The issue of the GERD has reached its climax when Ethiopia was ready to impound the reservoir leading the three riparian countries /Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt/ to a new round of intense debate disagreement and controversy. Taking this crucial historical moment as an interesting and significant topic of research, this thesis is set out with a key purpose of examining how the media outlets in the three countries reported and framed issues related to the first round filling of the GERD. The Ethiopian Herald, Sudan Tribune and Ahram online with their news stories written from June 1st to July 31st have been examined. Ten news stories from each media outlet have been studied in conjunction with in-depth interviews and close examination of related literatures to provide the thesis with additional substance. Theoretical framework utilized for the study is framing and agenda setting theories.
Key word: GERD, Nile River, Impoundment of the GERD Reservoir, Controversy over the GERD, Blue Nile/Abbay
TABLE OF CONTENT
Contents
ABSTRACT
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
ACCRONYMS /ABBREVIATIONS
TABLE OF CONTENT
CHAPTER ONE
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Chapter Preview
1.2. Background of the Study
1.3. Statement of the Problem
1. 4. Objective of the Study
1.5. Significance of the Study
1.6. Delimitation/Scope of the study
1.7. Organization of the Research Report
CHAPTER TWO
2. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1. CHAPTER REVIEW
2.2. Overview of the Nile (Abbay)
2.3. Overview of the GERD
2.4. Disagreement over the GERD
2.5. Overview of colonial Era Agreements
2.5.1. The 1891 Anglo-Italian Protocol
2.5.2. The 1906 Tripartite agreement between Great Britain, France and Italy
2.5.3. The Anglo-Egyptian Agreement of 1929
2.5.4. The Egyptian-Sudanese Agreement of 1959
2.6. New Agreements and Pending Negotiations
2.7. The Filling of GERD
2.8. Theoretical Framework
2.8.1. Framing Theory
2.8.2. Equivalency frames and emphasis frame
2.9. Typology of news framing
2.9.1. Issue specific and generic frames
2.9.2. Types of Generic News Framings
2.9.3. Inductive and Deductive approaches of news framing
2.10. Identifying frames in the news
2.11. Criteria a Frame Must Meet
2.12. News framing effects
2.13. Agenda setting theory and its relationship with framing
2.14. Brief history of The Ethiopian Herald
2.15. Brief History of Sudan Tribune
2.16. Brief History of Ahram Online
CHAPTER THREE
3. METHODOLOGY
3.1. CHAPTER REVIEW
3.2. Research Design
3.3. Research Approach
3.4. Subjects of the study
3.5. Sampling Period and Sampling Size
3.6. Sampling Method
3.7. Data Collection tool and procedure
3.7.1. In-depth interview
3.7.2. Textual Analysis
3.8. Primary and Secondary data Sources
3.9. Ethical Consideration
CHAPTER FOUR
4. DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
4.1. CHAPTER REVIEW
4.2. Research Findings
4.2.1. Research Findings on the Ethiopian Herald
4.2.1.1. Natural Rights Frame
4.2.1.2. Exclusion frame
4.2.1.3. Mutual Benefit
4.2.2. Research findings on Ahram online
4.2.2.1. Historic Rights Frame
4.2.2.2. Conflict Frame
4.2.3. Research findings on Sudan Tribune
4.2.3.1. Economic Consequence Frame
4.2.3.2. Conflict Frame
4.3. Comparative Analysis
4.3.1. Defining the problem
4.3.1.1. The Ethiopian Herald 79
4.3.1.2. Ahram Online
4.3.1.3. Sudan Tribune 79
4.3.2. Exploring/interpreting the cause
4.3.2.1. The Ethiopian Herald
4.3.2.2. Ahram online
4.3.2.3. Sudan Tribune
4.3.3. Making moral judgments
4.3.3.1. The Ethiopian Herald
4.3.3.2. Ahram Online
4.3.3.3. Sudan Tribune
4.3.4. Projecting Solution/remedy
4.3.4.1. The Ethiopian Herald
4.3.4.2. Ahram Online
4.3.4.3. Sudan Tribune
4.4. Tonal Comparison
4.4.1. The Ethiopian Herald
4.4.2. Ahram online
4.4.3. Sudan Tribune
4.5. Clarity versus vagueness
4.6. Similarities versus Differences
CHAPTER FIVE
5. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.2. Conclusion
5.3. Recommendations
REFERENCE
Appendix A
APPENDIX B
APPENDIX C
APPENDIX D
APPENDIX E
Appendix F
APPENDIX G
APPENDIX H
Appendix 1
APPENDIX J
ABSTRACT
The issue of the GERD has reached its climax when Ethiopia was ready to impound the reservoir leading the three riparian countries /Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt/ to a new round of intense debate disagreement and controversy. Taking this crucial historical moment as an interesting and significant topic of research, this thesis is set out with a key purpose of examining how the media outlets in the three countries reported and framed issues related to the first round filling of the GERD. The Ethiopian Herald, Sudan Tribune and Ahram online with their news stories written from June 1st to July 31st have been examined. Ten news stories from each media outlet have been studied in conjunction with in-depth interviews and close examination of related literatures to provide the thesis with additional substance. Theoretical framework utilized for the study is framing and agenda setting theories. Research findings revealed that the Ethiopian Herald and Ahram online have reported extensively about the first impoundment of the GERD than Sudan Tribune. Prominent frames observed in The Ethiopian Herald were Natural rights frame, exclusion frame and mutual benefit frame. Sudan Tribune has prominently used economic consequence frame and conflict frame while Ahram online inclined to dominantly utilize historic rights frame and conflict frame. The issue of the first round filling of the GERD has been reported and framed in a distinctive manner that goes in line with the interest of their respective countries and the agenda setting policy of the media outlets in focus. Drawing a recommendation from the research a couple of reflections has been forwarded for further studies to be conducted on the issue of the GERD. Impartiality, balance and professionalism have also been recommended for the three media outlets studied under this research.
