Kingdom exclusively chasing Ethiopians, but why?

By worku belachew 

Of late, I had a brief while with a lady who said as she is on a break here, Addis Ababa, coming from Saudi Arabia. 

She is an eyewitness for what is happening to Ethiopian emigrants  who were working there but the Saudi gov't is chasing them now. "We were given four months to process our cases approaching our embassy. However, bearing in mind the distance the embassy has for most Ethiopian residents and availability of money to go there to get it done, the time was not enough," she said and added, "and they soon starts a visa raid following the termination of the time period given."

She did not deny the fact that the kingdom has all the rights to expel foreigners from their country, but she has also a strong belief as it should not be the way it is happening now.

They rushed us, no tolerance even until we collect our belongings, and they take men and leave women in a house then they commit a rape, this is committed by police as well as local civilians. These and other tragedy overflown and flooded the streets though it is strictly controlled.  

 She sadly added that lots of people  have injured, died and remain heartbroken. But she questions like, "why they do all these only to Ethiopians?" are hitting in her mind.

This writer also shares her the question, and humbly request reader why they commit it?

Relief options for Addis' highways

BY WORKU BELACHEW

Addis Ababa is in a reconstruction process in various aspects. The previous shabby look that was a great disgrace of the capital compared to its functions as an international seat for various prestigious organizations has now been made to be utterly turned into a magnificent one. Still, the reconstruction process is underway and there are huge backlog of such task ahead. Previously, automobiles, trucks, buses and the likes had been regulars on the thoroughfares that connects the different segments of the city. Nowadays, however, other construction machines like bulldozers and excavators have become a usual scene at every corners of the city. These machines are excavating and razing the aged East African hub to transform it into a much livable metropolis. In terms of infrastructure,for instance, the construction of Light Rail Transit (LRT) take for easing the ever roaring transportation challenge of the city— which is also the theme of this piece— has reached a promising stage.

From Hayat, eastern outskirt of Addis to Maichow Square— i.e.,central part of Addis— and from Saris, southern Addis to Maskel Square the construction of LRT is accelerating. Hence, most arterial roads are unable to function temporarily. As a result, vehicles as well as pedestrians cram every detour available including alleyways to rush for their business. Particularly, in pick hours when workers and students hurry to get to their respective destinations these detours host the busiest traffic, ascribing for road traffic jamming worsening by accidents resulting from it. Worst of all, it fuels the transportation shortage which is already defining the city. The shortest trip which may take ten minutes at normal circumstances now eat up not less than an hour. Staying for so long by the roadsides in search for a taxi and involving in the ruthless wrestle to get on a taxi, that seems nonexistent on their routes compared to the demand, are amidst the toughest tasks residents must confront almost in every hours of the day. In addition, the road closures in most places lack accompanying signs that inform the conditions of the roads partially closed, meaning able persons may use the partially open roads whilst physically disabled persons may not use them at all. Due to that, persons that use crutches and senior citizens who uses canes are seen exposing themselves to more injuries.

Rebuilding the capital would not be a matter of dispute. All the inconveniences being encountered now are short lived ones. But, it does not also mean that we should ignore them. Those who have a stake in general and the city administration in particular look like they have backlog of tasks remaining undone regarding the issues under discussion. In one hand, road closures should not be carried out haphazardly. Residents need to get prior information about matters like possible road closures and detours available ahead of installing fences on roads. In so doing, pedestrians and vehicle drivers would not get confused and waste their time. Researching on achievable solutions to overcome transportation challenges aggravated by LRT construction could be a task worth priority, on the other.

As the success of one sector should not be at the expense of the other, the LRT construction— which residents view it as a reliable hope to wipe out the transportation shortage for good— need not be blamed for reduced efficiency in both government and private institutions. As a solution, pertinent government bodies can perhaps use their vehicles to transport students and other people who desperately await for taxis by the road sides. It is obvious that dozens of code 4, public institution's vehicles are coded with number four on their numberplate, vehicles roam about the city, often with unoccupied seats. For this to be real, the genuine cooperation of decision makers is critical importance.

Side by side with such efforts, recurring public relations works are crucial to topple the menaces mentioned thus far. In relation to that, raising awareness of the general public so that even people who have private vehicles can cooperate to arrest the problem temporarily. It is crystal clear that the development of this city positively impacts on everyone of us. And overcoming challenges is not also a matter left only for the city administration. It is our collective endeavours that help all the ambitions of the city to be accelerated at an equal pace.

 

 

Damera 

 

A festival in the exhilarating season  

 

For any tourist who wishes to visit Ethiopia, this is one of the ideal seasons which leaves visitors with an unforgettable experience. Meskerem, the first month of the year in the Ethiopian calendar, signals the culmination of the major rainy season, Kirmet in vernacular, which begins in June. 

 

The land in most parts of the country starts to shine bright with yellow seasonal flowers locally called Adey Ababa. The wet blessing from the skies shower the land and the land responds immediately by giving birth to all kinds of seeds buried in her womb, hence the meadow, mountains, and fields turn green. 

 

You walk on a carpet of green grass and Adey Ababa as most businesses scatter the fresh adornments on their floors. It is also common to see such adornments in a corner where the breathtaking coffee ceremony takes place. The green and yellow fresh plants that cover the floor as well as a thick smoke from hand-roasted coffee beans which fill the entire spaces of a living room, restaurant or what have you not only exhilarate the mind but also reach to every nerve ending. 

 

During Kirmet rivers flow in full volume, roaring along their courses, but Meskerem silences the flash food, no sooner, the course gets empty, and the riverbed turns naked. This is an opportune moment to residents, particularly in rural places where modern bridges are still absent, the month brings joy as people at both sides of a river can now get together. Likewise, communication among neighborhoods will resume. 

