From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Tue Dec 29 2009 - 10:47:46 EST
Who Owns the River Nile Water?
Evelyn Lirri
29 December 2009
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analysis
It was in 1929 when then colonial rulers Britain signed an agreement with
Egypt that would require other countries that share waters of the River Nile
to seek permission from Cairo before embarking on any large scale projects
on the river.
The 1929 agreement which gave Egypt the right to object to any activity on
the Nile without its consent was revised in 1959, this time between Egypt
and Sudan, giving the two countries absolute rights to use 100 per cent of
the river's waters.
Decades later, the 10 countries of Uganda, DR Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya,
Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Burundi and Eritrea that share the river's waters,
in 1999 decided to sign an agreement through the Nile Basin Initiative, a
transitional arrangement to allow for equitable use of the Nile basin water
resources.
The Nile basin countries had argued that the bilateral agreement between
Egypt and former colonial rulers Britain was outdated and that other
countries within the Nile before sin had not consented to it. In fact Kenya
has consistently said it does not recognise the treaty that gave Egypt
powers to control any use of the River Nile waters.
But while the 1999 transitional agreement provides a level playing field for
sharing the water, it is hoped that a final cooperative framework agreement
would pave way for all Nile countries to benefit equally and not have to
seek permission from Egypt before carrying out any development project.
The 6,695 km (4,160 mile) Nile is the second longest river in the world,
with great potential for social-economic development, but currently, most of
the people who live in its basin are not benefitting from its possible
applications in irrigation to boost modern farming. They thus remain very
poor.
Most of the basin countries have not developed projects in great potential
that this river has for hydropower generation. In a presentation to
journalists earlier this year on the Nile Basin and its potentials, Dr
Callist Tindimugaya, a commissioner for water regulation in Uganda's
Ministry of Water and Environment, said outside Egypt, only 10 per cent of
the Nile basin's hydropower potential has been tapped.
He added: "Within the Nile basin, only 15 per cent of the population is
served by electricity while only 40 per cent of the irrigable land has been
irrigated," Dr Tindimugaya said.
Clearly, an inequitable situation pertains. It is hoped that when there is a
legal framework that allows countries to use the water resources equitably,
it will improve the lives of the 160 million people who live along the Nile
basin. Dr Tindimugaya outlined the history of attempts on cooperation on
river Nile.
The negotiations started as early as 1997 and since then, numerous meetings
and conferences have been held in various capitals of the riparian
countries, including coming up with joint projects especially in the area of
water management, hydropower development and irrigation for large scale
agriculture.
Basin initiative It was in 1999 that the countries finally agreed to form
the Nile Basin Initiative, which would, as a transitional arrangement, later
be replaced by a permanent commission.
The secretariat of the transitional body is currently hosted by Uganda.
According to Dr Tindimugaya, the basin countries have gone through a series
of lengthy negotiations, involving mostly water experts, which were carried
out between 1997 and 2007. Between 2006 and 2007, the Nile Council of
Ministers, which is a club of ministers responsible for water and irrigation
in the riparian countries, had resolved many of the contentious issues on a
possible treaty on water sharing. In June 2007, the basin countries agreed
on all 39 articles that had been proposed in the new treaty, except part (b)
of Article 14 which speaks about water security. Egypt wants that bit
changed before it can put pen to paper.
It is said that the main words of disagreement in the article refer to
"current uses" and "rights". Analysts says Egypt is unlikely to give up its
preferential rights as a major determinant of what activity takes place
along the Nile, although it has strongly denied this claim saying the
country is committed to a deal that allows riparian countries to undertake
development projects on the Nile.
Dr Mohamed El-Din Allam, the Egyptian minister for water and irrigation, who
is also the current chairperson of the Nile Council of Ministers, said river
management agreements are not easy to achieve and it can take decades to be
resolve. He cited the Columbia and Senegal basin initiatives which took
decades before countries could reach an agreement.
"For some it took over three decades, but that doesn't mean that we need
three decades to reach an agreement as most of the items have been
finalised. It is the issue of water security that is only left. This is not
like going to the shop and buying an item, you are deciding the destiny of
countries and it's critical and sensitive," Dr Allam said. Tanzanians
optimistic Tanzania's minister for water and irrigation Mark Mwandosya said
besides equity and fairness, Egypt and the rest of the countries are also
"broadly" in agreement on the issue of water security.
"We have the same perspective on the issue of water security but it is the
structure of the words and concepts that differ," he said. Prof. Mwandosya
was optimistic that a deal would soon be reached.
With another round of negotiations expected to take place in February 2010
in Alexandria, Egypt, many are optimistic that this will be the defining
moment ahead of a final deal.