Egypt agrees to cooperative over Nile water sharing

Egypt has agreed to an extraordinary meeting that will resolve its opposition to the new Nile Water Treaty. The country agreed to the proposal by Kenya saying the new government in Cairo believed in “social justice”.

Kenya’s Water minister Charity Ngilu said it was important to bring on board countries still opposing the treaty although it was still operational because the required six out of nine negotiating countries had signed it. Ngilu was speaking yesterday during the 19 th assembly of Nile Council of Ministers in Nairobi.

Egypt and Sudan still oppose the new treaty because article 14 does not recognise their historical rights which assured them of more than 80 per cent of the Nile waters. Egypt was represented at the meeting by new Water Resources and Irrigation minister Hesham Kandil.