 

This seems the reason behind verses in a famous song which is usually chanted at the eve of New Year and during one of the colorful festivities, Damera. It suggests that family reunion is a must when the rain stops, that is in the month of Meskerem. Here are the verses: Meskerem seeteba adey seefeneda, Inkuone sew zemadun yeteyikal bada, more or less translated as 'late alone visiting relatives or families, it is appropriate to visit non-relatives when the rains stop and the flowers open'. 

 

 The word Demera has a meaning “to add”. According to some literature, the 'legendary' Queen Eleni had a revelation in a dream. She was told that she shall make a bonfire and that the smoke would show her where the true cross was buried. So she ordered the people of Jerusalem to bring wood and make a huge pile. Then, she burnt frankincense; one of the best incense still found in the East African country, Ethiopia, the smoke from the Damera rose high and bent locating the mountain that the true cross had been buried. 

 

Every year in the mid of Meskerem particularly the faithful of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo church prepare a bonfire in their neighborhood. And colorfully observe the day. The next day is a public holiday called Meskel.

The grand celebration of Demera occurs in Addis Ababa in a place called Meskel square. The place is named after the celebration of this festivity. Scores of people from various walks of life make their way to the place. And a huge cone-shaped bonfire also prepared in the square. By the way, the square also hosts assorted kinds of social, political and economic gatherings. It is designed by a Hungarian architect called C.K. Poly during Derg regime. The name of the square was changed to Revolution Square. After the coming of Derg regime to a forced end, the square is renamed as Maskal Square. 

In the eve (during Demera), celebration, the church's top clergymen make prayers and praise God for blessing the country and its people with a New Year. The laity also joins the fathers in glorifying the creator. Owe-inspiring celestial dancing and chanting are also performed by both the scholars (called Debteras) of the church and Sunday school students who beat hand-drum, shake Tsenatsen (Sistrum), and move their bodies gently in line with the rhythm. The event then gets concluded with the burning of the massive bonfire in the evening when the sunsets. 

 

The exuberant festivity not only grabs the entire attention of first-time visitors, it also thrills regulars. Meskel/Demera is a UNESCO registered world's intangible heritage.

 

A happy marriage requires firm courage
 

BY WORKU BELACHEW
 

“A great marriage is not made when the 'perfect couple' come together. Rather it is made real when imperfect couples learn enjoying their differences.”
 

Are you married or do you have a plan to get married? In either category you fall, keep the above excerpt, which this writer hardly remembers who the author is, in your heart. It is apparent that couples could never be a perfect mate but need to be the right mate to lead a victorious married life. 

 As many of great psychologists have already proven it, individual differences exist, a normal process of course, that can be noticeable in various ways: in terms of intelligence, perception, choice of color or whatsoever. But the most important strand that binds any given couple together looks like appreciating these differences and enjoying life.
 

Ato Assefa Abebe, 90, and W/o Beyenech Tafese, 84, seem to have well understood the above fact. They have led a contented family life for the past 70 years and recently celebrated their Platinum Jubilee at their own home in Adama town of Oromia state ---where they gave birth to and raised their children - escorted by their 14 children and 26 grandchildren. 

   Mrs. Beyenech and Mr. Assefa
 

“I did not think that I would hit 70 years of married life. This is the blessing of God indeed,” says the old man, Assefa, providing,  his wife, Beyenech, who is relatively younger than him and rather a little bit shy, with a tantalizing smile. “We raised more than 14 children. And all our attention was enticed in raising our kids; we never value tiny clashes though they are inevitable.  Though minor ups and downs are inescapable, we used to settle them quickly,” Ato Assefa added.

The 20 year handsome youngster, Assefa, had not got his wife on his own interest for the tradition did not allow him to do so. Traditionally, the bridegroom's parents search for a bride to their son. Before they make any contact with the bride's parents they investigate well about her parent’s character hand in hand with the effort to find the manner of the girl. Not only do bridegroom's parents look into the bride's family background in case they relate by blood, they also research back to seven genealogical series so as to avoid marriage inconveniences between far relatives. 
In fact, this was not a headache for Assefa's parents as his and the bride's parents used to have closer relations even ahead of the marriage. But, according to the tradition, his

parents should negotiate with the bride's parents through Mediator locally called 'Shimagille'. This was done in 1942. “Her parents did not complain about the request. “They accepted our marriage and the wedding was prepared accordingly, ” remembers Assefa. And he has got married to the 14 year girl, little Beyenech.
“We have led a joyful life together. We also gave birth to our first child and continued,” narrated Assefa.  He had first lived in countryside found in North Shoa. As there was no school available in his locality that time, he was forced to move to another place to educate his kids. Finally, his destination was made Nazareth, sometimes called Adama. He said, “I have accomplished my plan, all my children are well educated.” And he passes his advice saying “The way my wife and I have led our family has been  exemplary. Hence, my children are also leading a happy life with their spouses and kids. Therefore, other married couples can draw important lessons and model our life to make a good use of it.”
Among some of the ups and downs the couple has passed through the predominant one is the story of their missed son due to the political situation of the early 70’s. They said that son of ours belonged to a political party called   Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party (EPRP). “And I do not know what had happened to him but I did not see him for the last 39 years.  I do not know whether he is died or alive. Anyway, thanks to God, I raised the other children safely,” Assefa elucidated.
 

Professor Abebayehu Assefa, 70, the oldest son of the couple- remembers how his parents raised him. “When I was a student at Atse Gelawdios primary school in Nazreth, I used to have a small room in our premises.  And my parents did not even take a minute from my schedule let alone assigning me to various works as the children of my time. They even put my meal through the small room’s window, no one entered my room. They used to say ‘He is busy. He has a lot to study.’” 
Due to that, I gave full attention to my education. It is all because of my parents wholeheartedly exerted efforts to see my success through pursuing my education. Hence, I joined Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Technology and studied engineering, and then went to Britain and Germany for my M.A and PhD respectively. Now he is rendering service for his country in various ways. He has taught at Addis Ababa University, Institute of Technology for over 30 years.
 

