Hamdok: Ethiopia dam is a ‘very serious issue’

Issues relating to the Grand Ethiopia Renaissance Dam (GERD) are very serious, Sudanese Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok warned in an interview with CNN.

“It is time bound and it is linked to the safety, security of millions of our people in both Sudan and Egypt. And I think we would like the rest of the world to understand the gravity of the situation and the issues that are related to GERD are solvable, we can easily resolve them in a matter of weeks,” he said.

“The dam brings a lot benefits… but for these benefits to materialise we have to reach a binding agreement that would allow us to plan our lives to be able to utilise the water that is coming from the dam in a way that will allow agricultural production, the livelihood and all that,” Hamdok continued.

“Without that agreement we would always be at the mercy of Ethiopia to give it today and close it tomorrow. This is why we are asking for binding agreements within international law.”

Hamdok called for an international quartet meditation made of the UN, EU, African Union, and the United States in the dam dispute.

Commenting on Sudan’s decision to build ties with Israel, Hamdok said: “Normalisation is not an event, it is a process, we have started this, but the final say to this process will be left to the Sudanese people through their institutions.”

READ: Ethiopia dam threatens safety of half of Sudan’s population