Egypt, Sudan thwart Nile basin sharing pact
July 28, 2009 (ALEXANDRIA) – A meeting of the nine Nile Basin countries failed to reach an agreement on a new framework pact for water-sharing following intense lobbying from Egypt and Sudan.
“Six months was allocated to solve the problem,” Ethiopian Minister of Water Resources Asfaw Dingamo told reporters at the end of the meeting.
“Before that our technical advisers will sit down and come up with a technical agreement to be signed,” he said.
Egypt and to a lesser extent Sudan are strongly resisting attempts by other Nile basin countries to modify their shares of the river per the 1929 and 1959 treaties.
The 1929 agreement signed between Britain and Egypt states that no project on the Nile would be undertaken by any basin countries that would impact the volume of water reaching Egypt.
Legal experts say that the agreement is binding to Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo despite the fact that most of these countries were not independent at the time.
Thirty years later Sudan and Egypt amended the agreement that enabled the construction of the Aswan dam close to the borders between the two countries.
The 1959 agreement between Egypt and Sudan states that no projects are allowed on the Nile by any other country without its consent.
It was reported that some Nile Basin countries are mulling resorting to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to resolve the dispute over the agreements.
The issue of water is highly sensitive matter to Egypt and the latter has historically stated that they would go to war over if its Nile Water share is affected.
With almost 80 million people, Egypt’s water demands are projected to exceed its supply by 2017, according to a government reported published earlier this month.
Other Nile Basin countries, some of which suffer periodic droughts, drafted the Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA) in June at a Democratic Republic of Congo summit that omitted mention of Egypt and Sudan’s historic claims.
The Sudanese irrigation minister Kamal Ali Mohamed told official news agency (SUNA) that his country was able to convince its peers to delay signing the CFA for six months.
He added that the Nile basin countries will form working groups to narrow any differences that emerged during previous meetings.
Today Mona Omar, Egyptian deputy foreign minister for African affairs, told reporters that there is “no way” Egypt would allow a reduction of its quota,
Egypt sought to downplay the differences after the summit, and said it is proposing economic incentives to the countries.
“It’s normal that there are disagreements,” cabinet spokesman Magdi Riyad said at a press conference. “(But) there was a unanimous agreement that the resources of the Nile Basin were more than enough if managed properly.”
He said Egypt proposes widening the scope of the Nile Basin Initiative, the World Bank funded umbrella group of Nile Basin countries, to include other natural resources.
Oduck Bol
Egypt, Sudan thwart Nile basin sharing pact
Egypt will fight if there is shorted of water! That is good for her if it is the solution. You wait for Southern Sudan to be independent so Egypt will know the African brain. You will drink water Nile with urine on it if you do not talk nicely. This is Africa water,God gave it to us as blessing from him and Mohamed found this water in Africa continent. You do not have choice,go to hell.
Wad Juba
Egypt, Sudan thwart Nile basin sharing pact
Egypt and Sudan, must wake up and face the fact that, some of the other Nile Basin member countries, have the same rights to the waters of the Nile as them. Infact, a country like Ethiopia, contributes about eighty percent of the Nile waters and uses less than twenty percent, while thousands of its citizens die of drought and famine every year.
There is no way “in this day and age” that treaties which dates back to 1929 and the 1950’s and signed by colonial invaders without concent from the colonised countries, be of any importance today. What i’m trying to say is that,the deal strucked between Britan and Egypt did not really consider the interests and welfare of others, except for their own greed.
The other Nile Basin members must go to an international court and state their case, because threats from these terrorists (Egyptians)to go to war with any country if their Lion’s share of the Nile is threaten, are not jokes. They might even use Al Qida’s number 2 man (Iman Al Zouahiri) who we all know, is an Egyptian, to the bone. So all concerned, must stand up tall and look “eye to eye” with Egypt or Sudan and demand equal share of the Nile. Bribes of a few million worthless Egpytian pounds, or is the politically correct term “economic incentives” from Egypt to the other countries, must be rejected if it is intended to silence and infuluence the outcome of future agreements.
Wad Jubz “Tha Global Mind”
Hillary B.M.L,M
Egypt, Sudan thwart Nile basin sharing pact
Africans wake up! What is wrong with you Black people? See what your Arabs Africans are doing, you are instructed not to use Nile water without their consent, is that not confiscation of your right? Even gone further by threatening that they will go to war if its share of water is reduce, considering the two countries Water Accord of that time. See just two out of…….Nile Basin Countries, thwarted the signing of Agreement. Does it mean we are behind in every aspect when facing Arabs? This is because we like playing Disco, eating a lot, lough any time and all sorts of stupid things.
Nakedu Mura
Egypt, Sudan thwart Nile basin sharing pact
EGYPT IS GREEDY OF NILE WATERS!
The right countries to head the nile waters are Uganda,kenya,and Ethiopia! not egypt nor sudan.egypt’s economy is strong because of nile waters and they selfishly want to guard this,though they well know the other nile basins are wallowing in dire poverty! for almost centuries now it has been denying her neighbours rights to open up major projects a long nile and also taking advantage of ignorance by these countries of nile water management.
THEY can’t control their population yet cry of shortages of resources.
Egypt, where is justice on this case?
Kur
Egypt, Sudan thwart Nile basin sharing pact
The East African countries should not waste their time discussing nonsense with Egyptians. I do not think that Egypt has the capacity to come and stop farmers in Uganda, Kenya,etc from using the Nile water for farming purposes. It is a natural right of those communities living a long the Nile to use the water as they want.
Kur
Idito guy
Egypt, Sudan thwart Nile basin sharing pact
II think, it’s better to Egypt to stop boisterous or noising talking about water because this water not belong to Egyptians alone, So that Egyptians have to keep in their main that SUDAN is going to divided for more then 3 or 4 country, and the water issue will come up, and not only that hall will be there.
Also better you forget the agreement that has been signed in backlash that will never
Tackle any problem in near future of the nation ask for the independent.
KUKU,
Ras Alula
Egypt, Sudan thwart Nile basin sharing pact
One fudamental error in this article is that Ethiopia was never a colony of England or any other country for that matter and therefore is not bound by any treaty England signed on behalf of her colonies. As the source of about 87% of the water volume of the Nile River, Ethiopia’s legal rights are paramount to that of Egypt’s. If Egypt cannot accept Ethiopia’s inalienable rights to all her rivers’ water resources, she is welcome to attempt to enforce her will on Ethiopia on the battlefield.