Key word: GERD, Nile River, Impoundment of the GERD Reservoir, Controversy over the GERD, Blue Nile/Abbay
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
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AAO'A h"I^MI^C!
Many Thanks to my Advisor Asst. Professor Mekuria Mekasha, my instructors, my classmates, and my informants that contributed a lot in my journey from the inception of this thesis to inscribing this acknowledgement
ACCRONYMS /ABBREVIATIONS
Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten
LIST OF FIGURES/TABLES
Table 4.1 page
Chart 4.1 page
CHAPTER ONE
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. CHAPTER PREVIEW
This chapter is discussing about the background of the study giving sufficient information as to how large hydroelectric projects with geopolitical significances around the world are oftentimes controversial garnering a high volume of media attention and media coverage. Furthermore statement of the problem, objectives of the study, significance of the study, methodology employed to conduct the research and the scope/delimitation of the study are discussed briefly in chapter one.
1.2. Background of the Study
Media is becoming one of the main engaging activities of people's life of the time. The increasing invisibility of media is exemplified by their disappearing from consciousness when used intensively by the logic of immediacy (Duez, 2011). In the age of globalization and the Internet along with people's life style and the technology has created a forum by which information flow is facilitated easily and instantly around the world. The Internet's instant and easy accessibility offer an immediacy of information that no other news medium can match (Sagan and Leighten, 2010).
Even though the media is interested to report events and issues very quickly, they report the issues with in the angle of their interests. Almost all conflicting issues in the world are reported but with a reflection of interest from the media organization. Accordingly, news organizations apply their own preference and/or criteria in identification, selection, and highlighting of some features of events or issues and trying to make connections among them so as to magnify and promote a particular interpretation, evaluation, and/or action (Entman, 2004). In other words, news stories are framed inline with the interest of the news organization in order to ascertain and clearly magnify certain messages to their readership/audiences.
Conflicts, disagreements and disputes are the main interest of the media. Issues creating dispute in relation to big projects like hydroelectric dams constructed in Trans Boundary Rivers like Nile has always been a point of controversy and the focus of media around the world. As many hydro politicians highlight the history of human behavior, exhibits conflict over water is an intrinsic feature. Warfare associated with the protection and destruction of vital water systems is traceable for centuries (Klare, 2013)
Accordingly large hydroelectric projects with geopolitical significances are often controversial and reported extensively on the media around the world. For instance the a dam on Colorado River has sparked a lot of disagreement not only between USA and Mexico, but also ignited hot debate and interstate disagreement between the bordering states within the USA. The media has reported about the issue extensively about the negative effects of the dam and framed it according to their interests.
For instance, (Finely, 2019) Wrote on Denver Post that there was increasing anxiety in booming Colorado and other upper basin states- New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming about their plight of being legally roped into sending more water downriver, even if dry winters, new population growth and development made that impossible without shutting faucets.
The dam on Colorado River was a hot issue and highly reported and differently framed by the media of the two countries US and Mexico as well. Lakhani (2019) wrote that the Colorado River that originates in the Rocky Mountains and traverse seven US states, before reaching Mexico, where it is supposed to low onwards to the sea of Cortez is dammed at the US-Mexico border, leaving the Mexican side river channel empty and locals are now battling to bring it back to life.
The Mega project Myitsone dam of China which has been constructed outside of its territory has also been an issue of controversy and extensively reported in the news as Burma decided to halt the billions worth construction following strong disagreement and public outcry in Burmese nationals (Kiik, 2020).
The Hoover dam in America, the Tucurui dam in Brazil, the Xiluodu dam in China has also been extensively reported on the media.
Modern day Africa has also become interested in construction of hydroelectric dams which, has garnered a lot of dispute and media attention. The dams constructed on the river Nile in Egypt and Sudan is no exceptions in fueling controversy and garnering media attention. Despite The geopolitical situation and the fact that Egypt was the last riparian country in the Nile basin, construction of Aswan high dam has also entertained high volume of disagreement objection and media coverage. As Fahim (1934) noted, no other dam like Aswan High Dam has received so much world concern and media coverage, publicity and controversy/debate.
In the same manner, Merowe dam of Sudan constructed on the river Nile has also been center of media attention and controversy (Askouri, 2004) The Merowe is a huge and controversial project that promises intensified social unrest and misery for tens of thousands of citizens displaced forcibly.
Similarly, the Millennium Dam that has later been called Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in 2003 EC has also created a lot of disagreement. The Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam GERD constructed on Abbay (Blue Nile), and which is the largest hydroelectric dam in Africa is a 4.8 billion Dollar project. GERD is one of the most recent dam projects in the Nile Basin and one of the 33 Abbay basin water development projects that were identified in the 1958-64 Ethio-USBR study (Yakob, 2018).
GERD is constructed to generate electricity with total installed capacity of 15,759 GWh/yr. It will have significant contribution to the national electricity demand. It will increase rural electrification supply from 56% to 90 %. The GERD has an altitude of 145 meters and constructed with a capacity of 10.1 million cubic meters by RCC technology (EPA, 2019).
The country, Ethiopia financed the Mega project through fund raising bond selling and contributions from Ethiopians including the diaspora community as Abitew and Degu (2019) noted that Ethiopia's commitment to build the dam by the money generated from it's citizen's contribution was a result of Egypt's alleged persistent campaign and ability to block any assistance from international funding institution like International Monetary Fund and World Bank to maintain presumed hegemony on the Nile water share (ibid).
Like many other mega hydroelectric projects, GERD has sparked a lot of controversy leading the international regional and local media to report extensively and frame differently about the issue. In its endeavor to build the hydroelectric dam, Ethiopia claims to experience a lot of obstacle from time immemorial, Egypt being the main actor of the challenge.
