Egypt has signed a memorandum of understanding with Uganda on military intelligence sharing, Ugandan officials confirmed on Thursday, amid growing tensions over the controversial Great Renaissance Dam (GERD) built by Ethiopia on a tributary of the Nile river, reported Reuters.
The agreement was signed between UPDF’s Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) and the Egyptian Intelligence Department. It will enable the regular exchange of intelligence between security agencies on transnational threats such as terrorism.
“Given that Uganda and Egypt share the Nile, cooperation between the two countries is inevitable because what affects the Ugandans will affect Egypt in one way or another,” Sameh Saber El-Degwi, a top Egyptian intelligence official who headed Cairo’s delegation to Kampala, was quoted saying in a statement from the Ugandan army.
In recent weeks, Egypt has issued a number of warnings about the controversial Nile dam. On Wednesday, President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi warned Ethiopia to not touch a drop of Egypt’s water because “all options are open,” after Ethiopia announced it would continue filling the GERD.
Notably, Egypt depends on the Nile for about 97 percent of its irrigation and drinking water. It sees the dam as a threat to its water supply. Sudan also fears that its own dams could be damaged if Ethiopia proceeds with the full filling of the GERD before an agreement is reached.
Ethiopia, on the other hand, is banking on the dam to boost its power generation capacity and fuel economic development. It considers the filling to be an integral part of the dam’s construction and cannot be delayed.
Egypt and Sudan wanted a tripartite agreement on the operation and filing of the dam since work on the dam began in 2011. But no agreement has yet been reached. The latest round of talks this month in Kinshasa also ended with accusations hurled but little progress.
