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

[Herbalist Dr MziziMkavu]

by Samer al-Atrush Samer Al-atrush – 57 mins ago

CAIRO (AFP) – Egypt is refusing to relinquish a drop of its legal right to the lion's share of Nile river water, despite demands from other African countries for a more equitable sharing agreement.

Following years of barren negotiations, seven upstream African countries -- Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, DR Congo, Rwanda, Burundi -- are on Friday expected to push forward with a new water-sharing deal to replace an agreement that gives Egypt and Sudan majority control of the water flow.

Egypt has repeatedly cited its "historical" right on the river which provides the country of 80 million people with 90 percent of its water needs.

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

A 1959 agreement between Egypt and Sudan -- following Sudan's independence in 1956 -- allocated 55.5 billion cubic metres of the Nile to Egypt, and 18.5 billion to Sudan, a combined total of 87 percent of the Nile flow.

Egypt's water needs are expected to exceed its supply by 2017, according to a government report last year.

"Egypt is exerting efforts with leaders of the upstream countries to persuade them to delay the agreement," said Hani Raslan, a Nile expert with the Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies.

"The only way out of the problem is cooperation," he added.

Raslan said that the Nile Basin Initiative -- a basin countries umbrella group funded by the World Bank -- had studied 22 projects including energy projects, saving lost water and irrigation.

"Unilateral signing will abort these projects. And Egypt will object to any project that affects its share," Raslan said.

Egypt says it is still hoping to negotiate, failing that it has threatened legal action.

"If certain countries of the Nile Basin sign an agreement without consensus, Egypt will insist that all countries respect international law," Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit told a local newspaper on Saturday.

"If necessary, we will treat this in the adequate legal way," he said, adding that his country's water rights were a "red line."

The outcome of the next meeting could unravel the 10-year-old Nile Basin Initiative, which the World Bank credits with helping keep the countries talking with each other on quotas.

Raslan says that an agreement on May 14 that excluded Egypt and Sudan would bring an end to the initiative, a message Abul Gheit says has been delivered to the basin countries.

"Egypt has been careful to affirm to the Nile Basin countries and donors that opening the door to signing the agreement means the end of negotiations and an announcement that the Nile Basin Initiative has failed," he said.

Egypt has proposed to help manage its African partners' water resources, and vowed to better make use of its own.

But Egyptian diplomats say the African countries will have a hard time financing large projects if there is no consensus among the Nile countries.

Cairo "will not accept the construction of any project in the Nile basin that could affect its water resources," Abul Gheit said.

Some observers say Egypt is not serious about negotiating.

"Egyptians are behaving with the Africans the way they accuse Israel of behaving with the Palestinians: they say they are ready to negotiate but without committing to the difficult issues," one western diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity.

And Egypt insists that the Africans have other sources of water.

"Egypt only has water coming from the river. The Africans have it from the rains," one Egyptian diplomat said


http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100512/wl_africa_afp/egyptnilewaterafrica


WAHESHIMIWA MARAIS WA AFRIKA MASHARIKI MNAYAONA HAYO MAMBO? WAMISRI HAWATAKI WATU WENGINE WAYATUMIE MAJI YA MTO NILE JE KUNA FAIDA GANI YA KUWAACHIA HAO WAARABU WAYATUMIE MAJI YA MTO VICTORIA?WAKATI MAJI YA MTO NILE HAWATAKI WATU WENGINE WAYATUMIE? JE WAKUU WANGU WA NCHI ZA AFRIKA MASHARIKI KENYA ,UGANDA NA TANZANIA MNALICHUKULIAJE HILI SUALA LA MAJI KWA HAO WAARABU WA MISRI? SISI TUNAUMIA WAO WAMISRI WANAFAIDIKA NA MTU NILE HILI JAMBO NI LA MUHIMU SANA KWA WAKUU WA NCHI HIZI TATU ZA AFRIKA MASHARIKI KUTAFUTA UVUMBUZI WA TATIZO LA MAJI ASANTENI SANA .

