Ethiopia’s Minister of Water and Energy, Habtamu Itefa, has confirmed reports that thousands of people died during the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). In an interview with “Reporter” magazine, the minister stated that 15,000 people lost their lives during the dam’s construction.
He explained that among those who died was the former dam project manager, Engineer Semegnew Bekele. The victims included security personnel, drivers, workers, and local residents who contributed to or supported the project in various ways, along with other individuals. The GERD, the largest dam in Africa, is expected to be inaugurated next week.
According to the Ethio Negari website, this “monumental achievement came at a staggering human cost, represented by the deaths of nearly 15,000 Ethiopians over the 14-year construction process.” The article noted that this number, which was confirmed by the Ethiopian Minister of Water and Energy, “sheds light on the immense sacrifices made behind the scenes for this project.”
Ethiopia is scheduled to inaugurate the GERD this month, at the end of the rainy season, after the dam’s reservoir reached 74 billion cubic meters of water.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed stated that the GERD will not be the last project, and that his country intends to launch other massive projects within the next 5 to 15 years. He said that “benefiting from the Nile is neither a mistake nor a crime.”
The dam has been a major point of contention between Ethiopia, an upstream country, and the two downstream nations, Egypt and Sudan.
While Addis Ababa considers the dam a national project subject to its sovereignty and within its territory, the two downstream countries argue that any projects on shared international rivers must be coordinated to prevent harm or the restriction of water flow. They are demanding that Ethiopia sign a binding legal agreement that guarantees the rights of all parties.
In a joint statement, Egypt and Sudan affirmed that their water security is an inseparable part of a single whole. They reiterated their complete rejection of any unilateral moves in the Eastern Nile Basin that could harm their water interests.
Last month, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi sent a strong message, saying that “anyone who imagines that Egypt will turn a blind eye to an existential threat to its water security is mistaken.” He stressed that Egypt will not abandon its water rights because that “means giving up our lives.”
