HENOK MERHATSIDK 1.pdf - Addis Ababa University

To sum up, Ethiopia and Kenya established common border development commission and
they met regularly whenever urgent issues arise. Trans-boundary conflicts are seen
occasionally in the common borders of the two countries. They are working hand-in-hand
with the local communities in collaboration with IGAD to solve sporadic conflicts in their
common borders in particular and the region at large.
5.5. Issue of Trans-boundary Resources
Ethiopia shares cross border resources with its neighboring countries. One of which is water
resource. Ethiopia has many cross border rivers flowing in many directions to its neighboring
states such as River Nile, which is the longest river in the world flowing to Sudan and Egypt;
River Tekeze flows to Sudan and Omo to Turkana. Ethiopian history has showed us that it
has passed through several wars. Accordingly, it devoted resources to execute wars
maintaining its sovereignty. The country was not able to utilize its untapped large water
resources for many years. As Ethiopia recovered from lingering civil wars, it turns its face to
development in many sectors. It is currently hoped that its rivers will play a pivotal role in its
endeavors of bringing sustainable development in the country. One of the Rivers that
Ethiopia is using for Hydro electric power generation is the OMO/Gibe River on which
Ethiopia has already built Gilgel Gibe I, II and Gilgel Gibe III is under construction. Gilgel
Gibe I and II are generating power and reducing the shortage of electric power in the country.
The Ethiopian government also envisaged six sugar factories in the south Omo area by using
the Omo River (Mutia, 2009:27-28). 19
Ethiopia and Kenya have not endorsed binding legal framework concerning their trans-
boundary resources, River Omo. However, the 1970 treaty between the imperial government
of Ethiopia and Kenyan government in the Namornputh area allowed Ethiopia to use the
Omo River in its territory, though Kenyans deserved a right to use the same river in a
condition that they respect the rules of the land (Abebe, 2010: 53-54). The military regime,
Derg, also signed a memorandum of understanding with Kenya government in 1979, which
stated that the two countries jointly study the development of their cross-border water
19 Interview with Teshome Shumbe an officer in MoFA,Neighbouring countries Department on
December,2010.
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