 

[Mwana wa Mungu]

kikwete hawezi ongea chochote kwasababu ni ndugu zake, chagueni rais ambaye atakuwa na uchungu na nchi regardless of rafiki zake....kikwete ni rafiki wa al bashiri gaidi, rafiki wa gaidi gadafi, rafiki wa egypt...ajabu hii. unafikiri atasema kitu hapo, hapo tutegemee response toka uganda, kenya etc. na sisi kama watz tunahitaji maelezo juu ya hili. hapo ndo tutamkumbuka lowasa.

 

[Isimilo]

Mbona Suez Cannal ilikuwa ni international free zone passway lakini Wamisri wakai-Confiscate na sasa hivi wanachukua kodi kama kawaida. waisrael wangeendekez aInternational law wasingekuwa na Yerusalem.
Agentina imeigomea Uingereza kuhusu kupita kwenye eneo lake ambalo wanadai lilikua liko kwenye international waters. inabidi waingereza walipe kodi sasa hivi. eneo hilo ambalo British inalitumia kiuchumi inasemekana ni la Agentina na wanalitaka kinguvu sasa hivi.
Urusi na nchi zingine zimejimegea vipande kule Arctic na wanataka kuchimba mafuta je hizo internationa laws ziko wapi. niseme nini kuhusu thyland au Tibet au Myamnar(Burma).
endeleeni kulala watanzania. waganda wana maji ya kutoshe na vyanzo vya Umeme vya kutosha. imajine Uganda wangekuwa less advantegaed kuhusu huo mto kama sisi Au Mistri ndo ingekuwa located hapa tanzania halafu sisi tukawa pale Misri je wange kubal?
hata ule mradi mkubwa wa maji wa kwenda Shinyanga nasikia ulikuwa cripple au unaoperate at very law capacity kutokana na hizi stupid international laws.

 

[Eng. SALUFU CA]

Unajua wakati mwingine kiongozi anatakiwa ajitofautishe na wengine kwa kutetea haki za watu wake, ndio maana wakina Kambarage walizuia madini enzi hizo kuchimbwa ili walau tupate wataalamu wetu, hawa jamaa wa Misri wanatakiwa watokewe na kiongozi wa TZed shupavu kwa ajili kufanya mabadiliko makubwa kwenye huu mkataba wa Nile, vinginevyo ndugu zetu wa pale Kahama watakosa maji kwa ajili ya kuwaogopa wao. Jamani tuchague kiongozi atakeyeacha blabla na kuchapa kazi. Kumbukeni haki haiombwi wala kubembelezwa!!!!!!!

 

[damtu2]

You have a point here but you sounded a bit more upset because of 'waarabu'. I think we need the ability to address issues without having racial tones like this....trust me it works both ways

 

[Wacha1]

Kwani hamfahamu jadi ya watumwa? JK kamshindwa RA atawaweza Wa-Misri?​

 

[Kimweri]

our leaders are very very arrogant and at the same time DUMB.Egyptians may have right to ude nile waters BUT they have no right to ac t in such arrogant manner.

Great nations go to war over such stupid arrogance from Egypt,since we are slaves of whtes we willnever do anything.hamna tabu kizazi chetu ni the most useless AFRICA ever had,mababu zetu walikuwa weak physically but they were stronger mentally in terms of their sense of identity and dignity.

I do not expect anything from hooligans running our government,if they give away what was not taken from us,how can they take back what was already taken?

think big there,

 

[Masikini_Jeuri]

Inashangaza na kusikitisha; ivi kumbe international law inaweza kutumika kunizuia nisilalae ndani ya chumba cha nyumba niliyorithi kwa Baba? :yuck:samahani nitatumia lugha kali

TO HELL WITH THAT PARTICULAR LAW! :angry::angry:

 

[Ngongo]

East Africa seeks more Nile water from Egypt

The Nile is vital for many different reasons

Four East African states have signed an agreement to seek more water from the River Nile - a move strongly opposed by Egypt and Sudan.
Under colonial-era accords, the two countries get 90% of the river's water.
Upstream countries including Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Ethiopia say it is unfair and want a new deal but nothing has been agreed in 13 years of talks.
A further three countries were represented at the meeting in Entebbe, Uganda, and may sign up later.

