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CAIRO - 3 October 2018: Ethiopia has appointed engineer Kifle Horo as the new general manager of the $4 Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) after the mysterious death of the former Project Manager Simegnew Bekele, who was found dead in his vehicle on one of the busiest streets of capital Addis Ababa on July 23. People in the crowds said they believed Simegnew Bekele had been murdered, though there was no immediate confirmation from the authorities, or details of any motive. We have confirmed that engineer Simegnew Bekele was shot dead ... He had a bullet wound behind his right ear, the head of Ethiopias Federal Police Commission, Zeinu Jemal, told reporters. Zeinu said a Colt pistol was found in the vehicle in the citys Meskel Square - a massive road junction and open space usually packed with vehicles and pedestrians during daylight hours. Ethiopias new Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was saddened and utterly shocked by the death, his chief of staff said in tweet. Simegnew was the public face of the Grand Renaissance Dam project on the River Nile - the centrepiece of Ethiopias bid to become Africas biggest power exporter. Ethiopia has been pushing on with the project in the face of opposition from Egypt which fears it will affect the flow of the Nile, its main source of water. In June, the leaders of Ethiopia and Egypt vowed to iron out their differences peacefully. Crowds in Addis Ababa marched to the state television stations headquarters chanting No to killings and Justice for Simegnew. Hundreds also packed the streets of his birthplace, the northern city of Gondar. Amongst our requests is the repatriation of his body back to his own city, said one protester, who only gave his name as Geremew. A Reuters photographer saw blood stains along an arm rest inside his vehicle - a gold Toyota Land Cruiser - before an ambulance took away the body. The dam is currently only half complete, but the government says it is designed to churn out 6,000 megawatts (MW) of power on completion. |
