Border With Malawi Fraudulent - Elders

Lake Nyasa

ELDERS in Kyela have turned the heat on Malawi saying it is Tanzania
that historically owns a big chunk of that country's territory, rather
than for the central African nation to claim 100 per cent ownership of
Lake Nyasa, which it shares with Tanzania.

The flip back on territorial demands was set in motion by former Mbeya
Regional Commissioner, Mr John Mwakipesile, when he narrated the
recent history of Kyela to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and
International Cooperation, Mr Bernard Membe, who was on a visit to the
district on Monday to collect views of the elders there, meant to be
part of the evidence to finally resolve the border dispute with Malawi
peacefully.
"We the Nyakyusa were not lowlands people but highland dwellers. This
place where we now stand was formerly settled by the Konde people. In
1840, there was war between the Nyakyusa and the Konde in which the
Konde were defeated and sent across the lake to Malawi where they
still live to date. But we are basically the same people and claims
that we on this side have no right to the lake because of an 1890
Treaty between the Germans and the British are extremely alien to us,"
said the retired politician, well known for self-confidence.

That argument was harped upon almost by every elder who spoke
thereafter, with many opting to air their views in Kinyakyusa (the
local dilate) and their message translated to the minister and his
delegation. Speaking in Kinyakyusa, several elders captured their
anger and expressed their emotions and indignation better over claims
by Malawi for 100 per cent ownership of the lake, central to life for
their generations at least from the 17th century.

"If the government doesn't have guns, we are ready to attack Malawi by
means and ways we know and teach President Joyce Banda, who has
brought up this senseless claim," said a fuming and saliva spitting
Anyosisye Mwankenja (80) of Matema Beach who, like many elders was
speaking in Kinyakyusa. It was a highly emotional outpouring of anger
that Mr Membe had to continually torn down with the words:

"No, no, no. Don't do that. Your government is stable and determined
to resolve this matter through dialogue. It is my prayer that you
shall all be around to see the final solution to the problem. I am
quite confident that we shall win this case wherever we go," said Mr
Membe amid chants and ululation from the women.

Obas Mwansasu (72) also of Matema Beach said specifically addressing
the minister: "Our forefathers never told us that this lake was dug by
the Malawians. Malawians have never extended their jurisdiction to our
side. This problem should not give you any headache." Philip
Mwandemele (70) also of Matema Beach said simply: "The Malawians are
indulging themselves in dangerous daydreaming."

At some point, the dramatic moments of the visit were quite
exhilarating. Mbile Mwakasekele (79) of Katumba Songwe said the
original boundary of the then Dutch East Africa or Tanganyika which is
today Tanzania started at Ngara in Malawi and ran south to join the
border line with Zambia at Tunduma.

"If the Malawians so want, then let us go back to the original
boundaries and not the treachery the British played on the Germans," a
catch-22 situation that meant Malawi would actually lose the entire
lake.Katumba Songwe is where River Songwe, which forms the overland
boundary with Malawi waters into Lake Nyasa. The river was once
entirely Tanzanian but the Malawians pleaded for a median line border,
a request Tanzania readily agreed to.

Another extremely fuming elder, Anywelise Mwaifiga (84) of Matema
Beach, also speaking in Kinyakyusa said the whole of Malawi was made
up of Wanyakyusa people and that German rule extended to Ngara, about
four kilometres from Karonga in Malawi but with influence extending
more than 20 kilometres.

"It is not a question of hearsay for me. I saw the sign that the
Germans nailed on a baobab tree at Ngara, which clearly stated that it
was the starting point of the German sphere of influence in East
Africa (a colonial term for Tanganyika)," said Amos Mwakyusa (86). He
said they used to rest at the place on their way to South Africa where
they were recruited to work in gold mines.

Adison Kajula said the British favoured Nyasaland (Malawi) in the 1890
treaty but the actual boundary ran from the mouth of Songwe River to
River Shire in the south, making the lake equally shared by the two
countries.

Michael Mwang'onda (70) of Katumba Songwe, who said his father, who
died aged 116, was the founder of the village. "When the chips are
down," he said, "Tanzania actually owns two thirds of the lake and the
Malawians just one third." The original settlement of the village,
which was called Milambo, he said, is now located more than two
kilometres in water as many places have since been swallowed by the
waxing coastline of the lake.

Tanzania and Malawi have agreed to resume talks for peaceful
resolution of the problem at a date yet to be fixed after Malawi
initially pulled out protesting Tanzania's release of a new
administrative map that showed the boundary between the two countries
as being in the middle, which Malawi disputes claiming it was along
the shoreline as indicated in the July 1, 1890 Heligoland Treaty.

The trip to Kyela was Mr Membe's second to communities on the shores
of Lake Nyasa in two months after the one he made to newly created
Nyasa district last August. Observers have said the treaty never
specifically bounded Malawi's borders and they fail to see how the
country could justify its case by claiming what defines another
entity.

Mr Membe also visited the Kasumulu Border Post and saw people from
both sides going on with their daily activities without any threat of
hostilities, despite rumours that Tanzania was gearing up for a
military showdown, claims that Mr Membe has repeatedly denied,
insisting the country was committed to peaceful resolution of the lake
border crisis.
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