Kenyan Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka on Tuesday said his country will not use Nile water in a way that harms Egyptian interests.
Speaking to the press in Cairo, Musyoka said he was conveying the above message on behalf of Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki to the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Musyoka cited President Kibaki as saying: "Kenya will not act in a way that subjects the interests of the Egyptian people to danger."
Kenya's stance is based on the belief that the Nile will continue to flow forever and efforts should focus on putting this common resource to optimum use, Musyoka said on behalf of his president.
In May, Kenya joined an agreement earlier signed by Ethiopia, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania to redistribute Nile flow.
Egypt and Sudan, the two downstream countries, rejected the new agreement and announced they would abide by two older agreements that deliver them the largest shares of Nile water.
Kenya, however, declared it would not build any dams that have the potential to undermine Egypt’s Nile quota.
Egypt receives the lion's share of Nile water according to an agreement signed with Sudan in 1959. Egypt says the two agreements, signed in 1929–when Egypt was still under British occupation–and in 1959, stipulate that the approval of all Nile basin countries is required for any new water utilization project.
East African countries–particularly Kenya and Uganda–have been calling for the 1929 agreement to be abandoned, saying it does not take into account the needs of the upstream countries.
Musyoka said Nile basin countries, including Kenya, are ready for dialogue concerning water distribution, and such dialogue should be given a chance and tackle all issues openly.
Musyoka also mentioned a Kenyan agreement with some Egyptian companies such as the Arab Contractors to open offices in Kenya to facilitate their participation in infrastructure projects with a view to bolstering relations, particularly in the fields of economy and trade.
Musyoka further expressed happiness over the increase in Kenyan exports to Egypt, the most important of which is Kenyan tea.
