Four East African Countries Sign New Nile Treaty (Video)

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Entebbe, Uganda (AHN) – Four East African countries signed an agreement on Friday seeking more water from the River Nile – a move strongly opposed by Egypt and Sudan.

The two down-river countries Egypt and Sudan did not sign the Comprehensive Framework Agreement after they objected to sections of the treaty, especially Article 14 (b) which relates to historical water rights and uses.

Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, and Rwanda signed the agreement in Entebbe, which would lead to experts determining how much water each country would be entitled to.

Kenya, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo did not sign the agreement, however they sent officials to Entebbe.

Upriver Nile countries agreed to the new deal on April 13, only to be ignored by both Egypt and Sudan.

Egypt claims 55.5 billion cubic meters of the Nile’s annual flow under a 1959 treaty with Sudan,but Ethiopia was not include on the agreement list, which is the source of about 85 percent of the river’s water, or other downstream states. Egypt also have an agreement with Britain 1929, which gave Egypt rejection power over upstream projects.

Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania maintain that these past treaties are unfair and they want a reasonable water-sharing pact that allows for more irrigation and power projects.

The River Nile is the one of the world’s longest rivers.

Source : http://www.allheadlinenews.com