Writes Leo Odera Omolo
INFORMATION emerging from the Ugandan capital, Kampala says control of the Nile waters by Egypt and Sudan came to an abrupt end last week, paving the way for development of irrigation related projects upstream of the river.
In a ceremony held in Kampala, the six riparian countries ratified the Cooperation Framework Agreement {CFA} that repeals the close to one century old treaty, which Egypt signed with the colonial power Great Britain in 1929.
The Treaty was signed between Great Britain colonial rulers and Egypt and was later reviewed in 1959 before most of the riparian countries got their political independent in early 1960s.
The World Bank Trust, which manages the Nile Basin resources, had been blocking development projects along the river because the Nile Basin Initiative {BBI} lacked legal basis, which the CFA now provides.
“As long as we do not have the CFA, Egypt and the Sudan will continue to block development activities because NBI has no legal recognition in other countries”, said Dr. Callist Tindimugaya, Uganda’s Nile Basin Initiative representative and also Commissioner of Water Resources Regulation at the Ministry of Water and Environment.
The colonial treat barred other countries from using the water for development purposes that could impact negatively on water flowing to Egypt.
The Egyptian government had posted a team of military water engineers, who are permanently stationed at the eastern Ugandan town of Jinja, where the source of River Nile is located at the northern tip of Lake Victoria to monitor the flow of the water to Egypt. It has posted similar team of water experts of its embassies located in Nairobi, Dar Es Salaam and Kampala as well as in other riparian countries.
In 1959, however, Egypt and Sudan renegotiated the treaty a fresh and came up with the Full Utilization of Nile Water Agreement, which allowed the construction of the Aswan Dam in Egypt for mutual benefit of both countries.
“Without the consent of Egypt no irrigation or hydroelectric works can be established on the tributaries of the Nile or their lakes if such works can cause a drop in water levels harmful to Egypt,” read the section in the 1959 treaty.
The riparian countries include the DRC Congo, Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia and Rwanda.
The breakaway group of riparian countries includes Burundi, Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania-undertook technical audits that culminated in the establishment of CFA last year.
In February this year, Burundi became the sixth nation to sign up to the agreement to alter the historical water-sharing the River Nile, thus raising sufficient numbers to move the process towards ratification.
Egypt, Sudan and DRC Congo did not sign while Eritrea maintains observer status. The organization’s name changed from Nile Basin Initiative to Nile Basin Commission with its administrative secretariat in Uganda.
The CFA provides sharing of benefits and costs of maintaining the river.
Regional Interconnection Project a USD 385 million power project expected to be completed in 2014 – is one of the development programs that are expected to generate cross border electricity for the benefits of all tributaries countries.
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