National News

JB to meet Tanzania’s Kikwete

Malawi President Joyce Banda will take advantage of this week’s Sadc Summit in Maputo starting Thursday to continue talks with her Tanzanian counterpart Jakaya Kikwete on the Lake Malawi border dispute between the two countries.

President Banda disclosed this at a briefing for media managers at the New State House in Lilongwe on Tuesday.

The President, who also met the faith community on Monday to brief them on the border issue and developments, said Malawi will pursue any peaceful means to ensure that the two countries together chart a peaceful way forward.

“The media, like other sections of society, is, therefore, a key player in this whole process,” said the President.

She said Malawi would opt for legal redress from the International Court of Justice if the two countries fail to amicably resolve the dispute during the August 20 meeting scheduled to take place in Mzuzu between experts from the two countries.

In his remarks, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Ephraim Mganda Chiume re-affirmed Malawi’s commitment to dialogue in the matter.

Said the minister: “We met earlier as politicians, but needed a technical meeting; hence, our planned August 20 meeting in Mzuzu.”

Banda is this Wednesday also expected to brief political parties on the same.

Malawi and Tanzania are locked in the dispute following Lilongwe’s recent exploration of oil on the lake, rekindling a misunderstanding that started in the 1960s, resurfaced during the Bingu wa Mutharika regime, but was closed by former Tanzanian presidents Julius Nyerere and Benjamin Mkapa.

 

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