An Ethiopian official on Monday said that Tanzania had given the assurance to his country that it hadn’t altered its position concerning the 2010 Comprehensive Framework Agreement which was signed by the upstream Nile Basin nations, referred to as Entebbe Agreement.
The director of boundary & trans-boundary rivers at the Ministry of Water, Energy & Irrigation for Ethiopia Fekahmed Negash informed Anadolu Agency that the Ethiopian government got into contact with appropriate authorities within Tanzania, that confirmed that statements made not too long ago by the state minister of foreign affairs don’t represent the official stand of the government of Tanzanian. .
A week ago, Bernard Kamillius Membe the Minister of Foreign Affairs & International Cooperation in Tanzania called for an assessment of the 2010 agreement so as to consider the needs of water by Egypt.
Back In 2010, upstream countries Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda as well as Uganda, all signed this Cooperative Framework Agreement controlling the use of the Nile water. Burundi later signed this treaty in the following year of 2011.
The contract was aimed at replacing the treaty signed during the colonial time which gave Egypt plus Sudan the biggest share of the waters of the Nile.
The Minister had said that the government of Tanzania was going to call for a general meeting of all countries in the Nile Basin to assess the 2010 agreement. He had added that this meeting would be actually be attended by the ministers in charge of water as well as the foreign ministers.
Fekahmed said that this isn’t an official statement by the Tanzania Government and they made certain that there isn’t any change of stand.
He went on to say that the foreign affairs minister for Tanzanian appear to be not properly informed of this agreement which he talked about. He referred to the Comprehensive Framework Agreement as merely ‘water sharing’, which actually isn’t.
The distribution of Water among the Nile basin countries has for ages been controlled by a colonial time treaty offering Egypt plus Sudan the biggest share of the waters of the river.
Ethiopia as a country claims that it has never at all acknowledged this old treaty.
Relations between Egypt plus Ethiopia have been damaged because of a multi-billion hydroelectric dam that is currently being constructed by Addis Ababa on the upper reaches of River Nile.
Egypt is concerned that the multi-billion hydroelectric dam currently being constructed by Addis Ababa on River Nile is going to reduce its traditional share of the waters of the Nile.
Stating its desire for advancement, Ethiopia claims that it should construct a number of dams that will generate electricity, to be used locally as well as exported to other countries.
Addis Ababa contends that the brand-new dam is going to benefit downstream countries of Sudan plus Egypt, each of which will be requested to buy the generated electricity.