 According to the professor, he could hardly remember even a single day when his father and mother did bitterly quarrel. His parents raised all their 14 biological kids and another four kids who are their relatives peacefully. “It is rather a surprise; they used to manage to lead all of us via a workable life avenue.” He said adding that all of them are now married and leading a happy family life which they have taken as a model from their parents.
Of course, that is the result of a stable family which everyone needs to learn from, according to their youngest son Dr. Eremias Assefa.  He says, “My parent's married life can be a model for many newly or existing married couples. Hard as it might be to believe, they have lived peacefully for the last 70 years. This is not easy. As witnessed time and again, for many it is even hard to live for months. The long time life bond is purely a result of tolerance, love and respect one offers the other.”
The platinum jubilee was prepared in the house where they raised their children due to a strong push from Dr. Ermias and his brothers and sisters' keen support for his proposal. He explained why he came up with such an idea, “This is an exemplary couple's life for all youngsters in our country and outside. Therefore, it adds value for anyone who sees and hears about this story. We invited a crew of journalists from local and international media as we would like it to be broadcast.” 
 

Ermias was born during the revolution and also nick named as Sharew which means “call off” they call it. It shows that  his parents seem not to be happy with the Military Junta's coming to power, the name Sharew shows their wish that the regime shall no more exist, as was explained during the ceremony. Now this child has grown to a full man and he is the one in charge of well managing his parent’s belongings as well as in taking care of them.  
W/o Mena Tessema, close friend of the couple, is another witness to the couple's exemplary life: “If one models their life, they can build a good family.”  She remembers no day  that she and her husband mediate them, traditionally when conflicts arise between spouses local elders called 'Shimagelle', take the case and advice the two parties to settle  the matter using various means. She said, “I remember no day that Assefa and Beyenech could not settle clashes on their own. As a result, not even a case of the couple went to Shimagille, they have quietly led a contented and victorious family.” She also said that anyone that follows their footsteps would be fruitful. Conflicts are not a big deal but couples need to respect one another to settle it within not time.  
Lessons for the generation
 

Without a shadow of doubt, family is a basis for the building of a affluent nation. In this regard, Girma Challa, 43, who came to celebrate his parent-in-law platinum Jubilee from USA says, “First of all, youngsters need to pursue their education before they leap into relationships---marriage tie this means. Then it is wise to patiently investigate the conduct of someone they want to marry.” He also emphasizes on the importance of tolerance and appreciating differences after marriage. Couples need to be rational than emotional when they settle conflicts. It is also clear that family is a base for future life of their kids.  My wife and I have twin sisters and I also hope that we will repeat my children's grandparents’ legacy.
Such iconic families are rare.   In most cases the modern life brings some of its weak sides. Most courts are busy in processing divorce in Addis Ababa, for instance. If it is to build a strong nation, the base is a family. A stable family is a fertile soil from which productive society emerges. The life of the above couples clearly signifies this fact. Their children are also contributing to the effort of building a strong nation.
 

A stable family can well nurture children who shape the future of our nation.  The way Assefa and Beyenech raised their children makes this assertion a true one. On the contrary, some families lead their children to a wrong direction. They do not guide their children to focus on their education like Assefa and his wife. The writer of this story once produced an article titled 'Misusing technology'. One instance that shows how some people are wrongly shaping kids had been mentioned as follows: “Many parents take it as they are nice to their kids when they make various TV channels available at their home and when their kids have their own cell phones. That is not a harm in itself.  But proper guidance is mandatory. Most of the TV channels they are allowed to watch broadcast movies on a 24 hour basis that absolutely compete children’s study time.  In addition, most of the movies are not appropriate to the age of the kids. By the same token, kids also download and exchange pornographic videos and pictures via cell phones. Following this trend kids are heading to a wrong way.” 
Making a stable family life and leading kids on the right track would pay off much to parents themselves and for the nation as well as it has been witnessed from Assefa and Beyenech’s experience.
 

Wonderful cake or text?

 

A cake that was to be had upon the platinum jubilee of the couple carries a text in Ethiopic script –the artistic style of the characters is important in orthodox church called Yeakum Tsehuf-----may be paraphrased as: To Mrs. Beyenech Tafesse and Ato Assefa Abebe, have a blissful 70th  Platinum Jubilee. Most Ethiopian tradition dictates that Male names go before that of female when formally addressing any couple. As can be seen from the paraphrase, however, the female’s name scripted first could be a bizarre for most readers who live in the context of Ethiopian traditions. Conversely, the practice may show that our society is progressing towards avoiding the practice that undermines women equality. The text wonders this writer, hopefully the cake would also be delicious.
Couple shapes twins vision
 

A June 16 photo shows The Girma twin sisters, Bezawit (L) and Bethlehem (R), who have come from USA to jubilate their grandparent’s platinum. Bezawit expressed her grandparents as “wonderful for raising their kids properly.” She has ambition to build a happy family but after completing her education. Similarly, Bethlehem who is  ten minutes elder than Beza also says she wants to pursue her education and choose the right mate for her to lead a happy life like her grandparents. According to The Girma twins, their grandparent’s exemplary lesson has helped them have a joyous life in their family as their parents also follow the footsteps of Ato Assefa and W/o Beyenech. The twin sisters emphasized on the importance to make relationships after getting done colleges or universities. Being in a relationship before that would not be a success for it competes time and it is hard to be rational, they uttered. Bezawit and Bethlehem have a  wonderful dream of being a high profile intellectuals academically and exemplary couples with counterparts after completing their education.

“Understand  trans-boundary rivers by virtue of their nature”

 

Latterly, The Ethiopian Herald  has had a brief stay regarding how countries in the Nile basin can boost cooperation leaving aside destructive showdowns with Mr. Memar Ayalew, holder of M.A in International Relations and  lecturer at Addis Ababa Science and Technology University. In 2012 he published  a book titled: “The Role of Sub-Regional Organizations in Conflict Transformation in Africa: The Case of IGAD’s Mediation Efforts in Somalia.” Currently he is studying Governance and Regional Integrations at Pan-African University in Cameroun, University of Yaoundé I.  


