Tanzania: Govt clarifies on Tanzania-Malawi border

THE Government has ordered that all maps that show that the border between Malawi and Tanzania runs along the Tanzanian side of Lake Nyasa be impounded and set on fire because they mislead the Tanzanian public on the actual location of the border.

The Deputy Minister for Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development, Ms Rita Mlaki, said this in the National Assembly yesterday when responding to a supplementary question from Mr John Samwel Malecela (Mtera-CCM).

Mr Malecela had demanded to know why the state does not seize all erroneous maps that vendors peddle on the streets and burn them. The maps show that the border is located on the Tanzanian side of Lake Nyasa shoreline, he said.

The deputy minister said importers, printers and sellers of such maps risk facing the wrath of the law. Ms Mlaki said the border ran in the middle of Lake Nyasa, not on the shoreline, when answering Mr Victor Mwambalaswa (Lupa-CCM).

In his original question, Mr Mwambalaswa had wished to know how far Tanzania and Malawi had gone in resolving their longstanding border dispute. Ms Mlaki said dialogue continues but there is already a consensus that the border is in the middle of the lake.

She said the other dispute involves the location of the border on River Songwe which shifts each time it overfills taking the elusive border with it. She said the Fourth Phase Government will continue with dialogue on the border demarcations.

She also said at the moment Tanzania and Malawi are jointly implementing the Songwe River Basin Development Programme which envisages stabilizing the river and improving the livelihoods of residents on its banks.