The Malawi-Tanzania dispute: a quagmire that keeps their lake pure

The prolonged border dispute...

Almost seven years ago now, I had written an article regarding Lake Malawi. I was not alone in my alarm at the news that government of Malawi had signed contracts with oil companies who were keen to start drilling for oil in the lake. This could have proved a disaster to the unique and privileged position the lake holds as an environmental paradise. A border dispute with Tanzania slammed the breaks on the project and thankfully, it has not been resolved too this day.

Lu Gu Hu in China; despite its size nothing motorised is allowed on the lake 

The background to the dispute

It would only seem fair that the demarcation line of Lake Nyasa, or lake Malawi as it is also called, should lie in the median lines of the three nations surrounding it. They are Tanzania, Mozambique and Malawi, and the 1884 Berlin Conference confirmed that that should be the case. Current international legislation would also lean towards the same conclusion. 

The Heligoland Treaty between Germany and Britain in 1890, however, left the British in Nyasaland (now Malawi) in control of what was Tanganyika's part of the lake. When, in 1914, the British took Tanganyika over from Germany, they still placed most of the the lake under the jurisdiction of Nyasaland. This did not cause too much of a problem then, as Tanzania's fishing rights were more less respected.

The ecological importance of Lake Malawi

Mozambique's portion of the lake has been a protected nature reserve since 2011, while a section of it in Malawi forms part of the Lake Malawi National Park. This has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1984. UNESCO describes it as:

Located at the southern end of the great expanse of Lake Malawi, with its deep, clear waters and mountain backdrop, the national park is home to many hundreds of fish species, nearly all endemic. Its importance for the study of evolution is comparable to that of the finches of the Galapagos Islands.

A silver lining

Tanzania is not stalling the drilling for ecological reasons. It wants its fair share of the booty. Nevertheless, drilling could prove catastrophic to the wildlife. It could also jeopardise the livelihoods  of locals living and working around the lake. The Niger Delta and the Ogoni people can provide a perfect example of the nightmare scenarios that can ensure. So, for once, perhaps, a bureaucratic quagmire can preserve the limpid purity on a body of water on which so many lifeforms depend. Foe a time at least...