Govt rebuffs mediators on lake proposal
Malawi Government has rejected a resource-sharing proposal as a final solution to the ongoing border dispute with Tanzania over ownership of Lake Malawi.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation spokesperson Quent Kalichero confirmed in an interview on Thursday the position of Malawi Government, saying while Lilongwe accepts resource sharing as part of the solution, a determination on who owns the lake must be made first.
Nation on Sunday understands the position of Malawi Government has already been communicated to the mediators—former heads of State—and that Lilongwe will be expecting a determination on the legal question on the ownership of the border wrangle.
A source close to the talks said a fresh round of talks was expected to be held in Mozambique on August 7 2015, but was cancelled due to the absence of Mozambican former president Joacquim Chissano.
Kalichero also confirmed the cancellation of the meeting in Maputo, but while saying the mediators had indicated a new date will be set soon, she said she had no agenda of the meeting.
“All I can confirm is that the meeting was in the same line of mediation. We want the ownership to be determined first. And then afterwards anything else can be discussed, the issue of resources whether its use of the water can be later. I am sure there have to be a cut-off point at some point. I am sure where we are going, we have to be told what is the way forward, every discussion has to have a cut-off point,” said Kalichero.
She added: “We were supposed to meet on August 7, but something cropped up and it was postponed, but we will meet again. This forthcoming meeting is crucial as we just have to agree on the matter. Malawi Government wants to find out the answer to the ownership of the lake question.
“As far as we are concerned, the administration has said no and it will be expecting the former heads of State to make a determination on who owns the lake as the two nations requested,” she said.
In March, Foreign Affairs Minister George Chaponda told Nation on Sunday that the former heads of State mediating the conflict had requested the countries to abandon any legal claims to the lake, instead come up with mechanisms to share the resources in Lake Malawi to avert conflict, something Lilongwe feels has always been there as communities from both countries surrounding the lake have always been fishing and using the water for transportation, among others, without hurdles.
Then, analysts warned government that while resource sharing could bring temporary relief, it will only avert conflict in the meantime but not prove a long-term solution.
But previously, Chaponda told Nation on Sunday that the two former heads of State mediating the dispute under the umbrella of the Forum of Former Heads of State, Mozambique’s Chissano and South Africa’s Thabo Mbeki, made the proposal during the last AU summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
He, however, maintained the position that Malawi Government remains the owners of the lake, conceding that mediators do not want to make a determination on the matter as they would like to restrict their role to arbitration.
The proposal for resource sharing agreement comes amid an ongoing hunt for oil and gas on Lake Malawi with several exploration firms from United Arab Emirates and Britain currently at advanced stages of exploration.
It also came a few years after Malawian fishers reportedly were harassed on the lake by Tanzanian sailors. n
