KINSHASA: Water experts in Africa have begun questioning Egypt’s monopoly over the 6700-kilometre Nile — Africa’s longest river — which flows from Lake Victoria in East Africa to Egypt in North Africa.

Dr. Raphael Kapiyo, the dean of the Faculty of Environmental Studies at Kenya’s Maseno University, says the 1929 and 1959 accords — signed by Britain and Italy — awarding control of the Nile waters to Egypt alone be revised.

Already, in Uganda and Kenya legislators, have called for the two “obsolete” accords to be amended, he says.

Kapiyo, who is one of the 300 participants at the Ninth Conference on the Nile Basin, held in Nairobi, Kenya recently, also wants the role and contribution of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Eritrea recognised.

“‘If we are to achieve equity in the use and distribution of Nile Basin resources, we must also recognise the role and contribution of countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo and Eritrea, which have always been considered insignificant during our meetings,” he says.

“‘These two countries cannot directly use the water but their activities can destroy hydrographic conditions on the upstream river. I think that Egypt — which benefits from all the waters because of its location at the mouth of the river — should consider investing some of the resources it derives from the river’s waters to maintain the ecosystems of these two countries,” he adds.

Kapiyo’s remarks shocked the Egyptian delegation at the Nairobi meeting. Mustapha Abas, an Egyptian meteorological engineer, denied that Egypt was the only country benefiting from the Nile Basin’s resources. “This is totally aberrant,” he retorts.

“It’s true that Egypt benefits from the waters from the Equatorial lakes, but this water is not a decisive factor in the amount of water we use. Egypt has its own water supply — including its groundwater — which is not negligible,” says Abas.

He says: “Egypt is not opposed to revising the 1929 and 1959 treaties, which are the only instruments that we currently use to regulate the waters in the Nile Basin”.

Mathieu Nkurunziza, a delegate from Burundi, says his country is grappling with “drought and desertification”, a phenomenon that he hopes will be resolved through equitable sharing of the Nile water.

“If we’re going to build a Nile Basin community, it needs to be clear to member countries how development efforts will benefit them,” he says.

“More than any other country, Egypt has succeeded in developing a very productive irrigation system for its agriculture. However, upstream, we’re forbidden to use basin waters in order not to disturb the rational management of the Nile water,” Nkurunziza says.—Dawn/InterPress News Service.