Egypt’s Nile-COM chairmanship could brew storm

KIGALI - As member states of the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) eye a major breakthrough of the ratification of the Nile Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA), fears have mounted that Egypt may use its upcoming chairmanship of the Nile Council of Ministers (Nile-Com) to frustrate the process. The Pact seeks to establish a permanent commission of The Nile Basin which would move from its current “initiative” level to a permanently globally recognised commission and at different forums both Egypt and Sudan have been accused by other members of delaying the ratification. Reports indicate that the two northern African states aver that some articles in the draft pact may curtail their usage of the Nile waters. The Nile-Com is one of the supreme decision making organs of the basin and currently, it’s chaired by the Democratic Republic of Congo which will be handing over to Egypt sometime this month. In a previous ministerial meeting held in Kinshasa, Egypt went cold feet and disagreed with article 14 b of the draft framework agreement which seeks to give equal rights to all member states over the usage and security of the basin. Egypt asserts that its sublime control over the Nile water body was given to it by the colonialists, therefore disagreeing with the article which seeks to jeopardize that historical arrangement. According to Minister of Minerals and Natural Resources Stanislas Kamanzi, it has been difficult for member states to work together due to unrest and mutual suspicions, but the transformation of NBI into a commission will provide a more unified and solid platform which will enable mutual usage of the waters “There has been some difficulties hindering member states from working together due to unrest and mutual suspicion but with a permanent commission, there will be mutual understanding and consensus-based usage of the water body,” pointed out Kamanzi All the other member countries agreed with the article apart from Egypt and Sudan which also showed some signs of misgivings. While addressing the press, Kamanzi voiced his disappointment in Egypt’s position. He observed that the colonial masters’ arrangements and decisions should not be based on to frustrate the members’ collective efforts to mutually share the water body. “It is not appropriate for any NBI member to frustrate our collective efforts to mutually share the Nile waters by citing viewpoints of colonialists. There is no point in delaying the agreement because it is in the collective interest of the member states” “The Nile water body has enough water to feed us all. I don’t see why we can’t share it equally,” underscored the visibly disappointed Kamanzi. After full adoption, all ministers charged with water resources are expected to meet in Egypt for the signing of the agreement. This will be followed by ratification and finally implementation. It is almost ten years since the process of adopting this agreement started and members are still committed to the cause due to the underlying collective benefits. Other member countries of the basin are Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, DRC, Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda and Burundi, and these are countries that have access to waters of the longest river in the world. Ends

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Egypt’s Nile-COM chairmanship could brew storm