28th January 2003

Your Excellency the Prime Minister

Your Excellency the Ministers
Your Excellency the Chairman
Your Excellency the Participants of this Meeting

It is to be remembered that lots of discussions and debates had been going on

in various forums throughout Ethiopia last year to find and propose a lasting
solution for reducing poverty and eradicating hunger from Ethiopia. I would
like to express my heartfelt thanks to the Chairman of this meeting for giving
me this chance to present here the proposals which I presented in the
meeting organized by the Ethiopian Association of Civil Engineers which I
thought might help to eradicate hunger and reduce poverty in Ethiopia.

I was able to conceive and conduct this proposals because:

1. I have a good experience of utilizing irrigation. When I return back
home when school is closed for the summer and engage myself in our
Teff farm land, my paternal grandfather used to urge me to get the Teff
farmland watered when the rainfall gets inadequate by telling me, “
sprinkling one pot of water to the farm is like getting one more sack of
Teff.” So, I have a life long experience of water and irrigation.
2. I followed my elementary and high school education at Teferi
Mekonnen School here in Addis Ababa and there I received a good
education in Geography by Canadian expatriate Jesuits and brilliant
Ethiopian teachers.
3. I received a good training in Hydraulics and Hydrology at the
Engineering College of the former Imperial Haileselassie I University by
Prof. H. Peter and others. Prof. Peter was a German of Jews origin and a
worldwide well known Hydraulic Engineer.
 4. I have worked as a Contractor for thirty years and due to the nature of
my work I have been traveling throughout Ethiopia and I know very
well the areas where my three proposed projects are to be executed.
Using this knowledge, I was able to estimate easily the time and
expenditure required to implement the proposals.
5. Above all things, as an Ethiopian, I humbly notify you that unless we
eradicate this hunger problem from our country, we would be living a
life inferior to all human beings.

Y.E. the Prime Minister,

After reading these three proposals in detail, the Ethiopian Contractors
Association and the Ethiopian Association of Civil Engineers have accepted
the proposals as beneficial to our country in helping to eradicate the hunger.
These two associations through their Chairmen and by setting up a
Committee specifically for this purpose have analyzed the proposals in detail
and believed that they can achieve the ta rget required and urged me to
submit the proposal to the Government and encouraged me to continue
further with the study.

Your Excellency the Prime Minister,

I humbly request you to let me present the crux of these three proposals in
brief.
Does starvation and poverty really exist in Ethiopia ?
The Direct Outcome of unemployment is starvation and poverty

Unemployment = Starvation + Poverty

For what reasons are we-Ethiopians hungry and poor? It has been said time
and again that 85% of the Ethiopian population or 50 Million Ethiopians are
engaged in agriculture or related areas. If this much population is
productive, why are we starving and living in poverty? We have to deeply
consider these two facts below and find out the truth.
1. 50Million Ethiopians are engaged in agriculture
2. Ethiopians are forever hungry

These two facts are mutually exclusive, the first contradicts the second and
vice versa.

Which fact should we accept and which one should be rejected?

In my point of view, it is better if we accept the apparent reality we witnessed
recurrently for many years that we-Ethiopians are ever hungry and poor and
reject the assertion that 85% of the Ethiopian population is engaged in
agriculture.

If we proceed with this understanding, we find out the true picture and
realize that 85% or 50 Million Ethiopian have settled on farmsteads, have
land under their control or they claim to be farmers but they are actually not
productive farmers. They have not engaged themselves in proper farming
modes to be productive. Hence we find out that they are not productive
farmers from their output. An Ethiopian farmer is an illusion, it exists only in
name but practically it does not.

Continuing further with the discussion, let us discuss in detail what makes a
farmer really productive. A Farmer needs the following resources and
conditions to be productive.
1. Solar Energy
2. Labour
3. Improved selected Seed
4. Land
5. Democratic Government
6. Water
A productive farmer can only thrive when at least these six conditions are
melted and fused together in an intelligent way. If one or more of these
conditions are failing, missing or not sufficiently available, a productive
farmer can not be created.

