News and Information

THE CAPRIVI STRIP, A SEPARATE TERRITORY TO THE REST OF NAMIBIA
June 13, 2011
Namibia purports to be a democracy but in reality the opposite is true. Being a country that went through the war of liberation they should not drag their feet and let time pass before it resolves the Caprivi Case. Time is of the essence as sometimes the issue could play to their advantage when resolved within the right time frame. Mr. Pohamba Sir, as The President of Namibia, Caprivians from all walks of life would want to hear from you as to why you and your government could and cannot find a lasting solution to the Caprivi Case.

During the SWAPO struggle in Zambia you were number three in terms of hierarchy, once lived together in the same house with Messers Muyongo and Nujoma and shared house chores of cooking and cleaning the house. You were not only physically but also mentally present when CANU and OPO joined hands in an agreement that saw the two parties from the two countries (Caprivi and South West Africa) merging to form one party SWAPO.

When Mr. Muyongo was arrested in Zambia for reasons known to you and Mr. Nujoma, you need not be told why he also was adamant to relocate to Angola. In 1998 a warrant of arrest was issued to have Mr. Muyongo arrested. In all these instances it shows that Mr. Muyongo had been consistent in terms of his quest for an independent Caprivi. Had he, by the time SWAPO needed him to relocate to Angola done so, he could have been a goner. Also had he pursued the issue of the independence of the Caprivi while in Namibia, he could no more be there by now.

This brings us to the words of Mrs. Pendukeni who according to the Sun, a Namibian newspaper of May 18th 2011 the minister of Justice was quoted as saying that Caprivians facing high treason charges in Namibia are victims of Muyongo who avoided his arrest by fleeing from Namibia. Again the minister went on to say that “Muyongo was part of Namibia’s independence and the writing of the constitution and cannot now claim that Caprivi should be separate from the rest of Namibia”. We believe it is only people with shallow minds who can cling to this inconclusive, outdated and illogical thinking.

This should not have come from the country’s justice minister who surrounds herself with educated minds and should be educated enough to know that many minorities and indigenous people in the world whose centrifugal forces were more than the centripetal forces they got from central government sought secession that led to their independence. The history of the Caprivi is without doubt as it is very clear on whether it is part of Namibia or not. It is also loud and clear that SWAPO instead of resolving the Caprivi Strip Case wanted to silence the case by killing Mr. Muyongo starting from exile to now, something they have not achieved at least for now.

It is absurd for the justice minister to claim that government of Namibia wants the case resolved because in the words of the speaker of the National assembly, Dr. Theo Ben Gurirab in Observer newspaper of May 27, 2011, he stated that, in spite what the Namibian constitution says to the contrary, the country’s Legislative Branch is currently relegated to rubberstamping decisions made by Executive Branch. We think that the same goes for the Judiciary Branch of government as well.

Mrs. Invula Ithana was once a SWAPO Secretary General; a Minister of justice and at the same time was Attorney General of Namibia. if that happens concurrently, then there is no checks and balances in terms of power and democracy in Namibia. The Caprivi Strip Case is a political case that needs a political solution whose resolve is on a political table, and the Executive Branch of the Namibian government is dragging their feet by pushing the Case to the Judiciary who has limited power over a case of such high profile. Courts in Namibia do what they do because they are forced by their bosses (the Executive) to pull time while they kill prisoners one by one, so that at the end no one will be there to stand trial, a SWAPO style. We say justice delayed is justice denied.

Again Mrs. Invula Ithana mentioned that she feels sympathy over the imprisoned Caprivians, what an open and naked lie. We fail to comprehend this because she was SWAPO secretary General when those poor Caprivians were arrested in 1999 and she did nothing. She was there in Namibia when all the twenty Caprivians were politically assassinated while under SWAPO custody and she did nothing. Mr. Muyongo did not arrest the people in the Namibian prisons but SWAPO did. Now why should it be said that he was the reason for their arrest when they have done nothing wrong to Namibia to deserve that inhuman and degrading punishment? It is you and your government who denies those in prison and the entire Caprivian populace their freedom and independence. Also we have heard from grapevines that the Judiciary Branch could have wrapped the Caprivi Strip Case long back as it is considered political, but Mrs. Invula Ithana and her government is the reason for their being in prison for this long.

Know this Namibia, for Caprivians to seek independence is not by accident, it was only in 1999 that you came to know that legally Caprivi was not part of Namibia and in absensure you repealed article 39(5) of the constitution of South West Africa, act 39 of 1968. Caprivians never consented to that repeal and thus the law and article still apply to the Caprivi. The only logical way to resolve such cases is by way of a referendum. Did you in this case do so? If not, then what do you expect from Caprivians? We are not Namibians and want nothing but freedom and independence from Namibia. The former South African apartheid government knows it, the Germany government knows it, the British government knows it, and you know it as well as we do that Caprivi is a territory separate from Namibia as that law of 1968 stipulates.

UDP Bulela Sicaba Sa Utwa!!!!

Chrispin Mutoiwa
UDP Secretary for Information
Mutcrio@yahoo.com
________________________________________


Source: United Democratic Party (UDP)


    Support Caprivi Freedom
Fill out the form below to become a member of this site and receive our regular newsletter.

First Name
Last Name
Email
Password