Ugandan MPs back motion to defy Nile treaty
By Elias Biryabarema, The Monitor
PARLIAMENT, Kampala, Feb 13, 2004 — The parliamentary committee on Natural Resources has endorsed a motion seeking abrogation of the colonial agreements restricting Uganda’s use of the Nile waters.
The motion was tabled by Mr Amon Muzoora (Rwampara) on May 6, 2002 seeking a repudiation of those agreements.
In Muzoora’s draft report, seen by The Monitor, the MPs on the Natural Resources committee concurred with him that all the agreements be nullified and renegotiated.
They also upheld his proposal that Sudan and Egypt start paying Uganda for the use of River Nile.
“Uganda is enslaving itself by continuing to observe the pre-independence agreements. It’s the committee’s view that those agreements have no legal binding on Uganda,” the report says.
The committee cited other Nile basin countries such as Kenya and Tanzania, which have all weaned themselves of the agreements.
Kenya revoked its obligation in 2001 while Tanzania did so during President Julius Nyerere’s regime.
The committee, however, recommended that Muzoora’s motion needs to be toned down to avoid possible diplomatic fallout.
“The motion raises pertinent issues that must be addressed. But it’s confrontational. It should be toned down to accommodate diplomatic concerns,” the draft report reads in part.
The committee disagreed with Muzoora’s proposal that Parliament determines the cost per water unit which Egypt and Sudan should pay.
The committee preferred independent negotiators to do the job.
Muzoora had proposed that Parliament should set the cost per water unit at $0.05 per 1,000 litres of the Nile water Egypt and Sudan use.
According to his calculations, the two countries would annually be paying Uganda about Shs 2 billion.
The MPs recommended that Egypt and Sudan contribute to the maintenance of Lake Victoria, the Nile source.
Uganda is currently meeting the maintenance cost alone.
The maintenance includes sustaining the lake through stopping deforestation, wetland degradation, soil erosion and weed infestation.
The draft report will undergo another phase of scrutiny before it is presented on the floor for debate.
Egypt is also required, according to the report, to pay £500,000 to Uganda in compensation for raising the lake’s water levels as stipulated in a 1950 agreement.
The Attorney General, Mr Francis Ayume, who met the committee to provide a legal interpretation of the treaties, according to the report, also supported their resolve to repudiate the accords.
But he cautioned that the matter be handled carefully to avoid a diplomatic row.