Experts of the Tanzania and Malawi have recommended that the issue on lake dispute should take place again in Dares Salaam, Tanzania next month from September 10th to 14th. This follows a week long closed door meeting between the two sides in northern city of Mzuzu.
The main issue which the two parties have so far failed to agree on is the legal interpretation of the British and Germany treaty on the boundaries between the two countries.
Speaking to journalists, Malawi Minister of Foreign Affairs Ephraim Mganda Chiume said if all negotiations fail they would take the matter to International Court of Justice (ICJ). However, his Tanzanian counterpart counter-argued saying the talks is just the beginning and that both countries should do their best in subsequent negotiations and perhaps involve a third party before the ICJ proposal is implemented.
On this Malawian, the Malawian minister agreed to give room to what has been proposed but pointed out that the issue should be resolved once and for all and be disposed of as quickly as possible. According to Mganda Chiume, the matter has been there for 50 yrs. and there is need to find the way forward.
Some of the propositions in the joint communique are that Tanzania wants exploration of oil to be stopped until the matter is resolved. But Malawi officials say that issue of exploration should be separated from the boundary issue because the two are not related.
