Lake dispute between Malawi and Tanzania

The Malawi-Tanzania border dispute is rooted in the Colonial history of Africa. The Portuguese, as first European people to explore East Africa, controlled most of its coast by 1506 and ruled Zanzibar, present-day mainland Tanzania. Later on, the competition among European nations intensified, and in 1884, Germany claimed Zanzibar since Tanganyika became part of German East Africa. In 1886, the Great Lakes Partition Agreement was settled and Britain established the Nyasaland, present-day Malawi. In 1890, th e Anglo-German Heligoland Agreement was implemented, defining the border as run­ning along the Tanzanian shore. HISTORY OF THE DISPUTE German lost its colonies at the end of the First World War as a consequence of the Treaty of Versailles and Britain was awarded Tanganyika. After World War II, Tanganyika and Zanzibar became independent in 1961 and 1963 respectively. They united in 1964 and became the United Republic of Tanzania. The Nyasaland became Malawi...

Malawi, Tanzania in a border dispute

THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE BORDER DISPUTE “Scholars has not only emphasized the importance of territory for military and economic power (Billon, 2001; Carter, 2010), but also the psychological and emotional importance of territory to the populations of states” (Hassner, 2003; Kaufman, 2009). Border territory disputes, even without violence or armed conflicts, have numerous consequences for the environment, the economy and the citizenship. The negative peace of an enduring dispute is quite distinct from the positive peace between two states that have no dispute. This article aims to analyse and conceptualize the local and global implications of the Malawi -Tanzania border dispute. Nowadays, Malawi and Tanzania share Lake Nyasa and its natural resources but, those assets are dwindling at an alarming rate since the beginning of a new phase of the conflict. A study by Nindi (2007) on management and the level of quality of life of peoples residing in the locality confirmed t...

      Despite the relevance of the conflict -the lake is the third largest lake of the African continent- it seems like the international community has very little to say about it. Both countries -Malawi and Tanzania- have been encouraged to keep their mediation going on. The two of them seeked support from the Southern African Development Community (SADC), after the failure of previous bilateral efforts to find a solution. A team of mediators formed by former heads of state and government interacted with both parties with the aim of deepening their knowledge and understanding the dispute. This mediation failed, so when SADC renewed its Tribunal, the discussion continued following the new protocol. Opinions are divided: many think it is unfair that Tanzania has no jurisdiction on the lake, while others, like the outgoing chairperson in 2014, state that it is non-negotiable that the lake belongs to Malawi.    In the latest exchanges,...

A region is an area on the earth’s surface marked by certain properties that are homogeneous inside and distinct from outside it . It is a part of the Earth’s surface with one or many similar characteristics that make it unique from other areas. A region can be defined by natural (wildlife, climate) or artificial (language, government, religion) features. In this case, Malawi and Tanzania are two independent states that belong to the same economic and political region: SADC, an intergovernmental organization whose goal is to further socio-economic cooperation and integration as well as political and security cooperation among 15 southern African states.  The countries forming part of this region are all in the same geographical location, in the South of the African continent. Therefore, this region has both similar natural features as well as artificial ones: the intention of their governments to cooperate. SADC has not share a common language: it is a multilingual regio...

Newspaper articles: Face of Malawi (2014). SADC New tribunal to handle Malawi, Tanzania lake border row. Face of Malawi. Retrieved May 24, 2018, from  http://www.faceofmalawi.com/2014/08/sadc-new-tribunal-to-handle-malawi-tanzania-lake-border-row/ Irimia R, Gottschling M (2016) Taxonomic revision of Rochefortia Sw. (Ehretiaceae, Boraginales). Retrieved May 22, 2018, from  https://www.herald.co.zw/malawi-tanzania-border-dispute-flares-up-again/ Masina, L (2012). Malawi and Tanzania border experts discuss lake dispute. Voa News. Retrieved May 23, 2018, from  https://www.voanews.com/a/malawi_and_tanzania_border_experts_discuss_lake_dispute/1491532.html Mayall, J. (1973). The Malawi—Tanzania Boundary Dispute. The Journal of Modern African Studies, 11(04), 611. Retrieved May 22, 2018, from https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-modern-african-studies/article/malawitanzania-boundary-dispute/E752189685196A67E9C83E04A1B555B9 The Conversation (2017). Why Malaw...