Ministers in Mozambique over lake dispute
Malawi has responded to the four questions mediators of the border dispute with Tanzania on Lake Malawi asked, among them on the legal implications of the acceptance by either party of the importance of the lake to the local populations.
The mediators, led by former Mozambique president Joaquim Chissano, asked Malawi to answer the following four questions:
—Whether Malawi agrees that there is a boundary along the lake between itself and Tanzania?
—What is the legal implication of the absence of a ratification on the delimitation in Article 1(2) of the 1890 Treaty in relation to the lake?
—What is the legal implication of the acceptance by either party of the importance of the lake to the local population along the shoreline and their use of the lake?
—Whether there are examples of cooperation between the parties in relation to the use of the lake.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation spokesperson Quent Kalichero on Wednesday confirmed that his minister, Ephraim Mganda Chiume, is in Mozambique to present the written submission on the queries raised by the mediators who also include former presidents Thabo Mbeki (South Africa) and Festus Mogae (Botswana).
Said Kalichero: “The minister is making the written comments to the mediators, he is currently in Mozambique.”
On the other hand, Chiume’s Tanzanian counterpart, Bernard Membe, tweeted on his Twitter page that he had left for Mozambique alongside his country’s Attorney General (AG) to submit their written comments on the lake dispute.
Tweeted Membe on November 27 2013: “This morning, the AG and I are heading to Maputo to submit Tanzania’s written comments on the question of Lake Nyasa dispute to the Sadc [Southern African Development Community] Forum.”
In July this year, President Joyce Banda expressed her wish before Chissano and Mbeki to speed up the mediation talks within the period of three months.
Tanzania claims that the border between the two countries lies in the middle of Lake Malawi whereas Malawi says the border is on the coast line of the eastern side of the northern part of the lake.
The dispute over ownership—which started in the early 1960s and cooled off soon after—resurfaced after former president the late Bingu wa Mutharika awarded exploration licences to United Kingdom-based Surestream Petroleum in 2011 to search for oil and gas in Lake Malawi.
Malawi’s argument for claiming full ownership of the lake is based on a July 1 1890 treaty between Britain and Germany that maps the boundary between the two countries along the Tanzanian shore.
On the other hand, Tanzania is invoking the 1982 United Nations (UN) Convention on Law of the Sea that stipulates that in cases where nations are separated by a water body, the boundary lies in the middle of the water source.
Just looking at the questions the mediators have asked I can sense some crafty nasty business going on between the mediators and the Taifas. First of all the first question is a trap because everybody knows that the boundary is not along the lake but along the beach of the lake.
The second question about the legal implications of the absence of the ratification of the delimitation in article 1(2) of the 1890 treaty is another stupid question because there is no absence of that ratification as this was agreed and signed by the British & the Germans. All boundaries we have in Africa or most of them were done by our colonial masters and cannot be changed now to suit one party i.e. Taifas in this case..
Glutons are not sleeping with L..Malawi, you will be ashamed