Critical Assessment of Policy Agenda-setting on Ethiopia's Grand Renaissance Dam (GRD)

Bezabih Gebreyes Beyene

This thesis, by utilizing John Kingdon's Multiple Streams Model (MSM) and informed by a large body of literature, examines Ethiopia's Grand Renaissance Dam (GRD) agenda-setting process. The thesis argues that the policy that has enabled the development of Ethiopia's Grand Renaissance Dam (GRD) is highly constrained by a strong legacy of centralized authority and, more importantly, that citizens are excluded from participating in the process. The findings of the research indicated that the GRD agenda-setting process was entrenched by web of government agencies and ad-hoc structures. The ruling government has full sovereign command over public policies. Participation of other policy actors, such as the private sector, civic societies, and opposition political parties rarely exists in the system. While the tension and competing perspectives sustained around the issue of dam building in the policy landscape, the GRD agenda suddenly elevated and adopted to address the poverty crisis of the country. GRD agenda has been ignited through the coupling of three important legal and political events that happened regionally. These are: the adoption of the Cooperative Framework Agreement for the Nile Basin Initiative (May 2010), power split in government in the Republic of the Sudan after the independence of the South Sudan (July 2011), and the subsequent fall of the Mubarak government in Egypt (January 2011). The thesis is concluded by making a number of recommendations for Ethiopian policymakers emphasising that they would not shy away from genuine debate and confrontation.

Critical Assessment of Policy Agenda-setting on Ethiopia's Grand Renaissance Dam (GRD)

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