| Caprivi Liberation Army | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | Mishake Muyongo |
| Dates of operation | 1994–present |
| Country | Namibia |
| Ideology | Caprivi Strip independence |
Caprivi Liberation Army (CLA) is a Namibian rebel and separatist group which was established in 1994 to separate the Caprivi Strip, a region mainly inhabited by the Lozi people. It operates only in the Caprivi strip.
The Caprivi Strip is located in far northeast of Namibia. The region is a panhandle of Namibia eastwards about 450 km, between Botswana on the south, Angola and Zambia to the north, and Kavango Region. During the "Scramble for Africa" period, Great Britain ceded the territory to Germany in order for the latter to have access to the Zambezi River and to reach its other colonies in east Africa while keeping possession of German South-West Africa.
The Caprivi strip was of strategic military importance. It saw continual military actions and multiple incursions by various armed forces using the Strip as a corridor to access other territories. Those military actions were mainly handled by many South African factions during the Rhodesian Bush War (1970–1979). It was also a battlefield for the African National Congress and SWAPO operations against the South African government (1965–1994) and the UNITA operations during the Angolan Civil War.
The front was created in February 1994 as a separatist group under the goal of joining the Lozi people, who are present in neighbouring Botswana, Zambia, and Angola, together. [1] Since 1998 it has been under the leadership of Mishake Muyongo who has been expelled from the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance of Namibia (DTA) as a result of his support for the secession of his home region.
In August 1999 the CLA launched many surprise attacks on police stations and many military posts in Katima Mulilo before the Namibian government imposed a state of emergency in the eastern part of the Caprivi Strip and beat the rebels. Fourteen rebels were reported dead and as many as 200 were arrested and jailed. [2] Most of them are still [update] in custody as trial-awaiting prisoners in the Caprivi treason trial.
The last military ambush was executed in September 1999 where three members were killed in a shoot-out. [2] The leader Muyongo was granted asylum in Denmark. [3]
The history of Namibia has passed through several distinct stages from being colonised in the late nineteenth century to Namibia's independence on 21 March 1990.
The Zambezi Region is one of the 14 regions of Namibia. It is located in the north-eastern part of the country. It is largely concurrent with the major Zambezi River after which it was named. The region has eight constituencies and its capital is the town of Katima Mulilo. The self-governed village Bukalo is also situated in this region. The Zambezi Region had a population of 90,596 in 2011. As of 2020, it had 47,884 registered voters.
The Caprivi Strip, also known simply as Caprivi, is a geographic salient protruding from the northeastern corner of Namibia. It is bordered by Botswana to the south and Angola and Zambia to the north. Namibia, Botswana and Zambia meet at a single point at the eastern tip of the Strip, which also comes within 150 m (490 ft) of Zimbabwe thus nearly forming a quadripoint. Botswana and Zambia share a 150-metre (490 ft) border at the crossing of Kazungula. The territory was acquired by then-German South West Africa in order to provide access to the Zambezi River and consequently a route to the east coast of the continent and German East Africa. The route was later found not to be navigable because of the location of the Victoria Falls, one of the world's largest waterfalls, about 65 kilometres east of the Caprivi Strip.
The Cuando River is a river in south-central Africa flowing through Angola and Namibia's Caprivi Strip and into the Linyanti Swamp on the northern border of Botswana. Below the swamp, the river is called the Linyanti River and, farther east, the Chobe River, before it flows into the Zambezi River.
Katima Mulilo or simply Katima is the capital of the Zambezi Region in Namibia. It had 28,362 inhabitants in 2010, and comprises two electoral constituencies, Katima Mulilo Rural and Katima Mulilo Urban. It is located on the B8 national road on the banks of the Zambezi River in the Caprivi Strip in lush riverine vegetation with tropical birds and monkeys. The town receives an annual average rainfall of 654 millimetres (25.7 in).
The Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), formerly the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA), is an amalgamation of political parties in Namibia, registered as one singular party for representation purposes. In coalition with the United Democratic Front, it formed the official opposition in Parliament until the parliamentary elections in 2009. The party currently holds 16 seats in the Namibian National Assembly and one seat in the Namibian National Council and is the official opposition. McHenry Venaani is president of the PDM.
