
Lechamo Lambamo 🇪🇹, MD
972 posts

Lechamo Lambamo 🇪🇹, MD
@LLambamo
Christian | 🇪🇹 | IMG | Internal Medicine Resident | Gold Medal AAU Graduate


Notice! The document authentication service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be provided exclusively online starting from March 30, 2026. Accordingly, users are requested to download the Telesign application (from the App Store or Play Store) and access the service remotely from wherever they are. Instructions on how to use the application can be found at: telesign.et



Feminism progress in Ethiopia FGM(ግርዛት) - 2004 Child marriage - 2000 Property rights -1960 Divorce rights - 1960 Higher education -1950 Right to vote -1955 Shoutout for all angry feminists who fought for this all in less than a century Happy international women’s day


የ130ኛው ዓመት የአድዋ ድል በዓል አከባበር በአድዋ ድል መታሰቢያ Kabaja ayyaanaa injifannoo Adwaa waggaa 130ffaa Yaadannoo Injifannoo Adwaatti

Update Regarding Ethiopian Airlines Transporting RSF Soldiers 1) The origin of the soldiers has been traced to N’Djamena, Chad. The aircraft operating flight ET 8137 had the tail number ET-AQN. An aircraft with the same tail number operated flight ET 8944 from N’Djamena to Addis Ababa, landing at 3:02 AM, before departing for Assosa. The second aircraft operating flight ET 8139 had the tail number ET-AQQ. This aircraft also flew from N’Djamena to Addis Ababa and then continued on to Assosa. 2) Ethiopian Airlines appears to have discontinued these two flights as of last night. The initial plan of operation was scheduled for two weeks starting February 22. It is not yet clear whether the airline has completely stopped the operation or simply switched aircraft. Let us hope they have reconsidered. We will continue monitoring and tracking the situation.

