የገንዘብ ድርድርን ብቻ መሠረት ያደረገ ኃላፊነት የጎደለው አመራር!

Economical growth for any country is the back bone of building productive society that keep the country to wards to developed country. It also create a perfect opportunities to the neighboring countries while exchanging multiple transaction and share the benefits from it with mutual understanding that brings win-win situation.

Ethiopia started building The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD Amharic: ታላቁ የኢትዮጵያ ሕዳሴ ግድብ) on top of Blue Nile river in 2011 Western region of Ethiopia near to Sudan boarder.

The purpose of the dam is to generate electricity production to relieve Ethiopia’s acute shortage of electric energy. In the meantime Ethiopia provides the opportunity to neighboring countries utilizing exported electricity. The GERD is planned to generate when used with full capacity of 6.45 gigawatts. This makes the dam will be the largest hydroelectric power plant in Africa when it is completed.

Currently the GERD dam is summarized of the first phase of reserved water by July 2020.

The reason why I write this article is on October 24, 2020 the current irresponsible American president dangerous comment to Sudan’s Prime Minister to blowing up the GERD dam by Egyptians. First when I heard about the comment, I was so offended and some how surprised. He was in the middle of celebration the peace negotiation between Israel and Sudan and while he was in the the middle of phone conversation, he want to start another war between Ethiopia and Egypt.
This is a true example of his presidency how he do things based on his personal interest in order to have a showcase for his foreign policy image desperately to gain his possession for the reelection campaign. The comment he made does not reflect American’s value neither a role of peace deal maker. It is clear that the president doesn’t care about the content of a peace agreement deal between Israel and Sudan, nor have any clue about the substance of the peace agreement, he only want to have media coverage on the cost of Sudan and Israel.

I am able to catch up with his comment transcript and I will try to give him some response based on facts and perhaps let him know what Ethiopia as a country means.

“The Ethiopia built a dam which stops water from flowing into the Nile, you can’t blame Egypt for being a little bit upset. And it’s a very dangerous situation because, Egypt is not going to be able to live that way and they will end up blowing up the dam”.

The fact is that the GERD dam is a hydropower dam, that pass the Nile river water through the turbine and leave to continue flowing the water towards to Egypt via Sudan, not as he mentioned “… dam wich stop water from flowing into the Nile”.

“And I said it and I say it loud and clear, they will blow up that dam”.

First of all, this irresponsible comment that doesn’t give a peace to anyone of neighboring countries nor to the middle-East region. As everyone knows that Egypt can’t survive without Nile water, Egypt don’t have evil interest to jeopardize own interest by taking this type of action that leads Egypt to fail down on its interest. If in deed Egypt will take the action, that might cause Egypt to worst situation and cost her a lot in terms of peace and stability in the horn of Africa and perhaps also jeopardize its current Aswan dam. Ethiopia will not leave alone the situation, because it is a life and death situation.

“And They have to do something, so whatever you can do to get Ethiopia to do that. They are going to have to, OK”?

Egypt can’t do anything except negotiate with Ethiopia and Sudan, because Egypt is Independent of 90% of Nile Water that starts from Ethiopia (80% of Nile water from Ethiopia) and flow via Sudan. The only way Egypt can do is create peaceful agreement between neighboring countries have win-win benefits. Egypt or any nation can’t stop Ethiopia from building the GERD dam.

“And we have cut off all payment to Ethiopia”.

Bare in mind that the GERD dam is not building by lone unlike the current US president with his 92-floor skyscraper in Chicago nor by foreign aid. It instead is funding the entire cost of the dam by Ethiopian in order to prevent relying on foreign countries who may be brought under pressure by Egypt to withdraw their support. As New York times stated the 92-floor skyscraper situation, “the skyscraper became another disappointment in a portfolio filled with Trump. Construction lagged. Condos proved hard to sell. Retail space sat vacant“. Leave alone supporting the $4 billion hydropower dam, you are not even able to pay your federal tax comparing to even a teacher can pay in USA. We know that you pay $750 in Federal Income Taxes in 2017. So keep your business condition first in good shape and then speak after that about donating others. There is no payment that US have done in order to build the GERD dam.