Herald:  Do you think Ethiopia leaves Egypt with thirst dominating the only river it has? And do you agree with ancient saying “Nile is gift of Egypt.”
Mr.Memar :Don’t think that Ethiopia will put Egypt in hardships of water insecurity knowing that  Egyptian people entirely depend on the water of the Nile for their survival. It is obvious that Egypt does not have any source of water other than the Nile River. This is not a cloak-and-dagger rather a crystal clear fact. Ethiopia has never thought of ceasing the flow of Nile to harm Egyptian people. If Nile dies unpredictably, then Egyptians follow. If the Nile stops flowing to Egypt, then Egyptians cease to exist. When sprit [Nile] separates from the body, then the flesh of Egyptians can no longer exist.

 It always surprises me to hear Egyptian politicians propaganda of attacking Ethiopia, a country which has been giving life to them since the creation of human being. I think they fail to remember that their life is in the middle of our hands. Under normal circumstances, how can a rational human being thinks that Ethiopia will stop the flow of Nile water.  How can a country which receives more annual rainfall than Egyptian halts the flow of the river? This[Thinking that Ethiopia is to stop the flow of Nile] is a sign of abnormality! This is morally and legally unacceptable! This is the result of misperception and absolute ignorance.


From the outset, the Ethiopian government has made clear its position that the Ethiopian people do not have any intension to damage the national interest of Egypt through reducing both the flow and volume of the water.  The purpose of constructing the GRD is to generate power. This  objective is clear even to an ordinary person. The dam's construction  will not damage Egyptian water security; instead it ensures cooperation among the Nile riparian countries, putting it on a win-win base. Nothing is a surprise with the construction of the Renaissance Dam but generation of hydroelectric power to meet domestic and regional demands.

The Nile River has been connecting Ethiopia and Egypt serving as a  bridge of their intercourse and it does forever. The foreign policy of Ethiopia also recognizes this natural fact. It states that “From its inception, the Egyptian civilization is based on the waters of the Nile. Not less that 85% of the water that enters Egypt originates from Ethiopia. It can therefore be said that from the beginning, the two countries have been linked by nature”.

The government of Ethiopia has been insisting to utilize the water of  Nile without affecting the water security of the lower riparian countries by re-engineering new arrangements and institutional regimes which would facilitate dialogue and negotiations. However, Egyptians have been advancing an obsolete and outdated idea of the 19th century, “I win if you lose, the zero-sum game politics”. This is totally irrational and unacceptable practices of real politics and diplomacy in the 21st century. Can a rational being in the modern world accepts the absolute rights of Egyptians to fully utilize and exploit the Nile water while countries in the lower basin, contributing 100% of the water suffer from hunger and starvation? This is ridiculous.
I completely disagree with the notion that “Nile is gift for Egypt” but I certainly agree with the idea that “Nile is gift of all riparian countries”. The Greek historian Herodotus was the first from the western world who described Egypt as “gift of Nile”. For him, Egypt and the Nile River are inseparable simply because it is impossible to imagine a country called Egypt in the Sahara desert without the existence of the Nile River. The River Nile has been flowing from the upper riparian to the lower riparian countries (Sudan and Egypt) for millions of years without any interruption. Had there not exist the Nile waters, Egypt would have been erased from the map of the world.

 I can say that the Nile River is the blood and flesh of Egyptian people. The prominent Ethiopian musician, Ejigayehu Shibabaw, described the meaning of the River Nile to the Egyptians by singing:
                         “ Abbay, the bounteous;
                           Have I known that you replenish the desert?
                           Have I known that you are their flesh and blood?
                           That they drink from you and eat water;
                           Abbay,  generous to those of the desert;
                       Abbay, the bounty and of the great tension” (Taken from Yacob Arsano’s book, Ethiopia and the Nile: Dilemmas of National and Regional Hydro-politics, 2007)

Herodotus description entails the message that Egyptians are the beneficiaries of the Nile water without contributing any drop of water. In other words, he underlined that Egyptians do not have the absolute control of the Nile water and the power to deny the right of the lower riparian countries from exploiting the river is not on their hands. His description was certainly right in that the ownership of the water is  to all the riparian countries, not to the downstream countries only. The concept ''Egypt is the gift of the Nile” invites negotiation and cooperation among the basin countries to ensure mutual benefits based on the principle of equity and equality. It opens opportunities of cooperation and a win-win approach. But successive Egypt governments have persistently rejected it. Herodotus concept, by implication, also discarded the 1929 and 1959 colonial agreements on the Nile which allocated majority of the water to Egypt; and century old zero-sum game politics advanced by Egypt in the utilization of the water. His notion offers possibilities of dialogue and negotiations.      

Nevertheless, the notion that says “Nile is gift of Egypt” diametrically contradict with Herodotus conception of Egypt, “Egypt is gift of Nile”. It is clear that this argument carries a seed of contradiction in it because of three major reasons. First, it grants Egypt (contribute 0%) the right to monopolize the Nile water independently by undermining the right of upstream countries (contributes 100% of the water) from obtaining their legal share and benefit from the Nile. Second, it advances zero-sum politics of Egyptians on the utilization of the Nile water; and recognizes the 1929 and 1959 colonial agreements on the Nile water as binding legal instruments. Egyptian present “historical rights” and population size as a critical determinates for their zero-sum politics on the Nile. Finally, it eliminates the chance of negotiations and dialogue among the basin countries on the use of the river. 
The new geo-political and security development in the Nile basin challenged the old 19th century Egyptian thinking. The notion that says “Egypt is the gift of the Nile” reflects cooperation and mutual benefits among the riparian countries  where as concept “Nile is the gift of Egypt” reflects their zero-sum game politics, “I win if you lose”. This conclusion is misleading and unacceptable argument in the 21st century. If Herodotus was living in the context of today, he would say that “Nile is the gift of all riparian countries”.   

