…Moses Kunkuyu holding the New Map of Tanzania
President Lazarus Chakwera’s administration has been caught off guard after Moses Kunkuyu, Malawi’s Minister of Information, was reportedly ‘fooled’ by Tanzania into ‘endorsing’ the country’s new map, which depicts a portion of Lake Malawi as belonging to Tanzania.
Kunkuyu had visited Tanzania to support its ICT initiatives. During the visit, which aims to transform the East African country’s internet connectivity, Kunkuyu posed with his Tanzanian counterpart, Nape Nnauye. Unbeknownst to Kunkuyu—whose ministerial judgement appeared to have momentarily faltered—the ICT map he was holding depicts a portion of Lake Malawi as belonging to Tanzania.
“Kunkuyu handed a slice of Lake Malawi to Tanzania on a silver platter,” remarked one social media user when the photo of Kunkuyu holding the new map of Tanzania surfaced online.
“The calibre of our government, from the top to the bottom, is that of headless chickens,” she added with biting sarcasm.
In a controversial move, Tanzania has reportedly instructed all government offices, including educational institutions, to amend their curricula to include a slice of north east of Lake Malawi as belonging Tanzanian territory.
Meanwhile, Chakwera’s government remains silent, with no strong response yet issued to counter Tanzania’s provocative actions despite a public outcry.
Chakwera has on several occasions been criticised for being indecisive by both members of the public and opposition leaders. It took him nearly five months to establish a Commission of Inquiry into the plane crash that claimed the lives of Vice President Saulos Chilima and eight others. Similarly, he took several months to dismiss ministers accused of corruption, only doing so under intense public pressure.
He has yet to dismiss officials accused of using qualifications from diploma mills. “One such official still works at MERA,” she added, emphasising her point that Chakwera takes far too long to act on matters requiring urgent attention.
“Chakwera will only comment on the Lake Malawi dispute if public pressure grows. What sort of President or Commander-in-Chief chooses silence when another country claims part of your territory?” queried another commentator while speaking on strict condition of anonymity.
Tanzania refers to its side of the lake as Lake Nyasa, while Malawi was formerly known as Nyasaland during its colonial era but retains the name Lake Malawi to assert its sovereignty and historical connection to the lake. The fresh water lake is home to several species of fish including the infamous cichlids.
