Malawi and Tanzania have been given three weeks to analyse and respond to a report produced by the Forum of Former Heads of State and Government mediating on the Lake Malawi border dispute.
The mediating team led by former presidents Joaquim Chissano (Mozambique) and Thabo Mbeki (South Africa) on Friday met Malawi President Joyce Banda at the Kamuzu Palace in the capital, Lilongwe where they submitted their findings of consultations conducted with the governments of Malawi and Tanzania.
On Thursday, Malawi and Tanzania exchanged documents on the submissions of the lake dispute between the two countries in Namibia on the sidelines of the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) Troika Summit of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation.
The submissions were done in the presence of Chissano who is chairing the mediation process in the dispute.
Chissano, on behalf of Mbeki and former president of Botswana Festus Mogae, presented to Malawi the document that Tanzania submitted.
President Joyce Banda, after meeting Chissano and Mbeki on Friday, told Malawi News Agency (Mana) that Malawi will study the report and respond within three weeks.
She was accompanied to the meeting by representatives of opposition political parties, civil society organisations (CSOs) and some members of her Cabinet.
Said Banda: “The two leaders came into the country to update us on the lake wrangle. I am pleased to have received the report on behalf of Malawians. We will study the report and give feedback as requested by the mediation team.”
In July, the President told mediators on the dispute between Tanzania and Malawi on Lake Malawi about the border on Lake Malawi will not accept any interim agreement.
Banda also warned that if the countries fail to resolve the lake dispute by September 30 this year, she will take the matter to the International Court of Justice.
—(Additional reporting by Malawi News Agency)