Of course, unless
1. Productive Prime Minister
2. Productive Minister of Infrastructure
3. Productive Minister of Rural Development
4. Productive Minister of Water Resources
5. Productive Consultants
6. Productive Contractors etc are created in our Country, we can not
eradicate hunger and poverty. The creation of productive farmer alone
does not suffice.
My study concentrates primarily among the six pre -conditions mentioned
above on how we can provide adequate water to the farmer.

The Demand for Water:

Satisfying adequately the demand of water that is required to forge a
productive farmer is the most decisive and difficult point for Ethiopia to
fulfill. The paradoxical fact is that though Ethiopia has a huge amount of
water resources, it is being wasted without being utilized. An estimated 130
Billion m³ of water flows out of our country in different direction to the
neighboring countries. If we utilize only 2 billion m³ of it, we can prevent the
starvation of about 10 Million Ethiopians. For every 1 Billion m³ of water we
utilize for agricultural production, we can feed about 5 Million people. That
means if it is made possible to harvest 25 Billion m³ of water, about 150
Million people can be fed easily. In short, about 200m³ of water is needed to
feed an average person for year. As per this calculation, the 130 Billion m³ of
water flowing out of our country can feed about 650 Million people.
Where lies then the problem? Why did not we put this solution in to
practice? The world has advanced forward tremendously in recent times. It
had been possible to land on the Moon. Scientists are creating cloned
organisms through genetic engineering. However, we Ethiopians are always
facing starvation. At the moment, there is no more humiliation other than
being called an Ethiopian and being the poorest nation in the world. We have
managed to be champion athletes. If we all run in to the sea and drown
ourselves, we can perhaps escape from our deep humiliation.

The present government has spent tremendous effort to make the farmers
productive through the so -called Extension Programs. This has been tried for
the past 10 years but it did not eradicate starvation even though a huge
amount of budget and manpower had been allocated. The main weakness
and the prime reason why the Extension programs did not succeed is only
because they are based on rain fed agriculture. Weather is the most difficult
phenomenon to predict. Hoping to feed 100 Million Ethiopians by the year
2015 by relying solely on rain fed agriculture is sheer madness. Even NASA
could not predict accurately the weather having the most advanced
technology at its disposal. Emperor Haileselassie in his time has commented
that the donkey’s ear predicts weather better than the forecast of
meteorologists. Had we shouted “Democratic Government for the Tiller” and
“Water for the Tiller” together with the “Land to the Tiller” slogan we could
have obtained a productive farmer today.

What I put emphasis in my proposal is in explaining how we can supply

adequate water for the farmer to make him productive. First of all, I have to
answer the question that how much water is needed by farmer to be
productive. This question should be answered first and it is a question that
needs detailed research.
To estimate the quantity of water needed, there are plenty of parameters to be
considered. One should conduct a detailed study and consider many
conditions to estimate the quantity needed. The water requirement depends
on the type of crop, the soil condition, the air temperature, the money going
to be invested on the land, the consciousness of the farmer etc. Irrigation can
be carried out through drip, sprinkler or flood irrigation systems. If 8000m³
of water is required in flood irrigation system, only 5000m³ is needed for a
sprinkler system. For drip irrigation, the amount lowers down to 4000m³. So
taking all these factors in to consideration, the quantity of water needed can
be estimated.

Starting with the actual situation nowadays, if we can provide 2 Hectares of

land and 10,000m³ of water for an Ethiopian farmer, he can produce about
Birr 30,000 worth of output. If this much can be produced, that would be
really nice and he has become a productive farmer. This productive farmer
can alone feed other 50 more Ethiopians. From the Birr 30,000 he earned, he
spends the first 10,000 birr for himself and his family (for food, medical
expenses, education etc), the second 10,000 birr to conduct and sustain his
farming activities (for renting tractor, fertilizers etc) and the rest 10,000 birr
to finance the benefits he receives from the Government, i.e. ( for land, water,
security, administration, bank interest etc), and in total he spends the 30,000
birr he earned in this fashion each year. The payments collected by the
Government when accumulated will help us to finance other more schemes.

