Malawi, Tanzania to continue diplomacy

Malawi Government has said it will continue discussions on the dispute over Lake Malawi despite Tanzania launching a new map that shows that its boundary passes through the middle of the northern part of the lake.

Although Tanzanian authorities have said the new map solves the dispute, the country’s High Commissioner to Lilongwe Patrick Tsere played down the latest comments from Dar es salaam.

In an interview from the United States where President Joyce Banda is attending the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Ephraim Chiume said Malawi still feels the matter should be determined by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

“Malawi will continue with the diplomatic initiative, wherever possible and necessary. Since the dispute is based on the interpretation of the July 1 1890 Treaty, we feel that the only way it can be resolved is by referring it to the ICJ for determination,” said Chiume.

He said the Malawi team will travel to Tanzania the week beginning October 7 2012 to consider legal opinion from the two countries’ Attorney Generals as arranged.

In a separate interview, Tsere said the new map only reflects boundaries that were already there.

“I know that the Tanzanian Government was to issue new maps, but this has nothing to do with the ongoing talks between Tanzania and Malawi. The map is just an updated version. Even the old map showed the same boundaries on the lake,” he said.

Tsere said the Tanzanian Government came up with the new map after it realised that a lot of institutions, including businesses were issuing their own maps, most of which did not have important features.