I appreciate your contributions and efforts to bring to the attention of Ethiopians such issues of national interest and significance as the sharing and use of the Nile Waters.
It is well known that Meles Zenawi is working hard to the detriment of the national interests and security of Ethiopia and can not be expected to promote or safeguard the country`s interests. Though Ethiopia is the source of most of the Nile`s water and the fertile soils carried down the stream, it could not be able to have a role or voice in the utilization of this useful national resource by the down stream countries, Egypt and Sudan.
Meles Zenawi is engaged in an immoral and Mafia-like business of using the ever-worsening famine and poverty in the country to raise billions of dollars in the West to enrich himself and his thugs. His attempts to conceal the grinding poverty and famine with massaged growth figures, behind some shoddy high rise buildings and infrastructure works are proving futile because there are always keen eyes who can see behind these structures and find out the miserable conditions in the country.
The so called infrastructure growth he is bragging about and using as a showcase are not commensurate with the billions of dollars he is collecting from the West in the name of the Ethiopian poor. As one of the reputed Ethiopian professors has indicated, these infrastructure projects are serving as conduits for siphoning off resources by Meles Zenawi and his thugs. Generally speaking, the national interests, security and well being of Ethiopia contradict the main mission of Meles Zenawi (promoting and safeguarding foreign interests) and he has to harm and undermine them with all the means at his disposal. Thus, waging an all-sided struggle to get rid of the ethnofascistic regime of Meles Zenawi should take precedence and rally all Ethiopians standing for democracy, equality, freedom and justice.
With regards,
Seifu Tsegaye Demmissie
A close eye on Nile politics
Hello Ethiomedia,
I have a comment on this article that you put up. I am a concerned Ethiopian that keeps a close eye on the Nile politics. I’m a very serious critic of the governing political party on a whole host of issues but this move that the government took is a smart one. That’s the very same move I’ve always been calling for. If you don’t mind, here I am emailing you to share my side of the argument which have fortunately aligned with the action the government took.
As we all know this Nile politics has its roots in the 1929 agreement that British signed on behalf of its colonies that denies the Nile riparian counties of their right to build a structure across the river without Egypt’s approval. It was later amended by Egypt and Sudan in 1959. Ethiopia gave no recognition for both the 1929 and 1959 treaties as we weren’t directly or indirectly represented. Ethiopia wasn’t British’s colony in 1929 or ever so the treaty isn’t binding to Ethiopia in light of international law. The 1959 amendment is simply an amendment of the 1929 law, so that simply doesn’t apply to us. Ethiopian governments in the past have stood a firm stand on saying that the treaties don’t apply to us. These 11 countries that are suing Egypt have a very impractical demand that will never hold water in the face of any international court. It was just a couple years ago when kenya’s president was saying they want to charge Egypt money for every cube meter of water that leaves their land. If we remember just a couple weeks ago, Kenya was complaining about Gibe 3 project by saying it’ll damage Lake Turkana. How does one think that their claim to charge for the water that goes to Egypt be a legitimate one? They’re simply being impractical for two reasons.
Their first reason for being impractical in their demand about Nile is that they simply don’t have much to lose if they don’t win the law suit. But we do have a huge share of the river at stake, 86% and it would be foolish of us to side with them on their irresponsible claim. It’s simply impractical. I believe that the most they can get from the current law suit is that they’ll compensate them for the past damage but will have them promise to never have any claim for the future. They may simply have them sell it off for good. That’s the maximum they can get.
Their second reason for being impractical in their demand is the anger that a colonial time treaty still holds. Logically speaking colonial time treaties shouldn’t hold. But there’re tons of colonial time treaties that still hold. Most of the colonial time treaties that the west has with its previous colonies still works in the west’s favor. Anyone trying to justify the fact that colonial time treaties shouldn’t hold will be against all of developed nations in their own court. They’ll simply lose the argument. There’s also this rational that can be drawn about colonial time treaties that millions of people and businesses built their lives around those treaties. If all Nile riparian countries downstream of Sudan were to build dams across the Nile, millions of people in Egypt and Sudan that are 100% dependent on the river will perish. There’s big farms owned by the western nations and Israel that’ll be affected as well. So it’s not an argument any one can win by claiming, to use as they please, the Nile river. It’s a matter of life and death for millions of businesses and people in Egypt and not necessarily in Kenya. On top of that, there’s a treaty that binds those countries whether it’s rational or not. The fact that Ethiopia wasn’t colonized isn’t only for pride but it also have such practical advantage.
Considering all the above mentioned background, it doesn’t work in Ethiopia’s favor to side with these 11 nations in the law suit that simply is impractical. By siding with them in their claim to disqualify colonial time treaty and be compensated for it, we’ll be implicitly accepting the 1929 treaty. That’s a HUGE win for Egypt. I’m glad about the side that Ethiopian government took. It’s in line with what the previous governments have done. We feel sad for the 11 nations but their problem and impractical claim doesn’t include us.
Egypt has understood that it doesn’t have any rational that can stop Ethiopia from using the Nile. Their best method was by helping keep Ethiopia in internal war so that it doesn’t have the capability to build the structures across the river. They also try to block any form of loan we may potentially receive from IMF or any other international bank to build a dam across nile. It was apparent that Egypt helped TPLF and EPLF when they fought against the then Ethiopian government. They’re simply interested in keeping Ethiopia in trouble.
It looks like the only option for Egypt is to work with one country, Ethiopia. They’ll keep trying to set up the failure of our country. But as long as we’re able to build structures across the Nile, the also try to work with us to confirm that they’re not negatively affected. They don’t seem to want an explicit declaration that the downstream countries can use the river. But they won’t act as they will when one of those 11 countries decide building a structure. They’ll keep being an impediment for us everytime we try to build a structure across the river. But when we are capable, they’ll approach us to make sure that it doesn’t affect them as much which I think is a fair call.
So I say to you that I support the current move that Ethiopian government has done.
Thanks,
Birhanu Dererei
“No law binds us”
Dear Editor,
I want to raise two points on this issue. The first is that the agreements signed in the 1920s between Britain and Egypt are issues that concern the countries that signed it. You can not be part of an agreement in which you didnt take part, and signed for it. Britain was the master of many of the countries that share the basin, and the agreement may be of concern for them. We were an independent country for 3000 years, and as a country we dont have any agreement with Egypt that restrics us not to use our resources.
So what is the legal base that enforces us to abide by that agreement? Absolutely not!! In that case, it is true that we will not go the internation court together with other reparian countries to lawsuit Egypt.
Secondly, the agreement that the dictator [Meles Zenawi] has reportedly made with the Egyptian president in 1993 is not an official agreement. The country will not be abide by any agreement that one dictator makes. It needs at list to be approved in parliament. So it is nice that this agreement was not presented to the pupet parlamentarians in Addis Ababa.
To summarize: 1) we are not part of the Khartoum agreement, 2) there is no official agreement approved on a parlament level (agreements between two heads of state will not be official until it is approved by people’s representatives)
Generally, the main constraint for us not to utilize our water resources is not a legal issue but lack of a good leadership that mobilizes the available human and material resources.
