By Staff Reporter
President of CANU has tied the knot calling residents of the formerly Caprivi Strip to uphold their votes in the forth coming general elections slated for November this year.
Mr. Alex Mabuku (Poison) Kamwi, President of Caprivi African National Union is calling the current Namibian Head of State, to amicably bring the pending issues of the Caprivi Strip before he steps down.
President Kamwi isrequesting President Hifikepunye Pohamba to make a choice either to grant a referendum or to make a decree to resolve the merger agreement of 1964 before he leaves the office next year.
After the Presidential, National Assembly and Regional and Local Authority Elections marked for November this year, President Pohamba he will transfer his powers of authority to his successor Dr. Hage Geingob if SWAPO PARTY wins the elections.
A concerned Caprivi Leader who sacrificed much of his life time in exile at the war front left the country in fear of persecution in 1977 is calling the President of SWAPO ( Pohamba) to think and look back in the past and to otherwise give a response on the petition letters he received during his term in office aimed to bring the long standing issues of the then (merger agreement of 1964) to an end , which he claims did not bear any answers.
“ Our efforts have gone in vain, Comrade President Pohamba has just looked on it with deaf ears, he made a mistake as things have gone as far as United Nations.” said Mr. Kamwi.
According to him his party has registered the matter with the international community which includes the Republic of South Africa, the United Kingdom which is the principal state that colonised Caprivi at the time, NamRights and the United Nations for possible solution.
“he was not proud when CANU and SWAPO merged and should not feel great and be proud that’s why God gave us 5 senses to resolve issues… if he looks on the issue of the powerful submission of the high treason case, it might confuse him so we are calling him to resolve the issue of Caprivi but if he seats on the table can be resolved, the issue of the referendum can be resolved without going very far” he explained.
He also expressed his dissatisfaction and accorded President Pohamba for unity and for the people of Caprivi to be left with their own autonomy.
“We have requested UN Decolonization Committee through a referendum, 75 % of the Caprivians are crying for a referendum… I don’t want people to go for vote”
Mr. Kamwi, warned residents of the region “issues of the Caprivians must be resolved peacefully; violence has just ended in 1989.”
“We want the British to attend to this as speedily as possible. The UN said we should use relevant authorities in the country, therefore we have used NamRights and the petition is receiving their attention now.”
“We as CANU, we are not advocating for the secessionism but for the democratic right of all Caprivians to choose what is right for them.”
He said he wrote several letters on the Caprivi, he pointed out that SWAPO wanted Caprivi only to have access during liberation struggle similar to Germany.
“In exile we made agreement to merge between CANU and SWAPO not countries no… But were political parties”
“Mr. Nangolo Mbumba ( SWAPO Secretary General) is saying it is an old story, and why is he still gathering for some votes here.” Concluded Mr. Kamwi.
However, the Caprivi Concerned Group has asked the State President Pohamba to reverse the name change.The group told reporters last month that they will boycott the elections if the name change of Caprivi to Zambezi is not reversed and they have therefore called for a referendum.
According to its Chairperson Mr. Benson Kaapala who briefed the media during the press conference noted that since they delivered their petition to Governor Lawrence Sampofu they did not hear any response yet.
Mr. Kaapala revealed that the new name was imposed on the people of the region without their knowledge.
“We did not sleep on duty, but we found out from the traditional authority but all it was lies.”
“To our surprise we saw public servants wearing T-shirts named Zambezi during our protest. President Pohamba also accidentally thanked the public when he was at Kalimbeza.
He alluded that the original name of the region should be in the voters cards “We urge our supporters not to participate in the coming elections”
The Communist Party of Namibia has also co-opted the Caprivi Concerned Group for dismissing the name change of the Caprivi region to Zambezi.
In the press statement, President of Communist Party, Mr.Attie Beukes called the Namibian government to listen to the democratic demands of the concerned Caprivians for a referendum on the issue of the name change.
Meanwhile , Namibian human rights advocate, Mr. Phil ya Nangoloh told this paper that the Caprivi Political Question of the Caprivi Strip has went a far mile stone and his organization has submitted a 59 page petition report to the UN Decolonisation Committee which entitled “Caprivi Strip : A Sacred Trust of Civilisation Betrayed or Forgotten UN Decolonisation obligation?”
The petition is scrutinizing how Namibia has acquired sovereignty over the Caprivi Zipfel and he is lobbying that if the acquisition is lawful under contemporary customary international law, customary international humanitarian law and customary international human rights laws.
“Caprivi Strip is an identifiable and peculiar colonial-type territory which is historically, legally, administratively and ethno-culturally separate and distinct from German Protectorate of South West Africa (“GSWA”) and, further, that there exists not a single legal instrument or document which makes reference to Caprivi Strip as part of the national territory of Namibia! Hence, although the international status of former GSWA has ceased to exist following Namibian independence on March 21, 1990, such status continues to exist in respect of Caprivi Strip.”
Mr. Ya Nangoloh further argued in his third principal objective submitted to UN Decolonisation Committee that “all along, there have been two legally separate and distinct mandated and trust territories in southern Africa. One of these territories or colonies is known as German Protectorate of South West Africa, a German colony, while the other one is “Eastern Caprivi Zipfel”, “Caprivi Zipfel” or just Caprivi Strip, which had been part of a British colony or territory.”
The Namibian government was not reached for comment.
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