According to Lawson (2018). Egypt is always insisting on the motto of “historic rights” to receive two thirds of the down river flow of the water of the Nile basin irrespective of the upper riparian country's right to use their natural resource for development. “Egypt's resistance arises from two colonial era agreements. The 1929 Nile Water Agreement and the 1959 Agreement for the Full Utilization of the Nile which entitled Egypt and Sudan an unfair advantage over other riparian states” (Siyabonga, 2013. p.2).
Nile is a natural resource of all the riparian countries and no country including Egypt can claim exclusive right and control over the river is Ethiopia's repeated argument. Gebresellasie (2020) Stated, Ethiopia contributes over 85% to the Nile water and gets nothing while Egypt contributing not a drop of water is using almost everything and repeating the old Mantra of “Historic Right”.
Ferede (2018, p 55) ‘Egyptians think the notion of other peoples in the basin entertaining the idea of sharing the Nile water is like advancing an agenda of killing Egyptians indiscriminately.”
Even though there is a strong opposition firstly on the construction of the dam from the very beginning and secondly on the first filling of the dam by Egypt and Sudan claiming that environmental factors such as reduction in the amount of water flow and drought (Jamaid, 2019) Ethiopia remained committed carrying on with the project with a key objective of necessity for development and transformation.
Building a dam and coming out of poverty is a priority to Ethiopia, which is a landlocked country and one of the poorest nations in the world. Ethiopia, with one of the largest economic and population growth rates in Africa sees the construction of the dam as a way of developing the country and transforming from poor to a rich country (Daniel 2018).
Constructing the dam Ethiopia has always claimed to be transparent and positive in seeking for a win-win situation where all the lower riparian countries will benefit from the project. As (Nuru, 2020) wrote Ethiopia initiated and proposed an international panel of experts (IPOE) to be established in 2011 to assess the benefit and impact of the dam.
Ethiopia's transparency and willingness to invite international and independent studies to be conducted on GERD's benefits and impacts seemed to bear fruit as some of the studies have convinced hydrologists even from Cairo that GERD will substantially benefit the lower riparian countries.
As noted by Egyptian hydrologist, Milas (2008), the suitability of the present site of the GERD along with others for hydropower generation and for the promotion of interregional trade in power supplies. Experts clearly indicated the amount of water available to the downstream riparian states would not be affected by the filling of the dam. Even if Ethiopia drew significant quantities of water, Egypt and the Sudan would still benefit from the construction of the reservoirs in Ethiopia.
Furthermore, Ethiopia reiterated that GERD is not limited to power supply. It has a lot of advantages such as benefiting the downstream flow of the river by removing silt and sedimentation, regulating the water flow and conserving water in Ethiopian highlands. Thus the GERD has local regional and international significance such as reducing air pollution, mitigating climate change, creating electric connectivity in local countries and bring about economic growth” (Ethiopian Electric Power, 2019).
Due to the many technical and scientific explanation provided by Ethiopia Sudan's position has been shifted to side with the construction of the dam and support Ethiopia's endeavor of constructing and finalizing the largest hydroelectric dam. As “Sudanese former president Umar Al Bashir had gone on Television to say that the GERD represented an asset to Ethiopia and Sudan alike” (Lawson 2013).
Sudan's support to Ethiopia of the GERD project can be attributed to various factors (Tafese, 2018) noted, The dam will siphon off more water for downstream irrigation, Sudan will get a regulated and sustained water flow, the dam will hold back immense quantities of silt and sediments resulting in 86 % reduction, GERD can prolong the life span of Sudanese dams, and improve flood control etc.
Sudan's position has swayed to opposing the filling of the reservoir after the coming to power of the new government as clearly noted in the data presentation and analysis of this thesis.
When it comes to the government in Egypt the GERD has always been portrayed as a threat. Egyptians have taken various measures to thwart the construction of GERD using various mechanisms such as lobbying the Italians to interrupt and possibly halt the construction of the dam by Salini Impregilo Construction Firm, approaching the EU US China and Saudi Arabia, The UAE, Japan, The World Bank etc. and soliciting their support, contemplating of taking the case to the International Court of Justice and the UN Security Council etc. (ibid).
Egypt's main concern at this juncture has shifted from opposing the construction of the dam to insisting on delaying and/or slowing the filling of the dam with an argument of significant harm may happen if the GERD is filled as planned. Egypt proposes the filling to take 12 to 21 years while Ethiopia asserted that it would start filling the dam in the rainy season of June/July 2020. Ethiopia has a strong stance for completing filling the reservoir in four to six years to avoid any concerns of reduction of water to the lower riparian countries and to eventually advance in to generation of electricity in full capacity in the coming few years (Alemtsehai, 2020).
Despite the factors that have been entertained to stop the GERD progressing forward to the point of filling the dam, Ethiopia has announced finalizing all the preliminary construction of the project and embarked on the important stage where the first filling of the dam becomes crucial and manageable during the rainy season in June/July 2020.
Following the announcement, there was a strong opposition from both Sudan and Egypt and a series of negotiation by three countries regarding the filling of the dam. The Ethiopian Herald, Sudan Tribune and Ahram online have written news stories extensively about the issue. The media has also framed their news differently. No research that I know of has been done on the news framing of the three media outlets during the first filling of the dam. The issue of the first filling of the dam is current and fresh, so this writer is inspired to conduct the research in this specific area. Investigating how the three media outlets framed the first round impoundment of the dam and examining the similarities and differences among them to come up with a possible reason behind framing the news stories in such a manner will be the main focus of this research.
