GICC rebukes Egypt FM’s “all options are open” comments on GERD

Addis Ababa, March 24, 2023 (FBC) – The 13-member GERD International Collaborative Consortium (GICC) rebuked the reckless comments made by the Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry.

GICC issued a statement in response to the recent Egyptian FM’s “all options are open, and all possibilities remain available” imprudent comment in light of the approaching fourth filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

In the statement, the Consortium recalled that Sameh Shoukry’s comments are the continuation of threatening approaches that have been used in the past, noting that since the first Aswan Dam was constructed in 1902 Egypt has claimed unilateral ownership of the Nile river that disregards the sovereignty and national interests of the upstream countries.

The Consortium added that the upstream countries made an earnest effort to tame Egypt’s unlimited desire to monopolize the Nile River. However, none of these efforts have succeeded in making Egypt to become an equal partner with respect to the rights of the rest of the Nile Basin riparian states.

The Declaration of Principles (DoP) signed by Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan in March 2015, among many provisions, states that Ethiopia can proceed with the filling of GERD in parallel with the construction of the dam, GICC further recalled.

It is noted that Mr. Sameh Shoukry’s irresponsible rhetoric of warning Ethiopia against the ongoing filling and operation of GERD reveals a desperate attempt at public diplomacy with “smoke-screen and an attempt to mislead” the views of the participants of the ongoing World Water Forum, in New York.

GICC underlined that so far Ethiopia has only used less than 7% of its total annual Nile water contribution to filling the GERD.

Subsequently, the Consortium urged Egypt to positively engage with Nile upstream nations for sustainable, equitable, and reasonable use, management, protection, and conservation of the shared Nile waters for now and for the future, further advising that this can be done through amicable and collaborative engagement by establishing a legal and institutional regime that satisfies the national interests of all riparian countries of the Nile.

“We earnestly wish Egypt to come out of the uncharted claims to hold the monopoly right of the River Nile without regard to the sovereign rights and interests of the rest of the upstream nations”, the statement concludes.

It is learned that GERD International Collaborative Consortium (GICC) is established by independent organizations to work collaboratively to support the Grand Ethiopia Renaissance Dam (GERD) projects and water resources management.