USA Africa Dialogue Series - NYASALAND - MALAWI

Malawi(Nyasaland) is the one of the smallest country in Africa, with high population of 13,931,831!

DEFENCE

Total Strength 5, 300 soldiers and 1,000 Paramilitary Police Force.

JUSTIFICATION FOR ITS EXSITENCE

Some evidence of Stone Age and later Iron Age settlements has been found around Lake Malawi(Nyasa). Bantu peoples moved into the territory in the 1st millennium AD, By the 16th century a Malawi kingdom, from which the present name of the country is derived,was found!

British consul was stationed in the country in 1883. In 1891 the treaties with indigenous rulers resulted in a formal declaration of a British protectorate, called the Nyasaland Districts Protectorate. Beginning in 1893, it was known as the British Central Africa Protectorate, and in 1907 the area was officially designated the Nyasaland Protectorate.

After World War II (1939-1945), nationalist movements gained strength and Following the federation’s dissolution in 1963, Nyasaland achieved internal self-government, with Hastings Kamuzu Banda, leader of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), as the first prime minister. The protectorate gained independence on July 6, 1964, under its new name, Malawi. It was declared a republic on July 6, 1966, and Prime Minister Banda was elected president by the National Assembly.

In November 1970 the constitution of Malawi was amended to make Banda president for life, effective the following year.

Change swept through the government in May 1994, as a new constitution was approved, followed by Malawi’s first multiparty elections. Bakili Muluzi, the leader of the United Democratic Front (UDF) and a former federal cabinet member, defeated Banda for the presidency and formed a UDF-dominated government.

Hints

Length835 Miles

Width160 Miles

Square Area118,454 sq km

Temperature21C to 29C

Rain season;NovembertoApril

Faith76%Christian, 15 Muslim and 8 Tradirional

Language: English and Chichewa bantu

Effective Ranges

Capital City, Lilongwe 190 miles

Big City, Blantyre 293 miles

Zomba University 259 miles

Chileka International Airport 290 miles

Zomba Airport 250 miles

Main Bank of Malawi 200 miles

Main Hydroelectric power Plants 30 miles

State House 290 miles

The basis of the conflict between Malawi and Tanzania is Malawi’s claim to the waters of the whole lake whose very name they dispute. Malawi calls it “Lake Malawi” as opposed to the moretraditional name of “Lake Nyasa.”

Historicalbackground

Many ethnic groups, among them the Yao,Mang’anya, Konde, Matengo, Tonga and Nyakyusa reside harmoniously along the shores of Niassa/Nyassa, which means “any large body of water.”

The tribes’ livelihood depends mainly on the resources from the Lake and the surrounding countryside. Prior to the demarcation of Africa, the people coexisted peacefully and permitted free migrationand trade in the general area; in fact they are kinfolk.

The arbitrary creation of the African boundaries determined in Berlin from 1884to 1885,forced families to reside in two neighboring states. Some lived in the Germany colony of Tanganyika and others in Nyasaland, ruled by the United Kingdom. At the time of independence for both countries, Tanganyika in 1961, which later become the United Republic of Tanzania in 1964, and Malawi inherited the counterfeit boundary.

The Anglo-German Treaty of 1890, which sealed the fate of the two states, is the basis for the conflict. Treaty states;

“To the south by the line that starts on the coast of the northern border of Mozambique Provinceand follows the course of the Ruvuma River to the point where the Messinge flows into the Ruvuma. From here the line runs westward on the parallel of latitude to the shore of Lake Nyasa. Turning north, it continues along the eastern, northern, and western shores of the lake until it reaches the northern bank of the mouth of the Songwe River.”