Accordingly, the research is investigating how The Ethiopian Herald, Sudan Tribune and Ahram online have framed the first filling of the GERD. The three media outlets were chosen as a subject of the study due to various reasons including but not limited to their easily accessible nature, and the fact that there is easily distinguishable distinction in reporting the same issue with a different framework. The study will highlight on finding out the main frames of media outlets in reporting the first round filling of the GERD, understanding the similarities and differences among the three media organizations in framing the issue and figuring out the factors that might have affected the medias to frame the issue in such a manner will also be dealt with thoroughly in this research.
1.3. Statement of the Problem
The issue of the GERD has been agenda of the region as Ethiopia tried to explain the benefit of the dam for the lower riparian countries and Egypt/Sudan voicing their indifference allegedly creating obstacles to the construction and advancement of the GERD and denouncing the usefulness of the dam to the lower riparian countries with mainly fear of lower share of the water. Egypt particularly voices repeated concerns that the planned filling of the GERD reservoir would diminish its water supply from the Nile on which it relies for vast majority of its fresh water“(Ahram Online, 2020)
Ethiopia's repeated argument regarding building and using the GERD indicated that the Dam will be vital for energy production and a key factor for food production, economic development, and poverty reduction in Ethiopia and the Nile basin including the lower riparian countries. AbdelahI, D., Aggestam, K., andersson, D., et al.2015).
Furthermore, Ethiopia indicated that the filling of GERD in June/July 2020 is very important and something that has to be done irrespective of bilateral or trilateral agreement, with the lower riparian countries arguing that unreasonably delaying of filling the dam will bring tremendous damage such as large economic and social costs (Alemtsehai, 2020).
The country stressed on its commitment to fill and operate the GERD arguing that it is Ethiopia's right of using its equitable share of the Nile water. Furthermore, Ethiopia shared its filling plan of the GERD during negotiations not only recently but also back in 2017 to Sudan and Egypt which the country claimed to be entirely compatible with the principles of the 2015 DOP (Ibid). However, Sudan and Egypt strongly opposed Ethiopia's commitment to filling the dam before a concrete agreement has been reached. Sudan and Egypt's main concern among others was the significant harm that might be caused due to filling of GERD.
Accordingly, a round of meetings and negotiations has been conducted between the three countries in person and sometimes virtually /due to Covid19/ including with the involvement of mediators from other states and organizations such as African Union, World Bank, South Africa, and USA etc.
As the negotiations and disputes as well as the media coverage was on progress, Ethiopia announced the completion of the first filling of the dam on 12th July 2020 and claimed that the dam was filled without causing any harm as feared by lower riparian countries.
The first filling of GERD has been given a wide coverage on international media including BBC, CNN, and Aljazeera etc. For instance BBC reported the issue of GERD six times in the month of July 2020 on its of official website while Aljazeera reported about it three times same period on the website. This figure doesn't reflect the number of times these international medias reported about GERD in their Radio's Televisions and other social media outlets.
Ethiopia's firm stance regarding the filling of GERD in contrast with Sudan and Egypt's serious objections has been extensively reported and differently framed in the respective media news stories as well. In addition to media coverage, several studies have been conducted on the issue of GERD. For instance Deasalew (2018) Muez (2020) and Roman (2020) and Yeshiwas (2020) etc. has written research and articles.
Desalew (2018) examined the media coverage and roles of Ethiopian print media in achieving consensus in regards with the GERD building. His study was situated within Agenda setting and consensus theory of Ideology. His research asserted that since GERD is very important in bringing economic development and eradicating poverty in the country, roles of print media in creating consensus towards GERD among the society is significant.
Muez (2012.) has investigated National and International Press Coverage of Ethiopia's Decision to Construct GERD on Nile River. Utilizing theories of agenda setting, framing and economy of mass media, he studied Addis Zemen, Sudan Vision, and Al Ahram weekly newspapers. His study asserted that all the three media generally covered about GERD positively and neutrally.
Roman (2018) studied the disagreement on utilization of Nile River as ignited by the construction of GERD. She underscores that there is a quest for comprehensive fair and acceptable legal authority, and she suggested that Nile riparian countries should come to comprehensive agreement regarding the utilization of the waters of Nile Rivers.
Yeshiwas (2020) examined how The Reporter, newspaper in Ethiopia, salient frames pertained to the dam project and how these frames reflect Ethiopia's dominant perspective on Nile politics. His article that employed longitudinal qualitative research method to analyze the contents, he has argued that the newspaper, using official sources mostly, engaged in cautious and selective framing to promote a particular interpretation to the project that is consistent with its editorial agenda in corollary with Ethiopian government interest and perspective on Nile politics. A significant amount of knowledge and lessons has been obtained from each researchers works.
As indicated above researchers have contributed studies on the issue of GERD but no research has been done specifically on the news framing of the three countries selected media outlets during the first filling of GERD. In addition to absence of research conducted on the GERD reservoir impoundment, there is also a gap in research regarding comparing and contrasting the news framing tendencies and/or preferences as well as the sociopolitical implications of the three countries media outlets. So there is a gap that needs to be filled. The gap discovered regarding absence of research about the issue of news framing during the first filling of the GERD by the three countries will be filled by this thesis. Thus, news framing of the GERD from June 1st to July 31st 2020 by The Ethiopian Herald, Sudan Tribune and Ahram online will be examined.
Greater emphasis will be given on how the three media framed the filling of GERD. The paper also identify the similarities and differences among the media organizations in framing the issue and try to come up with the factors that influenced the media outlets to frame the filling of GERD in such a way.
Framing theory is employed as a theoretical framework. Employing framing theory to investigate the framing issue and it's effects among the readers would be the best framework for a research directed towards analyzing news stories making it the choice of this writer's theoretical framework. Since framing theory is inherently related to agenda setting theory, the research will also look into how the aforementioned theories correspond each other to influence the three medias in focus to frame the issue of first filling of GERD in such a manner. The origin of framing theory, types of framing theory, strength and critics of framing theory will also be included in the research.
