Egypt refuses to give up one drop of its right to Nile water

[Ab-Titchaz]

New Nile deal a wake-up call for Egypt ​

Kenya's Minister for Water Charity Ngilu (Centre) and Assistant Minister Mwangi Kiunjuri (Right) and Permanent Secretary David Stower display the signed Nile Basin Cooperative framework agreement on May 19,2010. The 1929 treaty granted Egypt veto power on projects upstream like dams, pumping stations or large irrigation works, which could reduce the river flow.​

A new agreement by five African states on Nile water sharing has been a wake-up call for Egypt, which has long considered the river its own, analysts say.

Until now, Cairo had distanced itself from any discussion that would change the favourable terms of treaties signed in 1929 and 1959, guaranteeing the lion's share of Nile waters to Egypt.

The new agreement by Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda – that is more favourable to their interests – is considered a "death sentence" for Egypt, which is now trying to engage in discussions to ensure it is not left out of a process that is vital to its future.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi stressed on Thursday that his country did not intend to back down from the new agreement over water sharing, and invited Egypt to make concessions.

Old-fashioned ideas

"Some people in Egypt have old-fashioned ideas based on the assumption that the Nile water belongs to Egypt," Zenawi recently told Al-Jazeera television.

"The circumstances have changed and changed forever," he said, adding that "the way forward is not for Egypt to try to stop the unstoppable. The way forward is to seek a win-win solution through diplomatic efforts."

Egypt's 80 million inhabitants draw about 90 per cent of their water needs from the Nile. Cairo maintains that, even by the favourable terms of current agreements, its water needs cannot be met by the Nile alone after 2017.

"The announcement (of the new agreement) is considered by the majority of Egyptians as a death sentence to a nation that has long been described as ‘the gift of the Nile,'" the University of Cairo's Nader Noureddine wrote in the Al-Ahram weekly on Thursday.

Initially, after the new agreement by the five African states, Egypt launched an urgent diplomatic offensive, hardening its alliance over the issue with Sudan, another recipient of Nile largesse under existing treaties.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak raised the subject in Rome on Wednesday, while the Egyptian press denounced Italian companies involved in Nile water projects, particularly in Ethiopia.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi reassured Mubarak, saying: "We pledged... to undertake diplomatic moves towards certain countries, starting with Ethiopia, with whom there are still outstanding problems, primarily with regard to the use of Nile waters."

Always active on the diplomatic front, Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga is expected in Cairo on Saturday, and Egyptian delegations are awaited in Ethiopia and Uganda.

The president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Joseph Kabila, and Burundi's Pierre Nkurunziza, two countries of the Nile basin which have stayed out of the face-off with Egypt, are also expected in Cairo over the coming weeks.

A new text is intended to reconsider the two treaties of 1929 and 1959, which grant the rights to 55.5 billion cubic metres of Nile waters to Egypt, and 18.5 billion cubic metres to Sudan, on the whole accounting for 87 per cent of the Nile's water flow.

The 1929 treaty granted Egypt veto power on projects upstream – dams, pumping stations, large irrigation works – which could reduce the river flow.

At home, there is pressure on the Egyptian leadership, which is accused of neglecting its African partners for too long.

"During the past 40 years, the government thought that it was enough to maintain a relationship with the North, and that it was unnecessary to remain engaged in the countries of the South," said political economist Amr el-Chobaki. (AFP)

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[Ubungoubungo]

hapa wakenya wamenifurahisha. safi sana. walikuwa wananiumiza moyo kusitasita.

 

[Mwana wa Mungu]

Hivi wewe mwana wa mungu mbona unatenda dhambi ya unafiki??????:
Msimamo wa TZ,UG,KE ni mmoja tena TZ waliamumua mapema hata kabla ya kusaini kwa kutumia maji ya ziwa victoria kupitia mradi mkubwa wa maji kwenda mikoa ambayo kulikuwa na uhaba mkubwa wa maji.

ungekoti ni nini nimeongea unafiki, mimi siyo mnafiki, na pia ninao uhuru wa kuongea vyovyote nipendavyo. haujaeleweka ni wapi nimekuwa mnafiki. otherwise, kwa sehemu zingine, unajuaje kama pengine kenya wameenda kusign baada ya kusoma thread hii humu, unafikiri hamna mashushushu wa kikenya humu?, pia, kwahabari ya tz, umeshawai kusikia kikwete ameongea lolote juu ya hili, na unajuaje pengine kasaini kwasababu amesoma comment zetu humu tulipokuwa tunasema hatasaini? si ndo faida ya JF, to send messages,viongozi wengi wanasoma mambo humu jf na wanaenda kurekebisha, so usiseme mi mnafiki, pengine ilikuwa njia mojawapo ya kumshtua au kumkumbusha responsibility yake. pia, mshukuru lowasa kwa msimamo wake kipindi kile, tusingepata hata hayo maji mikoa ya shinyanga. sitakuongelea lugha mbaya kwasababu hayo hayako moyoni ila naomba ujifunze kuongea kwa ustaarabu.unatakiwa uje kwa hoja sio lugha chafu. asante.

