New panel to govern Nile water use
Commission will replace Nile Basin Initiative set up in 1999 by 10 nations.
“If you are doing a major project within the Nile, you must inform the partners and if anyone has any problem with the project you want to initiate, they can raise it with the commission then the issue will be resolved.”
Contentious terms
Katuku said the 10 Nile basin countries were yet to decide on the definitions of some contentious terms, such as the meaning of “water security”.
But he said he expected the co-operative framework would be ready in a month’s time.
Under a 1929 pact between Egypt and the UK, acting on behalf of its then east African colonies, downstream Egypt can veto use of water higher up that it feels threatens levels.
This agreement has generated resentment and predictions of future wars over the water of one of the world’s biggest rivers.
The commission will replace the Nile Basin Initiative formed in 1999 by Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Eritrea.