[nngu007]

By ADAM IHUCHA | Special Correspondent | July 28 2012

A fresh row is brewing between Tanzania and Malawi over the ownership of Lake Nyasa, one of the world’s largest freshwater bodies.

Home to 1,000 endemic species of fish, estimated to be more than any other place on earth, Lake Nyasa (referred to as Lake Malawi in Southern Africa) is located at the junction of Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania.

With an estimated fish stock of 168,000 tonnes, Lake Nyasa sustains nearly 10 million people in these three riparian countries.

The latest dispute has been prompted by Malawi fishing and tourist boats allegedly encroaching on Tanzanian territorial waters on the grounds that the whole water body belongs to their country.

Whereas Malawi maintains that it owns the entire lake, Tanzania claims the border is in the middle of the water body, intensifying animosity between the two neighbouring countries.

The Member of Parliament for Mbeya Region (special seats), Hilda Ngoye, last week informed the Tanzanian parliament that in recent weeks, Malawi has been conducting tourism activities beyond its territorial waters.

Ms Ngoye charged that the Malawian tourists and fishing boats have been trespassing on Tanzanian territorial waters at will, escalating tensions.

“Tanzanians around Lake Nyasa’s shores have the right to fish or engage in other productive activities on the lake, without being intimidated,” she told parliament, demanding an explanation from the government on the status of the border between Tanzania and Malawi.

This development comes at a time when the two countries have formed a joint team to resolve the issue of the shifting River Songwe border by creating dams to be used for the economic benefit of the people of Malawi and Tanzania.

The standoff over the lake is reminiscent of a recent dispute between Kenya and Uganda over the tiny Lake Victoria archipelago of Migingo.

Responding to Ms Ngoye’s remarks, Attorney General Frederick Werema said Tanzania would seek international intervention in case diplomatic negotiations on the border dispute did not bear fruit.

“We don’t want Tanzanians to ask for permission from Malawi to fetch water or fish from Lake Nyasa,” Judge Werema said, adding, “If we don’t reach a consensus, we will take recourse in international law.”

He explained that international law requires a border to be in the middle of a water body. Recently, Tanzania announced plans to purchase a new $9 million ferry to ply Lake Nyasa’s waters, provoking a critical response from the Malawian government.

A Malawian government spokesperson said, “Like any international operation, we will need to sign a memorandum of understanding for them to start operating in a foreign water body.”

An official in Malawi’s Ministry of Lands who requested anonymity said Tanzania has no legal right to start operating on Lake Malawi as the issues of the border was still unresolved.

“We have been holding talks over the borders of Lake Malawi (Lake Nyasa) with Tanzania and since we haven’t agreed to anything as of now, the issue of sharing it with Tanzania does not exist,” said the official.

Another source in Malawi told The EastAfrican in Arusha that the perception of a majority of Malawians back home was that the entire lake and even Kyela in Mbeya belongs to their country.

In the early 1960s, Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda, then president of Malawi, had claimed that Lake Nyasa and the whole of Mbeya area in Tanzania were part of Malawi.

As a result, a committee was appointed by both countries to solve the dispute over the border and the lake’s name.

To date, however, no one knows whether it was agreed on that the lake be named Lake Nyasa or Lake Malawi or if it was given another name altogether.

Records show that Tanzania’s president Julius Nyerere said that he did not care if the name was Lake Nyasa, Malawi, Banda or Kamuzu, but “borders were not negotiable.”

Efforts by The EastAfrican to get a comment from the new Malawian government spokesperson, Moses Kunkuyu, who is also the Minister of Information and Civic Education, proved futile as he did not respond to e-mails.

Anna Mghwira, a political analyst, said while the situation on Lake Nyasa remains calm today, the complexity of the boundary disputes between the two developing nations is a time bomb.

“The two countries ought to conclude the issue once and for all, otherwise this wrangle will escalate into unnecessary skirmishes in future,” Ms Mghwira noted.

Lake Nyasa, Africa’s third largest lake at 580km long and up to 80km wide in spots, has been named among the most beautiful places in the world by tourism and travel experts.

============
[Daily News] Tanzania tells Malawi to respect diplomatic resolution on Lake Nyasa

TANZANIA has called on the Republic of Malawi Government and the companies carrying out exploration of oil and gas in the eastern part of Lake Nyasa to stop doing so until a standoff between the two countries over the ownership of the lake is resolved.