Therefore:
1. If we can harvest 1 Billion m³ of water and deploy 100,000 jobless
young men to agriculture , it would be possible to feed 5 Million People
from the harvest they produce.
2. If we can provide 2 Billion m³ of water, it is possible to feed about 10
Million Ethiopians by mobilizing 200,000 young farmers.
 3. If we can secure the provision of 25 Billion m³, 125 Million Ethiopians
can be fed by mobilizing 3 Million farming households.

In my research, I tried to show how we can supply the following amounts of

water to the farmer. To visualize these figures, River Awash has an annual
discharge volume of 1 Billion m³ which all the various Agricultural
enterprises in the basin from Koka to Tendaho utilize. I have tried to
distribute the summary of my research to all those concerned.

From the summary of the research, we can realize:

1. We can feed about 15 Million people in sustainable way in five
years time with an expenditure of 4 Billion Birr.
2. We can eradicate hunger from a population of 150 Million people
in 12 years time with an expenditure of 11 Billion Birr.

It is possible to eradicate hunger from our Ethiopia. I say it again. It is

possible. If so, where lies the problem then? Why could not we eradicate
hunger?

In my opinion, we have only three problems.

1. Lack of adequate knowledge
2. Lack of Cooperation and
3. Because, I have not arranged your Excellency the Prime Minister to
have access to my research. And if in case, you have received it,
because I was not able to urge you to give special attention to it and
take appropriate action.

Please allow me to elaborate about these three problems.

1. At the moment, the annual discharge volume of the River Awash
when gauged at Koka Dam is about 1.3 Billion m³.
2. From this 1.3 Billion m³ of water, we utilize about 1 Billion m³ for
irrigation and hydro electric power generation. The rest 300 Million m³
is wasted without being utilized. Rather than using it, we have silently
looked at it damaging and destroying many things for thirty years. If we
were able to sell each m³ for 50 Cents, we could have obtained 150
Million Birr each year. Due to lack of adequate education, we are
wasting this 150 Million Birr worth resource each year. Nowadays, the
Government is prosecuting various individuals for embezzling one or
two million birr through corruption. If the Government would throw
the employees of the Minister of Water Resources (both the present and
the previous employees) to jail for wasting the above mentioned 150
Million Birr, at least, we would have been very happy and blessed the
Government day to day. This is a good evidence which shows that we
are hungry only because we lack adequate knowledge and skill. We
should not forget that there are other rivers like Kesem, Kebena, Logia,
Mille that are tributaries of River Awash with an annual discharge of 2
Billion m³ but have so far not been utilized. If we say we are going to
utilize the waters of the Blue Nile without putting these rivers to use, we
would be criticized by the rest of the world let alone get support for it.

The Surprising thing is that:

- When the Koka dam was built some 40 Years ago, there was
hardly any engineer with the knowledge that Lake Ziway is
situated nearby. If the dam was built at Lake Ziway, it would
have been a much preferable choice.
- Even among the present engineers, there are only few who know
which lake, the Ziway or the Koka , is bigger.

On the other hand, when the question of the Blue Nile is raised, the issue of
Egypt also appears at the scene. We all are gripped with the fear that if we
start utilizing the waters of the Blue Nile, Egypt will declare war on us
impromptu. This apprehension is especially felt strongly by the educated
circle.
Our knowledge about Egypt and the Nile is greatly distorted. Our popular cry
is only about the Blue Nile being the traitor. We complain loudly that the
Blue Nile eroded and swept our precious fertile land to deposit it in Egypt and
made us poor and destitute. The Ethiopians do not realize that this sediment
transported by the Blue Nile is the source of grave problems for the Sudanese
and the Egyptians. The Egyptians now aware of the problems created by this
transported sediment are now demanding us to retain our sediments from
being carried by the Blue Nile. Lake Nasser is being filled with sediment from
time to time and they are now in trouble because the water holding capacity
of the lake is being seriously diminished.

