The Turkish Anadolu news agency reported on Wednesday that Ethiopia rejected a request by Egypt to jointly build all stages of the Renaissance Dam so as to make sure that Egypt’s share of Nile water is not affected.
The agency quoted an Ethiopian diplomat that attended a meeting between Egyptian Interim President Adli Mansour and Ethiopian Prime Minister Mariam Desalegn on the sidelines of the Arab-African summit in Kuwait as saying that Desalegn adhered to the Entebbe Convention and rejected any Egyptian supervision or participation in the construction of the dam.
The Entebbe agreement states indirectly that the share of the downstream countries, namely Egypt and Sudan, could be reconsidered so that upstream countries, including Ethiopia, may receive a fair and reasonable share.
The agreement does not refer to any rights for downstream countries to supervise water projects of upstream countries.
The Entebbe Framework Convention was signed by Ethiopia, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda in May of 2011.
Egypt, Sudan, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo did not sign the agreement.
The diplomat’s statement contradicts statements by Mansour and Desalegn that the meeting was positive.
Mansour said he was satisfied with the outcome of the negotiations with Ethiopia over the dam, and that Desalegn appreciated the historical relations with Egypt.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
