International relations experts have asked the Malawi Government to provide actionable guidance on how it is dealing with the decisions by Tanzania on Lake Malawi boundary, stating that decisiveness is critical.
Besides constructing the Mbamba Bay Port on the disputed lake waters earlier this year, the Tanzanian government has now instructed teachers to use a map that depicts the border between Tanzania and Malawi on Lake Malawi as running through the middle of its upper half, not along the shoreline.
In an interview yesterday, George Chaima, an expert in government, public planning and international policy, said Malawi needs to show seriousness in dealing with this matter expeditiously.
He said: “Our President in particular needs to assure Malawians that he will protect this precious national asset at all cost by engaging with the Tanzanian authority or even go beyond the border line. Tanzania’s conduct simply means that Tanzanians mean business.”
A team of mediators on the boundary dispute, who included former presidents Thabo Mbeki of South Africa and Festus Mogae of Botswana, last met in July in Pretoria, South Africa.
On his part, Dr Michael Jana, who is an expert in State-society relations, blamed international actors for not helping to deal with the situation, but insisted that Malawi and Tanzania remain key to dealing with the matter.
But reacting to the development, Minister of Information and Digitisation Moses Kunkuyu said Capital Hill was looking at better ways in handling the matter.
Said the official government spokesperson: “Government is always attentive to matters especially these that affect territorial boundaries.”
Malawi bases its argument on Lake Malawi ownership on a July 1 1890 treaty between Germany and Britain that maps the boundary between the two countries along the Tanzanian shores.
On the other hand, Tanzania is invoking the 1982 United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea that stipulates that in cases where nations are separated by water bodies, the boundary lies in the middle of the water source.
In a joint publication in April, security expert retired Malawi Defence Force Brigadier General Marcel Chirwa and Colin Robinson observed that the border dispute is in limbo as Malawi focuses her energy on more pressing needs.
