Tanzanian Association Oslo

MALAWI AND TANZANIA form joint technivcal committee on common boundary of the two countries.

By ASSAH MWAMBENE

Tanzania and Malawi have agreed to form a joint Committee of Technical Experts that will search, review, and analyze all available legal instruments concerning the common boundary of the two countries.

 The committee of the Technical Experts is mandated to report their findings back to the committee of Officials of the two countries by first week of December 2010.

A Statement issued at the end of the Committee of Officials of the two countries in Lilongweyesterday said the meeting was aimed at preparing a road map for the reaffirmation of the international boundary between the two countries.

 “The meeting was held against the background of the directive of the African Union to all African countries that they should delineate, delimitate, demarcate and reaffirm their international boundaries by the year 2012” the joint Statement  noted.

 The Committee of Officials meeting which was held in cordial manner, considered the available legal instruments that led to the delineation of the boundary between the two countries by the colonial administrators.

 The Committee of Officials also hailed the close collaboration, trust and transparency that prevailed during the discussions over the issues for the benefit of the peoples of the two countries.

 Malawi and Tanzania have so far agreed to develop part of the stretch of the Songwe River through Songwe River Basin Development programme in a move aimed at destabilizing and controlling the unpredictable shift of the river course.

 Tanzania and Malawi have had border disputes on the Lake Nyasa since colonial times.

 Unpredictable shift of the Songwe River course due to flooding and other factors has also made it difficult to determine the border since the two countries are separated by the River.

 The Tanzania Delegation in the meeting was led by the Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Human Settlement Development, Ms. Maria Bilia.

 The Tanzania High Commissioner to the Republic of Malawi, H.E. Patrick Tsere the Irene Kasyanju, the Head of the Legal Unit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation and a representative from the Attorneys General Chamber also attended the meeting.