Nile Waters Debated

By Kikonyogo NgatyaTEN countries sharing the River Nile are drafting a new constitution on equitable use of the water, state minister for water Maria Mutagamba has said .She was launching a steering committee for three River Nile management projects at the Nile Basin Secretariat in Entebbe yesterday.The three new projects - Kagera, Mara and Sio-Malaba-Malakisi are part of the River Nile Equatorial Lake Subsidiary Action Plan aimed at protecting the river. The US$12m projects are funded by the Norwegian and Swedish governments. Mutagamba said under the new constitution, old agreements made during the colonial times would be amended “to suit the needs of individual countries in modern times.” She said Uganda has a pending Bill that would soon be tabled in Parliament on the use of the Nile waters.Mutagamba said individual riparian countries were also being encouraged to make bylaws to ensure the protection of the Nile waters.She said the ongoing uncontrolled population growth in the Nile basin countries threaten its existence with pollution. About 300 million people live in the Nile basin.Ends