BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)–President Peter Mutharika for the first time, sent a strong warning deemed directly to Tanzania that Malawi is the sole owner of the Lake Malawi and challenging that his administration will not tolerate intruders to twist the ownership information.
President Mutharika made the warning on Wednesday in Mangochi during this year’s National Water Day Conference, which among others encouraged Malawians to venture into rain-water harvesting amid the water crisis in the country.
The Malawi leader spoke strongly that nobody should make a mistake to start thinking that they own part of the lake and argued that the whole of Lake Malawi belongs to Malawi; that nobody can delete the history about it.
He emphasized the significant of the lake to the country’s social-economic development, saying the water body is Malawi’s most treasured item which the country cannot afford to lose.
Mutharika therefore assures the general public of the lake’s safety upon the exploration exercise completion and that on-shore clean technology equipment will be used.
“Let’s all take care of the lake. This is our lake and when I say our lake, I mean the whole of it. Let nobody make a mistake to try to change this ownership which has been there for the past 124 years.
“We must keep the lake clean for its use as a heritage site. Let me also assure you that if we decide to drill oil from it, we will use some on-shore modern technologies that prevent the oil from polluting the lake. Therefore, don’t be afraid that the lake will be polluted,” Mutharika assured.
For some years now, Malawi and Tanzania have been entangled in an ownership for some parts of the lake particularly the northern that it belongs to Tanzania, which has ended into disagreements soon after reports of oil exploration emerged.