Tanzania, Malawi ask Mozambican ex-leader to mediate Lake Niassa dispute

The governments of Malawi and Tanzania on Friday delivered the formal request to former Mozambican president Joaquim Chissano to mediate border dispute between the two nations over Lake Niassa.

The joint document was delivered by Tanzanian Foreign Minister Bernardo Membe and his Malawian counterpart Ephraim Chiume in Maputo.

Both ministers told a news conference that they hope Chissano, who is chairperson of the forum of former presidents in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), will resolve the dispute.

At a news conference, Chissano said the two sides were willing to see the problem resolved and he will do the best to overcome the matter.

He said that "dispute is a dispute, anyone has his argument, sometimes each side may come with a strong argument." He said he will do the best to solve the problem.

The dispute arose when Malawi announced that it has a project on the prospection of hydrocarbons on Lake Niassa.

Lilongwe said that Lake Malawi, as they call it on the Malawian side, belongs to the Malawian people.

The government of Tanzania, came up angrily saying that it will shed blood to defend its territory.

The two sides immediately entered into dialogue last August to resolve the dispute. All the four rounds resulted to nothing, but big differences.

They said if Chissano is unable to solve the matter, they will take it to international court.