 

[Buchanan]

Ethiopia's prime minister has rejected a threat by Egypt to prevent the building of dams and other water projects upstream on the Nile river.

Meles Zenawi told Al Jazeera on Wednesday that Egypt will not be able to stop his country from building dams on the river.

His comments came nearly a week after Ethiopia joined Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania in signing a new treaty on the equitable sharing of the Nile, despite strong opposition from Egypt and Sudan who have the major share of the river waters.

The Nile flows through 10 African nations, but the distribution of its waters among each Nile basin country has long been a source of tension in the region.

Historic agreements have given Egypt and Sudan veto power over upstream projects that could affect the flow of water.

But the agreement signed last week by four of the Nile Basin countries marked the creation of a new commission to manage the water.

Kenya, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo are expected to sign within a year.

'Old-fashioned ideas'

Egypt has warned that the agreement lacks legitimacy.

But Zenawi told Al Jazeera's Andrew Simmons that Egypt's approach is out of date.
The Nile River Basin

The source of the Nile, the longest river in the world, is Lake Victoria.

It is comprised of the White and Blue Niles. It stretches from the Kagera river in Burundi to the Mediterranean Sea in Egypt.

Shared by 10 countries - Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda - it runs 6,741km.

The overall population of these countries is over 300 million people. More than 160 million live along the Nile Basin.

"Some people in Egypt have old-fashioned ideas based on the assumption that the Nile water belongs to Egypt, and that Egypt has a right to decide who gets what, and that the upper [Nile basin] countries are unable to use the Nile water because they will be unstable and they will be poor," he said.

"These circumstances have changed and changed forever.

"Ethiopia is not unstable. Ethiopia is still poor, but it is able to cover the necessary resources to build whatever infrastructure and dams it wants on the Nile water."

The upstream countries want to be able to implement irrigation and hydro-power projects in consultation with Egypt and Sudan, but without Egypt being able to exercise the veto power it was given by a 1929 colonial-era treaty with Britain.

Legal action threatened

Egypt, however, has warned that Cairo's water rights are a "red line" and it threatened legal action if a unilateral deal was reached.

But Zenawi dismissed the warning, saying it would not solve the dispute at hand.

"The way forward is not for Egypt to try and stop the unstoppable. The way forward is to seek a win-win solution through diplomatic efforts," he said.

Al Jazeera's Amr El Kahky, reporting from Cairo, said Egyptian government officials said such statements undermine the spirit of co-operation between the Nile Basin Initiative countries.

"A government official told me that Egypt does not oppose the development of these countries," he said.

"But at the end of the day, Egypt does not want to see the flow of the Nile and the water share of the Nile being hindered or reduced."

Water supply fears

The new agreement, the Nile Basin Co-operative Framework, is to replace a 1959 accord between Egypt and Sudan that gave them control of more than 90 per cent of the water flow.

The two countries have expressed fears that their water supply would be severely reduced if the seven other Nile users divert the river with domestic irrigation and hydro-power projects.

The Nile Basin Initiative, which had been spearheading the talks, will now become the Nile Basin Commission and will receive, review and approve or reject projects related to Africa's longest river.

The commission will be based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital, and have representation from all nine Nile Basin countries.

Source: Aljazeera.

 

[Buchanan]

Huyu jamaa kama Lowasa kwa msimamo!

 

[Smatta]

Egypt is prepared to aid the conservation of Kenya’s water towers as they are a major source of the River Nile.

Speaking in Cairo when he held talks with Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak instructed his Prime Minister, Dr Ahmed Nazif to work out the finer details of the support at a meeting he will hold with Mr Odinga on Tuesday.

President Mubarak emphasised that his country would help Kenya and other countries at the source of the Nile to increase the water levels in Lake Victoria.

Mr Odinga said that Kenya understand what the Nile means to Egypt and the responsibility the country has in conserving the waters.

“Therefore, Kenya has invested heavily in environmental conservation, for example in the Mau,” added the PM.

Saying that Kenya would not be party to plans to compromise the security of other countries that use the Nile, Mr Odinga called for cooperation among all states that share the waters of the river.

He pointed out that 40% of the water in Lake Victoria is from sources in Kenya.

In this regard, the Premier appealed to Egypt to sign the Cooperative Framework Agreement that intends to transform the Nile Basin Initiative into a Permanent Nile River Commission to manage the water resource on behalf of the Nile basin states.




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