Four east African countries signed a new deal creating a permanent commission to manage the River Nile’s waters on Friday, putting them on a collision course with Egypt and Sudan.
Stretching more than 6,600km from Lake Victoria to the Mediterranean, the Nile is a vital water and energy source for the nine countries through which it flows.
The original colonial-era agreement gives Cairo the power to veto dams and other water projects in upstream countries.
Those states, desperate for development and access to more water to support economic growth levels, say that is unjust.
Despite strong opposition from their northern neighbors, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Ethiopia signed the agreement, while Kenya, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo were expected to sign within the 12 months allowed by the accord.
“We’ve been negotiating the text we’ve just signed for more than 10 years. If we don’t sign today I assure you that we’ll go another 10 years without having reached an agreement,” Rwandan Minister for Water and the Environment Stanislus Kamanzi said.
“The essence of our getting together is about moving quickly … it’s regrettable that Egypt and Sudan haven’t been able to join us,” Kamanzi said.
Under the original pact Egypt, which faces possible water shortages by 2017, is entitled to 55.5 billion cubic meters a year, the lion’s share of the Nile’s total flow of about 84 billion cubic meters.
Egypt is the Arab world’s most populous nation, where climate change threatens a fragile farm sector and population growth may outstrip water resources as early as 2017.
It fears that if it loses its ability to veto projects in upper basin states then the water flows it receives could be dramatically reduced.
Egyptian Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Mohamed Nasreddin Allam said Egypt said it would take all legal and diplomatic measures necessary to maintain its water rights.
“Any unilateral agreement signed by the upstream Nile Basin countries is not abiding to downstream countries, Egypt and Sudan, and lacks legitimacy,” Allam said.
The upstream countries said that the commission would be based in the Ugandan town of Entebbe on the shores of Lake Victoria.
It will have the power to veto energy and irrigation projects in signatory states or recommend changes.
“The resources of River Nile is for all countries not for some or a few countries,” Ethiopian Minister for Water Resources Asfaw Dingamo said.
ANGER: Unrest worsened after a taxi driver was killed by a police vehicle on Thursday, as protesters set alight government buildings across the nation Protests worsened overnight across major cities of Indonesia, far beyond the capital, Jakarta, as demonstrators defied Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s call for calm. The most serious unrest was seen in the eastern city of Makassar, while protests also unfolded in Bandung, Surabaya, Solo and Yogyakarta. By yesterday morning, crowds had dispersed in Jakarta. Troops patrolled the streets with tactical vehicles and helped civilians clear trash, although smoke was still rising in various protest sites. Three people died and five were injured in Makassar when protesters set fire to the regional parliament building during a plenary session on Friday evening, according to
Australia has announced an agreement with the tiny Pacific nation Nauru enabling it to send hundreds of immigrants to the barren island. The deal affects more than 220 immigrants in Australia, including some convicted of serious crimes. Australian Minister of Home Affairs Tony Burke signed the memorandum of understanding on a visit to Nauru, the government said in a statement on Friday. “It contains undertakings for the proper treatment and long-term residence of people who have no legal right to stay in Australia, to be received in Nauru,” it said. “Australia will provide funding to underpin this arrangement and support Nauru’s long-term economic
‘NEO-NAZIS’: A minister described the rally as ‘spreading hate’ and ‘dividing our communities,’ adding that it had been organized and promoted by far-right groups Thousands of Australians joined anti-immigration rallies across the country yesterday that the center-left government condemned, saying they sought to spread hate and were linked to neo-Nazis. “March for Australia” rallies against immigration were held in Sydney, and other state capitals and regional centers, according to the group’s Web site. “Mass migration has torn at the bonds that held our communities together,” the Web site said. The group posted on X on Saturday that the rallies aimed to do “what the mainstream politicians never have the courage to do: demand an end to mass immigration.” The group also said it was concerned about culture,
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has fired his national police chief, who gained attention for leading the separate arrests of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte on orders of the International Criminal Court and televangelist Apollo Carreon Quiboloy, who is on the FBI’s most-wanted list for alleged child sex trafficking. Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin did not cite a reason for the removal of General Nicolas Torre as head of the 232,000-member national police force, a position he was appointed to by Marcos in May and which he would have held until 2027. He was replaced by another senior police general, Jose
RSS