Herald: Recently Egyptian President Morsi has opened  'psychological warfare' against Ethiopia, do you think this approach help the people of Egypt to secure their benefits from Nile waters? Why?

Mr.Memar:  In order to understand why the Morsi government is advocating a psychological warfare against Ethiopia, it is necessary to examine and analyze the internal political development in Egypt since coming to power of the Islamic Brotherhood from which Morsi is hailing. In Egypt, the Morsi government has been suffering from legitimacy internally for taking the state to a direction in contradiction with the overall objective of January revolution which toppled down  Mubarek's regime. And the government is unable to resolve the legacies of the Mubarek regime such as unemployment and deep economic crises, budget deficit and debt, and devaluation of their pound.

Hence, the government become fragile and fails to bring significant benefits to the Egyptian population especially to the youth who are orchestrator of the revolution. As to official figures, 13 per cent of Egyptians are unemployed, of whom 74 per cent are between 15 and 29 ages, and some believe the real number of  unemployment is even much- 8 out of 10 university graduates are jobless.

Egypt has a system of subsidies for commodities such as petroleum and flour that is hugely expensive and works very poorly. It spends about 20 per cent of its national budget on keeping down fuel prices for the general public but the government has taken progressive measure to remove government subsidies from some forms of energy and to establish ration cards for gasoline which ignited popular anger. According to the Central Bank of Egypt, the inflation rate increased over the last month from 5.23 to 7.68 per cent. This is considered to be the highest increase in more than a year. These economic measures have been exacerbating the current  political turmoil which challenged the legitimacy of the  Morsi's  administration. In order to stimulate the economy and solve the crises, oppositions have planned to organize a mass anti-Morsi rally by the end of this month. This is the real political situations in Egypt that the government in Cairo has been facing since it came to power.

Therefore, the psychological warfare against Ethiopia is the reflection of their internal economic stagnation and political tension. The government is trying to use the construction of the dam and the diversion of the water by the Ethiopian government as a playing card to divert the attention of the Egyptian public and externalize internal tensions.  This is Machiavellian principle of “the end justifies the means”.  War will never bring any benefits to the Egyptians. I would like to tell the Egyptian people that the consequences of attacking Ethiopia will be very severe. They have to think for a moment that the things that will achieve out of military action. As I clearly mentioned in my recent article, “Egyptian Approaches to the New Development in the Nile Politics: Water Diplomacy or Water War? Which way?”, that the only solution to the utilization of the Nile river is a win-win approach which secure the interest of all riparian countries. Egyptian politicians and policy makers have to realize the changing geo-political and security situation in the Nile basin and must recognize the rights of the lower riparian countries to utilize the water based on the principle of equality and fairness as they recognize its share on the Nile water. This will help us to find all inclusive approach to the use of the Nile.  Let us turn our face to negotiation and diplomacy which is the rule of the game in the 21st century.


Herald: Some Egyptians say Ethiopia should be abound by the 1929 and 1959 agreements. What do these agreements say with respect to share of water? And is that applicable for Ethiopia?

Mr.Memar : The Nile River, being international and trans-boundary in nature, has been the subject of various agreements. However, there is no internationally agreed  treaty on the management and utilization of the Nile River which secures the benefit of all riparian countries. Therefore, the legal instruments for the utilization and  management of the water consists disputed bilateral agreements concluded amongst the basin countries. The treaties and legal regimes regulating the use of Nile River can be divided into different categories. For instance, Yacob Arsano in his book “Ethiopia and the Nile: Dilemmas of National and Regional Hydro-politics, 2007:95”, divided the agreements related to the utilization of the river in to three categories based on historical sequence.

 Agreements between colonial powers comes first. This category consists of the Anglo-Italian protocol of 1891, The 1906 agreements, The 1925 Anglo-Italian agreement and The 1934 Agreement concluded between Britain and Belgium.  The second one is agreements between colonial powers and regional states. It includes the 1902 Anglo-Ethiopian Agreement, The 1929 Agreement signed between Britain and Italy and The 1952 Agreement. Agreements between independent states of the basin can be listed third. In this category one see three treaties such as The 1959 Agreement signed between Egypt and Sudan, the 1993 Ethio- Egyptian Agreement and the Comprehensive Framework of Agreement (CFA) singed among the seven basin countries in 2010. The bilateral agreements in the first and the second category signed were primarily initiated by then colonial powers.

The colonial powers which had involved in the making of the agreements were Britain, France, Italy and Belgium. It is important to look the colonial possession these countries in the political map of the Nile basin to understand why they engineered the agreements. Britain had colonized Egypt, Sudan, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. It had a greater interest on the Nile waters. Italy had territorial possession in the Horn of Africa such as Eritrea and the Italian Somaliland in Somalia. France had a monopoly over the present day Djibouti. Among the Nile basin countries, Ethiopia is the only which has never been colonized. The overall intension of the colonial powers in signing the agreements was to exploit the resources to the extent possible for their colonial project.

In 1929, for instance, Britain and Egypt signed an agreement on the utilization of the Nile water to exploit the river independently. They concluded this agreement without consulting the upper riparian countries. The agreement gives a veto power to Egypt.


Herald: How does modern ways of foreign relations state in terms of solving cross -boundary river and lake disputes?
Mr.Memar: In the modern  world we are living today, interactions among states and non-state actors have become more complicated than ever before due to the eruption of scientific  and technological advancements, which minimizes the significance of geographical and time barriers. States being the primary actor of international politics, play an important role in defining the patterns and rules of global politics and the path of history as well. States formulate their own foreign policies reflecting internal demands in their matters transending national boundaries. Foreign policy of states mainly defines the methods to be applied in perusing national interests. For instance, propaganda had been largely used by the USA and USSR, the super power during the cold war era, in order to achieve their own respective national interests by creating psychological fear/ tension in the hearts and minds of opponents. Still other states opt to use diplomacy, economics and military assistance and war [as a last resort] based on their capacity and availability of resources to make sure that their national interests are achieved.
In the modern world, however, diplomacy pays an important role in reconciling contradictory issues among states which can lead to destructive wars. I observed that many states are highly relied on diplomacy in dealing matters related to their national interests. That is why states have been investing large amount capital to reach areas where their national interest falls by establishing embassies and sending diplomatic missions. Especially states that are connected each other by trans-boundary rivers have been using water diplomacy as an instrument to ensure “equitable, reasonable” utilization by avoiding “significant harm” over the downstream countries. This in turn minimizes the outbreak of potential violent water related conflicts by re-engineering new arrangements to address major challenges in managing water resources.

