The spokesperson for Somalia’s Presidency, Abdikarim Ali Kaar has retracted the July 27th statement in which he had denied President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s claims that Somalia was siding with Egypt in the GERD Dam conflict.
In earlier press conference, Kaar said Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud had never discussed Nile water dispute with his Egyptian president, El Sisi.
He said the country had not taken any stance in support of either side but remains a neutral party and that Somalia envisages a peaceful utilisation of the Nil waters.
“On the matter of the Nile water, the water of the Nile River passes through many countries that are all friends, neighbours and brothers of our country. As you know, the position of the Federal Republic of Somalia is that those countries use the water of the Nile River peacefully,” Kaar said.
But the spokesperson Saturday said sections of the media out of “context of my responses during a briefing on 27th July regarding President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s historic official visit to Egypt and subsequent discussions he held with his counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
“I apoligise for the fact that I was misunderstood and misquoted in the explanations I gave about Sisi’s remarks at the joint press conference alongside President Hassan Sheikh at AL-Ittihadiya Presidential Palace,” spokesperson said.
Somalia is not in the Nile Basin
The Ethiopian-funded hydroelectric power project on the Blue Nile is expected to generate about 6400MW when complete and fully functional.
But its erection on the Nile, in the Benshagul-Gumuz region in Ethiopia, near the border with Sudan, has raised controversy. Egypt, which relies almost entirely on the Nile for freshwater, argues that the dam could hurt its water supply, a similar position taken by Sudan. Jointly, the two countries demand a binding agreement on dam operations.
Addis Ababa, on its part, argues the project is a sovereign right but says it would, in fact, save Sudan and Egypt from uncontrolled flooding.
The Nile River and its tributaries run through or along the border of 10 countries, namely, Burundi, Tanzania, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt.