The research will be qualitative. Content analysis of the news stories is the focus of the study. The qualitative research approach was used because this approach is more convenient and effective to study this content.
Maxwell, J A (2012) stated that qualitative research design has a flexible structure as the design can be constructed and reconstructed to a greater extent. Also, this research approach is flexible in terms of collecting, interpreting and analyzing data. The researcher has used a variety of techniques to gather data. The primary data for this research is collected from the three newspapers in focus and interviews has been conducted to strengthen the content because; the interview will enable the researcher to get information directly from the source. The secondary data are obtained from previously published materials such as books, senior essays, scholarly articles etc.
1.4. Objective of the Study
The general objective of this research is to examine how the three media in focus have framed the first filling of GERD in their news stories during the period of June/July 2020.
1.4.1. Specific Objectives
1. To find out main frames of media outlets in reporting the first filling of the GERD
2. To understand the similarities and differences among the three media organizations in framing the first round impoundment of the GERD reservoir.
3. To examine the factors that might have affected in framing the first impoundment of the GERD in such a manner.
1.4.2. Research Questions
1. How did Ethiopian Herald, Sudan Tribune and Ahram online frame the filling of GERD in June/July 2020?
2. What were the similarities and differences among the media organizations in framing the issue?
3. What were the factors that influence the media outlets to frame the filling of GERD in such a way?
1.5. Significance of the Study
This study will provide significant insight on how the three media in question framed the first filling of the GERD. News framing has implicit and explicit implications and effects upon the readership thus analyzing the similarities and differences of media that stand in an opposing view on what could have been a binding issue will be of greater interest and document for reference. This study will have academic contribution for further and deeper researches. It would also help the Ethiopian Herald Sudan Tribune and Al Ahram newspapers to examine their editorial policies and formulate or revise their policies that would have strong impact on its readership. The research would also contribute for further news framing studies on the issue of GERD.
1.6. Delimitation/Scope of the study
The study dealt with content analysis and comparative investigation of the main media in Ethiopia Sudan and Egypt. The Ethiopian Herald, Sudan Tribune and Al Ahram, which are English newspaper in the three countries, are selected for the study.
These media are selected because they are voices of their respective governments except Sudan Tribune. I have chosen Sudan Tribune, which is independent online newspaper due to its easily accessible nature. Sudan Tribune newspaper, which is owned by the government, doesn't have online publication. The researcher tried to contact and collect the hard copy of Sudan Tribune newspaper, which doesn't have online existence, and which is owned by the Sudanese government through the Embassy in Addis, but there was no positive response from the embassy compelling the writer to depend on the independent “ Sudan Tribune ” online newspaper. Since the two media's selected for Ethiopia and Egypt are government owned, having a privately owned media for the third party/ Sudan would give a different perspective and flavor to the research. It would also allow the researcher to examine how the independent newspaper frames the issue in focus. Regarding the sample time, a two-month data June 1st to July 31st 2020 will be collected and ten news stories from the three media has been studied and relevant news stories has been analyzed.
1.7. Organization of the Research Report
This research report is composed of five chapters. The first chapter will give introduction/back ground of the study along with research questions, problem statement, significance, scope and limitations of the study etc. The second chapter will be literature review. The third chapter will deal with methodology. The fourth chapter, which is the main part of the study, will critically and scientifically analyzes the news selected/gathered for the study. The fifth chapter concludes the study with conclusions and recommendations.
CHAPTER TWO
2. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1. CHAPTER REVIEW
This chapter discusses about the presentation of review of related literature that relates to the over view of the Nile, overview of the GERD, disagreement over The GERD, over view of colonial Era Agreements and The Filling Of GERD. Moreover, Framing Theory, Typology of news framing, Agenda setting theory and its relationship with framing and background of the three newspapers included in this chapter.
2.2. Overview of the Nile (Abbay)
Nile is the longest river in the world, flowing 6825 km over 35 degrees attitude from 7South to North. The Nile waters system consists of numerous tributaries and headwater lakes. Lake Victoria in the equatorial region and Lake Tana in northwestern Ethiopia are the most significant natural reservoirs in the Nile upstream (Yacob, 2007:25).
The Nile gets its name from the Greek word ‘'Nelios'', meaning River Valley. It flows through eleven nations of central, East and North Africa, comprising: the DCR (Democratic Congo Republic), Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Eritrea, the Sudan, South Sudan and Egypt (Petros, 2010:7).
“The Nile valley is one of the oldest places in the world where its ancient inhabitants husbanded the water resources that engendered the valley a cradle of civilization, thereby creating ancient polities and empires” (Yacob, 2007:25). He further noted, “The famous pharaonic civilization of Egypt is inseparable from the great Nile waters. The ancient Sudanese state of Merowe and the Aksumite Empire of ancient Ethiopia were firmly rooted in the Eastern Nile Basin (Ibid).
The Blue Nile, which is called Abbay in Ethiopia, has other names such as
“Takkaze found for example in the Geez Bible and the Miracles of Mary (Ta'ammera Maryam) The Blue Nile also known as Abbay in Ethiopia is identified with the biblical name of the river called Ghion. Gish Abay is the very popular place where the Blue Nile Commences, takes off with the local population surrounding it believing the source as a heart of the holy water” Christine, 2018: 28).
The four major tributaries, the Abbay, Tekeze(Atbara) and Baro- Akobo(sobat) originates in the Ethiopian highlands. The Ethiopian headwaters provide 86 percent of the total Nile river water, while the remaining 14 percent come through the White Nile system of the Equatorial Lakes area (Yacob, 2007:25).