Lozi people, or Barotse, are a southern African ethnic group who speak Lozi and Silozi, a Sotho–Tswana language. The Lozi people consist of more than 46 different ethnic groups and are primarily situated between Namibia, Angola, Botswana, Zimbabwe including half of the north-Western and western provinces of Zambia inhabiting the region of Barotseland.
Barotseland is a region between Namibia, Angola, Botswana, Zimbabwe including half of north-western and southern provinces of Zambia and the whole of Democratic Republic of Congo's Katanga Province. It is the homeland of the Lozi people or Barotse, or Malozi, who are a unified group of over 46 individual formerly diverse tribes related through kinship, whose original branch are the Luyi (Maluyi), and also assimilated Southern Sotho tribe of South Africa known as the Makololo.
The Caprivi conflict was an armed conflict between the Namibian government and the Caprivi Liberation Army, a rebel group that waged a brief insurrection in 1999 for the secession of the Caprivi Strip.
Albert Mishake Muyongo is a Namibian politician and former Member of Parliament who is currently living in exile in Denmark.
The MaYeyi are Bantu-speaking people of north-western Botswana and north-eastern Namibia. The Yeyi immigrated to the area in the 18th century from the north, and lived in close cooperation with the San people, or Basarwa,in particular,the Xanikhwe
The People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) was the military wing of the South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO). It fought against the South African Defence Force (SADF) and South West African Territorial Force (SWATF) during the South African Border War. Throughout its history, PLAN had both irregular insurgent and semi-conventional units, as well as an extensive recruitment network in rural South West Africa (Namibia). During the war most of its domestic activities consisted of mine warfare and acts of sabotage. PLAN initially lacked any standing units, and the bulk of operations were carried out by political exiles who spent cyclical periods residing in refugee camps in neighbouring states before launching raids inside South West Africa itself. By the end of the war, PLAN had 32,000 militants under arms, including three battalions of semi-conventional troops equipped with heavy weapons.
Angolan–Namibian relations relate to the relations between the governments of the Republic of Angola and the Republic of Namibia.
John Mabuku was the governor of Caprivi Region in Namibia and secessionist supporter of an independent Caprivi Strip. Mabuku, a former Democratic Turnhalle Alliance National Council member, fled to exile in Botswana with former DTA leader Mishake Muyongo following a failed separatist revolt in 1998 in the Caprivi Strip against the Namibian government.
Victor Simunja is a Namibian politician. A member of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO), Simunja was appointed to the National Assembly of Namibia in 2000 and served as Deputy Minister of Defense from 2000 to 2009. Simunja rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Namibian Defence Force prior to entering political office. He is a member of the Mafwe ethnic group, indigenous to the Caprivi Strip.
The Caprivi treason trial is a trial in which the Government of Namibia indicted 132 people for allegedly participating in the Caprivi conflict on the side of the Caprivi Liberation Army during a period between 1992 and 2002. They were charged with high treason, murder, sedition, and many other offences, altogether 278 counts of criminal conduct.
The United Democratic Party (UDP) is a political party in Namibia, representing mainly people from Eastern Caprivi and advocating for the secession of the Caprivi Strip.
Bwabwata National Park is a protected area in northeastern Namibia that was established in 2007 and covers 6,274 km2 (2,422 sq mi). It was created by merging Caprivi Game Park and Mahango Game Reserve. It is situated in the Zambezi and Kavango East regions, extending along the Caprivi Strip. It is bounded by the Okavango River to the west and the Kwando River to the east. Angola lies to the north and Botswana to the south.
The Masubia are a tribe in Caprivi Strip whose traditional authority (ikuta) is based in Bukalo.
Boniface Bebi was a Mamili, or tribal king, of the Mafwe in Namibia, from 1987 to 1999. Born in Linyanti, South West Africa, he succeeded Richard Muhinda in 1987, as the sixth recorded King of the Mafwe. After being involved in the Caprivi conflict, in which autonomy was sought for the Lozi people of the Caprivi Strip, he fled for Botswana, which granted him political asylum, after which Denmark granted him and Mishake Muyongo political asylum. His first-born child, Hoster Bebi, died in 2000; he lost a son while in Danish exile.