Ethiopian Hydropower Dam Assessment Warns of Structural Weakness

Bloomberg News

By William Davison, October 03, 2013

Ethiopia’s plan to build Africa’s biggest hydropower dam on the main tributary of the Nile River must address concerns that there may be flaws in the design of its foundations, a group of international experts said.

They also called for further studies on what impact the 6,000-megawatt, $4.7 billion project may have on the downstream nations of Sudan and Egypt, the International Panel of Experts said in a report e-mailed to Bloomberg News and verified by Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry. Egypt, which relies on the Nile for almost all of its water, expressed alarm about the dam when Ethiopia in May diverted the Blue Nile as part of the construction process.

“Structural measures might be needed to stabilize the foundation to achieve the required safety against sliding” of the main dam, according to the report. There are also “weak zones” in the rock that will support an auxiliary dam that need to be studied, it said.

Construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is part of a government plan to spend 569 billion birr ($30 billion) on infrastructure in the five years through mid-2015. The country,

More Arrests in High Profile Corruption Case

Unlike other arrested parties, on this occasion the businessman in question, Gebreselassie Hailemariam, was indicted immediately

Gebreselassie Hailemariam, a.k.a Aleqa Gebreselassie owns the COMET Building in the 22 Mazoria area in Bole District.

Gebreselassie Hailemariam, a.k.a Aleqa Gebreselassie – owner of the COMET Building in the Hayahulet Mazoria area in Bole District, and father of Yemane Gebreselassie, who owns the new Capital Hotel & Spa on Haile Gebreselassie Avenue- was arrested three weeks ago, in connection with the current high profile corruption crackdown on the tax sector by the Federal Ethics & Anti Corruption Commission (FEACC). He has already been indicted and has joined other high profile officials in prison, Fortune confirmed from investigators.

The International Criminal Court on an African Safari?

Alemayehu G Mariam

African Race Hunting, the Race Card and Racing After African Thugs?

Hailemariam Desalegn, the titular prime minister of Ethiopia, says the International Criminal Court (ICC) is on African safari. In May 2013,according to the BBC, Desalegn said, “African leaders were concerned that out of those indicted by the ICC, 99% are Africans. This shows something is flawed within the system of the ICC and we object to that. The process has degenerated into some kind of race hunting.” Last week a spokesman for the ruling regime in Ethiopia chimed in. “We never appreciated what the ICC has been doing, particularly when it comes African leaders, and its belittling and it’s disparaging the African leadership.”

Earlier this month, Hailemariam reportedly sent a letter to “the ICC copying the UN Security Council (UNSC) formally demanding that the charges against both president

Water Wars: Egyptians Condemn Ethiopia’s Nile Dam Project

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam being built along the Nile has ignited disagreement between Egypt and Ethiopia.

Photograph by Cameron Davidson, Corbis

Peter Schwartzstein in Cairo

National Geographic

“Ethiopia is killing us,” taxi driver Ahmed Hossam said, as he picked his way through Cairo’s notoriously traffic-clogged streets. “If they build this dam, there will be no Nile. If there’s no Nile, then there’s no Egypt.”

Projects on the scale of the $4.7 billion, 1.1-mile-long (1.7-kilometer-long)Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam often encounter impassioned resistance, but few inspire the kind of dread and fury with which most Egyptians regard plans to dam the Blue Nile River.

No Human Rights = No Development

Oakland Institute and the Housing and Land Rights Network Submit Human Rights Report on Ethiopia to the United Nations

OAKLAND CA- In a report submitted to the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on September 15, 2013, the Oakland Institute and the Housing and Land Rights Network outlined the human rights and international law violations perpetrated by the government of Ethiopia in the name of country’s development strategy.

Drawing clear links between recorded testimonies on the ground and breaches of specific international covenants and articles in Ethiopia’s constitution,

Democracy, Tolerance, and G7’s position towards Eritrea

September 27, 2013

by Kirubeal Bekele

On Sunday September 22, 2013, the Ginbot 7 leadership had a very revealing and open discussion in Washington DC meeting like it has never had before. As you know, the issue of working with Eritrea has been a bone in the throat for G7 as well as for its supporters around the world. Many have argued against using Eritrea as a spring board to wage an armed struggle against TPLF.

Opponents claim that Eritrea cannot be trusted based on their experience with Isayas Afeworki so far and his public rhetoric as it relates to Ethiopia. They may have a point. But the problem is that they don’t practice the position they defend or argue for.

The Fading Political Cult (Sadik Ahmed)

by Sadik Ahmed

Meles was an administrative felon who turned his elegance to one giant political orphanage. As Meles departed unexpectedly, the scream from his political orphanage is wandering throughout the world wherever his cult followers are. Unlike other well-known leaders, Meles has not attached himself to a smart life partner; he picked out not book-smart but street–smart, and uncivilized ghetto style spouse, who can fit the scam but not the dictatorial dwelling as a first lady.

If Azeb Mesfin happens to be smart and well educated, she could have been facing the fate of Meles comrades who perished in desert sabotage.