“It was terrible we were all set to sing a deal. It was negotiated for five years, longer than that and they couldn’t make the deal and I got the deal done. And then, they are getting ready to sing the deal and they broke the deal which is not good”.

The deal can be made between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt with mutual interest and good will with the help of African Union mediator. African can solve their dispute with fruitful negotiation and can come with win-win agreement. It is crustal clear that this situation need only mutual agreement between these three countries that satisfy all the stakeholders. The other outsider countries intervention is not needed, because they are not a part of these situation, but they want to intervene to keep their interest not Ethiopia, Sudan or Egypt. The current US president want to have a media coverage by this situation, however Ethiopia doesn’t allow this kind of exploitation.

“So whatever you can do prime minster [Hamdok], if you could that would be great, OK? You tell them they have to get it done”.

The deal has to be done not by pressure from outsider of this situation, but Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt good will and mutual interest.

“And I am telling Egypt the same thing by the way, you know, because they could have stopped it, they should have stopped it long before it was started. I said how fo you let it get build and then you say they have a dam, but they had other things on their mind”.

Ethiopia has started its journey to be one of the prosperity country in Africa. As history teaches, Ethiopia is one of Africa’s independent country that never colonized. That leads you to understanding that Ethiopia don’t need any foreign or outsider to start its own prosperity journey. It started by Ethiopians and will continue with the hard work of Ethiopians! No one can stop the building nor trying to destroy the GERD dam. The consequence will be much harder than to find a good agreement by consensus.

“That was at a time when they were having a minor revolution to put it mildly. that was a bad time for Egypt so I guess they had other things on their mind”.

Arab Spring has made its history in order to challenge the dictator leaders, specially in Norther- Africa and Middle- East. Some has been in jail and some has lost their life. It is sad that a US president who is in live phone conversation try to get media coverage about his peace agreement with another country Prime Minister, declared as the same time war between the same neighboring countries that he mentioned he has a peace deal!

This is irresponsable leadership that bases only financial bargain and needs a media coverage for re-election as a foreign policy. The fact that Trump sign his first travel ban Executive Order 13769 in 2017 that placed stringent restrictions on travel to the United States for citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.

Under two weeks from the new president election 2020, according to the ABC news, Trump lifts sanctions on Sudan as he announces deal between African nation and Israel. As everyone knows that, Sudan was placed on the US list of countries sponsoring terrorism since 1993 on accusations of supporting terrorist groups.

The bottom line is if he put the travel ban to Sudan in his first day of Executive order and lift the economic sanctions before 16 days for November 3rd 2020 of the election day on the newly president. Nobody can not miss that the so called peace deal between Sudan and Israel or lifting sanctions on Sudan is done for keeping whose interest is?

Ethiopia is happy that the economic sanctions is lifted from Sudan and that may open another opportunities working together between neighboring countries.

Finally, currently I am reading the respected journalist Bob Woodward REGE book. To mentioned some of the quotes, the president said that “They care more about their alliances than they do about trade deals“. This tell that the president dream is running on the trade orbits, but not the interest of the country. In the same book Trump told to Bob, “I brings rage out. I do bring rage out. I always have. I don’t know if that’s an asset or a liability, but whatever it is, I do.” I will count his comment as a rage and leave the rest to Egypt and Sudan.

I personally wish that Trump loose his presidency and finally we will get relief from hearing his #RAGE, immoral comments and everyday scandal.

By the way if I find one good thing about his #RAGE is, he create a perfect opportunity to unite Ethiopian’s as a one nation.

#VoteHimOut #Ethiopia #GERD #It’sMyDam “EthiopiaProsperity