Dar es Salaam/Lilongwe. Malawi says it is still banking on the SADC Forum of Former Heads of State and Government to resolve its border dispute with Tanzania.
In an apparent softening of Malawian President Joyce Banda’s earlier hard line stance, the country’s Foreign Affairs minister, Mr Ephraim Chiume, said Malawi had not yet pulled out of mediation led by the forum’s chairman, former Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano.
Mr Chiume said in a press statement released in Lilongwe on Saturday that Malawi was committed to finding an amicable and lasting solution to the lake boundary dispute with Tanzania, through peaceful dialogue and diplomatic efforts.
“This is why Malawi gladly resorted to the mediation on the matter by the Forum of Former African Heads of State and Government, which is being chaired by His Excellency Joaquim Chissano, former President of the Republic of Mozambique,” he said.
The statement was issued a day after Tanzanian Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation minister Bernard Membe urged Malawi to continue with the mediation process.
Mr Membe told reporters on Friday that Malawi should revisit what was agreed at the Dar es Salaam meeting, in which the southern African country was represented by Mr Chiume. It was agreed that both countries should stick to the SADC mediation.
Mr Membe said the Sadc forum also confirmed to Tanzania last week that it was continuing with mediation.
“We have received the letter from Mr Chissano stressing the forum’s commitment to resolving the Lake Nyasa border dispute. We are happy that they have remained firm and honoured what Malawi and Tanzania agreed on during the November meeting in Dar es Salaam.”
In the letter, Mr Chissano says he has consulted with a number of high-profile legal experts and those with vast experience in border disputes within the continent.
Mr Chiume said a point of contention in the mediation was the Tanzanian national accused by President Banda of leaking information from the Malawian dossier on the dispute to Tanzania.
“It was the view of the Malawi government that the Executive Secretary’s participation may compromise the mediation process, and that the playing field may not be level,” the Malawian minister said in his statement.
The statement was issued a few days after President Banda told a press conference on her return from the US that the country would proceed to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and dismissed the Sadc intervention as a “a waste of time.”
“Our earlier position was to go to the ICJ over this matter, but we did not want to be seen to be underrating the forum of former SADC leaders as our friends (Tanzania) had proposed to engage them,” she said. “We’re still waiting for them to make a determination. But if I have to tell Malawians the truth – it is a waste of time. It is better to go to the ICJ as we will be happy to respect the ruling of the court.”
But Saturday’s statement made no reference to the ICJ.
Malawi and Tanzania are at loggerheads over the ownership of Lake Nyasa, which is known in Malawi as Lake Malawi.
While Malawi claims its border is on the eastern shore of the lake, according to the 1890 Heligoland agreement, Tanzania says the border must be in the middle of the lake in accordance with international laws.
Negotiations over the dispute were initiated last year.
The first round of talks were held in the Malawian border town of Mzuzu in August but collapsed in September after Malawi said it was aggrieved by, according to President Banda, “Tanzania’s aggressive bahaviour.” This was after Tanzania published a new map, which, among other features, showed the boundary between Tanzania and Malawi as being in the middle of Lake Nyasa.
Tanzania offered an explanation by saying the new map was published to show a change in internal boundaries following the creation of new regions and districts. Dar es Salaam officials reminded their Malawi counterparts that Tanzanian maps have always showed that the common border runs at the middle of the lake.
But Malawi also claimed Tanzania’s security and defence forces were harassing fishermen in the lake. Lilongwe officials said negotiations would continue only after Dar es Salaam clarified on the new map and harassment issues. Last week, Lilongwe said Dar es Salaam had offered an explanation, but more clarification would be sought during the latest talks.
Talks resumed in November in Dar es Salaam but collapsed yet again and the two countries agreed to find a third party to mediate the dispute. They proceeded to the Sadc Forum.
Prospects of finding oil in the lake have intensified the wrangle after Malawi awarded a license to British firm Surestream to explore for oil in the north-eastern waters last year.