Our second misconception is that most of us think that if we dam the Blue
Nile at Lake Tana, we can control its flow. The amount of water that enters
Lake Tana does not exceed 10% of the total discharge volume of the Blue Nile.
We can only hold the flow of the Gilgel Abay but otherwise we can not do so
for the other tributaries.

The rivers that make the Blue Nile Blue Nile are:
From Gojjam Region: From Shoa Region
1. River Gilgel Abay 6. River Welka
2. River Abaya 7. River Shenkora
3. River Beles 8. River Jemma
4. River Bir 9. River Mugher

From Wollo Region From Wollega Region:

5. River Beshlo 10. River Dabus
11. River Dedela
12. River Fincha
13. River Guder
All these rivers can not discharge their flow in to Lake Tana. Lake Tana is
located at an elevation of 1800m while all the above mentioned rivers flow in
terrains with an elevation of less than 1500 meters. So, the thinking that we
can contain the Blue Nile if we build a dam at Lake Tana will remain only to be
a conjecture.

Another area where we should develop our knowledge about the issue at hand
is about the treaties which our previous leaders concluded about the Blue Nile.
We should know and understand about the treaty which Emperor Menelik
signed with the British in 1902 E.C. which allegedly states that before Ethiopia
can use even a single pot of water from the Blue Nile, she will inform or secure
the consent of the British and the Sudanese governments. Again, the Amharic
and English copies of the treaty do not conform to each other. It looks like
another Wuchale Treaty.

The Egyptians consider us an arch enemy because Emperor Haileselassie

refused to negotiate with them and the Sudanese. Still up to now, they are
watching suspiciously and alertly all our movements. They have made
hampering the emergence of a strong viable Ethiopia their major task. When
the officials of the African Development Bank recommended Ethiopia to them
to supply and sell Electric power, their response was as if there were no listings
that mentions Ethiopia in their dictionary. All of us need to develop our
knowledge through reading a lot.

The stand of the present EPRDF government in every issue of the Blue Nile is
that the International Laws govern the issues. What do these laws say? For that
matter, is there even an International Law? Do the laws permit the Egyptians to
sell the waters of the Blue Nile to others while we perish in hunger or do they
facilitate for the equitable joint usage of the waters? Or do they oblige them to
make financial compensation for the water they use? In my opinion, the one
with superior power drafts the laws and forces us to put them in practice. We
can say the laws that are beneficial to us are the International laws and get
them approved by our Parliament. Then, we can do whatever we want and
assert our rights by building a strong and indomitable defense force. We have
no choice. It is much preferable to commit a hero’s death in the battlefield
rather than perish by hunger.

As a matter of fact, the waters of the Nile are adequate enough let alone for the
needs of Egypt, the Sudan and Ethiopia but also for the needs of other countries
in the region. We have waited till now without cooperating with each other
due to lack of adequate knowledge. If Emperor Haileselassie had consented to
the President Nasser’s request to have a dam built at Lake Tana, Lake Nasser
would have not been built. The Egyptians have the following five problems just
because Lake Nasser is built at an elevation of 500 metres in their very land.

