Speaking to reporters in Juba on Thursday, Amb. Mufti reiterated Ethiopian readiness to negotiate in good faith to find an amicable solution to the giant dam dispute with downstream countries.
“Ethiopia would like to always negotiate in good faith. We are still ready to negotiate for a win-win outcome and I assure you that Ethiopia is not interested in hurting anyone including Egyptians,” Mufti told reporters at a press conference on Thursday.
Mufti said Ethiopia does have any intention to hurt or harm Sudan and Egypt.
“Ethiopia is not interested in hurting anyone. It is not interested in hurting downstream countries it Sudan or Egypt and all we are saying is that we want to benefit from natural resources which God has given us and this is what we are doing,” he said.
The top Ethiopian diplomat said the dam project will not only benefit Ethiopia but other downstream countries like South Sudan.
“Whatever Ethiopia has started like Grand project is exactly to utilize its natural resources which are entitled to and lawful to use for electrifying its country. More than 60% of the Ethiopian population lives in the dark without light,” he said.
He said Ethiopia believed in African solutions for African problems in finding the true solution through African Union-led negotiation.
“The dialogue has been going on under the chairmanship of African Union and currently Congolese are the chair of African Union and I think, they are handling it to someone else. They have been talking to different sides. They come to Ethiopia and went to Egypt and Sudan. They are consulting with each country,” he said.
Ethiopia broke ground on the GERD at a site near the Sudanese border in 2011 and construction is already late by four years from its original plan.
But the country filled 4.9 billion cubic meters of water at the dam’s reservoir last year and is planning to fill another 13.5 billion cubic meters in July and August — the main Ethiopian rainy season.
Egypt and Sudan, however, are calling for the signing of a comprehensive agreement before the second-year filling is undertaken.
A 2015 Declaration of Principles signed among the three countries gave Ethiopia a prerogative to fill its dam while engaging in negotiations because the second-year filling, which will bring the amount of water to be impounded at the reservoir to 18.4 billion cubic meters, will be necessary to test two of 16 dam turbines.