The Colonial Era Blue Nile Treaty on the 21st Centaury

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As the third anniversary of the Renaissance dam whose construction reached well above 30% is approaching, Egypt is using all her arsenals to hinder the dam’s construction.

One of the recent Egyptians argument point has became the 1902 E.C agreement between Ethiopian Emperor Minilik and the then British colonizers of Egypt. As the Egyptian government’s spokesman said on Wednesday, in the 1902 E.C’s treaty Ethiopia had agreed not to build any structure on the Nile waters or the Lake Tana without the consent of Sudan or the British.

And as their argument goes, by building the Renaissance dam, Ethiopia is trespassing the abiding legal framework the treaty puts.

As an international legal expert Emiru Tamerat responded when asked about the issue by the Amharic weekly Addis Admass newspaper, he said that since Egypt hasn’t been part of the treaty the question never arises. Since Egypt was under the colonial rule of the British, Egypt has never been part of the treaty.

The other important point Emiru raised is the Amharic version of the 1902 E.C treaty, which doesn’t hinder Ethiopia from using the water. What it demands was ‘not to stop the flow of water’ which will go on flowing after it hits the turbine.

The late Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has also responded on this old argument point of the Egyptians once while being interviewed by the Egyptian journalist before the Renaissance dam’s construction was started. The late Premier said that raising the issue of the colonial era treaty before the 21st century is utterly unacceptable and embarrassing.