Title: How the 2020 Washington Draft Tried to Reach From GERD All the Way to Addis Ababa PART TWO Read this slowly. You live in Addis Ababa, far from the Blue Nile River. You might think that Egyptians are only fighting dams on the Abay. What does that have to do with the small river near your house? Let me start with one example: ቀጨኔ ወንዝ (Kechene), a small river born in the Entoto Mountains, just 5 to 10 km from the center of Addis Ababa. Kechene flows into Wanchet, then Jamma, then the Blue Nile. I will come back to that. First, how did we get here? The Washington mediation track produced the February 2020 draft Ethiopia refused to sign. Egypt initialed it. Ethiopia did not. Now Trump is back. And his message to Sisi talks about “predictable water releases during droughts and prolonged dry years for Egypt and the Sudan.” I will translate that in plain language: revive the same Washington logic, dress it as “predictable,” then pressure Ethiopia to live inside it. Part One exposed the drought trap. Part Two is about something colder. Control in normal years. Control by committees. Control by paperwork. Control that turns a sovereign dam into a supervised machine. This is the second trap: a control cage disguised as “coordination.” Receipt 1: Article 4.5 turnthat s “minor adjustments” into permission requests Article 4.5 says if Ethiopia deems it necessary to undertake minor adjustments in the rules or values set out in Annexes A and D, Ethiopia must request an urgent meeting of the TCC, and the TCC shall “consider and approve” the proposed adjustments. Read that again. Approve. Not notify. Not coordinate. Approve. Translation: even small operational changes stop being Ethiopian decisions. They become a request that can be blocked. Scenario 1: Addis Ababa blackout year It is 2034. The grid is under pressure. Factories, hospitals, universities. Ethiopia’s engineers run the models and say: we need to build a stronger buffer this year. The forecasts are ugly. But the draft already boxed GERD into a “mainly 625 to 640” operating band in normal hydrological conditions. It also routes changes to Annex A and Annex D through TCC approval. So engineers cannot just act. They must ask. If consensus fails, the country pays in darkness, not because Ethiopia lacked a dam, but because Ethiopia signed away the steering wheel. Receipt 2: Article 5 makes “consensus” a veto system Article 5 builds two bodies: the MC and the TCC. Then it says the MC makes decisions by consensus, and the TCC makes decisions by consensus. Consensus sounds friendly. In power politics, it means one party can stop the whole room. Put it together: Ethiopia’s adjustment becomes somebody else’s approval. That is not coordination. That is a built in veto. Receipt 3: Article 5.4(f) plus Article 6 builds a monitoring pipeline The draft gives the TCC the job to “monitor and verify” implementation of the rules governing filling and operation. Then Article 6 builds the data obligations: Monthly time step data includes Flow, water quality in the GERD reservoir, and meteorological data at the GERD reservoir. Daily time step data includes GERD water level and GERD water release. Daily reciprocal data between Ethiopia and Sudan includes water level and releases at GERD and Roseires. Here is the key detail people miss: the draft also says the Article 6 data is transmitted monthly through the TCC, except the Ethiopia–Sudan daily exchange, which is transmitted daily. That is still a surveillance architecture. It still creates receipts, files, and disputes. It still puts a spotlight over operations. And once monitoring exists, pressure becomes easier to formalize. Receipt 4: Article 4.4 writes in a permanent release floor Article 4.4 says GERD will operate with an initial Minimum Environmental Release of 500 m³/s, adjustable by the TCC. That number is not small. If you convert it to yearly volume, it is about 15.77 BCM per year if sustained. This is why it matters: a floor is not just a number. A floor is leverage. In stress years, when Ethiopia needs flexibility to protect power and stability, that baseline can be used as a weapon. Either release, or be accused of violating the agreement. The floor is written in Washington. The pain lands in Ethiopia. Receipt 5: Article 9 is the court pipeline, and it ends with “reparations” Article 9 sets a fast escalation path: Negotiations through the TCC. After 30 days, referral to the MC. After another 30 days, arbitration. Then Article 9.5 says the arbitral award is final and binding, and it may include conclusions on adequate reparations. That word matters. Reparations. Not advice. Not suggestions. A bill. And the tribunal is not built around Ethiopian comfort. The draft gives the PCA Secretary General a role in appointing members and designating the chair from non nationals. So the enforcement blade is real. The penalty language is real. The finality is real. Receipt 6: Articles 12, 14, 15 lock the cage the moment you sign Article 12 says the agreement is applied provisionally upon signature until entry into force. Article 14 says it does not lend itself to partial application, so reservations shall not be made. Article 15 says termination happens only upon entry into force of a subsequent agreement among the parties that provides for termination. Translation: You cannot sign with exceptions. You cannot exit alone. And the machine starts moving immediately on signature. That is how cages work. The door closes fast, and the key is held outside. How this reaches Addis, and even Kechene Now connect the dots. The draft defines “Flow” as what enters the GERD reservoir, not the border flow. So any future upstream use that reduces what reaches GERD can be framed as reducing “Flow at GERD.” In a hostile environment, that is enough for disputes. Enough for accusations. Enough for a case file. The draft also includes future developments upstream of GERD, to be undertaken in accordance with principles of international law, including equitable and reasonable utilization, not causing significant harm, and cooperation. In a normal world, that sounds balanced. In a hostile world, “significant harm” becomes the hook. The hook becomes pressure. Pressure becomes arbitration. So no, the draft does not mention Kechene by name. But it creates a structure where upstream use becomes legally contestable if it is framed as reducing Flow at GERD or causing harm downstream under this regime. That is how a document initialed in Washington can reach into the logic of projects far upstream. Not by naming every stream, but by measuring everything at GERD and building enforcement around that measurement. To be continued.... #Egypt #Sudan #SouthSudan #Ethiopia #Eritrea #Uganda #Kenya #Tanzania #Rwanda #Burundi #DRC #China #Russia #UAE #GERD #NileRiver #WaterRights #Sovereignty #BlueNile #NileDam #EthiopiaRising #AfricanWaters #NoToColonialism #ReadTheDraft #Ethiopia #GERD #NileRiver #Kechene #AddisAbaba #WaterRights #Sovereignty #ReadTheDraft #AfricanWaters








