[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.

[JokaKuu]

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.

Jasusi,

..tusubiri tuone. but we better have the facts to back our claims. vinginevyo tunaweza kulia kilio cha kusaga meno.

[Ogah]

Balozi Tsere keshaonekana ni dhaifu kwenye hili jambo...............

[kajembe]

Mgogoro huo ulianza enzi ya Kamuzu Banda alipokuwa raisi. miaka ya sitini Kamuzu alikuwa anazungumza kwenye redio yao, Malawi Broadcasting Corporation kutoka Blantyre, Malawi, na kusema ziwa lote ni la Malawi na pia wilaya ya Rungwe na hadi Mbeya ni sehemu ya Malawi.

Kuna siku mwezi wa September 1968 Nyerere alimwita Banda ni kichaa. Alikasirika sana kwa sababu ya madai ya Mzee Kamuzu kwamba sehemu za Tanzania ni za Malawi. Alidai hata Mbamba Bay na sehemu zingine mkoani Ruvuma karibu na Ziwa Nyasa kwamba ni za Malawi. Pia alidai jimbo lote, Eastern Province, la Zambia. Kaunda alimjibu Banda na kusema ni shauri yake akitaka kuanzisha vita.

Kabla ya mgogoro huo, Banda alikuja Tanzania na kukutana na Nyerere mwaka 1962 na kumwambia hakuna nchi ya Mozambique. Alimwambia Nyerere wagawane nchi hiyo. Alimwambia Nyerere sehemu ya kaskazini ya Mozambique, sehemu ya Wamakonde jimbo la Cobo Delgado, "ni lako" Nyerere. Ni sehemu ya Tanzania. Sehemu za Mozambique zilizobaki ni za Malawi, Rhodesia na Swaziland. Nyerere alimpuuza tu.

Baada ya miaka michache, 1968, Kamuzu akatangaza na kusema sehemu zetu za Tanzania nilizozitaja hapo juu ni sehemu za Malawi.

Mzee Kamuzu alikuwa ni mkorofi sana.

CHANZO CHA MGOGORO

Mgogoro wa ziwa umetokana na uamuzi wa wakoloni wa Kiingereza kuliweka ziwa hilo chini ya utawala wao wa Nyasaland wakati walipokuwa wanatawala nchi hiyo na ilipokuwa ni British Protectorate. Walifanya uamuzi huo baada ya Wajerumani kushindwa katika vita kuu ya kwanza na Waingereza walipoichukua German East Afrika - iliyokuwa inaitwa Deutsch Ostafrika katika Kijerumani - na kuwa koloni yao ya Tanganyika. Kabla ya hapo, kutokana na makubaliano kati ya Waingereza waliokuwa watawala wa Nyasaland na Wajerumani waliokuwa watawala wa nchi yetu, mpaka wa ziwa ulikuwa kati ya ziwa. Na ndiyo mpaka huo tu ambao ni halali pamoja na jina kuitwa Nyasa, siyo Malawi.

Uamuzi wa Waingereza kuliweka ziwa hilo chini ya utawala wao Nyasaland haukubadilisha mpaka wa ziwa kihalali kwa sababu mipaka yote ya nchi zetu ilikubaliwa wakati bara letu lilipogawanywa na wakoloni. Ni mipaka hiyo ambayo hata sisi tuliikubali baada ya kupata uhuru na hakuna hata nchi moja ambayo ina haki peke yake ya kubadilisha mipaka hiyo. Hata Waingereza hawakuwa na haki ya kulikiweka Ziwa Nyasa chini ya ukoloni wao Nyasaland kwa sababu walivunja makubaliano yao na Wajerumani ambayo yalisema mpaka wa ziwa ni kati ya ziwa hilo: nusu ni sehemu ya Deutsch Ostafrika ambayo sasa ni Tanganyika, na nusu nyingine ni ya Nyasaland chini ya utawala wa Waingereza.

Hata wilaya ya Rungwe ambayo ilijumuisha Kyela na Ileje ilikuwa inatawaliwa kutoka Nyasaland mara tu baada ya Wajerumani kushindwa vita kuu ya kwanza na Waingereza walipopewa madaraka ya kutawala nchi ambayo ilikuwa ni koloni ya Wajerumani; yaani nchi yetu ya Tanganyika.

Deutsch Ostafrika - German East Africa - ilikuwa ni nchi tatu: Tanganyika, Ruanda na Urundi (nchi ambazo zilibadili majina na kuitwa Rwanda na Burundi mwaka 1962 baada ya kupata uhuru).

League of Nations - jumuiya ya mataifa iliyoitangulia United Nations - iliwapa Wabeligiji Ruanda na Urundi. Koloni hizo mbili za Wabeligiji zilikuwa zinatawaliwa kutoka Leopoldville, mjii mkuu wa Belgian Congo, nchi ambayo pia ilikuwa inatawaliwa na Wabeligiji. Mpango huo ni kama vile wilaya ya Rungwe ilipowahi kutawaliwa kutoka Karonga na Waingereza waliokuwa wanatawala wa Nyasaland na baadaye kiuchukua nchi yetu ya Tanganyika kutoka kwa Wajerumani.