They have a lot of rain - Here in Sudan we need water

Ahmed el-Mufti
Sudan's legal counsel

BBC East Africa correspondent Will Ross says there is a danger that the split could hamper any further efforts for all nine countries involved to negotiate how the waters should be shared.
The BBC's Wyre Davies in Cairo says that for Egypt, water is a matter of national security.
Egypt has dismissed the Entebbe agreement, saying it "is in no way binding on Egypt from a legal perspective".
"Egypt will not join or sign any agreement that affects its share," ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.
'Rule of the jungle'
Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, and Rwanda signed the agreement in Entebbe, which would lead to experts determining how much water each country would be entitled to.
Kenya did not sign the agreement as its minister could not attend. Like Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo, it sent officials to Entebbe.

Ethiopia, for example - the source of the Blue Nile - contributes an estimated 85% of the river waters but is able to make relatively little use of its natural resource.
Rwanda's Environment Minister Stanislas Kamanzi told the BBC: "Egypt has been requesting to defer the signing of the Cooperative Framework Agreement - we couldn't wait any longer, since we have been negotiating for over 10 years."
Egypt and Sudan say they will not sign a new deal unless they are first guaranteed an exact share of the water.
Ahead of the meeting, Ahmed el-Mufti, the legal counsel for Sudan's delegation, told Reuters news agency that all nine countries were close to an agreement, so there was no need for the upstream countries to sign their own deal.
He also said Egypt and Sudan needed water more than those in more fertile regions.
"They have a lot of rain: This is nature," he said. "They do not need the water. Here in Sudan we need water."
Egypt's farmers are almost wholly dependent on the River Nile and its water.
The BBC's Will Ross says that, with populations soaring, demand for water increasing and climate change having an impact, there are warnings that wrangling over the world's longest river could be a trigger for conflict.
"If we don't have an agreed co-operative framework, there will be no peace," Kenya's director of water resources John Nyaro told the BBC before the meeting.
"Where there is no rule of law, the rule of the jungle does not provide peace."

 

[Mzee2000]

Four nations sign Nile agreement

Lakini tanzania wameshasaidi, tena jana tarehe 14/5/2010 ingawa Egypt na sudan wamekataa.
Four nations sign Nile agreement

Source daily monitor 15/05/2010
Kampala

Four countries yesterday signed a treaty that would pave way for equitable use of the River Nile waters. However, Egypt and Sudan refused to put pen to paper on the treaty that would end their near-absolute rights on the use of the Nile.

Although seven of the nine countries were expected to sign the Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA) that would replace two colonialera treaties that gave Egypt and Sudan absolute rights to use up to 94 per cent of the river Nile waters, only Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Rwanda signed the treaty yesterday in Entebbe.

The Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya and Burundi had promised to sign the CFA but did not do so and instead sent representatives to witness the start of the agreement. Failed to make it Tanzania’s Minister for Water and Irrigation, Prof. Mark Mwandosya said water ministers from the three countries could not make it to the signing ceremony because of “other very urgent commitments.”

The CFA document will now remain open for one year-until May 13, 2011, to particularly give Sudan and Egypt a chance to change their mind and sign. Uganda’s State Minister for Regional Affairs, Mr Isaac Musumba, who signed on
behalf of Uganda urged the other countries to follow suit to pave way for development projects on the Nile.

