Adddis Ababa June 17/2021 (ENA) The Arab League Resolution is partial, biased and that deliberately ignores Ethiopia’s efforts to bring consensus on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), a scholar noted.

In an exclusive interview with ENA, Addis Ababa University Center for African and Oriental Studies Assistant Professor Samuel Tefera said the Arab League has shown its blind solidarity and support for the claims of Sudan and Egypt with respect to the second round filling of  GERD.

“It is very regrettable that the resolution shows partiality without considering and taking into account Ethiopia’s efforts to bring consensus concerning the GERD,” he underscored.

Furthermore, the academic pointed out that the issue of GERD is African and that needs an African solution. But “the Arab League does not believe in the principle that African problems should be solved by African problems.”

He noted that the Arab League “undermines the knowledge and experiences of African countries and the African Union which rightly states that such matters between member states should be resolved by themselves. That is the primary reason.”

The source of Abay River (Blue Nile) is Ethiopia. “It flows from Ethiopia and Ethiopian soil,” he said, adding that “whatever solutions you try to bring to resolve such contentions you  should have a very good understanding of the context, which is the continent.”  

The scholar noted that “we cannot bring this from somewhere else to get a very good and lasting solution to the differences we have between the three countries and the greater Nile Basin member states.”

Moreover, the Arab League has always been trying to internationalize the tripartite negotiations, particularly to Arabize Nile issues, Samuel underlined.

The league should instead leave the matter to the AU, which is facilitating and mediating the tripartite negotiations, to reach agreement and consensus between the three countries based on the 2015 Declaration of Principles (DoP), he elaborated.

According to him, Ethiopia is following and working on the impoundment of the dam according to the stage filling process program which was approved by the experts of the three countries and based on DoP.

Ethiopia has strongly rejected the Resolution of the Executive Council of the League of Arab States on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) issued on 15 June 2021 after its meeting held in Doha, Qatar.

The Government of Ethiopia noted that the League of Arab States should desist from making such unhelpful statements, which will only serve to antagonize the relations between the three countries and undermine the tripartite negotiations.