Come clean on your ‘secret’ Nile pact with Cairo, Dar tells Kampala

Ms Mutagamba, who formerly chaired the Nile Council of Ministers, earlier wanted a heads of state summit to be convened so that the agreement could be finalised and signed by the presidents, a development that would see a permanent Nile Basin Commission established, and implementation of many development programmes commenced.

Her strategy was to persuade President Kikwete, current chairman of the African Union, to squeeze in a side meeting for the Nile Basin Heads of State into the agenda of the AU Summit held in June in Sharm El Sheikh Egypt, so that they would be briefed on the status of the agreement, and be requested to schedule the historical summit.

Ms Mutagamba, Sortie Byamukama, one of the directors in Uganda’s Water Ministry and country technical negotiator on the agreement, and Audace Ndayizeye, executive director of NBI, travelled to Tanzania for that purpose.

However, sources told The EastAfrican that on arrival, the office secretary of Tanzania’s Minister of Water received them but the Permanent Secretary would not grant them access to the minister, let alone President Kikwete.

As it turned out, no side-meeting was held during the AU Summit in Egypt, and endorsement of the draft agreement by the heads of state is still pending.

One of the sticking points preventing an agreement is a clause in its draft pertaining to the security of water for all the riparian states.

Observers have said that it is for this same reason that countries like Tanzania are demanding that Uganda and Egypt come clean on their meeting and release the minutes of their discussion on the Nile to NBI that will in turn inform the other eight countries in the sub-region.

There have been concerns expressed within and outside Uganda that the country is releasing more water than flows naturally from Lake Victoria into the Nile in order to achieve enough water-pressure to run the turbines at the twin Nalubale and Kiira power plants in Jinja, in order to generate more electricity to reduce the energy deficit facing the country.

Uganda has in the past argued that the real cause of falling water levels in Lake Victoria is tied to the climate change phenomenon and catchment-area degradation in countries where the major rivers that discharge into the lake originate.

The falling levels have affected the ecosystem of the lake, resulting in declining fisheries, difficulties in water navigation and hydropower production. But for Egypt, it means more water flowing towards it.

An Egyptian government communiqué following President Mubarak’s visit reads, “Uganda holds an important place on the Egyptian agenda as 15 per cent of the Nile waters flow from Lakes Victoria and Albert.

It is an important Nile Basin country and the Nile artery is vital for aspects of Egyptian national security. It has influence on the conditions in other Nile basin countries.”

Egypt, through its negotiations and actions, has made it clear that it does not want the flow and quality of water in the Nile to be interrupted either artificially or by natural occurrence.

Currently, it is sponsoring a 10-year programme in Uganda to rid the Nile and Lake Albert of the water hyacinth, on top of advising on any planned activity on the river such as hydropower generation.

The EastAfrican has learnt that Uganda’s interests in the Nile water resource could impact on the flow of water, an aspect that prompts Egypt’s individual involvement.