Kenya to sign “Considering that all principles have been discussed by the countries and consensus reached on all, except one clause, it is appropriate that the document we are going to open does pave way for the establishment of a permanent Nile River Basin Commission,” he said. He said Uganda is committed to working with the rest of the countries within the Nile Basin to resolve pending issues even as we progress. “I urge the rest of the countries to append their signatures when this document is open,” Mr Musumba said.

Kenya’s High Commissioner to Uganda, Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Okanga said that Kenya’s position on the CFA has not changed and it will sign the treaty as soon as possible. “We think we have reached a stage where we should move forward in ensuring the proper use of our water resource,” he said.

 

[Ubungoubungo]

Four nations sign Nile agreement

Lakini tanzania wameshasaidi, tena jana tarehe 14/5/2010 ingawa Egypt na sudan wamekataa.
Four nations sign Nile agreement

Source daily monitor 15/05/2010
Kampala

Four countries yesterday signed a treaty that would pave way for equitable use of the River Nile waters. However, Egypt and Sudan refused to put pen to paper on the treaty that would end their near-absolute rights on the use of the Nile.

Although seven of the nine countries were expected to sign the Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA) that would replace two colonialera treaties that gave Egypt and Sudan absolute rights to use up to 94 per cent of the river Nile waters, only Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Rwanda signed the treaty yesterday in Entebbe.

The Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya and Burundi had promised to sign the CFA but did not do so and instead sent representatives to witness the start of the agreement. Failed to make it Tanzania’s Minister for Water and Irrigation, Prof. Mark Mwandosya said water ministers from the three countries could not make it to the signing ceremony because of “other very urgent commitments.”

The CFA document will now remain open for one year-until May 13, 2011, to particularly give Sudan and Egypt a chance to change their mind and sign. Uganda’s State Minister for Regional Affairs, Mr Isaac Musumba, who signed on
behalf of Uganda urged the other countries to follow suit to pave way for development projects on the Nile.

Kenya to sign “Considering that all principles have been discussed by the countries and consensus reached on all, except one clause, it is appropriate that the document we are going to open does pave way for the establishment of a permanent Nile River Basin Commission,” he said. He said Uganda is committed to working with the rest of the countries within the Nile Basin to resolve pending issues even as we progress. “I urge the rest of the countries to append their signatures when this document is open,” Mr Musumba said.

Kenya’s High Commissioner to Uganda, Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Okanga said that Kenya’s position on the CFA has not changed and it will sign the treaty as soon as possible. “We think we have reached a stage where we should move forward in ensuring the proper use of our water resource,” he said.

unaona wakenya walivyo wasaliti, kwani uganda na kenya kuna umbali gani hapo kwenda na kusaini tu mara moja, na kama walikuwa wanaona ni kitu cha muhimu, wanachozengeazengea kusain ni nini? hawa jamaa ni watu wa kwenda nao kwa umakini sana hata ktk east africa community.....hii ni betrayal kubwa sana.

 

[Ibrah]

Waisitubabaishe hawa Wamisri; mbona tunayatumia tu hayo maji ya Ziwa Victoria? NAdhani dawa yao ni kutumia zaidi maji ya Mto Kagera kuzalisha Umeme, pia Mto Mara tuone watatufanya nini. Uganda wana Mabwawa ya Umeme pale Jinja kwenye chanzo cha Mto Nile wenyewe na wameongeza chanzo kipya pale Bujagali Falls mbona Wamisri walikaa kimya. Dawa ni kuyatumia maji ya Ziwa Victoria na Mito yote inayoingia Ziwani, kutumia, kutumia, na kutumia hadi wakome na waje kupiga magoti.