1. An estimated amount of 15 Billion m³ of water per year is lost

through evaporation and seepage.
2. 500,000 hectares of fertile land has been inundated by the reservoir
and could not be used for agricultural production. This is also the
case in the Sudan.
3. 50 Million quintals of cereal per year could have been produced
from this lost fertile land enabling them to feed about 25 Million
people of their population. At the moment, the Egyptians spend about
4 billion US Dollars per year to import food.
4. The life time of this reservoir does not exceed 100 years. It is now 40
Years old and after 30 more years, it will be filled completely with
sediment and can no longer store water. What will be then the fate of
the Egyptians? If they are smart, they should negotiate with Ethiopia
so that we control and limit the huge amount of sediment being
carried by the Blue Nile to the reservoir. If they envisage constructing
another dam, they will lose more and more fertile land and they will
find themselves in a bigger mess.
 5. Nowadays, the Egyptian industry is growing at a fast rate and their
demand of electric power is escalating. They could get the power they
need cheaply only from Ethiopia. But they are now trying to buy
electric power from Central African countries 6000 kilometers
further. This can easily cost them about 30 Billion Dollars. Ethiopia
can generate thousands of Megawatts of electric power by damming
the Blue Nile at greater than fifteen different sites. This generated
electric power can adequately meet the demands of the whole of
Africa and the Middle East let alone the demands of Ethiopia, Egypt
and the Sudan. If the Egyptians and we would cooperate, we could
have realized this scheme at a cost less than 10 Billion Dollars much
under the 30 Billion Dollars they are now spending unnecessarily.

If the Blue Nile is dammed here in Ethiopia, at least 10 out of the 15 Billion m³
of water, which the Egyptians are now losing from Lake Nasser through
evaporation , could be saved. This much water would be adequate to eradicate
hunger from Ethiopia and make us able to export food to Egypt. This way, we
can atleast get some revenue from part of the 4 Billion Dollars which the
Egyptians spend to import food.

In short, if Ethiopia dams the Blue Nile in her territory, the Sudanese and the
Egyptians will get more benefits above all other concerned countries. Up to
now, because we have not been cooperating with each other, we are losing the
benefits we can salvage. My dream and vision is to see this cooperation thrive
and the Sudan , Egypt and Ethiopia get unified and as in the new nomenclature
we are now using here, Egypt become Region One; the Sudan, Region Two;
Ethiopia, Region Three; Somalia, Region Four; Kenya and Uganda , Region Five
etc. If we get unified, the benefits derived will be for all of us. The stand which
Your Excellency the Prime Minister took on NEPAD and the African Union is
highly commendable. The Americans have perpetrated incalculable damage on
Ethiopia when they concluded in their Study of the Blue Nile that Ethiopia has
little potential to use the waters of the Blue Nile for irrigation. They deprived
us of a ground to assert our rights of using the waters of the Blue Nile. Given
the fact that we have abundant fertile farm land in Eastern Ethiopia that can be
cultivated through Irrigation, how could the Americans conclude in their
study that Ethiopia does not have adequate land to be cultivated through
irrigation? We have to demand compensations for their blunder. Since they
are rich and generous, they will pay the compensations.

I went through all these points just to stress the fact that if we really want to be
free from poverty and starvation, we have to develop our knowledge of the
Blue Nile.

Another reason that hunger and poverty is widespread in our Country is due
to the reason that we Ethiopians do not cooperate. One citizen does not help
another fellow citizen. Everybody prefers to do the race all by himself. The
Tigrean, the Oromo, the Afar, the Amhara, the Guraghe, the Sidama if they
strive to grow alone by themselves, there will be a better chance to be
productive. In principle, this idea is not bad. However, we can not resolve all
our problems individually. Cooperation, working together and team work can
make us achieve still better results. It is for this reason that I urge you that let
we all Ethiopians cooperate and work together and eradicate hunger.