We need to understand that Trans- Boundary Rivers by virtue of their nature do not belong to a single riparian state. In other terms, water is not innate objects but a shared resource. They are the property of basin countries. It is because Trans- Boundary Rivers cross the life of different societies living along its courses as they cross the boundary of states. As state’s interests are interconnected by shared water courses, all inclusive ownership of tarns-boundary rivers is quite important to avoid unnecessary conflicts. Thus, managing conflicts in relation to the management and utilization of the water resources originates from deeply understanding of this nature of trans-boundary water resources.  States have shown significant improvements in utilizing shared water resources by arranging forums of negotiations and legal instruments, which benefits both upstream and downstream countries. Despite there have been disagreements on the utilization of the water resources between upper riparian and lower riparian countries, they managed to minimize the explosion of violent conflicts by establishing institutional regimes which enables them to negotiate diplomatically. For instance, Israel and Jordan on the Jordan River, Indian and Pakistan on the Indus River, Euphrates -Tigris basin in the Middle East, the seven upper riparian states on the Nile River have been negotiating so as to manage water related conflicts.
These countries ensure equitable use of trans-boundary rivers by building trust and confidence.  In fact, lower riparian countries in the Nile basin have been reluctant to negotiate on the colonial agreements which declined to recognize the rights of the upper riparian states to use the water for developmental purposes.  They did not show any sign willingness to turn their face into negotiating table. However, the experiences of some countries, sharing trans-boundary rivers, tell us that there is an alternative way of avoiding disagreements on water issues by approaching it diplomatically. Therefore, I believe that diplomacy and win-win approach to issues of the Nile water can solve the current political tension between Ethiopia and Egypt, if Egypt and Sudan are ready to negotiations. Let me finish by using Egyptian proverb: “Repetition teaches (even) a donkey”.
















The writer can be contacted at  ayalewmemar@gmail.com.

Offsetting public anger wrongly towards GRD, old fashioned strategy
BY WORKU BELACHEW
 

President Morsi's Administration seems to be astutely failing to address key issues that Egyptians are demanding including a foundering economy, recurrent nationwide power cuts and chronic fuel shortages, among others. Not  only that during the drafting phase of Egypt's new constitution and when important issues were being discussed, such as the elections law and the judicial authority law  major oppositions did not gain opportunity to have their voice heard and included. It is such malaise that  has been trembling the North African nation over the past dozen of months. To tackle that, Egypt's opposition political activists called on the public for a mass demonstration scheduled for coming June 30. That is why  it would be much  safe to conclude that the driving force behind Morsi Administration's  rush for a reconciliation is to amuse pubic attention from domestic problems. 

Shehab Waguih, spokesman for the Egyptian Social Democratic Party – a member-party of the National Salivation Front (NSF) – called Morsi's recent call for reconciliation as an effortless  "manoeuvre" aimed at offsetting public anger over government failures to deal with national security threats, especially the ongoing row over Ethiopia's dam project.

The current psychological warfare-that Ethiopia has dismissed with a Tuesday Foreign Affairs statement- by few Egyptians authorities, political figures, and some CSOs also shows that the administration is short of genuine solutions to provide for the people of Egypt.

Over the past two years Ethiopia has been tightly occupied  with building a USD 4.8 billion GRD with local funds. The people of Ethiopia, despite living in poverty, are financing the construction. But, after all these days have gone by Egyptian authorities start to daydream as the GRD is a threat to their national security, particularly after the misrepresented   “river diversion” which is in fact re-routing of the river.  Experts in construction area say that re-routing of a river is not something new if it is to build dam. So, isn't it sound that political leaders of Egypt are manipulating the GRD building to divert public attention? 

When the days of a planned huge mass demonstration approaches they start to fan destructive propaganda turning their face to East Africa. On the  'accidentally' televised meeting which was crammed with emotional  political leaders last week [due respect for very few rational individuals] and others they declared psychological warfare on the East African Nation. The warfare starts to gain momentum when President Morsi and Prime Minister Hesham Qandil stirred another provocative messages on Ethiopia saying that “if a drop of water is lost their blood is the alternative” on National Conference of the Nile on Monday. Though  Cairo  bang the drum loud, it looked as if Addis did not hear it. But why?

“Our foreign policy and other policies are enforced responsibly without blending emotions with facts. We, in no way, base our foreign relations  on emotions or mere Media reportings. Our driving force is rational thinking... it was Ethiopia that proposed the establishment of the Tripartite Panel of Experts to make them [downstream countries] sure that the construction holds no significant negative  impacts on downstream countries and the finding is also the same,”   as noted by Foreign Ministry Spokesperson  Ambassador Dina Mufti.

The dangerous game the authorities are playing seems not to benefit the people of Egypt. It is a reckless option which may bring double damages for the people of Egypt. In one hand, the old fashioned provocative messages of Cairo - crammed with proposals of war and other destabilizing mechanisms - will remain a disgrace before the international community. The stand is also a pseudo-solution for the ongoing internal instability, on the other hand. Caring for the people of Egypt need to be coupled with a civilized foreign relations. War in the 21st century would not be easy. It is costly which leaves  countries with loses  in terms of human and financial capital. Talking of proxy war and other means to create unrest is also unworkable and makes the nation to lose its credibility before the international community. And announcing such shameful messages on a state TV is not expected from

'responsible' political leaders. In fact, no one else would not understand it how Ethiopians come together when it comes to their national agenda better than Egyptian brothers and sisters.  By the same token, Ethiopia has not provoked any nation in its entire history but successfully defended when aggressors set their feet on its land- let historians write about this.

