Malawi compensates Mozambique for stolen charcoal

Mozambique has urged Malawi to respect its borders so that the two nations can “healthily co-exist” after a border incursion involving looting soldiers. The comments come after last week’s raid of Calómuè, a border village in Mozambique’s district of Angónia, by Malawian soldiers who violently seized 543 bags of charcoal from local traders.

It was reported that the soldiers planned to sell the charcoal. On Monday, a delegation from Malawi met local Mozambican administrators to apologise for the incident and gave them $2,400 (£2,000) in compensation. A trader present at the reconciliation meeting praised Mozambique’s President Felipe Nyusi for helping to resolve the matter.

There are been a few border tensions in the past, mostly involving Malawians fishing in Mozambican territorial waters on Lake Malawi, known as Lake Niassa in Mozambique.

Other cross-border crimes have involved the smuggling of maize and fuel, the illegal slaughter of animals, chopping down of trees wood and mining – but none have involved soldiers.