Baada ya vita kuu ya kwanza, na Wajerumani kushindwa vita hiyo, waziri mkuu wa Uingereza, Lloyd George, kwenye mkutano wa League of Nations alimwambia raisi wa USA, Woodrow Wilosn, kwamba aichukue German East Africa, yaani nchi yetu, na kuiweka chini ya utawala wa Merikani baada ya Wajerumani kuipoteza nchi hiyo katika vita kuu ya kwanza. Lakini President Wilson alikataa. Angekubali, nchi yetu ingetawaliwa na USA na tungekuwa koloni ya USA. Baada ya Rais Wilson kukataa kuichukua nchi yetu, Lloyd George akakubali na kusema ataichukua Tanganyika na kuiweka chini ya utawala wa nchi yake ya Uingereza. Tuliponea chupuchupu kuchukuliwa na Wamerika. Nchi yetu ingechukuliwa na Wamerika, labda tusingepata uhuru. Wamerika wangeing'ang'ania nchi yetu kama vile walivyo ng'ang'ania nchi zingine walizochukua bila kuzipa uhuru.

Kuhusu Ziwa Nyasa, kwa kifupi ni kwamba mpaka halali uko kati ya Ziwa. Ni mpaka ambao Wajerumani na Waingereza walikubaliana kuzigawa koloni zao: Nyasaland kuwa ya Waingereza; nchi yetu, Deutsh Ostafrika, kuwa ni ya Wajerumani. Walikubaliana kwamba mpaka wa ziwa ni kati ya ziwa hilo. Upande mmoja tu, Waingereza, hawakuwa na haki ya kubadili mpaka kati ya Tanganyika na Nyasaland walipolikweka ziwa hilo chini ya utawala wao Nyasaland.

Nukuru kutoka kitabu cha Nyerere and Africa: End of an Era, ukurasa 484:

"Dr. Banda also claimed substantial parts of Tanzania, including - Rungwe district - and the rest of Mbeya Region in southwestern Tanzania, as Malawian territory. He also claimed the entire Eastern Province of Zambia, provoking a curt response from Zambia’s president, Dr. Kenneth Kaunda, who challenged Banda to 'Go ahead and declare war on Zambia.^'

And President Nyerere dismissed Banda’s claim to large chunks of Tanzanian territory as 'expansionist outbursts, which do not scare us, and do not deserve my reply.' The outlandish claim also drew a sharp response from Nyerere who said Dr. Banda was 'insane.' But, he warned, 'Dr. Banda must not be ignored; the powers behind him are not insane.^'"


Akizungumza ktk chuo kikuu cha Dar es Salaam, November 1997, Mwalimu Nyerere alisema



"In 1961 we became independent. In 1962, early 1962, I resigned as prime minister and then a few weeks later I received Dr. Banda. Mungu amuweke mahali pema (May God rest his soul in peace). I received Dr. Banda. We had just, FRELIMO had just been established here and we were now in the process of starting the armed struggle.
So Banda comes to me with a big old book, with lots and lots of maps in it, and tells me, 'Mwalimu, what is this, what is Mozambique? There is no such thing as Mozambique.' I said, 'What do you mean there is no such thing as Mozambique?' So he showed me this map, and he said: 'That part is part of Nyasaland (it was still Nyasaland, not Malawi, at that time). That part is part of Southern Rhodesia, that part is Swaziland, and this part, which is the northern part, Makonde part, that is YOUR part.'
So Banda disposed of Mozambique just like that. I ridiculed the idea, and Banda never liked anybody to ridicule his ideas. So he left and went to Lisbon to talk to Salazar about this wonderful idea. I don’t know what Salazar told him. That was ‘62."

[Mzalendo JR]

I dont want any WAR in here after the Iddi Amin Dada saga.......

[JIULIZE KWANZA]

Nyerere alikuwa baba mwizi aliyeiba kwa ajili ya watoto na wajukuu zake watanganyika, tofauti na wababa zetu wa sasa waiba kwa ajili ya familia zao binafsi bora Nyerere angeishi milele na angetawala milele Leo ungekuta Jk bado anabeba bunduki, mkapa mwandishi wa habari, mwinyi imam wa msikiti wa mtoro, bibi kiroboto mgawa kahawa bungeni, job ndungai poter wa hotel, lowasa, mchungaji ngombe, nk. Kihistoria Kanda ya ziwa ilikuwa sehemu ya Uganda,kaskazini ni Kenya ila kutokana na raslimali zilizopo kwenye kanda Izo Ndio zilipelekea Nyerere kuzipambania kwa Hali na Mali kuwa ni sehemu ta tz. Kama Kenya ingepata uhuru kabla yetu Leo Kilimanjaro, tanga, manyara, Arusha na musoma ingekuwa Kenya. Kagera, mwanza, bukoba ingekuwa Uganda nk

[JIULIZE KWANZA]

I dont want any WAR in here after the Iddi Amin Dada saga.......

