Blue Nile has been on his mind

Mekonnen Kassa

Aug 28, 2010

Negotiations have been on-going for over ten years to right a historical injustice around equitable use of the Nile waters among the upper riparian nations, Egypt, and the Sudan. All along the Ethiopian government has been protecting the long term interest of Ethiopia, negotiating in good faith within the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) and has played a leading role to realize the Nile River Basin Cooperative Framework. The leadership of the Ethiopian government has the Nile waters in its design even before it became a government.

A 1959 agreement signed by Britain and its colonies gave Egypt the right to use all the Nile waters and veto any project that could be undertaken by any of the upper riparian countries. Though Ethiopia was never a colony of Britain and not a signatory of the agreement, it nevertheless was directly and indirectly thwarted from utilizing the waters of Blue Nile for over five decades through the intriguing political maneuvers of Egypt.

Every Ethiopian, more so political activists, have seen the finger prints of Egypt in all conflicts that have kept Ethiopia immersed in war and in perpetual poverty.

It was almost 20 years ago that Professor David Mercer of the Open University travelled to Ethiopia as a representative of the Britain’s Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) to teach MBA to the former rebel turned Ethiopian government leaders. By his own admission, Mr. Mercer had also played an additional role as liaison (accidental spy?) between the senior members of the Ethiopian government and the Western embassies.

One day Mr. Mercer was given a mission, if he wished to accept it, to find out and report on “what was in the minds of the leaders of the new country.” Mr. Mercer went to his “intellectually dominant” student, Meles Zenawi, and asked him “How did the government see its role in leading Africa.” The answer he got was surprising and perplexing. Mr. Mercer writes:

“The previous Ethiopian governments had seen their role as leading the whole of Africa. Indeed the Organisation for African Unity (OAU) was based in Addis at this time, having one of the biggest complexes of buildings there. To my, and the ambassador’s surprise, Meles reply to this was that he wanted to make Ethiopia a big player in the Middle East; ranking alongside Egypt. This was a complete reversal of strategy -- though I am not convinced that it was ever put into play.”

Well Mr. Mercer, probably not to the extent Mr. Zenawi initially envisioned, but I am convinced this strategy has been put in play. Ethiopia is now a major player and garners a big influence in the regional politics. At the same time, Egypt’s influence had been reduced to a considerable extent. I am convinced putting this strategy in play has been a precursor to resolving the issue of Nile water management and to reach a fair and equitable water usage agreement.

The Nile issue has been in the mind of EPRDF leaders from the day they assumed power. This should nullify the claim by some that the Ethiopian government action regarding the Nile is done for political expediency and to gain political currency.