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Arab League lends support to Egypt, Sudan in GERD talks

17 Jun

Posted by The Ethiopia Observatory (TEO)

The United States’ National Security Council (NSC) said on Wednesday that it is time to reach a deal over Ethiopia’s disputed Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) before filling it with Nile River water.

In a tweet on its official account, the NSC said that “257 million people in east #Africa are relying on #Ethiopia to show strong leadership, which means striking a fair deal.”

“The technical issues have been resolved,” the NSC said, referring to the ongoing tripartite negotiations between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan, before adding that it’s “time to get GERD deal done before filling it with Nile River water!”  

Source: AhramOnline

 

The Arab League has lent its support to Egypt and Sudan in the ongoing negotiations with Ethiopia over the disputed Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), according to Hossam Zaki, the Arab League Deputy Secretary-General. 

In an interview with state-run Middle East News Agency (MENA), Zaki said, “The Egyptian handling of the GERD issue was very wise, but unfortunately, the Ethiopian side’s intransigence and procrastination brought us to this point.”

He added that he wished for the issue to be positively concluded through political negotiation.

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Legal differences emerge over Ethiopian dam filling agreement

16 Jun

Posted by The Ethiopia Observatory (TEO)

June 15, 2020 (Sudan Tribune) New legal disagreements emerged the tripartite talks on the first filling of the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) forcing the parties to extend the talks for more time.

The dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia over the first filling of the giant hydropower dam continued on Monday according to a statement issued by the Sudanese government which initiated the ongoing videoconference meetings after the failure of Washington meetings to break the deadlock.

However, the Sudanese government stressed that “great progress” has been achieved on the issues related to the operation of the GERD, the safety of the dam, the long-term operation, data exchange and the technical committee for the needed coordination between the upstream and downstream countries.

All these points dealt in fact with the concerns of Sudan.

Nonetheless, the statement also pointed to progress on the “first filling of the dam” which is the main issue of concern for Egypt but did not develop on this matter.

Egyptian and Ethiopian government trade accusations about the bad faith of each other, as the public debate moved gradually to the ownership of the water and two sides accuse each other of seeking to dictate its will on the other.

Despite the announced progress in the discussions, the statement stressed that “legal” differences appeared between the parties.

“Differences arose between the three delegations regarding legal aspects, especially in binding character and legal force of the agreement and how to amend it,” further said the statement.

Secondly, the parties are still at odds on “the mechanism for the settlement of disputes over the implementation of the agreement,” underscored the statement.

The third point of discord is how to link the agreement to other “irrelevant issues related to water sharing”, said the Sudanese government which seeks to bring the parties to conclude a deal before the rainy seasons to enable Ethiopia to launch the long term filling process.

The legal teams of the three countries were tasked to deliberate on the three legal dispute, in the presence of the observers, before to submit their findings to a ministerial meeting that will be held on Tuesday, June 16.

Treaties often contain a mix of mandatory and non-mandatory elements. The parties have to determine clearly what is revocable and how to settle a dispute over it.

(ST)

 

 

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History May Look Back on this time as Needless Moment:       Addis Fortune editorial

16 Jun

Posted by The Ethiopia Observatory (TEO)

If the rippling effects of granting the incumbent an extension of its full power based on a contested deliberative political and constitutional process was not apparent, there have been signs of ill omen over the past week.

Three major opposition parties – the Oromo Federalist Congress, Oromo Liberation Front and the Ogaden National Liberation Front – have warned of an increase in tensions. In the case of the first two, the consequence could be a return to public discontent and possible eruptions of anti-government protests that “could transform into violence,” according to a joint statement they released…

Unwittingly, a process stewarded by Chief Justice Meaza granted a legal closure to what is essentially a political deadlock. History will remember her and those legislators who have voted in favour of their decision needlessly.

 

It is characteristic of the general climate of confusion the year 2020 has set in Ethiopia and the global stage in general. There is an air of melancholy.

In just a few months, the spirit of the Constitution was afforded as much respect as its intent was devalued. The circumstances were at first ominous.

The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE), citing disruptions caused by the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, decided to postpone the much anticipated national elections, which were slated for August. It was a fateful decision that failed to pass the test of considerable and thoughtful reflections.