To ensure the success of these schemes, I would like to indicate that there are
three huge tasks that can be accomplished only by H.E. the Prime Minister.
1. Like you are the commander-in-chief of our Military Forces, please be
the overall supervisor of this project and devote four working hours
per month to evaluate the monthly progress of the project, identify
clearly the problems faced, offer solutions and issue firm orders to
make all Ethiopians cooperate and work together.
 When six years ago, a magazine that is issued in the United States
wrote, “All the best and the brightest Ethiopians are out of the
country”, H.E. Prime Minister Melles responded, “please stop your joke.
Come and test tho se of us who live in the Home Land”. Now using this
strong conviction of yours, please ascertain whether these three
proposals are fantasies or not by having them critically examined by
Ethiopian consultants, farmers and economists and I humbly request
you to take a decision either to implement or reject them. Unless you
are convinced of the merits of the Project, it should at no case be
started and it can not be started. In a country in East Africa
neighboring Eritrea, we are faced with a big war called hunger. Let us
campaign with the leadership of H.E. our Prime Minister to vanquish
this war.

2. The second important task to be accomplished by H.E. the Prime

Minister is to ensure no objection is raised from the neighboring
countries and others who use our water in our effort to dam and utilize
the water that is flowing from our Country.

3. The third difficult task which awaits H.E. our Prime Minister is to
secure the necessary amount of finance that this project demands from
the Ethiopian people and government, from monetary organizations
like the IMF and the World Bank, from donor organizations and
philanthropists etc . In my crude preliminary estimate, to fully
implement these three schemes, it would require about 11 Billion Birr
and 12 years of working time. This estimate includes only the finance
needed to transport the water from one region to another and deliver it
at the farmland. It does not include the huge investment that the
Construction of 2500MW capacity hydropower plants, the preparation
of the farmlands and the accompanying human settlement demand.
To put it in a nutshell, the tasks of H.E. the Prime Minister will be:
1. To be the Project Manager of the organization that will be setup to
eradicate hunger from Ethiopia by devoting four working hours per
month and command the Project
2. To manage the negotiations that are likely to arise due to the
implementation of this project in an orderly fashion so that Ethiopia
gets its own deserved water share. The difficult task that has to be
borne by our Prime Minister will be convincing the Egyptians that it
is also to their advantage if they work together with us with affection
and sense of belongingness as their Holy Book the Koran orders them
rather than regarding Ethiopians as wild or devilish creatures.
3. To secure by any means the financial expenditure needed to
implement this project.

H.E. the Prime Minister, if you tackle and resolve these three tasks through
diplomatic skills, clairvoyance and patience, we the Ethiopian people as a
whole can complete the whole construction and agricultural works in 12
years to produce 250 Million quintals of cereal every year and eradicate
hunger once and for all from our country and reduce poverty substantially.
Through the construction work experience which about 100,000 young
Ethiopians will accrue in the implementation of these projects in these 12
years, we will generate an indomitable strong task force that is capable of
transforming the whole of our country and Africa.

SUMMARY

My friends and I were in jubilant mood when twelve years ago, the EPRDF
troops brought Addis Ababa under their control. We have considered it as
being reborn again. If we are asked offer the reason for it, it is because the
Dergue regime has stripped us from our basic human rights of freedom of
thinking, freedom of speech, freedom of writing and freedom of movement.
We believed on that very day, we will reclaim back these basic human rights.

I have been able to conceive and propose this project because the Hydrology
Department of the Ministry of Water Resources made available to me freely a
30 years flow record of the various rivers mentioned in this proposal and the
Ethiopian Mapping Authority furnished me with 1:50,000 scale topographic
maps of the regions free of charge. Had the present Government not allowed
information like in these two sets of documents to be circulated without
restriction, I would not have conceived this project at all even in my dreams.
At the moment, the idea of Free Press, Free thinking and Free Spirit is
flourishing and since the era we are now living is termed as “The Age of
Information”, I invite every Ethiopian to read this paper thoroughly in a
critical way and discuss the pros and cons of my proposal.