 

[Mwana wa Mungu]

kwasababu hawajaja kwa heshima, si vibaya kama tukitumia tu maji kwa vyovyote tupendavyo ili siku ingine waje kwa heshima na adabu. kusema kweli kama wangekuja kwa heshima, tungeweza kuwa na mawazo mengine, lakini wametudharau muda mwingi hawa, watz wanakufa kwa njaa hawana hata maji ya kunywa na wao wanataka tuyaache tu haya maji....kwanini, basi waje wayachukua maji yote ya ziwa victoria na mito yote waondoe kwenye ramani yetu ili hapo maji yalipokuwepo sisi tulime au tufanyekitu kingine...does it mean kwama kuna ardhi ingine ya wamisri nje ya misri, yaani wanao uwezo kucontrol maeneo mengine ambayo si nchi yao, mbona wanatudharau jamani...waje kibinadamu ili na sisi tufanye kibinadamu....wakija kinyama na sissi tutafanya kinyama...hapa ndo itakuwa muhimu kuwa rafiki wa israel, ambao walishatoa ofa ya kusambaza maji ya victoria sehemu kame za tz muda mrefu sisi tukaona hawatufai....

 

[Kinyambiss]

Egypt is ready to go to war on the issue.. Sasa sijui Tanzania mtawafanyanini.

 

[Ogah]

Egypt is ready to go to war on the issue.. Sasa sijui Tanzania mtawafanyanini.

na hayo ndio maneno ya most of Egyptians...................tusubiri tuone

 

[Mwana wa Mungu]

kwani wakitaka vita, si wanakuja tu tunapigana, vita ikiisha tunaendelea kutumia maji kama kawaida, au wataweka majeshi yao hapa tz milele kulinda tusitumie,...hahaha, wanaongea tu, kama kuna uamuzi mbaya kuliko wote misri wanaweza kufanya utakuwa ndio huo, kwasababu kama wakitutibua kwa vita, ndo tutatumia maji kwa kiburi zaidi bila kusikiliza maongezi tena...wenyewe wanajua. vita haipiganwi kwa silaha tu, hata kama east africa tunazo poor weapons kuliko wao, si kwamba tunaweza kupigwa hivihivi....kwasababu zaidi ya kupiganwa kwa silaha, tunapigana kwa sheria za vita za kimataifa, na kwa spirit ya kuipenda nchi yetu, mbona watachemsha....watajuta kufanya hivyo, hata kama tutapigwa, watakuwa wamevuruga kila kitu.

 

[bitimkongwe]

Jamani kuna sheria za kimataifa ambazo zinahitaji kuangaliwa na ndio maana Tanzania hata kama itajifanya mbabe kuna repercussions zake ambazo zinaweza kujitokeza.

Kwanza ni hivi katika hiyo sheria ya 1929 wakati ule Afrika ya Mashariki ilikuwa chini ya himaya ya Uingereza kwa hivyo wao walitunga sheria na kuzifuatilia. Baada ya uhuru wa Tanganyika hiyo sheria kwa upande wa Tanzania haikuridhiwa kwa hivyo kama nchi hatukuwajibika kuitekeleza.

Hiyo nilisikia siku moja kwa Professa mmoja wa sheria nilipohudhuria washa kuhusu mabadiliko ya sheria za maji.

 

[Companero]

Mkiambiwa tunahitaji Umoja wa Bara la Afrika kutoka Cape hadi Cairo, Dar hadi Dakar mnabisha - haya tupiganie hayo maji basi kama enzi za Abrahamu na Loti tuone nani ataathirika zaidi, Mwafrika au Mwarabu!

 

[Masikini_Jeuri]

Mkiambiwa tunahitaji Umoja wa Bara la Afrika kutoka Cape hadi Cairo, Dar hadi Dakar mnabisha - haya tupiganie hayo maji basi kama enzi za Abrahamu na Loti tuone nani ataathirika zaidi, Mwafrika au Mwarabu!

Hatimaye ! Hivi ni lazima tuwasubiri wao ndo tuchote maji na kunywa ilhali kisima kipo nyumbani kwetu?

 

[Mwana wa Mungu]

hivi mnaona namna kenya na burundi, walivyo wasaliti, ni kwanini hawajasaini? jamani wakenya kwanini hawajasain?