2.3. Overview of the GERD
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), formerly known as the Millennium Dam, is located in the Benishangul-Gumuz region of Ethiopia, on the Blue Nile River, about 40km east of Sudan. Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCO) owns the project. Construction of the Grand Renaissance Dam started in April 2011 after the ($4.7bn) engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract was awarded to Salini Costruttori.
GERD is constructed for the purpose of generating electricity with total installed capacity of 15,559 GWh/yr. Up on completion; GERD will increase rural electrification supply by 90%. GERD is one of the most recent dam projects in the Nile Basin and one of the 33 Abbay basin water development projects that were identified in the1958-64 Ethio-USBR study (Yakob, 2018).
The dam will create a reservoir with a width of 1,874 square km and 74 billion cubic meters. It will provide sailing transportation and fishing opportunity for the area. The project will also play significant role in increasing the capacity of the country's electricity generation and to implement energy export plan. Since the hydroelectric plant is free of carbon emission, GERD contributes to the protection of environment ecosystems. (Ethiopian Electric Power, 2019).
The country financed the Mega project through fund raising bond selling and contributions from Ethiopians including the diaspora community Abitew and Degu noted (2019) Ethiopia's commitment to build the dam by the money generated from it's citizen's contribution came from Egypt's alleged persistent campaign and ability to block any assistance from international funding institution like International Monetary Fund and World Bank to maintain presumed hegemony on the Nile water share (ibid).
GERD will reduce pollution, mitigate climate change, create electric connectivity in local countries and bring about economic growth. The dam will benefit the lower riparian countries Sudan and Egypt. Sudan will be benefitted in receiving consistent flow of water in addition to reduced risk of flood, deforestation and degradation etc. Egypt will also benefit in water conservation, flood protection, sustainable access to water and deforestation etc(Ethiopian Electric Power, 2019).
However, like many other mega hydroelectric projects, GERD has sparked a lot of controversy leading the international regional and local media to report extensively about the issue. In its endeavor to build the hydroelectric dam, Ethiopia, has experienced a lot of obstacle from time immemorial, Egypt being the main actor of the challenge. The following subtopic will discuss issues related to the controversy over the Dam.
2.4. Disagreement over the GERD
Since Ethiopia commenced and announced construction of the GERD in 2011, the country has faced a lot of opposition leading to long and arduous controversy from the lower riparian countries, Sudan and Egypt with a louder resistance from Egypt. The critical argument coming from Egypt is supported with colonial era agreements, which, are not inclusive of all the Nile basin countries' interests and rights.
For the past two hundred years, numerous interested parties, the majority of whom were representatives of colonial powers, negotiated among themselves about the rights and ownership of the Nile. Since all previous negotiations and the agreements that arose out of them, were biased in favor of downstream interests, such agreements have resulted in varying degrees of tension and hostility and in unsustainable assumptions about the use and management of the shared waters of the Nile (Nebiyu, 2013).
As indicated by Yacob, (2011), current controversies about the use and management of the Nile all originate in colonial and neocolonial assertions about the alleged geopolitical interests of the parties concerned. All of these players strive to control the Nile waters from the downstream vantage point and to perpetuate the alienation of the upstream nations from their legitimate national rights and interests.
He further noted that there is no trans boundary river in the world except Blue Nile where the lower riparian countries utilizes majority of the water disregarding the demand and right of the upper riparian countries.
There are over 240 cross Boundary Rivers in the world and in most cases upper and lower riparian countries utilize the water in a comprehensive manner with the exception of some powerful upper riparian countries consume maximum share. For instance, he pointed the originator of Tigris and Euphrates rivers, Turkey takes the lion's like in water usage while the “ US, origin of Colorado and Rio Grande rivers exploit the two rivers to the maximum level” with out denying Mexico the remaining portion of the water. (The Ethiopian Herald (2020)
“When it comes to cooperation utilization of cross boundary water resources, there are a lot of countries working hand in gloves for mutual benefit leaving their political differences aside. For instance, India and Pakistan works in cooperation in using the Indus River mutually setting aside their differences. Danube River is used in cooperation by thirteen European countries and Rhine River is developed and utilized by eight countries in the same continent.” (ibid)
In the case of Western and Southern Africa, Senegal River is being developed and utilized by three countries, namely Senegal, Mali and Mauritania based on a tripartite agreement. In a similar fashion, some 10 West African countries jointly make use of the Niger River with a multilateral agreement signed among them. In those cases, countries who utilize rivers through mutual understanding and cooperation usually set aside differences to focus on mutual benefits (The Ethiopian Herald (2020)
Ethiopia's argument is always that the country is excluded from using its natural resources.
Ethiopia further argues, Sudan and Egypt should shift from the old and unfair water share and water monopoly to cooperation and mutual benefit. The main reason for disagreement and controversy over the Nile River especially the Blue Nile part is the colonial Era agreements signed by the then colonial powers and their colonies namely Sudan and Egypt. The following subtopic will give an overview of the colonial era agreements.
2.5. Overview of colonial Era Agreements
The following excerpts from historical evidences as noted by (Yakob, 2011) lists the colonial era agreements.
2.5.1. The 1891 Anglo-Italian Protocol
In terms of the 1891 Anglo-Italian Protocol, Great Britain and Italy demarcated their ‘respective spheres of influence in North-Eastern Africa'. This agreement allowed United Kingdom to maintain control over the headwaters of the Tekeze (Atbara) River.
2.5.2. The 1906 Tripartite agreement between Great Britain, France and Italy
In a secret tripartite agreement between Great Britain, France and Italy in 1906, the latter two countries completely ceded all Nile basin interests to the British. The agreement was between King Leopold II of Belgium and Great Britain. The colonial ruler of Congo, King Leopold II of Belgium, formerly agreed with the British that he would not attempt to construct any structures (such as dams or other irrigation facilities) on the Semliki and Isango rivers. These inter-colonial agreements and protocols gave Great Britain a controlling influence over the Nile waters.