Speaking to reporters after the end of the two-day meeting of both countries, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mr Bernard Membe stated categorically that Tanzania wants all the exploration activities in the north east part of the lake to be shelved to pave way for the on-going discussions to resolve the crisis.

"We told our colleagues from the Republic of Malawi that any exploration or research activities for oil and gas prospects must stop forthwith as their presence was likely to jeopardize the on-going negotiations and pose a security threat," the minister noted. The minister also said that Tanzania’s security authorities have also spotted some aircrafts claimed to belong to the oil and gas researching companies from Malawi flying in the Tanzania airspace without a permit from the Tanzania Aviation Authority.

Malawi claimed they were not aware of the incident. In this stand-off, Tanzania is seeking 50 per cent of the ownership of the lake while Malawi claims 100 percent ostensibly that the whole part of the lake under dispute belonged to Malawi. He said the purpose of the meeting aimed at reviving the stalled negotiations on the delineation, demarcation,delimitation and re-affirmation of the boundaries between Tanzania and Malawi on the lake and setting up a roadmap and programme of implementation for the boundary programme.

The two countries also stressed the importance of resolving the issue of boundary on the lake diplomatically. Another meeting at the level of Joint Committee of Experts, Joint Committee of Officials and the Council of Ministers on Malawi/Tanzania Boundary is scheduled to take place in Mzuzuon 20 August, 2012.

Tanzania’s delegation at the meeting was led by Mr Membe and Malawi’s delegation was led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hon. Ephraim Mganda Chiume.

[Ogah]

Hizi ramani zimechakachuliwa. Nilipokuwa primary school wakati wa enzi za ukoloni, ramani ya kwanza ya Tanganyika tuliyotumia darasani ilionyesha mpaka wa Tanganyika ukipita katikati ya Ziwa Nyasa.

na kwanini watu wanaachiwa kuzichapa hizi ramani feki........i mean pale pale nyumbani.......halafu zinauzwa mtaani watu wananunua tu........ukiingia hata ofisi ya Wizara ya Ardhi na cha ajabu hata ofisini kwa Membe niliiona hii ramani feki.............halafu huyu ndio anatuwakilisha kwenye mazungumzo........hivi umakini wetu uko wapi?.......

[ndomyana]

Dah wakisema wilaya ya Kyela nayo ni ya Malawi ina maana Mwakyembe na akina mimi ni raia wa Malawi,mambo mengine ni kutuletea shida tu wakati tulizonazo baado tunatabika nazo

twebamungonga tukobokaga kogo,,.. Mh! Haya ila wacha tuamie malawi labda ndio tunaweza saminiwa wanakyela,.

[MVUMBUZI]

huyu mama atakuwa anatumiwa na nchi za magharibi tuweni makini naye

This president is advocating prostitutive politics kuwafurahisha na kujinadi kwa wazungu ili apewe misaada bila kujua misaada haijawahi leta maendeleo ya kudumu. Majina ya Banda yanaonyesha yana matatizo kwa sababu huu mgogoro haukupaswa kuibuka tena kwani ulikuwa solved uko nyuma

[Babylon]

Mr President sent more troops

[mkizungo]

ninabaki nashangaa,,,,,nipeni bunduki yangu,,nielekee kusini

[mkizungo]

tanzania kwanza,,diplomasia baadae,,,,,,

[Mzizi wa Mbuyu]

Hii inasikitisha sana kwa upande wetu!!!

Enzi za mwalimu iliwahi kutokea nakumbuka....lakini mwalimu alikuwa anamdhara sana banda!! Kupitia hotuba zake alikuwa

anatoa sababu mbili za kumdharau Kamuzu..

1. Raisi ambae hajui lugha ya wananchi wake!! anaongea kiingereza then anatokea mkalimani anatafiri kwa kichewa!!

2. Banda alishawahi kumdai mwalimu wanyakyusa/na makabila ya watu wote walioko mwambaoni mwa ziwa nyasa!!

alikuwa anadai eti ni wamalawi....nakumbuka mwalimu alikuwa anaipuuza sana kauli hii na kusema itakuwaje kwa wamasai

walioko kenya na yeye awadai!!!

.

