John Magufuli says Tanzania never had hostility with Malawi

President of Tanzania, John Magufuli has clearly stated that the country never had any hostility with Malawi. He also made it clear that the two nations always remained as best neighbours as ever.

"During my administration, Tanzania and Malawi will always remain best neighbouring friends," John Magufuli told a public rally broadcast live by state-owned Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation (TBC) in the southern highlands district of Kyela on the shore of Lake Nyasa in Mbeya region.

He said African countries should unite in their development undertakings and he lashed out at the Western countries that were bent on ensuring that the continent was in a shambles. "We should not allow Western countries (to) derail African countries' efforts toward making the continent prosperous," Tanzania’s Head of State, John Magufuli told the rally on his sixth day of his eight-day official visit to the region.

Magufuli made the remarks against the background of reports that Tanzania and Malawi were mired in a long-standing conflict over boundaries on Lake Nyasa. The neighbouring countries have clashed over their border on the lake since independence and reports that the lake had vast oil and gas reserves has reignited the ongoing dispute over the boundaries on Lake Nyasa, as reported by Xinhua.

Tanzania's map showed that the east African country owns part of the Lake Nyasa while Malawi's argument was that all the waters between Malawi and Tanzania were theirs. Last week, the Tanzanian and Malawian leaders directed relevant ministers to urgently sort out challenges that were slowing down trade between the two countries.

"Trade barriers between the two countries should be urgently addressed for the development of people in the countries," said President Magufuli and his Malawian counterpart, Peter Mutharika.

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