President Museveni calls for collective Nile water strategy for mutual benefit

President Yoweri Museveni has called for collective efforts that protect the Nile River and ensure its continued viability to beneficiary countries.   The President said there is also a need to resolve the ongoing dispute over user rights among the Nile Basin countries.

“I have heard that Egypt is still concentrating on the Nile agreement signed under the British, a long time ago in Khartoum,” the President said.

“That agreement doesn't allow some countries to irrigate crops. If that's true: We should together with Egypt concentrate on preserving and protecting the environment so that the volumes of the Nile waters are revived again with constant rainfall patterns thereby enabling all of us to use that water for production and productivity through irrigation,” he added.

The President also guided that Egypt should also look at the advantages of electricity (and electricity generation) which enables members to pursue their objectives of industrialisation, create jobs (especially for the youth) and increase exports from Industrialisation.

“That way, our economies will be strengthened,” he said.

He noted that consequently, “electricity will enable us to mitigate and fight environmental challenges- when we get more people to cook with electricity and also use electricity for lighting.”

“This will make our forest cover return and help us regenerate our environment and ecosystems. Let's use the Nile waters strategically. In Africa, we are all brothers,” he said,

President Museveni’s guidance is contained in a speech read for him by the Vice President of Uganda, Maj. (rtd) Jessica Alupo during the 7th Nile Basin Development Forum at Speke Resort Hotel Munyonyo on Monday, October 16.

The Nile River basin flows through or borders 11 countries in northeastern Africa. These are Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.

These countries share the Nile River and its resources, and cooperation and management of the river's waters are important for the region's development and stability.

Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia are currently engaged in a dispute over the river with some claiming natural and historic rights to its waters under the terms of the 1929 and 1959 watercourse treaties.

These agreements provided Cairo with veto power over projects on the river in other riparian states and increased Egypt’s annual share of Nile waters to 55.5 billion cubic metres and Sudan’s to 18.5 billion while ignoring upstream needs.