BY ADDISALEM MULAT
Egypt has been beating the drums of war since the laying of the corner stone for the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). On the basis of its selfish motive, aside from making every effort to twist Ethiopia’s arm and stymie Ethiopia’s development endeavors, Egypt has been turning a blind eye to the existing reality and covering up the truth.
Egypt has been moving heaven and earth to destabilize Ethiopia thinking that they would transform their vision into action at the earliest possible juncture. By every possible means, they cannot materialize their dreams. Their dreams remain a dream.
Speaking The Ethiopian Herald, Dr. Tilahun Erduno, a member of the Committee for Planning and Construction of GERD model Addis Ababa Park, at the office of National Council for the Coordination of Public Participation on the Construction of the GERD said that Egypt has never attempted to solve its problem related to Nile peacefully with Ethiopia or any other upper basin countries.
Rather Egypt strived to fulfill its interest destabilizing Ethiopia. Since ancient times the issues of Nile and Ethiopia have been means of solutions to the problems of internal politics in Egypt.
“The same way today’s government of Egypt is politicizing Nile issue and attempting to cover the face of its people by instigating “water war” against Ethiopia. As usual, today Egypt is trying to use Ethiopia and its river as first aid for its internal political disease. It should be noted that Egypt and Sudan experienced no democratic election. Most of the time the government officials of both countries come from military coup one after the other,” he continued.
“Egypt did everything possible and continues to do the same today aiming at weakening, destabilizing and crumbling Ethiopia in to so many small pieces of states to keep its dominance on Nile. Egypt’s veiled agenda was to bring the whole territory under its control and if not to occupy the Nile Basin at any cost.”
Nowadays, Egypt has been endeavoring to destabilize the horn of Africa bringing into play a wide spectrum of strategies every now and then in a bid to gain the upper hand in the region and return to its former glory.
As learnt from the website of Politics, world, Africa, a top Ethiopian diplomat said that the government of Egypt has been fast-tracking its unfluctuating policy of knocking off the balance and undermining Ethiopia by “providing full support to anti-peace elements” and pitting neighbors against it. The official told Anadolu Agency that Egypt has been rolling up its sleeves with a view to destabilizing Ethiopia and the horn of Africa.
The diplomat went on to say, “For more than half a century, Egyptian establishment has been granting economic, armed services and ambassadorial support to different forces with the purpose of subverting and weakening Ethiopia and impede its determination to make use of the Nile River,”
Despite strong opposition from Egypt and Sudan, Ethiopia is planning to embark on filling the second phase of GERD reservoir. While on the subject, it is in consideration of this development that Egypt escalated its clandestine and unconcealed anti-Ethiopian happenings over the past couple of years.
The diplomat stressed that the armed Gumuz militia has been has been carrying ruthless ethnic assaults on ethnic minorities in Ethiopia’s western Benishangul-Gumuz state, where the dam is situated. The sole aim of the Gumuz militia, which has been trying to block the main road leading to the dam, is to trigger a civil war in the region and beyond and eventually delay or thwart the dam’s construction.
“We have credible intelligence that Egypt has been assisting the Gumuz militia. On top of that the Egyptian security agents have been in touch with the leaders of the rebel group, and they are working on enhancing their support.”
It is worth saying that recently Egypt solicited the government of South Sudan to provide a military base for the groups. But the South Sudanese authorities, who highly value our friendly relations, rebuffed the request in no uncertain terms.
In a similar vein, Cairo has been actively seeking a presence in Somalia, a troubled Horn of Africa country which for decades has struggled to form a viable state and establish security. Throughout last year, Egypt tried to befriend the federal government of Somalia by promising military aid,” said the official. But, he added: “The Somali authorities recognized Egypt’s sinister motives and refused the military assistance.”
According to the diplomat, after the Somali federal government refused the offer, Egypt turned to Somaliland, a self-declared “country” that is part of Somalia and has been at loggerheads with the federal government. Last July, Cairo asked officials in Hargeisa, the Somaliland “capital,” to allow them to set up a military base. Egypt’s policy of trying to gain ground in the Horn of Africa is meant to get back the influence it has lost in the Middle East.
For decades, Egypt positioned itself as a peace broker in the Middle East conflict and managed to garner diplomatic, financial, and military support from the Western world. However, the rise of Gulf countries and other friends of the Arab world helped shrink Egyptian influence in the region. Moreover, Egypt is trying to gain influence in our region. However, the region has demonstrated its will and capability to deal with its own problems and does not need Egypt to meddle in its affairs,” he concluded.
Egypt’s hawkishness does not stop somewhere in the horn of Africa. It has been as well making an effort to expand its military presence in the other parts of Africa and achieving its hidden motif.
As information obtained from Al Sharq, the Libyan conflict forced Cairo to become more involved in Libya and in the Eastern Mediterranean, respectively. Egypt began to strengthen its presence in the Libyan affair and succeeded in understanding the power and security scene in the Eastern Mediterranean.
As a consequence, Egypt made great advancements in its navy and developed and strengthened its capabilities through a massive process of rearmament, training, and forming joint maneuvers with many international parties. Then, it reconstructed its military bases in the west of the country by building two bases, Muhammad Naguib and Sidi Barani, and deployed multiple and diverse forces within them.
It is to be recalled that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed addressing the House of Peoples representatives said, “We are facing opposition from filling the GERD with rain water. The water flowing out of the Abay River never stopped flowing. Our plan is to develop ourselves and benefit neighbors.
Despite the various challenges GERD is faced with, it will be completed as we promised. If we wait until negotiations are finalised to fill the dam, the rainy season will pass and our country will lose 1 billion dollars a year. We are certain to fill the dam without causing harm to our neighbours. We would like our Egyptian and Sudanese brothers and sisters to see that our intentions are not to harm them.
The Ethiopian Herald April 16/2021