If we collect all our fire extinguishers or fire-fighting equipments and throw

water or bring together all the 60 Million Ethiopian population and we in
unison breath to extinguish the raging fire of hunger, misery and poverty , .we
would achieve nothing. They demand us still a lot of effort. To eradicate
starvation, hunger and misery from Ethiopia, we really need to work very
hard. We have to think deeply, work diligently and intelligently and plan our
move cautiously. Unless it is by miracle, we can not bring prosperity by sheer
physical power and strength. To lead a life free from worries of misery and
poverty, we need to learn from others and learn again and again and think
again and again, work very hard and again work in a productive way.

I have presented to you these schemes with the strong conviction that they
will yield concrete results in the efforts which our Government is exerting to
reduce the abject poverty we are in and alleviate the hunger and diseases
prevalent in our country.
I conclude my discussion by furnishing the following opinions.
“Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God.” (Psalms 68:31)
Ethiopians are begging God stretching out their arms to the sky to drop them
manna. But God has forgotten them. He did not think of them and did not
rescue them. They are perishing in large numbers from hunger, poverty and
ailments. Y.E the prime minister, at this moment, 15 Million Ethiopians are
crying in tears, “Melles, please save us. We are dying.” Will H.E. Prime
Minister Melles save them from their peril? Let all of us without any
reservation stand side by side with him to help him respond positively to this
cry for help.

To implement these three schemes in to reality, only your, our prime

minister’s, commitment is needed. If we can convince you, I am 100% sure
that this project will be a reality. Both the manpower and finance required
will be found and the six preconditions needed for the creation of a
productive farmer will be fulfilled.

Y.E. the Prime Minister,

I would like to raise here the fact that all heads of states are remembered in
history by the major actions they committed while they are in power. If you
get convinced with the schemes and implement them, will there be any better
vision, any better deed, any better history than being called after hundred
years that “ Melles Zenawi was a brilliant and industrious head of state who
eradicated hunger from Ethiopia”?

If we are able to get a productive Prime minister now, we can produce

enough food in the next five years that enables 15 Million of the Ethiopian
population eat three times a day. Get yourself strong, lead us, educate us,
make us cooperate, make us work and let us eradicate hunger from Ethiopia
once and for all. If we implement even half of scheme one and two, in five
years time, we will save 15 Million Ethiopians from starvation. To get the 2
Billion m³ of water needed to implement them, there is nothing that confronts
us with Egypt and the Sudan. It is a water that is being wasted year to year
here in the center of our country. It is only because we do not see it despite
having eyes, it is only because we do not think about it despite having a brain
that this 2 billion m³ water worth 1 Billion birr is being wasted each year. It
is a money more useful than oil. If Sheik Alamudin purchases this water at
the same price, it will bring him a profit of a billion birr each year.

Y.E. the Prime Minister

These three schemes when implemented bring the following benefits to the
Ethiopian People.
1. Within the next five years, we can make 15 Million hungry people eat
three times a day.
2. After twelve years, we can produce an agricultural output that enables
us to feed 150 Million people. And our economy grows also
tremendously.
3. With in five years, we can create a job opportunity for 200,000 jobless
young people in the agricultural sector.
4. With in twelve years, we will be able to create a job opportunity for 3
Million young people in the agricultural sector.
5. We can generate about 2500 MW hydro electric power.
6. We will have 1000 kilometers long inland water way. Starting from Tis
Abay, we can link the Mertole Mariam, Nifas Mewcha, the Maqdela
Amba, Tere Bridge, Wuchale , Alamata and Mehoni towns by this
canal. The central and northern part of Ethiopia where this canal
traverses will change completely for good.
7. It will create work opportunity worth 1 Billion Birr each year for the
coming twelve years for Ethiopian consultants and contractors.
I have not the slightest doubt that these benefits will change Ethiopia
positively and bring about an accelerated development. Finally, if there is
found any one who contests the schemes and convinces us that these schemes
are fantasies or dreams that can not be implemented, I am willing to be
humbled and humiliated and to have the degree which I received from the
University invalidated. I conclude my presentation by requesting humbly
Your Excellency to give me only two hours considering your busy schedule to
explain in detail these three schemes.