The Egyptian Minister of Irrigation, Mohamed Abdel-Aty, said today, Friday, that Ethiopia has caused “disturbance” of drinking water stations in Sudan by releasing quantities of water loaded with “silt” (mud) through the Renaissance Dam into the Nile River without informing the downstream countries.
This came in statements by Abdel-Aty, reported by the Egyptian state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper, during his meeting with the head of the “Maat” Foundation for Peace and Development (non-governmental, based in Cairo), and representatives of the African initiative “Nile for Peace” (non-governmental, based in Uganda). Read also A Sudanese tour in African countries regarding the Renaissance Dam .. Does Africa have the solution? Between Western rejection and Egypt’s red lines… Has the option of striking the Renaissance Dam disappeared? With talk about hitting the Renaissance Dam, where did the Egyptian army move outside the borders?
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Abdel-Aty explained that the Ethiopian side released quantities of silt-laden water last November without informing the downstream countries, which caused an increase in turbidity at drinking water stations in Sudan.
He added that Ethiopia’s implementation of the first filling of the Renaissance Dam without coordination with the two downstream countries caused Sudan to suffer from a severe drought, followed by a massive flood.
The Egyptian minister added that his country and Sudan would not accept a unilateral act to fill and operate the Ethiopian dam.
Sudan did not issue any official statements on the matter immediately, and Addis Ababa did not issue an immediate response to Cairo’s accusation.
A call for an international press stand
In a related context, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry stressed the need for parties international – led by the United Nations – and through the Security Council to push Ethiopia to engage seriously and with a sincere political will in the Renaissance Dam negotiations in order to reach the desired agreement.
Shoukry expressed, during a phone call he received yesterday, Thursday, from United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, his aspiration for continued coordination and consultation between Egypt and the United Nations regarding various regional and international issues in order to achieve security, stability and the hoped-for prosperity, as well as humanitarian and development issues and the related global challenges.
The Egyptian Foreign Minister stressed – according to what was quoted by the Foreign Ministry spokesman – Cairo’s firm position of rejecting unilateral measures related to filling the Renaissance Dam reservoir, and the need to reach a binding legal agreement on the rules for filling and operating the dam that achieve the interests of the three countries.
On Wednesday, Sudan and Egypt stressed in a joint statement the importance of coordinating their efforts internationally and regionally to push Ethiopia to “negotiate seriously” over the Renaissance Dam, which has been stalled for months.
On the other hand, Ethiopia holds the two countries responsible for “obstructing the negotiations”, and says that it does not aim to harm them, and seeks to benefit from the dam to generate electricity for development purposes.
Addis Ababa insists on a second filling of the dam, believed to be in the next July and August, about a year after the first filling, even if it did not reach an agreement.
As for Cairo and Khartoum, they are insisting on first reaching a tripartite agreement to preserve their water facilities and ensure the continued flow of their annual share of the Nile waters.