After over three decades of of both defense and security cooperation, military training to intelligence and counter-terrorism, Ugandan Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and Egypt’s Abdel Fattah El-Sisi have recently in the course of this week met for a high bilateral ties in Cairo.
The meeting that saw both heads of state meet aimed at resolving disputes arising from the waters of the Nile and idiopathic instability within the Horn of Africa.
It is said, that in the past months, both leaders have been engaged in several diplomatic talks including direct phone calls and formal exchanges, with the ultimate goal of reclaiming strategic political interests and thus, it was realized that, this visit was inevitable.
Both Uganda and Egypt, pride in the Nile River as one of the global heritages, even when Egypt is an Arabic speaking country at the downstream of the Nile River and Uganda, an English speaking country at the upstream, their friendship dates back in the colonial treaty era.
Much as the two seem quite different in their geographical landscape and cultural identity, they do share several identical and important characteristics which bind the two together;
Egypt occupies a total length of 22% of the Nile where it derives all its lifeline, agriculture and part of transport while Uganda has 16% of the total length of the Nile on addition of the origin and the source of the Nile from lake Victoria, noted further, both countries are members of the African Union, United Union, and Nile basin initiative(NBI)
Museveni’s visit was both strategic and symbolic with long-term benefits that Ugandans will benefit from beyond water interests.
This trip is believed to re-position both countries ahead of a potentially strategic regional negotiations on water rights and boost bilateral investments.
With the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam unresolved dispute and Sudan’s deeper slide into war, the meeting was much more about crisis management as well as long-term regional alignment and diplomatic relationship of the two countries.
Among other issues tackled in the bilateral talks was the Sudan’s spiraling tension threatening both countries with the refugee influxes and threatened trade interruptions.
Report; Johnson Rio Ochuma,
Digitalk Television, Stringer.