During my recent reading for the course GEOG3038 on the topic of wetlands and its uses in Western Africa I came across the conflict that occurred at the Manantali Dam between the farmers and Herders from Senegal and Mauritania. For some reason this intrigued me and it prompted me to research the history of the conflict.
In the 1970's and 80's the Sengal river basin experienced nearly a decade of extreme droughts , due to this the Senegal River basin Development Authority was created by Mali,Mauritania and Senegal. They had the idea of creating a major water infrastructure programme and this included the construction of both the downstream Diama Dam and the upstream Manantali Dam. Within two years of the construction of the Diama Dam and only a few months after the construction of the Manantali Dam a conflict occurred. The conflict was sparked when the river started to recede from adjacent floodplains. Senegalese farmers went to the right bank of the river and they were chased away by Mauritanian border guards. Things soon escalated into violence , in 1989 there was a dispute between Senegalese farmers and Mauritanian herders and Mauritian border guards killed two farmers and 13 people were taken into custody. Tensions grew and many displays of violence and conflict began to arise. Shops help by Mauritanians were looted in Dakar and this resulted in hundreds of Senegalese residents being murdered. By the end of June 1989 , 75,000 Senegalese and 150,000 Mauritians were repatriated and troops were placed on the river by both of the countries. This even resulted in exchanges of heavy artillery along the river in late 1989.
It wasn't until 1992 when the two countries restored there diplomatic relationships but the conflicts still existed at some level. The countries have had disputes since then however , for example in June 2000 when the Mauritian government accused the Senegalese president of trying to relaunch a fossil fuel programme which would divert some of the water from the shared river. The president did however announce he would not go on with the programme which again relieved the tension.
http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Madiodio_Niasse/publication/237699436_Climate-Induced_Water_Conflict_Risks_in_West_Africa_Recognizing_and_Coping_with_Increasing_Climate_Impacts_on_Shared_Watercourses/links/5440fe550cf2a76a3cc60e7c.pdf
Wednesday 28 October 2015
Wednesday 14 October 2015
The tension-ridden hydro-politics of the Nile
This article discusses the signing of the declaration of principles by Ethiopia , Egypt and Sudan on March 24th 2015 . The declaration was regarding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam which initially caused tension between Egypt and Ethiopia . However by signing the declaration this marks the fact that Ethiopia are committed to ensuring that the dam will have no negative effects on Sudan and Egypt . Also this marks the recognition by Egypt that the construction of the dam is legitimate.
The declaration dates back to 2011 when the building of the dam was first proposed , however talks have been ongoing since then . It isn't until now that an agreement has been met . One of the deciding factors of this was the election of Sisi as president of Egypt in May 2014. The declaration does mark a shift in power in favour of Ethiopia over the Nile.
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