Ethiopia has the sovereign right to utilize its natural resources, including its water resources, for the benefit of its people and national development, Ustath Jemal Bashir, Founder and Director of the Kings of Abbay media channel noted.
“Ethiopia has every right to utilize its water resources and build more dams. Its water development projects should not be limited to the GERD (Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam) alone,” he stressed.
In an exclusive interview with ENA, Ustath Jemal said that “Ethiopia possesses abundant water resources and numerous rivers that originate within its territory. It is therefore unreasonable to expect the country to refrain from utilizing these resources or to seek permission from any other party to do so”.
The current escalation of the Egyptian media and the political noise over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) amounts to domestic political and media consumption rather than an instrument capable of changing the reality, the Director noted.
According to Ustath Jemal, Ethiopia’s water development plans should not be limited to a single project, the GERD.
He pointed out that the current Egyptian escalation comes after years of threats and political pressure that have failed to halt Ethiopia’s development trajectory.
Ustath Jemal explained that the current Egyptian rhetoric is reproducing the same approaches that have been pursued over the past years regarding the GERD.
He pointed out that the escalation was not limited to political and media rhetoric, but was previously accompanied by military activities and joint exercises with Sudan.
In this regard, he cited the various rounds of the “Eagles of the Nile” military exercises, in addition to what was called the “Guardians of the Nile.”
He stressed that all these moves failed to stop the construction of the GERD or change Ethiopia’s position regarding its right to development and to benefit from its water resources.
“All this bluster and all these desperate moves have failed. They achieved nothing. They only filled the Egyptian people with arrogance and empty bravado.”
Egypt had also attempted to internationalize the GERD issue through various diplomatic and political channels.
He noted that Egypt had raised the issue at the UN Security Council and sought support from several international actors.
However, he said those efforts failed to halt Ethiopia’s project or alter its development course. Ethiopia continued implementing its project despite all the pressure, until the GERD became an established reality that neither media noise nor political threats can change.
Ustath Jemal also rejected claims that Egypt would be the primary victim of prolonged drought, stressing that Ethiopia and other upstream countries suffer first.
He pointed at the devastating droughts that struck Ethiopia in the 1980s, adding that these experiences show that drought begins in the source regions, placing Ethiopia among the first countries to suffer.
Meanwhile, Egypt was able to cushion the effects of drought through water reserves in Lake Nasser and the Aswan High Dam.
“Drought does not begin in Egypt. When drought hits the source regions, Ethiopia is among the first to suffer,” Ustath Jemal stressed.
He stressed that Ethiopia has therefore the right to develop water infrastructure and strengthen its storage capacity against drought and climate variability.
Credit: ENA