In spite of the fact that the Ethiopians resisted these claims and the Egyptians made it clear that they were inimical to British rule, a succession of United Kingdom governments continued to play a dominating role in the Nile basin during the first half of the 20th century.
2.5.3. The Anglo-Egyptian Agreement of 1929
After the formal independence of Egypt had been recognized by the United Kingdom in 1922, the High Commissioner of Great Britain in Cairo, in an Exchange of Note with the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Egypt recognized the ‘historical and natural rights' of Egypt over the Nile waters. None of the upstream riparian nations was even mentioned or considered in this assertion of presumptive ‘rights'. Not even Ethiopia - at that time, long independent of foreign rule - was consulted or briefed in this comprehensive assumption of rights between Britain and Egypt. Since all the other countries that should rightly have been consulted about this far reaching agreement were still under colonial rule, they were given no say whatsoever over the water resources that the Nile conferred on them because of their proximity to its waters.
2.5.4. The Egyptian-Sudanese Agreement of 1959
The negotiation process that culminated in the 1959 Agreement for the Full Utilization of the Nile Waters was stimulated in the 1940s when the Sudanese rejected the 1929 Anglo- Egyptian agreement that allowed the Sudan to use only what was ‘left over' once Egypt's needs had been fully satisfied. Various Sudanese politicians persisted in demanding a modification of the 1929 Agreement, which was widely perceived by the Sudanese as being too restrictive of the Sudan's obvious claims to fair usage of the water of the Nile. According to this agreement, only Egypt and Sudan were legally recognized for the use and ownership of the Nile waters. In terms of the agreement Egypt would be allocated a lion's share of the available 55.5 bcm of the water while Sudan was to be allocated 18.5 bcm (Yakob, 2011:2-3).
As clearly drafted by the colonial powers all the agreements proposed and implemented were merely a replica of each other in terms of lacking cooperation and inclusiveness of all the Nile basin countries. The remaining riparian countries including Ethiopia did not accept all the colonial era agreements.
“The upper riparian states had a good cause to object the agreement's validity. No single upper riparian country was a signatory to the agreement and none was consulted in the negotiation leading up to the agreement. As per article 34 of the VCLT, “a treaty does not create obligation or right for a third party without its consent”. Ethiopia could also avail itself of this argument to repudiate the 1959 agreement, since it was an independent state not represented by Great Britain in negotiations ” (Nebiyu, 2013).
Following the 1959 agreement, the Ethiopian government, Emperor Haile Selassie submitted a letter explaining Ethiopia's legitimate rights and interests as noted below.
“... Just as in the case of other natural resources on its territories, Ethiopia has the right and obligations to exploit the water resources of the empire [Ethiopia] ...for the benefit of the present and future generations of its citizens ... in anticipation of the growth in population and its expanding needs. The Imperial Ethiopian Government ... reasserts and reserves now and for the future, the right to take all such measures in respect of its water resources ... namely those waters providing so nearly the entirety of the volume of the Nile...” (Ibid).
Until recently and Ethiopia's historic move of building the GERD, Nile status quo has been so biased to the point of ignoring the development need of the other riparian states and condemning them to be onlookers while Egypt and the Sudan have almost the entire water flow of the Nile to themselves. ”Additionally, and to make matters worse the two riparian countries kept on introducing new mega-irrigation projects and do not permit other states to do the same. The upper stream countries desperately need water to undertake development projects and to feed their fast growing populations” (Siabonga, 2013).
Accordingly, the agreements that bestowed Egypt absolute rights to the Nile ownership knowing that the country contributes nothing to the river has been claimed to be unfair by the upper riparian countries and later sparked a lot of disagreement and challenge leading to necessity to formulate new and cooperative Framework and construction of mega hydroelectric projects on the river like the GERD.
2.6. New Agreements and Pending Negotiations
After Ethiopia announced commencement of construction the GERD the country has elevated herself from silent partner in the negotiation forum to active and influential Stakeholder. Ethiopia's active involvement didn't come at any cost. Egypt was conscious of the disagreements and oppositions of Ethiopia and the upper riparian countries. Knowing the colonial agreements are turning obsolete and unacceptable by the other riparian countries, Egypt has tried to manipulate future negotiations in favor of her using various methods such as establishment of initiatives as ”Hydromet in 1967, Undugu in 1983, and Tecconile in 1992. The purposes of these initiatives were to increase water supplyfor Egypt, to create divisions and animosity among upstream countries, and to isolate key upstream countries such as Ethiopia in particular” (Yakob, 2011: 4).
However, none of the negotiations bear fruit and bring a positive cooperative framework that is agreed upon by every one of the riparian countries. The best Initiative, which has been given greater value and acceptance by the majority of the Nile basin countries, is the Nile Basin Initiative that was established in 1999. Nebiyu, (2013) explains.
Before mentioning details regarding formation of the NBI and the Cooperative Frame of Agreement CFA designed by NBI, I will discuss about the agreement reached/signed between Addis and Cairo that has been hailed by politicians in Ethiopia and Egypt as the first bilateral framework of cooperation after the colonial period. The late Ethiopian prime minister Meles Zenawi, and former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak signed the 1993 Framework for General Cooperation.
The framework highlights future negotiations between the two countries concerning the utilization of the waters of the Nile, would be based on the rules and principles of international law.
The 1993 frame of cooperation singed between Ethiopia and Egypt was hailed for providing a forum for future negotiations, but criticized as bringing competition rather than cooperation as “it failed to provide detailed rules. The fact that the "no harm" principle was part of the agreement, it is argued that it was not the only principle on which water divisions would be based since the rules and principles of international law are excluded” (Ibid).
