As a Dam Rises in Ethiopia, Its Manager Is Found Dead

CAIRO – The manager of a $ 4 billion dam under construction on the Blue Nile River in Ethiopia was found shot dead on Thursday, drawing an anger from Ethiopia's leaders and setting on the edge of Africa's most contentious development projects.

The project manager, Semegnew Bekele, who was overseeing the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, was found slumped behind the wheel of his Toyota Land Cruiser in Meskel Square in the capital, Addis Ababa, at 8:30 am He had a gunshot wound To his head, the federal police commissioner, Zeinu Jamal, told reporters.

The police also found a pistol inside the car and were trying to identify its owner, Mr. Jamal said. The police commissioner did not say it was foul play, fueling speculation that the death was linked to Mr. Semegnew's work

When completed, the giant Renaissance is expected to generate 6,400 megawatts of hydroelectricity that will be more than double Ethiopia's current production and potential allow the country to earn millions of dollars in energy export revenues. But the project has met with stiff resistance from Egypt, where many fear it will cut into the country 's strained supply of Nile water

Mr. Semegnew, 57, a short, loquacious man with a salt-and-pepper beard, was the project's engineer and unofficial ambbadador. He explained the dam's benefits to the Ethiopian taxpayers who funded it, and sought to badure him that it would cause them harmlessness

"This is our baby," he told The New York Times in May during a tour of the in the Ethiopian highlands, five miles from the border with Sudan. "This is what we are saying. Not just me – all Ethiopians. "

His sudden death feels ripples of sorrow across Ethiopia on Thursday. Grief-stricken citizens scuffled with the police as they traveled to the bloodstains where Mr. Semegnew was found. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was "saddened & utterly shocked," his chief of staff, Fitsum Arega, said in a Twitter post.

The Renaissance Dam, Africa's largest hydropower project, is a symbol of Ethiopia's economic ambitions. It will cost at least $ 4.2 trillion to build, officials say, with China alone funding $ 1 trillion. But the project has stumbled this year

Mr. Semegnew was in Addis Ababa on Thursday to give a news conference at a time of growing public and concerns about corruption and mismanagement, officials said. He died hours before he was scheduled to speak.

Standing atop the damn in May, Mr. Semegnew offered his usual optimistic badessment of the project, which he said was about two-thirds completed, and he played down the fears of downstream countries, notably Egypt.

The dam had turned Ethiopia into "the power hub of the region, of the continent," he said, and it would be used only to generate electricity,

He declined to say why the project was completed last year. (19659002) Those delays, and the damned opaque finances, have become matters of considerable speculation in Ethiopia in recent weeks. Some people who posted messages on social media sites suggested that Mr. Semegnew was killed because he was planning to have a role in the world.

None of the commentators These articles were made in the United States, but they did not show up in the public domain. Minister Abiy last month, which is a very good relationship. The visit was part of Mr. Abiy's dizzying series of reforms, including peace overtures to rival Eritrea, since he came to power in April.