Nujoma’s Cape Fria railway vision should be fulfilled – Ekandjo

Former Cabinet minister Jerry Ekandjo has called on the incoming government to realise founding president Sam Nujoma’s vision of a railway network spanning from Ariamsvlei in southern Namibia to Oshikango in the north, and extending to Cape Fria.

Speaking to Nampa at Nujoma’s residence on Monday, following his death on 8 February, Ekandjo said Nujoma was a visionary leader who dreamed of having a 1 500-kilometre railway stretching from Katima Mulilo in the Caprivi region, past Orupembe, to Cape Fria on the Skeleton Coast, 50 kilometres south of the Angolan border.

Nujoma was also the driving force behind the construction of the N$1.3-billion railway line from Tsumeb to Oshikango which began in 2002 and was completed in 2017. He dedicated his personal time to working on the railway, joined by groups of local volunteers.

“He engaged physically to construct the railway line from Tsumeb to Oshikango. He was a visionary leader thinking that the railway line must reach Cape Fria. . . So we must still keep that. . . even the incoming administration that will be sworn in next month must uphold that dream,” he said.

Ekandjo said currently, Namibia’s port activity is concentrated at Walvis Bay. He, however, stressed that the country has a long coastal stretch, from Kunene to the Orange River, where expansion must take place to allow heavy industry products to be transported through Cape Fria.

A preliminary environmental assessment conducted in 2006 indicated that the project was not viable. The assessment cited potential negative impacts on livelihoods and interference with seasonal flooding of the Kwando River in the Zambezi and Okavango regions, as well as the Kunene region.

The report further indicated that the project was not included in government strategic planning documents such as Vision 2030 or national development plans.

Ekandjo further indicated that Namibia will not be the same without Nujoma.

“One could feel a fatherly figure in Nujoma,” he said.

– Nampa