The dam's construction is for a hydropower purpose. Ethiopia's power demand is doubling every three years so far. This shows that the country must utilize its renewable resources, be it wind farm, solar  or geothermal, the nation is investing highly on it.  This time, most of its rivers are being employed for power generation. The GRD is no different.  The whole thing is to rotate  turbines and running to its normal course. And it is the nation's natural right to use the river for this purpose without posing significant harm on downstream countries. That is what has been proved by the panel of experts  which Egypt is included. So, why does the Egyptian Authorities are angered this much? Yes, they are playing dangerous game of covering up domestic problems.

The solid stance Sudan is manifesting also witnesses that the dam's construction is only on a win-win base. It is not meant to harm brothers and sisters of downstream countries, and peoples which are tied by nature. In Ethiopia one would not find a single individual who holds hostility towards the people of downstream countries to leave them with thirst and hunger. The dam is being built meeting all international stands.

In the face of these facts, Egyptian authorities are claiming either to halt or reduce the size of the dam after two years have lapsed since the start of the construction. Ethiopia, however, is expressing its steadfast stance that the construction would be further strengthened and the pace won't be affected even for a fraction of a second.   The government of Ethiopia also called on the people of Egypt to distance themselves from this disreputable activity.

With no doubt, the construction of the GRD is to lift up the people of Ethiopia from poverty but with due recognition of fair use of Nile waters. Considering Nile as a gift nature presents for Egypt is a dangerous yet old fashioned posture. This posture is installed by colonials for their own benefits not for the people of Egypt. Nile is an invaluable gift of the riparian countries.  And keen cooperation among the countries would bring a win-win gain. That is why most of them have already signed the Cooperative Framework Agreement. Annihilating  oneself from this cooperation and engaging in destructive agenda could lead to zero sum gain. That is why Ethiopia is patiently using all peaceful ways while Egyptians are engaged in destructive means. Still, the door is open, Morsi Administration would be beneficiary if  it properly addresses Egyptians query.

Live up to Master Plan, Addis!

BY WORKU BELACHEW

Have you ever been to London? It is a brilliant and most visited city in Europe planned by Sir Patrick Abercrombie, British architect and towns planner. Among other cities that his imprints still prevailing are Edinburgh, Hong Kong and Addis Ababa. Up on the invitation of Emperor Haile -Selassie, he came here and prepared Addis' master plan in 1956 with neighbourhood units as the basic city-organizing concept. The street network of the city was characterized by radial and ring roads intended to channel vehicular traffic outward from central areas. Over the past five or six decades, the city's Master Plan was subject to various revisions following regime changes including the short lived Italian occupation.

The 125 years old diplomatic hub of Africa is now under construction with fences here and there. New skyscrapers are mushrooming in every place, roads of various kinds are interconnecting the different neighbourhoods across the city. In terms of residence, despite a roaring demand, the construction of condominium houses has already listed at the foremost section of the city administration's agenda. Actually, the rapid growth of the capital is also calling for urgency when it comes to infrastructural provisions like potable water, housing, telecommunications, electricity and transportation, inter alia which the government is tightly working to satisfy these demands.

The course towards meeting these demands, however, does not seem to be uncomplicated. The building of Light Rail Transit (LRT) in the capital is a case in point in this regard. In most places, it demands the demolishing of standard roads only after they serve for two and three years. Imagine how costly this is for a country with meager budget. Most places through which the LRT passes, some high-skyscrapers for instance, are being slashed. Is this not a mess? In fact, one has to accept the evolution of the city. Buildings and roads would not be an everlasting properties. All may live up to the demand of a given society at a time. But, the argument here is not on the importance of the LRT construction. It is a timely job as transportation shortage is a fundamental necessity in the capital. The question is why does the city fails to live up to its master plan? It would not be a sophisticated science to envision for a period of at least ten years time. Be that as it may, some buildings under construction are also risked due to that. Had such constructions stick to the city's master plan, City Administration could not have been subject to compensation. Not only that, complying with master plan and other building guidelines and manuals also green lights every development work. The provision of any infrastructures would go easily and timely apart from reducing cost.

For this, the office that license individuals must enforce the master plan of the city. Land delinted for open space should not be engulfed by other constructions or sitting back and watching while people build skyscrapers almost on main roads would be rather hampering the city's ongoing development.

As it is vividly seen in most parts of Addis, the design and building of most skyscrapers could suggest that the office (s) mandated to enforce the master plan, which would be concluded this year while a revised structural plan to come to force come year, is/ are either ignoring their responsibility (ies )or misusing it.

This aspect ignites certain quite important move towards this end. And taking the issue into consideration so that all concerned can draw workable lessons from past experiences, no matter how bitter it may be. This time Addis Revised Master Plan is to be launched. But, acquiring the plan in itself could not guarantee a developed city. However, every municipal body should integrate their works if it is to make the city a livable one. Of course, this task should not be left only to the government. Every resident, investor , opinion leader and the society at large need to fight against it. Tall buildings and roads are not the only component of a standard city. Open spaces, landfill areas, green spaces, among other, also help Addis Ababa boost the social interaction of residents as well as visitors. In addition, it also play an important role in improving the health of residents. In this context, best practices as well as worst practices of other cities in the world can be used to take formidable lessons, to model the former and not to repeat the latter. This indeed calls for unwavering commitment of all concerned bodies so that they can invest their energy, capital and timer in raising the awareness of the public at large. Following the low level of awareness with regard to ways of crafting/designing buildings no one can forward constructive criticism when constructions are undertaken closer to pedestrians, on spaces reserved for community open spaces, or parks ... unless the existing laws, regulations and manuals are well promoted. That is why public arm is stronger and proper to own the city which we all are aspiring.

