Kenya Signs Nile Basin Agreement

Kenya became the fourth East African Community member state to sign the Nile Basin Draft Agreement, setting stage for a potential water struggle between the trade bloc and Egypt.

Only Burundi is yet to sign the agreement, that seeks to review the use of the Nile waters, however, the landlocked
country is expect to pen its signature by the end of next week.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is also expected to sign the agreement, along with Burundi to complete the list of countries in the upper Nile.

Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Ethiopia signed the deal last week in Kampala, Uganda.

The deal has since been dismissed as non-binding by Egypt and Sudan, which insist the 1929 colonial-era pact, signed between the former and Britain was still in force.

The two countries, also members of the Nile Basin Initiative, are against article 14 (b) of the agreement, which they claim takes away their historical rights and uses of the Nile waters.

The article states: "Nile Basin States, agree, in a spirit of cooperation, to work together to ensure that all states achieve and sustain water security and not to significantly affect the water security of any other Nile Basin State."

Egypt and Sudan want the last part of the article re-phrased to read, "Not to adversely affect the water security and current uses and rights of any other Nile Basin States."

The basin is an important natural resource for all the nine countries, which depend on it for food and water.

It is feared if the disagreement is not resolved, it could lead to a potential water war given that Egypt, whose population is expected to outstrip its water resources by 2017, wholly depends on the Nile.

The North African country initially threatened to use all means, including military action, if its water security is threatened.

It has also vowed to lobby donors not to fund any project in the Nile basin before an agreement that satisfies all riparian states is reached.

However, countries in the upper Nile insist the deal will ensure equitable use of resources and that time for signing a new deal is now.

Two Countries

Water Minister Charity Ngilu, who signed on behalf of the Kenya government, said the two countries will not stop the seven, which are ready to share the resource equitably.

“The rest of the riparian states are in agreement there is a need for a new agreement that will allow equitable use of the Nile waters and two countries stop others,” said Ngilu.

Ms Ngilu who was accompanied by top government officials and Nile Basin Initiative Executive Director, Henriette Ndombe, described the draft agreement as a good document and urged Egypt and Sudan to come on board.

Last week, her Uganda counterpart, Jennifer Namuyangu promised that Kenya and other upper states, whose ministers were not present in Kampala, would sign the agreement.

Namuyangu announced the agreement would pave way for the opening of the permanent Nile Commission to be based at Entebbe, which, she said, might help resolve some of the contentious issues between the other states and Egypt.

Niglu reiterated the government fully supported the agreement, adding that the utilization of the Lake Victoria and the rivers feeding into it were indispensable to the country.

“The lake plays a great role in various development activities especially in the field of agriculture, hydropower domestic water use and environmental balance,” she said.

Kenyan rivers flowing into the lake contribute 11 billion cubic meters of water annually. The Lake basin, part of the Nile basin, harbours over 50 percent of the Kenya’s surface water resources and about 50 percent of the country’s population entirely relies on its waters.

The 1929 agreement, which has been sharply disputed by the upper Nile states, gives Egypt 55.5 billion cubic meters a year, the biggest share of a flow of some 84 billion cubic meters.

The agreement also gives the North African country the power to veto water projects in upstream countries.

Faced with a high population pressure amid dwindling resources, the up stream countries are under pressure to exploit more of the Nile waters to the growing demands.

Ms Ngilu called for unity in the utilization of the Nile waters, saying without cooperation, it will be difficult to attract funding to support large scale investments like dams, irrigation schemes and large scale water supply.

There is fear donors might stay away for fear of getting tangled in a regional dispute, if an agreement, acceptable to all the nine member states is not reached.