Muyongo speaks out
The exiled leader says refugees still want freedom for the region and the Namibian government should “stop bothering” them.
CATHERINE SASMAN
The president of the United Democratic Party (UDP) and leader of the Caprivi secessionist attempt, Mishake Muyongo, says Caprivian refugees in Botswana choosing to return to Namibia risk their lives as the Namibian government will never loosen its “grip of evil intentions” on the people of the Zambezi Region.
The minister of home affairs and immigration, Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana, recently said during her budget motivation that her ministry and other stakeholders had made great strides in repatriating the 903 refugees at the Dukwe refugee camp in Botswana.
That was the outcome of negotiations of the 18th Tripartite Commission that held meetings in Katima Mulilo in August last year where it discussed the outcome of the Botswana High Court that interdicted the implementation of the Invocation Cessation Clause, which was supposed to have been effected on 31 December 2015.
According to the cessation clause, Botswana was not to allow any Namibian refugee to stay in that country as of the end of 2015. It further stated that a person’s refugee status that was legitimately granted would come to an end, but that those granted amnesty for political offences would remain longer in Botswana than December 2015.
Iivula-Ithana said the Tripartite Commission had observed that the clearance procedures were still cumbersome and lengthy and that the Namibian government had to reassess these procedures.
She said, however, that the refugees had since been cleared to return “in dignity and safety” and that the Namibian government was “resolute to ensure their restoration of national protection, safe and dignified return and sustained reintegration into their communities”.
Iivula-Ithana said the refugees would be assisted to acquire travel documents, and a reception centre would be established in the Zambezi Region to help with their repatriation. More than N$10 million was budgeted for this purpose.
However, Muyongo, who is in exile in Denmark, in a statement maintained that the refugees continued to demand an unequivocal secession from Namibia and that Namibians in the Zambezi Region only intended to “destroy, exploit and plunder” the resources there.
“[The] Namibian government should know that all Caprivians in exile are members of the UDP determined to liberate their country, Caprivi Strip, from Namibia’s illegal occupation,” said Muyongo.
He said the Namibian government should “stop bothering” Caprivians in Botswana and waste taxpayers’ money that could have been used differently.
Muyongo’s group maintains that the Namibian government illegally annexed the former Caprivi Strip through the enactment of Notice No. 117 Promulgation of Application of Laws to the Eastern Caprivi Zipfel Act of June 1999, barely months before the secession attempt.
In accordance with this law all Namibian laws would henceforth be applicable to the Caprivi Strip. Before that, certain laws specific to the former South West Africa and subsequently Namibia were not applicable to the Caprivi Strip.
The UDP maintains the Promulgation of Application of Laws was enacted without the consent of the Caprivian population.
Muyongo in his statement entitled “Caprivi, the Occupied Land by Namibia” said Iivula-Ithana during meetings with the Dukwe refugees in April 2014 and May 2015 did not answer repeated questions about the introduction of the 1999 law.
He said the Namibian government illegally held many Caprivians in jail while on trial for alleged high treason and that 20 of these prisoners died under mysterious circumstances.
Muyongo said some of those charged with high treason merely attempted to shed the yoke of an illegal occupation while others were merely sympathisers who believed in a free Caprivi.
He further accused the Botswana government of sharing confidential information of individual refugees with the Namibian government, which he said was a breach of international protection of displaced political refugees.
The president of the United Democratic Party (UDP) and leader of the Caprivi secessionist attempt, Mishake Muyongo, says Caprivian refugees in Botswana choosing to return to Namibia risk their lives as the Namibian government will never loosen its “grip of evil intentions” on the people of the Zambezi Region.
The minister of home affairs and immigration, Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana, recently said during her budget motivation that her ministry and other stakeholders had made great strides in repatriating the 903 refugees at the Dukwe refugee camp in Botswana.
That was the outcome of negotiations of the 18th Tripartite Commission that held meetings in Katima Mulilo in August last year where it discussed the outcome of the Botswana High Court that interdicted the implementation of the Invocation Cessation Clause, which was supposed to have been effected on 31 December 2015.
According to the cessation clause, Botswana was not to allow any Namibian refugee to stay in that country as of the end of 2015. It further stated that a person’s refugee status that was legitimately granted would come to an end, but that those granted amnesty for political offences would remain longer in Botswana than December 2015.
Iivula-Ithana said the Tripartite Commission had observed that the clearance procedures were still cumbersome and lengthy and that the Namibian government had to reassess these procedures.
She said, however, that the refugees had since been cleared to return “in dignity and safety” and that the Namibian government was “resolute to ensure their restoration of national protection, safe and dignified return and sustained reintegration into their communities”.
Iivula-Ithana said the refugees would be assisted to acquire travel documents, and a reception centre would be established in the Zambezi Region to help with their repatriation. More than N$10 million was budgeted for this purpose.
However, Muyongo, who is in exile in Denmark, in a statement maintained that the refugees continued to demand an unequivocal secession from Namibia and that Namibians in the Zambezi Region only intended to “destroy, exploit and plunder” the resources there.
“[The] Namibian government should know that all Caprivians in exile are members of the UDP determined to liberate their country, Caprivi Strip, from Namibia’s illegal occupation,” said Muyongo.
He said the Namibian government should “stop bothering” Caprivians in Botswana and waste taxpayers’ money that could have been used differently.
Muyongo’s group maintains that the Namibian government illegally annexed the former Caprivi Strip through the enactment of Notice No. 117 Promulgation of Application of Laws to the Eastern Caprivi Zipfel Act of June 1999, barely months before the secession attempt.
In accordance with this law all Namibian laws would henceforth be applicable to the Caprivi Strip. Before that, certain laws specific to the former South West Africa and subsequently Namibia were not applicable to the Caprivi Strip.
The UDP maintains the Promulgation of Application of Laws was enacted without the consent of the Caprivian population.
Muyongo in his statement entitled “Caprivi, the Occupied Land by Namibia” said Iivula-Ithana during meetings with the Dukwe refugees in April 2014 and May 2015 did not answer repeated questions about the introduction of the 1999 law.
He said the Namibian government illegally held many Caprivians in jail while on trial for alleged high treason and that 20 of these prisoners died under mysterious circumstances.
Muyongo said some of those charged with high treason merely attempted to shed the yoke of an illegal occupation while others were merely sympathisers who believed in a free Caprivi.
He further accused the Botswana government of sharing confidential information of individual refugees with the Namibian government, which he said was a breach of international protection of displaced political refugees.
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