Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has called on the Nile Basin member states to adopt an equitable sharing for a win-win utilization of the Nile River and Nile Basin water resources.
Speaking during the 17th Nile Day Celebrations in Nairobi, the PCS said the 10 member states will avoid conflicts by navigating the socio-political and economic hurdles within the Nile Basin Region.
This, he added, was going to be achieved through mutual cooperation and understanding for all to reap maximum benefits through Nile Basin Initiative.
"Kenya calls for the integration of the political goodwill with economic and social institutions to achieve equitable utilization," he said.
"This will minimize potential risks of conflicts in the process of securing sustainability of water resources due to the increasing population and user demands within the Nile Basin."
Acknowledging that the Nile Valley has been a centre of civilization for over 5,000 years, Mudavadi cautioned that the Basin still remains a water-scarce region.
He attributed the scarcity to over 80 per cent of river flow that originates from a small part of the basin now prone to regular climate extremes.
The PCS said increasing demands for the water resource must be mitigated because the resource is not elastic, hence the need to share the increasing scarcity of Nile water equitably among the Nile Basin countries.
He said caution should be taken on the increasing environmental degradation that compromises water quality and ecosystem loss.
"It bears reminding ourselves that Nile Basin countries are experiencing the devastating effect of climate change. Climate change is being felt on the use of transboundary water across the African continent," he said.