Lkn kwa mnaofikiri njia ya vita inaweza kuwa suluhisho, inabidi wafikiri mara mbilimbili kwa serikali hii dhaifu tunaweza

kushinda vita yoyote ya kuihami mipaka yetu??.. JK anaweza kupeleka wanamziki wa TOT vitani tukapigwa nchi ikatekwa

hadi iringa!! Vita si mchezo inataka kiongozi mkuu awe na akili siyo dhaifu!!

Mie naona tuendelee kuwahimiza hawa viazi vyetu kina Membe..kuchukua hatua za ki-diplomasia haraka....

Huku tukisubiri kwa hamu uongozi wamaana utakapokuja mwaka 2015!!

[Usokitabu]

Achana na mipaka isiyokuwa na kichwa wala miguu. Haiwezekani wananchi wa Kyela wasivue samaki na kutumia maji ya ziwa kwa kuwa eti ni mali ya malawi, kwani Kyela ilianza jana! Kwa hiyo mwananchi wa kyela akitaka kwenda Bambabay aombe visa malawi? Ninavyoongea mpaka sasa maji yale tunatumia kama kawaida na itakuwa hivyo milele. Wakibisha sana wajiandae kwa kichapo... Huu ni uhuni na ukizingatia maji mengi ya kujaza ziwa yanatoka Tanzania. Kama wanabisha tuwafuate lilongwe tukawachakaze. Halafu huyu mama yao(Rais Joyce) anajipendekeza sana kwa wazungu itakuwa vizuri sana kama watachapwa....

[nngu007]

nngu007,
Mwaka 1967 Kamuzu alileta meli zake ziwani upande wetu zikapinduliwa na "viboko" waliotoka Tanzania. Tangu wakati huo hakusubutu tena.

R U Serious... VIBOKO? How nice...

[nngu007]

Achana na mipaka isiyokuwa na kichwa wala miguu. Haiwezekani wananchi wa Kyela wasivue samaki na kutumia maji ya ziwa kwa kuwa eti ni mali ya malawi, kwani Kyela ilianza jana! Kwa hiyo mwananchi wa kyela akitaka kwenda Bambabay aombe visa malawi? Ninavyoongea mpaka sasa maji yale tunatumia kama kawaida na itakuwa hivyo milele. Wakibisha sana wajiandae kwa kichapo... Huu ni uhuni na ukizingatia maji mengi ya kujaza ziwa yanatoka Tanzania. Kama wanabisha tuwafuate lilongwe tukawachakaze. Halafu huyu mama yao(Rais Joyce) anajipendekeza sana kwa wazungu itakuwa vizuri sana kama watachapwa....

Wanasema pia Kyela ni yao...

[Jasusi]

Hii inasikitisha sana kwa upande wetu!!!

Enzi za mwalimu iliwahi kutokea nakumbuka....lakini mwalimu alikuwa anamdhara sana banda!! Kupitia hotuba zake alikuwa

anatoa sababu mbili za kumdharau Kamuzu..

1. Raisi ambae hajui lugha ya wananchi wake!! anaongea kiingereza then anatokea mkalimani anatafiri kwa kichewa!!

2. Banda alishawahi kumdai mwalimu wanyakyusa/na makabila ya watu wote walioko mwambaoni mwa ziwa nyasa!!

alikuwa anadai eti ni wamalawi....nakumbuka mwalimu alikuwa anaipuuza sana kauli hii na kusema itakuwaje kwa wamasai

walioko kenya na yeye awadai!!!

.

Lkn kwa mnaofikiri njia ya vita inaweza kuwa suluhisho, inabidi wafikiri mara mbilimbili kwa serikali hii dhaifu tunaweza

kushinda vita yoyote ya kuihami mipaka yetu??.. JK anaweza kupeleka wanamziki wa TOT vitani tukapigwa nchi ikatekwa

hadi iringa!! Vita si mchezo inataka kiongozi mkuu awe na akili siyo dhaifu!!

Mie naona tuendelee kuwahimiza hawa viazi vyetu kina Membe..kuchukua hatua za ki-diplomasia haraka....

Huku tukisubiri kwa hamu uongozi wamaana utakapokuja mwaka 2015!!

Hilo nalo neno!

[pono]

Huyu mwanamke tunamvizia akiwa masika,tunampa kichapo tu

[kajembe]

Great Thinkers, You should trust your government, it is very stable and everything concerning the border conflict over lake Nyasa is under control.

