Protesters of Ethiopian nationality based in Washington, gathered on Thursday to voice displeasure over the U.S role in negotiations on the Nile dam project.
Demonstrators rallied in front of the U.S State Department on the issue of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Project.
Protesters voice their grievance
Egypt relies on the Nile for 90% of its water, and she has asked for slow filling of the dam to avoid affecting the Nile water level.
Ethiopia has said it plans to begin filling the 145-meter-high dam later this year. It might take 4-7 years to fill.
The protesters were angered at the perceived favoritism of U.S mediators towards Egypt. The U.S Treasury Department is mediating the technical discussions among Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan over the dam construction.
“This dam is being built with the Ethiopians expenses and America is siding with Egypt. Ethiopia should have the right to use its water. This is not right.” A member of the protester’s participant told sources.
Dam expected to be the largest hydro-power project in Africa.
The dam is expected to be the largest hydro-power project on the continent once it is completed.
So, it is to produce 6000 megawatts of electricity and also export power to neighboring countries.
Ethiopia’s senior analyst, William Davidson, said that Ethiopia’s temporarily walking away from dialogues, is a blow to the process. Negotiators hoped to have an agreement among the three countries by the end of this month.On the other hand, this is a deadline that seems unreachable.
However, the Ethiopian government has named this as a postponement and not a cancellation. They now need more time to prepare for it. Davidson says, Ethiopians think World Bank rules give downstream countries too much power to veto upstream projects.
Observers are being biased.
He also said that Ethiopia feels that the international community is set up to rule against it .Especially in terms of this overall matter. And that’s why they have not been forthcoming about having third involvement.
Ethiopians also trust that third party observers are violating their role in the process.
Davidson says,”The World Bank and the US were supposed to be observers, but it seems to be more than that. There is a form of mission creep with them now drafting agreements. And these are an agreement that is not to Ethiopia’s liking. It places too much obligation on them.”
The U.S shouldn’t be showing favoritism since they were observers and they should act as mediators in this issue. They should not be biased in any way.
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