For anyone who has never heard anything about this entire Nile issue and the controversy which is surrounding it would be inconceivable for them to appreciate why on earth there should be all this waste of time and resources on such a simple matter? Why is there a controversy on it? one would question. The simple answer is that Egypt does not want to talk seriously on this issue and when it has done so it has done it only ‘to buy time’ and keep the ‘status quo’ as long as possible so that it has the time to orchestrate some other conjecture and keep Ethiopia away from using the resource!
This is so because it is a prisoner of an antiquated idea that the Nile is a God given property to Egyptians! But we do not understand why on earth God would recall only of Egyptians and abandon Ethiopians to their own devices! This is unacceptable even in spiritual terms because no sacred book including the Koran states that one should prosper and thrive at the expense of their neighbors! At best they are all human beings, creations of the Lord, and they all deserve to live!
The key and obvious question is ‘How is it possible that a river could be considered ‘exclusive national property’ of a single nation when there are in fact 11 nations all in all sharing the basin? This is a hundred million dollar question the international community must address before rushing to any ‘conclusion’ this way or that one!
Again for any neutral observer it would be very difficult to explain the issue unless it is put in the right context. The Nile River is the longest river on earth originating around the equator and travelling across lots of countries to end up in the Mediterranean Sea crossing Egypt. Along the way the main river is fed by a number of tributaries the most ‘significant’ of which are found in Ethiopia.
The Blue Nile locally called ‘Abay’ originates in the highlands of Ethiopia around Lake Tana and flows to Sudan joining with what is called the White Nile at Khartoum. The Nile Basin has 11 countries but it is Ethiopia which happens to contribute to 85 per cent of the water that ends up in Sudan and Egypt while Egypt does not contribute even a drop to it.
In the meantime, the country that has always benefited the maximum from the Nile waters is Egypt. And it being an arid land with practically no rain, it relies almost entirely on the Nile water for its entire livelihood. In fact Egyptians are fond of reiterating ‘the Nile is their life’ and have tried to solidify this idea in the constitution!
In truth at first sight it would be hard to contradict them; but if we look deeper, we find out that there have been discovered vast areas of ‘underground water’ in Egypt that can be used for centuries, without counting the Red Sea from which it can have interminable water, if purified! But Egypt has always wanted to turn a blind eye to Ethiopia’s and other riparian countries’ plight, their rights and needs. Many Nile scholars argue that this shows clearly how ‘shortsighted’ ‘self-centred’ and ‘self righteous’ Egyptian water politicians are.
They still prefer to refer to antiquated colonial agreements to which none of the riparian countries have been part, except its neighbor Sudan!
However, the international community as well as the large mass of peaceful and reasonable Egyptians need to be well informed that the Nile is not and cannot be an exclusive property of any nation, including Ethiopia, which contributes 4/5th of the water! It is a ‘shared resource’ that needs to be used equitably and reasonably, based on international law and practice and not on the ‘politics of might’! This is the plain truth that certain Egyptian circles find hard to digest!
To date this hegemony over the Nile may have worked for Egypt but it is now time to call the end of such maneuvers such as destabilizing neighbouring countries so that they do not focus on defeating poverty exactly what Ethiopia is trying to achieve.
Looking at the numbers, 99 per cent of Egyptians enjoy electric power; only forty per cent of Ethiopians afford it. Potable water is abundantly available at every door step in Egypt but this is not true in Ethiopia. More than sixty million of its people have no access to clean water! Is such injustice justifiable?
Since time immemorial Egypt has had the privilege of exclusively benefitting from the waters of the Nile! And what they are trying to do is continue with this ‘status quo’! They have been advancing the politics of dividing all the upper riparian nations so that they are ‘busy fighting amongst themselves’ and hence distracted from using their river reasonably.
Egypt above all has always been suspicious of Ethiopia and tried to control the origin of the Nile. History has taught us that they have attempted to do it several times but failed. Ethiopian patriots are always awake to defend their country’s sovereignty from aggression.
A look at the history of Ethiopia testifies to this fact. It is also a part of Egyptian history if one considers the attempts made by Khedive Ismail to subdue Ethiopians but failed! Some Egyptians may believe that they are currently a ‘superpower’ (encouraged and armed by the US and the Arab League) to encroach on Ethiopians’ rights to develop the Nile.
Egyptian scholars know well that the GERD (the Grand Dam) will not incur on Egypt any harm on the flow of the water. What they do not digest is Ethiopia’s claim on the river and Ethiopia’s growth and eventually Ethiopia’s rights that are not inferior to those of Egypt.
Egypt has always made part of its foreign policy to intervene in Ethiopia’s internal political affairs. No so called ‘liberation fronts’ have failed to secure its assistance. The ‘balkanization’ of Ethiopia into multiple ‘puppet states’ is encouraged and promoted so that the influence of Egypt could be crushing! ‘Opposition’ political party in Ethiopia still enjoy some assistance from Egypt and this not because it wants a free and democratic Ethiopia but one that is ‘disintegrated’ a battle field of conflicts such as Yemen or Libya! Meanwhile the plot to keep Egyptian hegemony over the Nile would continue! However it does not take to be scientist to discover the real motive behind such scheme!
This is the politics of the nineteen hundreds and Egyptians are still fond of it! It is only embarrassing to hang on to colonial treaties in the twenty first century!
What is more, Egypt has continued to expand its projects around the river by committing all the water to its use ‘despite the protests of Ethiopia. It has built multiple dams. We have even heard some hawks in the Egyptian establishment who have gone to the extent of threatening Ethiopia if it used ‘even a drop of the Nile! Such venomous rhetoric could have its returns in internal political debates
but is just worthless outside Egypt! At best, a provocation!
But above all, what is perplexing is that Egypt has never even attempted to see what is going on in these riparian countries and how they are doing economically. They never thought of helping to develop the basin so that it may continue to have more of the water. It never bothered about soil erosion, the environment, nurturing forests and decreasing climatic aberrations, thus less exposure to drought etc!
Many scholars argue that the politics of Egypt is not only ‘myopic’ but also one sided. It lacks the intelligence to see what they can do to help with these countries affected by drought. With the population of these countries increasing, Egypt cannot hope that these people die with drought while it basks in the Nile waters!
Well, the ‘status quo’ cannot continue anymore, and Ethiopians are resolute to use the water in a ‘reasonably and equitably’! And there can be no force that can halt them from exercising such basic right. They would have to resort to annihilate Ethiopians from the face of the earth, (an attempt the Fascists tried seventy or so years ago in the face of the League of Nations, but failed) because every Ethiopians including women turn to be ‘patriots’ fighting for freedom!
The deafening ‘fairy tale’ that ‘Egypt has historical rights ’ over the Nile cannot be told anymore, because there are no grounds to justify such ‘mysticism’. The other shameful act of Egyptian politicians is their signing the ‘Declaration of Principles’ on the usage of the Nile some years ago with Ethiopia and Sudan, and now deny its application, exposing their lack of good faith! This is the most embarrassing part of Egyptian politics which continues to zig zag between negotiations and reference to antiquated pacts and ‘petitions’ to the UN and international community! This is in complete disregard of the situation evolving on the ground. And then, above all they try to secure support by defaming Ethiopia, telling lies and unfounded stories.
Ethiopia has a reputation of respect for international law and it has been not only a founding member of the UN, before even independent Egypt existed and a consistent supporter of both the UN and the AU and works hard in close cooperation with all countries and international bodies.
The Ethiopian Herald June 28,2020
FITSUM GETACHEW
