‘Forget Shire-Zambezi waterway,’ Mozambique tells Malawi

…Mutharika seething with anger at the decision

Former President, late Bingu wa Mutharika’s wet dream has to come to an end, Mozambique government has told the Malawi government.

According to media reports, the neighbouring government has once again snubbed the Malawi government in their request to have Zambezi opened so that Malawi can have access to the sea and dispel the fact that the country is landlocked.

According to the report, the Mozambican government has turned down the request by Malawi government on the grounds that it would be expensive to make the Shire and Zambezi rivers navigable so that Malawi can have access to the Indian Ocean.

Transport minister for Mozambique who met with the Malawian and Zambian transport ministers in Lilongwe went back to his country to tell the media that Malawi was being emotional on the issue.

“To make the two rivers navigable, we will need about $18 million (about K10 billion) and the river will only be used for five months,” said Carlos Mesquita, the transport minister for Mozambique.

Meanwhile the decision by Mozambique to send the truth home to President Peter Mutharika is most likely to have irked the President.

In his campaign promise, Mutharika had said the next day after assuming power he would take a helicopter and go to Nsanje where he would have the port opened. However, the communication from Mozambique which is realistic than Mutharika’s emotional rant is a check on the speed of the President whose all campaign promises have fallen apart.

An engineer who spoke with Malawi24 on condition of anonymity sided with the Mozambican government on the waterway.

“The waterway is not feasible, it is impractical,” said the engineer faulting Malawi leadership of popular politics at the expense of achievable realistic goals.