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Nile Basin utilisation report to be submitted to heads of state soon
2008-02-18 09:06:38
By Lusekelo Philemon
Report on the discussions on the equal utilisation of Nile River water resources is almost over and will soon be presented before Heads of State Summit for implementation.
The Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) Coordinator, Raymond Mariki told `The Guardian` over the weekend that the council of ministers from nine riparian countries has finalised the long-awaited discussions` report over the cooperative framework.
``The discussion of 38 Articles out of 39 of the Cooperative Framework on water security has been done and soon will be presented before the summit,`` Mariki said.
About 38 of the 39 Articles of the Cooperative Framework have been negotiated and concluded whereby Article 14, which is yet to be fully discussed, is to be referred to the Heads of State of the riparian states for final conclusion.
The completion of the negotiation work will automatically phase out the colonial treaty that gave Egypt the sole mandate over the use and control of the basin`s waters.
``Every thing is clear. What we are waiting is that Article that focuses on water security and equity utilisation without objections. Let people in the riparian states be patient,`` he said.
According to the NBI official, Nile Basin shelters 160 million people along the river basin who in one way or the other depend on the river--which is the longest in the world—for the livelihood.
An interim agreement of the riparian countries to develop a sustainable utilisation and management of the Nile water resources and address the challenges facing the people in the basin was entered in 1999 in Tanzania.
It involved Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.
Since then the ten countries have come together within the Nile Basin Initiative to develop and implement programmes in terms of a shared vision which they have agreed to.
The shared vision is to achieve sustainable socio-economic development through the equitable utilisation of, and benefit from, the common Nile Basin water resources.
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