Exiled secessionist leader Muyongo still determined to split off Zambezi

Exiled United Democratic Party (UDP) leader Mishake Muyongo says he has not given up on separating the Zambezi region, or Caprivi Strip, from Namibia.

Muyongo spearheaded an unsuccessful attempt to secede the Zambezi region from Namibia in 1998 and with armed attacks in the region on 2 August 1999.

He and other secessionist leaders have fled the country, while others have been arrested, tried and sentenced to imprisonment on treason charges.

Muyongo, who has not spoken on the issue openly in a few years, during a recent interview with One Africa News said he has sleepless nights as he is still trying to find ways to free the Caprivi Strip.

“My life is about the Caprivi Strip, in and out, day and night.

“I am debating within myself on how to get the Caprivi Strip free and independent peacefully,” he said.

Muyongo said he plans to bring in the United Nations (UN) and other countries to make them understand how the Caprivi Strip situation came to be.

He has urged president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah to be bold during her tenure and address the Zambezi political dispute.

“She must be bold enough to tackle the problem of the Caprivi Strip and solve it. The issue will remain nagging as long as I live,” he said.

Muyongo’s comments coincide with another demonstration by UDP members at Katima Mulilo, who last week demanded their freedom and the government’s response on the issue.

Information and communication technology ministry executive director Audrin Mathe on Sunday told The Namibian the government’s position on the territorial integrity of the country has not changed and would not ever change.

He added that the UDP’s attempts to destabilise peace and stability in the Zambezi region are punishable by law.

“The Zambezi region remains an integral part of the country’s sovereign territory. The UDP’s demands for military withdrawal, prisoner releases, and the implementation of spurious historical agreements lack both legal foundation and constitutional validity.

“Hence any attempt to destabilise the peace and stability that has been carefully maintained in the Zambezi region or any other part of our country will be met with the full force of the law,” Mathe said.

Mathe said if it is the UDP’s attempt to undermine the current government’s resolve with a resurrection of self-determination and territorial separation demands, it has failed.

“It is the same secessionist rhetoric that has been consistently rejected by the government and people of Namibia since the failed armed rebellion of August 1999,” he said.

In a petition last week, the UDP said it no longer wants a dialogue but instead called on president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah to command the Namibian Defence Force (NDF) to vacate the Zambezi region’s territory as soon as possible.

The party also demanded the unconditional release of all “Caprivi political prisoners” in Namibia and the immediate return of “Caprivian” exiles.

Furthermore, the UDP demanded the immediate withdrawal of all “Swapo Gestapo security apparatus, as well as the immediate handover of the Caprivi Strip to the representatives of the people of Caprivi (UDP)”.

The party accused the government of torture, murder, detaining and intimidating them, and alleged the existence of mass graves of “Caprivians” executed and buried secretly by the Namibian government, as well as the disappearance of corpses from a mortuary.

Furthermore, the UDP claimed the repatriation of Zambezi residents in 2018 and 2019 was done under duress, claiming they were threatened and forcefully repatriated by the Botswana government in exchange for a dry port harbour and islands of the “Caprivi Strip”.

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