Involvement of Third Party in Dam Negotiation Futile, ENTRO Executive-Director

Addis Ababa June 20/2020(ENA) Egypt’s desire to bring in a third party to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) negotiation is counter productive and not compatible with the interests of the three countries, according to experts.

In an exclusive interview with ENA, Eastern Nile Technical Regional Office (ENTRO) Executive Director Fekahmed Negash said Egypt has unreasonably kept blaming Ethiopia for everything so as to delay the negotiations on the dam.

Ethiopia is not obliged to reach an agreement to start filling the dam since it is constructed in its sovereign territory and with the finance of the people, he added.

“Third parties do not contribute anything to the relation between the three countries. This could even  be counter-productive,” the executive director noted, adding that the dam will be filled based on the principle of equitable water share.

“A third party that speaks in support of one or two parties in the negotiation is unfair and is not independent. So anybody asking Ethiopia not to fill the dam until the three countries reach agreement means they are supporting the other party and should not be welcome,” Fekahmed stressed.

According to him, Egypt has been engaged aggressively in carrying out tactics to delay the negotiation among the three countries. “Almost 50 percent of the time during the last 8 years was wasted due to the delay tactics of Egypt,” he revealed.

Fekahmed said Ethiopia has been showing goodwill to address the concerns of the down-stream countries since the launching of the dam.

The three countries have gone through several stages of confidence building and attained huge gains in understanding the needs and concern of the countries.

Furthermore, the executive director stressed that “the issue can be resolved only by the three countries. Third parties are not intervening to support the process. They have their own interests; and the interest of third parties in most cases is not compatible with the interests of the countries.”

The Egyptian shifting goal was first to stop the construction of the dam, then to downsize the dam, and finally not to allow Ethiopia to fill the dam, he explained.

The executive director said Ethiopia wants only to fill the dam without significant harm and generate energy for comprehensive development.

Therfore, Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt should seek solution for the outstanding issues on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) as they are bound together by the river.