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- Mar 8, 2010
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Malawian President Joyce Banda said on Wednesday her country will not "go to war" with Tanzania over a border dispute in Lake Malawi, now poised to become a new oil and gas frontier.
"Even if the diplomatic route fails, it does not necessarily mean we will go to war with our brothers and sisters in Tanzania because we can resort to other channels to solve the matter," Banda told reporters in her first public reaction to the issue.
Tanzania wants an halt to oil exploration in the northeast part of the lake to pave way for talks to resolve the dispute.
The border dispute erupted after Malawi last year issued a licence to British firm Surestream Petroleum to prospect for hydrocarbons.
Banda came to power in April after the death of president Bingu wa Mutharika, whose administration awarded the licence.
"Much as it is a well-known fact that the lake belongs to Malawi, we will engage our Tanzanian counterparts and resolve our differences diplomatically and amicably," she said.
The Malawi leader said she was going to hold talks with her counterpart Jakaya Kikwete in Mozambique during the the two-day summit of the Southern African Development Community, which begins Friday.
Tanzania claims a portion of the 29 600 square kilometre lake.
Malawi claims a colonial-era agreement dating from 1890 that stipulates the border between the two countries lies along the Tanzanian shore of the lake.
Surestream has been conducting an environmental impact assessment on the lake.
The two nations are set to hold talks on the disputed border in the northern Malawian town of Mzuzu on August 20, two days after the Maputo summit. - AFP
And Minister of Information, Moses Kunkuyu assured that the matter will not escalate into skirmishes.
"Malawians need not to panic because there is no cause for alarm," he told Daybreak Malawi programme on Capital FM on Wednesday.
"We know the treaties that define our borders. And we do respect such treaties, therefore, we see no reason why we should engage our Tanzanian counterparts in warfare. We will exhaust every diplomatic channels to resolve this matter," he said.
"Malawi has never talked war with any country since time in memorial, and Malawi is not blandishing guns with Tanzania," added Kunkuyu.
Tanzania threatened war if Malawi continue oil exploration and does not share about 50 % of Lake Malawi which legally belongs to Malawi based on the Helgoland Treaty of 1890 and subsequent African Union declarations that African countries should respect borders set by colonial rulers.
Malawi claims a colonial-era agreement dating from 1890 that stipulates the border between the two countries lies along the Tanzanian shore of the lake.
Meanwhile, Anna Mghwira, a political analyst based in Arusha, cautions that the complexity of the boundary dispute between the two developing nations is a time bomb.
"The two countries ought to conclude the issue once and for all, lest the wrangle escalates into unnecessary skirmishes," she observes in comments published by The Citizen of Tanzania.
UK-based Surestream Petroleum has been conducting an environmental impact assessment on the lake
Source: Nyasa Times
Mytake:
1. Jakaya Asipokuwa makini Ziwa Nyasa linachukuliwa
2. Waziri wa mambo ya nje Mh Membe aache mambo ya kupayuka hovyo maana mambo haya yanamshinda