n Staff Reporter
WINDHOEK – The Swapo Party Youth League (SPYL) on Monday staged a peaceful demonstration at the Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation, in solidarity with the people of Western Sahara.
The ruling Swapo party youth wing demo coincided with a State visit of Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, President Brahim Ghali who arrived in the country on Monday at the invitation of President Hage Geingob.
Ghali was accompanied by a delegation comprising of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mohamed-Salem Ould Salek, Minister of Cooperation, Bulahi Mohamed-Fadel, the Secretary of State for Documentation and Security, Brahim Mohamed-Mahmoud.
Also the delegation includes, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary for Angola and Namibia, Bah Dih Sheikh, Advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Malanin Lakhal, in addition to Soukeina Larbas and Aminatou Sweidat, from Office of the President of the Republic.
The Sahrawi independence movement and Morocco have been fighting over Western Sahara since 1975, when the former colonial powers withdrew from the region without organising a referendum for the Sahrawi people, leaving the issue unresolved to this day.
Handing over the petition to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, SPYL members urged the government and people of Namibia to continue their support for the cause of the people of Western Sahara.
They also pressed government to continue the call on the United Nations, to ensure that the Sahrawi people exercise their full right to self-determination, without further delays.
The party youth wing also expressed support for the right to self-determination and independence of the people of Western Sahara.
Receiving the petition, Nandi-Ndaitwah promised that government remains steadfast in its call for the right to self-determination of the people of Western Sahara.
She further informed the gathered youth that the petition would be forwarded to the relevant UN institutions, for appropriate attention.