do you have some elements to compare and contrast the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam with that of the Colorado River Dam and Panama Dam?
Comparing with that of Colorado and Panama Dam, I would say, the Nile River is the least developed and underutilized River. There are more than 15 dams regarding the Colorado River. It has been bringing about climate change and affecting the ecosystem negatively owing to the overutilization of the River. Comparatively speaking, there is good cooperation between the USA and Mexico over the share of Colorado River based on the agreement they signed in 1944.
Unlike the Colorado River Dam, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam would not create a shortage of water for downstream countries. Additionally, GERD has quite a lot of advantages for the reason that it minimizes the amount of evaporated water annually and sediments.
Egypt has been raising the issue of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam as a survival issue. Is it not a survival issue for Ethiopia seeing that 60% of its population lives in a blackout?
There is no gainsaying the fact that Ethiopia is one of the least developed countries in the world. Even though Ethiopia is bedecked with God-given natural resources, the country remained poor and its citizens have been suffering from a range of problems. If truth be told, there are wide spectrums of problems that throw cold water on the efforts of Ethiopia. Ethiopia’s inability to make use of natural resources by the book could be mentioned as one of the reasons among many.
It is possible to mention many causes for the problem, but Ethiopia’s inability to make use of its natural resources properly is the main cause of the poorness of the country. From Ethiopia’s natural resources, water is one of them and can be used to generate electric power and irrigation. Thus, constructing projects to use its water resource is a survival issue for Ethiopia since its economy mostly depends on rain feed agriculture. It is propaganda and denial to say GERD is not a survival issue for Ethiopia.
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) possesses invaluable and multi-faceted values and benefits to the peoples of Ethiopia. The economic values are magnanimous. GERD can generate an immense amount of hydro-power that can be sold here at home to each village, towns, and cities and abroad to different countries and hence can generate billions of dollars in hard currency and Birr. This can be used in building infrastructures that help develop our nation and improve the lives and livelihoods of our people.
The social benefit of GERD is equally important as well. First and foremost, it will provide the left, right, and center of villages, towns, and cities with electricity and bring about joy and jubilation to our people. The power can also help educational institutions apply enhanced and reinforced satellite assisted educational system, audio-video educational learning and training, computer and technology-assisted educational and knowledge transfer and knowledge sharing both from within and abroad.
It can also strengthen and augment research in science, medicine, technology, agriculture, environment, and other related fields. Further, it can help health centers, hospitals and clinics perform their duties and responsibilities smoothly, effectively, and efficiently with no interruption due to lack of constant power outage.
It is important to underscore the political values of the GERD. It is a source of pride for Ethiopians. It as well has huge political leverage and political ramification. Additionally, our people will be proud of their achievements knowing that they can accomplish such a gigantic and magnanimous project that has an invaluable political impact.
The nation will stand tall and proud knowing that it can build grand and megaprojects and that many may not think or believe that a developing nation like Ethiopia would accomplish a mega-project that will last for generations. This can bring about joy to Ethiopians and give us the confidence to build other greater projects of international standards as well.
This in turn will enhance our bilateral and multilateral diplomatic relations. The nation can also be seen as more powerful in all aspects including politics because of the power and the finance generated from the dam. This would enable the nation to play its own roles on international forums. Therefore, Egypt does not have to turn a blind eye to this reality on the ground and make an effort to undermine the construction of GERD on purpose.
What is your reflection on the statement of the Arab League and the U.S. Department of the Treasury? Do you think it will have an impact on Ethiopia?
As history dictates, Egypt is the most influential country from the Muslim populous country. To this point, it has been playing a pivotal role in Arab politics and served as a bridge to persuade American policy on the Middle East and Arab league countries. In 2019, the United States of America managed to introduce new road map policies on Middle East countries, for the most part, the Israel-Palestine relationship. To make its policy, Egypt is responsible for all activities, and in return, the U.S. will make pressure on Ethiopia to serve Egypt’s interest. Without a shred of a doubt, all these pressures will affect the GERD if the Ethiopian government is not committed enough to complete the construction. We must stand firm to protect our national interest.
How do you see the positive impact of the dam on water management and the environment?
The benefits of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is not limited to the power supply, it can benefit the downstream countries mainly Sudan and Egypt by removing up to 86% of silt and sedimentation. It will regulate the steady water flow throughout the year and it will avoid unexpected flooding to downstream countries. GERD will also conserve the water in Ethiopian highlands by having lower evaporation and water recycling mechanisms.
Egyptians are raising the colonial time deal while Ethiopia is the only country that remains non-colonized, what has the deal to do with Ethiopia?
It has nothing to do with Ethiopia. Ethiopia never signed a treaty on the Nile River during colonial times. It is not a treaty to govern Ethiopia. Besides, there are no international laws that support an equitable and reasonable share of international rivers. The law supports Ethiopia’s interest.
The Ethiopian Herald June 26, 2020
BY ADDISALEM MULAT
