July 9, 2019

BRIEFING TO THE MEDIA ON CABINET DECISIONS TAKEN DURING THE

CABINET MEETING HELD ON MONDAY JULY 8TH 2019 AT STATE HOUSE,

ENTEBBE

Cabinet sat on Monday July 8th 2019 at State House Entebbe, and;

1. Approved the Ratification of the Nile River Basin Cooperative Frame work.

Signing of the Cooperative Frame Work Agreement is important because it would;

i. Provide a basis for establishment of the Nile River Basin Commission

which will be a legal entity in the Nile Basin countries unlike the Nile

Basin Initiative (NBI) which is transitional arrangement without any

binding legal basis;

ii. Provide legal basis for the use, Development, Protection,

Conservation and Management of the Nile River Basin water resources

for the benefits of all the Nile Basin countries;

iii. Enable donors to continue and upscale funding the Nile Basin as the

Commission would be able to enter into arrangements with donors

directly unlike the present situation where NBI does so through the

World Bank of GIZ, which charges a lot of transaction fees;

iv. Facilitate implementation of joint trans-boundary water related

projects between the Nile Basin countries.