Never jump to an issue brother.

Ni uzalendo ndiyo unatufanya tuwe na wasiwasi! kama serikali iko macho hakuna tatizo kabisa,lakini kumbuka lazima tuseme kuonesha dukuduku zetu,naamini serikali haiwezi kunyamaza kwa hilo lakini na mimi ninawajibu wa kusema na hata kupigania nchi yangu hata kama ni kwenda mstari wa mbele kupambana!

[Jasusi]

Nimeipata hii kutoka Facebook ya balozi wetu Malawi:
Patrick Lusiano Tsere We were both under the British rule who in their education system taught Tanganyikans that the boundary passed in the middle of the Lake and taught Malawians that the lboundary was in the eastern shoreline of the Lake. This means the water is Malawian but the land beyond where you find Mbababay Litui Manda and Kyela is Tanzania. However interestingly Malawi use the 1890 agreement to defend their position and Tanzania also does the same. Where is the difference? Malawi donot look at the agreement in the contextual sense while we do. The good news is we are only begining to talk over the issue. There seem to be willingness on both countries to resolve the matter without resorting to an external mediator. We are having another follow up meeting on 20 th August in Mzuzu.

[Mnyamwezi.Zanzibari]

Mawazo yangu ni kwanza tutake haki sawa kwenye Ziwa, au tugawe mara 3 nchi 3 zinazopakana kwa usawa, au Tanzania tuchukuwe eneo letu na lile la Malawi pia, au hiyo kazi apewe Dr. Migiro afanye hiyo tu 24HRS akishindwa tuvamie kigeshi na kukalia upande wa Ziwa kati yetu na Malawi

[Jile79]

Unajua sisi watz ni wakarimu sn nakumbuka yule shujaa nyirenda aliyeenda kusimika bendera ya taifa pale kileleni mwa mlima kilimanjaro alikuwa mmalawi.

[Usokitabu]

Wanasema pia Kyela ni yao...

Hawana jipya kwani wanatakiwa kutumia busara tu wasije wakawa kama Idd Amin Dada. Kama hawataki tutumie maji basi inabidi tutumie nguvu ili wakashitaki kokote. Kwanza nafurahi mpaka sasa maji na kuvua samaki na utalii vinafanyika bila hata bughudha kabisa. Ni kama kelele za mlango vile...

[Jasusi]

Mawazo yangu ni kwanza tutake haki sawa kwenye Ziwa, au tugawe mara 3 nchi 3 zinazopakana kwa usawa, au Tanzania tuchukuwe eneo letu na lile la Malawi pia, au hiyo kazi apewe Dr. Migiro afanye hiyo tu 24HRS akishindwa tuvamie kigeshi na kukalia upande wa Ziwa kati yetu na Malawi

Suali ni kwamba kama Malawi inakubali mpaka wake na Msumbiji unapita katikati ni kwa nini basi wasikubali mpaka na Tanzania nao upite katikati?

[JokaKuu]

Suali ni kwamba kama Malawi inakubali mpaka wake na Msumbiji unapita katikati ni kwa nini basi wasikubali mpaka na Tanzania nao upite katikati?

Jasusi,

..kwani mpaka wa "Dosh ist afrika" kwenye ziwa nyasa ulikuwa wapi?

..Muingereza ali-negotiate na Wareno mpaka wa Nyasa Land na Mozambique.

..Je, ni nini kilisababisha wasi-negotiate na Wajerumani???

..hivi hayo maelezo ya Balozi Tsere do they make any sense to u ktk kuielewa position ya Tanzania?

[Jasusi]

Jasusi,

..kwani mpaka wa "Dosh ist afrika" kwenye ziwa nyasa ulikuwa wapi?

..Muingereza ali-negotiate na Wareno mpaka wa Nyasa Land na Mozambique.

..Je, ni nini kilisababisha wasi-negotiate na Wajerumani???

..hivi hayo maelezo ya Balozi Tsere do they make any sense to u ktk kuielewa position ya Tanzania?

jokaKuu,
Wakati wa mjerumani sina hakika mpaka ulipita wapi. Naona waliotuchezea ni Waingereza. Walisema hili Nyasaland wakisema tofauti Tanganyika. Na balozi Tsere anaonekana laid back bila wasiwasi kwamba suala hili litapatiwa ufumbuzi. Let us hope he is right.