Egypt to help save water towers

Egypt is prepared to aid the conservation of Kenya’s water towers as they are a major source of the River Nile.

Speaking in Cairo when he held talks with Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak instructed his Prime Minister, Dr Ahmed Nazif to work out the finer details of the support at a meeting he will hold with Mr Odinga on Tuesday.

President Mubarak emphasised that his country would help Kenya and other countries at the source of the Nile to increase the water levels in Lake Victoria.

Mr Odinga said that Kenya understand what the Nile means to Egypt and the responsibility the country has in conserving the waters.

“Therefore, Kenya has invested heavily in environmental conservation, for example in the Mau,” added the PM.

Saying that Kenya would not be party to plans to compromise the security of other countries that use the Nile, Mr Odinga called for cooperation among all states that share the waters of the river.

He pointed out that 40% of the water in Lake Victoria is from sources in Kenya.

In this regard, the Premier appealed to Egypt to sign the Cooperative Framework Agreement that intends to transform the Nile Basin Initiative into a Permanent Nile River Commission to manage the water resource on behalf of the Nile basin states.