Coming back to Nile Basin Initiative, it was established on 22 February 1999 in Dare Salaam, Tanzania and the Office for the NBI Secretariat was opened in Entebbe, Uganda.
“The goal of the NBI is to achieve sustainable socio-economic development through the equitable utilization of, and benefit from, the common Nile Basin water resources. The cooperation in the Nile Basin includes two parallel processes: a) the NBI, which is a transitional institutional mechanism; and b) the negotiations for a new legal and institutional Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA) that, once concluded, will provide a permanent status to the Cooperative Institution” (Ibid).
Under the NBI Panel of Experts (PoE) and Joint National Committees (JNC) took ten years to formulate a draft cooperative framework agreement (CFA) in 2007.
“Article 4.1 of the CFA states that “the Nile basin states shall in their respective territories utilize the water resources of the Nile water system and basin in an equitable and reasonable manner.” While, Article 5(1) asserts “Nile Basin States shall in utilizing Nile River System water resources in their territories take all appropriate measures to prevent the causing of significant harm to other riparian nations”(Ibid).
The CFA has been exemplary in flickering hope for future meetings discussions and negotiations regarding equitable water sharing and basin wide cooperation amongst the riparian states, however, disagreement between up and downstream countries occurred due to the inclusion of one sub Article 14b, that deals on ‘water security'. The downstream countries insisted on change on the phrase “not to cause significant harm to the water security of any other Nile basin countries” They proposed the change to be “not to adversely affect the water security of current users and the rights of any other Nile basin countries” (Ibid).
The CFA is signed by six out of ten Nile Basin Initiative states. The signatories are Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya and Burundi. Even though, six upstream states, which is more than 2/3rd, signed the CFA a deadlock is created due to the above-mentioned disagreements by the lower riparian states. The new agreement and negotiation is then still pending which is also another reason for the continuation of the controversy during the filling of the GERD.
2.7. The Filling of GERD
After Ethiopia has indicated its plan of filling the dam during the rainy season June/July 2020 there was strong objection from Sudan and Egypt arguing that agreement should be reached regarding procedure, and timetable for the filling before the GERD start its first phase of reserving water.
Ethiopia remained the door for discussion open but stressed on the importance of filling the dam irrespective of bilateral or trilateral agreement, with the lower riparian countries arguing that “unreasonably delaying of filling the dam will bring tremendous damage such as large economic and social costs” (Alemtsehai, 2020).
The country stressed on its commitment to fill and operate the GERD using Ethiopia's right of using its equitable share of the Nile water. However, Sudan and Egypt strongly opposed the Ethiopia's firm stance in filling the dam during the rainy season of June/July 2020 stating that doing so before an agreement is reached may cause lower flow of water leading to significant harm to their respective states.
Accordingly, a round of meetings and negotiations has been conducted between the three countries in person and virtually /due to Covid19/ sometimes including with the involvement of mediators from other states and organizations such as African Union, World Bank, South Africa, and USA etc.
As the negotiations and disagreements as well as the media coverage was on progress, Ethiopia announced the completion of the first filling of the dam on 22th July 2020 and claimed that the dam was filled without causing any harm as feared by lower riparian countries. In his congratulatory address to the world Ethiopian Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmad stated,
I guess that the world would now better understand the fact that our Dam is a turning point in our effort of taking the next height and can stand upright. Now, we behold, achieved the filling of the Dam per our schedule without soliciting finance from nobody and without harming any party. We are just two-and-half months away from the end of the major rainy season; the precipitation is still increasing than ever. And here, God helped us that the water overtops the Dam well ahead of the schedule. (The Ethiopian Herald, 2020)
Ethiopia's announcement and successful first round filling of the dam was rejected by Sudan and Egypt their argument being a binding agreement should have been reached between the three lower riparian countries before Ethiopia impounded the reservoir.
The Sudanese irrigation minister Yasser Abbas remarked, "The Ethiopian action is a worrying and harmful precedent in the path of cooperation between the concerned parties. Ethiopia's unilateral measure is unacceptable and has caused multiple negative impacts on Sudan.” ( Ahram online, 2020)
Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi also provided a statement opposing Ethiopia's action of filling the dam without reaching a comprehensive legal agreement. El-Sisi stressed, “The importance of forging a comprehensive legal agreement between all parties concerning the rules for filling and operating the dam, and rejecting unilateral measures that would inflict harm upon Egypt's rights to the water of the Nile.” ( Ahram online, 2020)
Ethiopia's commitment of filling the dam in contrast with Sudan and Egypt's serious objections has been extensively reported and differently framed in the respective media news stories as well. Chapter four of this thesis will give content analysis of how The Ethiopian Herald, Ahram Online and Sudan Tribune framed the issue in detail.
In the diplomatic forum the country, Ethiopia claims to have done a remarkable job in initiating and establishing the national Basin Institute NBI and creating a favorable condition for dialogue cooperation and understanding among one another in the upper riparian countries. Sudan was key participant in the NBI until there was change in government in the country in April 2019. Negotiations on the issue of GERD and the filling of the dam are still on progress. Ethiopia asserts that the Dam is important to bring development in the country, alleviate poverty and provide electricity to majority of the population who are still in darkness. Egypt in the other side expresses her fear that the GERD and filling the reservoir would cause significant harm posing threat to the water supply of the country. While the tension is on the rise Ethiopia has completed the first round filling of the dam and with out causing any harm to the lower riparian countries. The disagreement is still in the air and Ethiopia is reiterating that the best way forward is cooperation and mutual understanding and a win- win situation. The three countries are using their media's to express their sides of story regarding the issue of the impounding of the GERD reservoir in their respective media outlets. This thesis will examine the news stories of the media outlets in a comparative frame analysis.
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