Nile water treaty set for ratification

Source: News 24, March 01, 2011
Kampala - Burundi has signed a deal on the sharing of Nile waters, paving the way for the ratification of the accord, which will strip Egypt of its veto power on rights to the river, an official said on Tuesday.

"After Burundi signed (Monday), now the agreement can come into force," Daniel Meboya, regional spokesperson at the Entebbe-based Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) that led the negotiations, told AFP in Kampala.

Meboya said that according to relevant international law, six of the negotiating parties needed to sign before the treaty could be ratified by the riparian countries' respective parliaments. All six parliaments are expected to ratify the deal.

Last year, after a decade of talks, four Nile nations inked a deal that allowed upstream countries to implement irrigation and hydropower projects without first seeking Egypt's approval.

For decades, Egypt held veto rights over all upstream projects, following powers granted by a 1929 colonial-era treaty with Britain.

Egypt's subsequent 1959 deal with Sudan gave the two downstream countries more than 90 percent control of Nile waters.

Egypt and Sudan boycotted the ceremony where the new treaty was unveiled, and vowed not to recognise any deal agreed without their consent.

At the March 2010 ceremony, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Ethiopia agreed to scrap both Egypt's veto rights and the 90% control provision.

The signing ceremony marked the close of negotiations, and the other affected countries, including Kenya, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo were given one year to ink the deal.

Kenya signed last May and Burundi signed on Monday, the last possible day for signature.

"Now it is for the six individual legislatures to ratify the treaty," Meboya said.

Egypt and Sudan have argued their water supply would be dangerously reduced if upstream countries are able to divert the river flow without multi-lateral consultation.