Botswana army continues to harass Namibians

HARASSMENT of Namibians living along the border with Botswana by the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) in the Zambezi region continues unabated.

This was said at a press conference in Windhoek last week by the group calling itself Namibian Lives Matter, which is not happy with the government’s efforts to get justice for the Nchindo bothers and their cousin Munyeme, who were shot dead by Botswana soldiers late last year.

The national executive chairperson of the group, Sinvula Mudabeti, revealed that armed Botswana soldiers continue entering Namibia illegally to harass innocent Namibians, saying that recently (15 January 2021) two BDF military helicopters landed at Maunga village in the Batubaja area, and harassed locals who were at their cattle post.

“Mr Zachariah Mashazi and his workers were interrogated on his own land by more than 15 BDF soldiers. The incident occurred at 09h00, while people were busy working on their land. The first helicopter dropped three soldiers and went back to fetch more soldiers. The soldiers introduced themselves and said they were on patrol and were on a mission to find out about the area,” he said.

Mudabeti further said Mashazi was allegedly asked who had given him the right to farm in the area, how big his farm was, why he did not have ear tags on his cattle, how many kraals he had and also asked his full names, those of his wife and neighbours.

“Mr Mashazi said he asked the soldiers why they had entered Namibia illegally and with guns. However, there was allegedly no response except that they were on patrol. The police were called to the scene but only came after the helicopters left,” he said.

According to Mudabeti, the BDF members called Mashazi on 19 January asking for his details once more.

“We have this number and will take this up as a criminal offence,” he said.

He added that this was not the only incident of harassment as many others had gone unreported, and they will now take the Namibian government to court as they have sufficient evidence that the government is failing to protect the people of the Zambezi region.

“We are also considering petitioning the African Commission on human and people’s rights. Our legal experts will soon draft heads of arguments for further transmission to the African Commission against the Namibian and Botswana governments. We will also file a complaint at the Office of the Ombudsman to compel the government to release the report on the investigation of the Nchindo murders and for the state to adhere to its demands,” he said.

Mudabeti said the deployment of the Namibian Defence Force (NDF) is of no use because their bases are within communities and as a result they use innocent civilians as human shields because they are scared of camping along the border.

and Botswana governments released a joint statement at the end of December imploring the citizens in both countries to keep the peace and remain calm, while the governments look into the results of the joint investigation.

However, Mudabeti expressed disappointment over the statement, saying it should have contained the investigation report.

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