But it set off a substantive and rewarding debate on the letter and spirit of the Constitution, with legal scholars reflecting on the possibilities and implications of postponing the elections. No less encouraging was to see the Council of Constitutional Inquiry (CCI) hold a hearing chaired by Chief Justice Meaza Asheanfi, president of the Supreme Court, for legal and constitutional experts to add to the discussion. It was an uplifting exercise of the sort rarely witnessed in the country’s political history. Continue reading →

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Coronavirus in Africa: Outbreak ‘accelerating’ across continent

11 Jun

Posted by The Ethiopia Observatory (TEO)

The coronavirus pandemic is accelerating in Africa, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.

In Ethiopia too, the pace of infections has been accelerating of late, with daily deaths too reported by the country’s Minister of Health.

The WHO’s Africa regional director Matshidiso Moeti said it was spreading beyond capital cities and that a lack of tests and other supplies was hampering responses.

But she said that it did not seem as if severe cases and deaths were being missed by authorities.

So far Africa has been the continent least affected by Covid-19.

South Africa had more than a quarter of the cases and an outbreak in its Western Cape province was looking similar to recent outbreaks in Europe, Dr Moeti said.

The country has one of the most advanced healthcare systems in Africa, but there are fears that a steep rise in cases could overwhelm it.

South Africa’s government has been praised for its early and decisive imposition of a lockdown, but the easing of restrictions in June has been accompanied by a rise in infections.

Overall, there have been more than 7.3 million infections globally and more than 416,000 deaths.

Dr Moeti told a briefing at WHO headquarters in Geneva that Africa had had some 200,000 cases and 5,000 deaths, with 10 countries accounting for 75% of the cases.

She said cases were likely to continue increasing for the foreseeable future.

“Until such time as we have access to an effective vaccine, I’m afraid we’ll probably have to live with a steady increase in the region, with some hotspots having to be managed in a number of countries, as is happening now in South Africa, Algeria, Cameroon for example, which require very strong public health measures, social distancing measures to take place,” Dr Moeti said.

/ BBC News

 

 

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የአዲስ ፎርችን አዘጋጆች ግንቦት 23/2012 ለሕትመት በበቃው ርዕሰ አንቀጽ ላይ ያደረጉት ዉይይት

11 Jun

Posted by The Ethiopia Observatory (TEO)

 

 

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የጠ/ሚሩ የሰኞ የምክር ቤት ውሎ!

9 Jun

Posted by The Ethiopia Observatory (TEO)

 

 

 

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At Least 90 Ethiopian Health Workers Tested Positive for COVID-19

9 Jun

Posted by The Ethiopia Observatory (TEO)

June 8, 2020 (Ezega.com) — At least 90 Ethiopian health workers have tested positive for the novel coronavirus as the number of citizens infected by the pandemic rises to 2020 across the country.

The health workers contracted the virus from outgoing patients in various health centers across the country, Minister of Health Dr. Lia Tadesse said in a daily briefing.

The minister further added most of the cases which make up 91 percent of the total infections among the health community are in Addis Ababa.

The pandemic has already claimed the lives of 27 Ethiopians and seven deaths, the highest ever was reported on Sunday.

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Coronavirus turns to mercilessly infecting Ethiopia; five fatalities in single day

9 Jun

Posted by The Ethiopia Observatory (TEO)

Addis Ababa (ENA) — The number of new COVID-19 cases in Ethiopia rose by 190 over the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide tally to 2,336.

It also reported 5 new fatalities from coronavirus, taking the total death toll in Ethiopia to 32.

In its daily update, the Ministry of Health disclosed that the increase in numbers follows after laboratory testing with more than 4,599 carried out over the last 24 hours.

Of the total 190 confirmed cases, 135 are males and 55 females aged between 1 and 89 years. All the infected individuals are Ethiopian nationals.

Among the identified cases, 153 are in Addis Ababa, 16 in Oromia, 10 in Amhara, and 2 in Tigray Regional States. In each Regional States of SNNPR, Harari and Somali 3 people have identified with the virus.

Meanwhile, 18 more patients have recovered from the virus, bringing the overall number of recoveries to 379.

A total of 152,334 samples have been tested in Ethiopia since the first case was reported last March.

Recall that on June 8, Ethiopia had recorded 136 infections new COVID-19 fatalities, which was the highest single-day surge since the pandemic hit the country in early March, raising the death toll to 27.

The new figures may also be a function of expansion of testing in the country, which daily is reaching about 5,000 people.

 

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