Tanzania recognizes the potential threat of the border described above, and they have officially requested that their Malawian counterparts share the lake’s resources. In addition, Tanzania proposed that the official boundary between the countries should follow the median line in LakeNyasa. Malawi President Kamuzu Banda did not respondfavorably to these requests:

“We will never recognize or accept this claim: we will never agree to the suggestion orproposal. The Lake has always belonged to Malawi….Everyone knew Nyerere as a coward

and communist inspired jellyfish: We know while pretending to be a staunch supporter of the OAU, Nyerere is the worst agitator and betrayer of the cause for which the Organization was formulated. History, geography or even ethnical knowledge will convince Nyerere that four districts to the South of Tanganyika belong to us by nature. It is only that we respect the feasible unification of Mother Africa that we do not claim these districts. All that we are doing is setting [sic] historical truth.”

More recently, the Tanzanian Government set up a commission to work together with Malawi and draw salient recommendations to solve the border dispute. The Tanzanian Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda said, “Negotiations have been underway between Tanzania and Malawi to reach consensus on the boundary conflict. However, he admitted there has been a long standing tug of war in agreeing on where the correct boundary is located. As a result of the different priorities and divergent policies of the two countries, the dispute has dragged on for a long time.

However,the founder of Tanganyika, andthe first Tanganyika Prime Minister theJulius Nyerere, having known the boundaries of his country were set on colonial interests and other boundaries were still questionable; And having also recognized the riparian rights of the country and prepared a policy document for implementation after independence. He wrote to theUN as follows:

The Secretary—General of the United Nations was informed:

“As regards bilateral treaties validly concluded by the United Kingdom on behalf of the territoryof Tanganyika, or validly applied or extended by the former to the territory latter, the Government of Tanganyika is willing to continue to apply within the territory, on a basis of reciprocity, the terms of all such treaties for a period of 2 years from the date of independence [i.e. until 8 December 1963] unless abrogated or modified by mutual consent. At the expiry of that period, the government of Tanganyika will regard such of these treaties, which could not by the application of the customary international law be regarded as otherwise surviving, as having terminated.”

As a result, Tanzania did recognize the ambiguous treaties when Malawi attained its independence on 7 July 1964.

Scopeduring colonial legacy

Britain and Germany made some administrative amendments along the Malawi—Tanzania border before 1914, and both realms shared the lake prior to the First World War (WWI). Colonial powers deployed gunboats in Lake Nyasa before the war. On August 13, 1914, the British gunboat Guendolen destroyed the German gunboat Hermann Von Wissmann at Sphinxhaven in Lake Nyasa.

For no apparent reason, the British colonial administration placed the lake’s entire water surface under the authority of the territory of Nyasaland. This is the origin of the post WWI disagreement.

Germany lost its colony in East Africa after its defeat in the WWI. The United Kingdom (UK)held on to Malawi and, at the same time, the League of Nations Mandate, entrusted Britain with the management of Tanganyika Territory, the former German East Africa colony. Britain could have solved the border dispute between Malawi and Tanzania like it did the dispute between Malawi and Mozambique; however, Britain did not pay suitable attention to the issue on the Tanzanian side. Furthermore the British maps used while ruling both countries were ambiguous. Even today, maps are not reliable; some of them designate the boundary at the Eastern side of Lake Nyasa while others designate it at the lakes’ midline as depicted in the 1937 map shown in

Figure 1. In addition, the problem between Malawi and Mozambique overthe boundary in Lake Nyasa was resolved in November 1954 by an agreement endorsedby Britain and Portugal. Theconsequent border skirmishes subsided after Malawi failed to impose its claim. However, in the 1990’s Tanzanians residing along the shores of Lake Nyasa were occasionally accused of fishing inMalawian waters, which prompted outcries from theMalawianGovernment. Furthermore, Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, and Portugal drew the East African boundaries to further their strategic colonial interests. Ironically, about a century ago, rival colonial powers, Britain andGermany, shared the lake. Today, two independent states are failingto do the same.

Thecurrent state

·        Tanzania asks that the boundary between the two countries be located at mid-point line in the lake. The riparian states have equal rights to share Lake Nyasa’s resources as per‘International Boundary Study No. 37

·        Malawi withdraws the claim to the entirety of the lake. This producesafriendly posture that maylead to peaceful settlement of the dispute.

Both countries should work together to implement the agreement by mapping the border according to international regulations governinginland waterways and lakes.