The Project Manager of Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) Simegnew Bekele, who was shot in July, found committed suicide, according to Ethiopian Federal Police Commission. Jemal also said that investigations suggested that the engineer was under intense pressure due to delay of completion of the GERD construction and the high cost of the delay. Ethiopian media outlets quoted Jemal saying that the engineer committed suicide with his gun inside his cars and all the doors were closed. In mid-August, the Ethiopian Electric Power appointed Ephrem Woldekidan as acting project manager of the GERD, succeeding the former manager Bekele who was found dead in his car at Mesqel Square in Addis Ababa in July. The Ethiopian government began construction of the dam project in April 2011 on the Blue Nile, in the city of Guba on the Ethiopian-Sudanese border, which is far 980 km from Addis Ababa.

Source: Ethiopian News September 08, 2018 15:56 UTC