Kwa iyo tutajuaje uwezo wa geshi retu bila kupimana, unataka Yale mabomu mbagala yatulipukie wenyewe? Wacha walianzishe swagga sisi tukale bata mbele bana sioni iyo Amani unayoitaka wakati Hakuna Amani, una interest na magambaz govt au? Amani bila haki hai sound akilini mwangu.

[Mzalendo JR]

Kwa iyo tutajuaje uwezo wa geshi retu bila kupimana, unataka Yale mabomu mbagala yatulipukie wenyewe? Wacha walianzishe swagga sisi tukale bata mbele bana sioni iyo Amani unayoitaka wakati Hakuna Amani, una interest na magambaz govt au? Amani bila haki hai sound akilini mwangu.

I mwan diplomatic meansitumike kutatua matatizo haya, no need to reload our AK47 on this.

[JIULIZE KWANZA]

I mwan diplomatic meansitumike kutatua matatizo haya, no need to reload our AK47 on this.

Zinapata kutu bure kiongozi ona mpaka mabomu yanatulipua sisi wenyewe sometime sioni kazi ya akina mura toka 1979 mpaka Leo wanalipwa bure tuu, mbona anjowan walitumia AK47 kwani tulikuwa na interest gani huko zaidi ya interest ya lake Nyasaland?

[Mzalendo JR]

Zinapata kutu bure kiongozi ona mpaka mabomu yanatulipua sisi wenyewe sometime sioni kazi ya akina mura toka 1979 mpaka Leo wanalipwa bure tuu, mbona anjowan walitumia AK47 kwani tulikuwa na interest gani huko zaidi ya interest ya lake Nyasaland?

Haya bana ila wengine hua wanaziharibu baharini

[Ndahani]

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

Pengine wameshasoma alama za nyakati. Si unajua aliyelala usimwamshe maana ukimwamsha utalala wewe

[JIULIZE KWANZA]

Haya bana ila wengine hua wanaziharibu baharini

Mzee wa mbaiwai hajui ivo unge paste uo ushauri wako kwenye moja ya ID zake tungepunguza Vigo visivo vya lazima, na je hao akina mura tutajuaje uwezo wao? Wanavitambi wengine wazuri weupe Kama wanatumia Carolite tofauti na enzi za mwalimu walikuwa ni akin chacha weusi wakakamavu na wanaonekana Kama wajeda. Now days wote hawajakaa kikazi

[Gabhiteka Manji]

mkubwa punguza hasira,haya mambo yanazungumzika tu.hatujafikia hatua hiyo ya kupeleka vikosi.Tayari serikali inalishughulikia hili swala Master Dulla

[Ngongo]

Mkuu Mzizi wa Mbuyu hili nalo neno.

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!!

[mkada]

u just made my day bro, the right course of action here is the military, tena kwa malawi,bridage moja tu ya songea inawatosha,kale ka nchi tunasweep siku moja tu,tumekamaliza.this is too much,uganda kwa ujinga wa idd amin leo hii bado tuna majeraha ya vita,let our military sharpen their tools,and deploy,malawi will soon be our target practice....

[mkada]

we have an army.lets prepare for war,na hapo mafuta hayajagunduliwa itakuwa balaah,so bora tuzioige maoema kabsaaa,kuliko tuzioige wakati mafuta ymegunduliwa.

[mkada]

hakuna kulia hapa,ka Malawi kenyewe si ni kama mkoa wa shinyanga,jeshi lao la hovyo hakuna mfano,hawana ubavu wa kuzichapa na sisi,watajutia kulianzisha,

[Ndahani]

Vita would not provide lasting solution. We have to have a good will to resolve the issues without war. Ninachojiuliza sana ni hiki...why now? Mbona walikuwa wamesahau kama hili ni tatizo? What has gone wrong for them to realize we are now at the weakest!

[MWEEN]

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

Kwa waliokimbia mchakamchaka shule za msingi na waliokwenda JKT: Huu wimbo tuliuimba sana:

Bandaaa wa Malawi,
Katuvalia ngozi ya simba,
Kututishia Watanzaniaaa,
hatujali, Oooo hatujali.

Itabidi tuwakumbushe vijana wetu haya mapokeo.

[Mwiba]

Bora zipigwe ,tuna majeshi kibao hawana la kufanya wala kazi za maana ,bora wakipata kibarua cha kulchukua hili ziwa ,nafikiri kwa nguvu za majeshi yetu tunaweza kuchukua kama siku kumi na tano kulichukua Ziwa ,nasikia kunaboti za kijeshi zinaelekezwa huko.

[Nationalist]

Mkuu kwa namna ambavyo huu mgogoro umekuwa ukinguruma hawa ba-Nyasa inaonekana wanatuchezea sharubu halafu tunawaangalia tu. Hawa ni wachokozi tuwatie adabu kama mtani anavyomkeketa alshabab. Hatuwezi kutishwa na kanchi ka watu milioni 15 kanakoongozwa na mwanamama.