As an American- born Canadian writer and activist Jane Jacobs puts it "There is no logic that can be superimposed on the city; people make it, and it is to them, not buildings, that we must fit our plans,”

Taking river off its path, liberates waterway for development

BY WORKU BELACHEW

“I had not imagined that we can vanquish nature. I always accepted that we are under nature's control. In fact, when I see the Axum obelisks and the Lalibella rock hewn churches, something rings in my mind, regarding our forefathers wisdom when it comes to reigning over nature. The same day I watched that River Abbay is made to leave its natural course but slightly, I have reckoned that the missing link among the past and prevailing generations has been caught and gets its right place- and completed who we are,” says Deresse Fantaw whom I found on one of the streets of Addis while the official River diversion of Abbay broadcast on state television earlier this week.

Many others would also share the views of Deresse. No single person expected that Ethiopians can retrieve the legacy of their antecedents, may be for two things. One: apart from expressing deep grief with melancholic songs for lacking power and skills to exploit the river, no one dare proposed to use the river - be it from politicians, expressionists or whatever in the past few decades. In fact, the daunting colonial agreement that denied Ethiopia's right to use its own river which contributes 85% of waters for Nile also played its negative role for that, which is the second point.

As a young boy, most of the children of my time for instance sang “Beza Be' bega”- On that summer season- which we did not know who the author is. But, it narrates that couples were trying to cross River Abbay. The unfortunate girl, however, could not make it easily and the river engulfed her- each of them were forced to go their own way. The man lost his fiance. The merciless river consumed her body. And the man with agony promised not to forget her until his final breath least her soul rest in piece. As a young boy- too many of such songs, proverbs... that portray how Abbay is a ruthless dictator had been stumped in our memories.

All what we heard used to create a feeling that the river is one wealthy member of a family who is always there to ruin the lives of the rest members whilst being kind for their neighbours. So, literally who cares for such wicked guy ? A reckless guy who never pity his parents when they die because of famishment. His skinny brothers and sisters die before him loosing their weights- only with skins and bones. Well, let's not take this personification too far. Plainly speaking, on the days our country had been worst hit by drought this river still presented his blessings for our fat brothers abroad. It was unjust to die for luck of food while we can use our water only because non-African colonizers declare death on us to satisfy their bellies. Worse even, when some African brothers claim that the death must sustain.

Benefiting the neighbours or those who shares the waters is not a crime. But, shouldn't this guy (the river) care for member of his family where he is sourcing? When the river share its blessing for the family , the rest members also care for him so that he can accumulate more wealth and benefit both. And the cooperation among the neighbours and members of the family would undoubtedly lift up the whole matter to a more significant level- it would be easy to make sustainable and inter generational works.

But that did not happen over the past many many years. Abbay was blessing for others but curse for us. Now what we are doing is making it blessing in its source as well as along its entire course. In this case, we can care the river, we can increase the forest covers around the tributaries to further magnify its volume. All what is needed is cooperation. In fact, the blessings is abundant for all unless the former greediness intervenes again.

Now we have also reached an irreversible stage. River Abbay stubbornly flowed North in its 800 kilometres course in the past millennia before it crosses Ethiopian boarder until the GRD construction force it to take a short lived and man made passage.

May 28 once again championed in earmarking this historic day, bearing in mind that the sun also sets on the Military Junta on the same very day. History has already recorded this event as a unique day of our tracks, which displays Ethiopia's determination to see the completion of this dam that generates a 6 ,000 Megawatt of electric power- This is the equivalent of at least six nuclear power plants, according to sources.

To the surprise of everyone, there are still some individuals who claim the sustainability of that daunting colonial agreement. Humble reader, you can see how BBC reported the river diversion- even the headline tells that some individuals are against our efforts read as Ethiopia diverts Blue Nile for controversial dam build.

To my knowledge, there is no major controversy over the dam building. To further build mutual trust among the downstream countries a panel of expert is examining the impacts of the dam and is expected to bring out its final finding soon. In my view, those who cannot understand the benefits of a win- win relations would have argued on other merits than simply persisting in their idea which has been fossilized to destruct them.

Africa struggled to liberate itself from all forms of colonialism. Even late pan-African brothers and sisters bitterly argued as how the balkanization has impacted on Africa negatively. The colonial boarders do not consider the culture, language, ... of African people. Here the point this writer would like to stress is that, the colonial agreements are also based on the interest of colonial masters. Hence, individuals who still want the colonial agreements to function are manifestations of how the colonial disease is not still well mitigated in Africa.

No confusion, Pan-African brothers and sisters seriously debated over the post independence fate of mother Africa . Some of them camped debating that economic integration should come first while others battled to bring political integration first- which finally resolved in Addis Ababa and gave birth for the precursor of now African Union- OAU. The whole thing was to unify the continent. And without economic integration, like infrastructures, how can that comes into reality? There need to be roads that link the different economic communities, they need to share common natural resources fairly, the people and government in a given regional economic community should share experiences. This means, as to my understanding, the survival of one country need to be a guarantee for the survival of the other. This would be carried over generations and bring about boarder-less continent.

Contrary to that, if individuals are running to satisfy their short lived dreams, we make no history for the coming generation, but disease, backwardness, dependency and the likes- Don't you agree? The and Grand Renaissance Dam is, therefore, one factor to increase collaboration among countries that share the waters of Nile, particularly the down stream countries- Sudan and Egypt.

I bet, individuals or groups who conspires against the building of this dam, are not only Ethiopia's historic enemy but they are the regions' as well as continents monsters- with apology for using the term.

It is clear that the power generated by Ethiopian dams is shining in Sudan which gradually would make Sudan to substitute its thermal power generating units with electricity generated units. Ethiopia and Djibouti has also integrated with power. And such efforts would further replicated when the GRD sees completion. Without a need for a sophisticated calculation, it is such things that could bring regional integration and boarder-less Continent.

To wind up, congrats for all who are by the side of this singular achievement- Ethiopians has just started realizing man made canals, and after some time we would enjoy the completion of the dam.