THE Mafwe Traditional Authority learnt with dismay about the arrests of its five sons/members resulting from the invasion of their fields and the land that falls under Honourable Chief George Simasiku Mamili’s juridiction. This is yet another clear example of how the Mafwe are being victimized by the government based on recurrent misinformation from the Masubia. The contents of an article in the New Era of Monday, 08 January 2007 should be condemned in the strongest terms that it deserves. The article is nothing else than a host of distorted information, biased and devoid of all truth. The idea of the writer of that article together with the actions taken by the police officers were clearly aimed at tarnishing the image and reputation of Messrs Alfred Chilinda, Baxter Kulobone, in particular, and the Mafwe in general. It is disheartening indeed, to see how the Masubia use government agents like the police in their desperation to victimize the Mafwe so that they should achieve their hidden agendas. Take for example a particular case of the Mafwe police officers who had been deliberately appointed and transferred from the Caprivi to other regions with the idea of opening up holes for the Masubia police officers to act at will contrary to the neutral requirements of any police force in dealing with disputes arising between nationals. In this particular case, it is again clear that Mr Evans Simasiku who is the leading police officer in this matter has specific covert interests, namely, that of using the arm of government (the police) to aid his fellow Masubias who have courage to invade the Mafwe land fields illegally! Furthermore, the other parties, including this Traditional Authority where some of invaders were handed over before the so-called police intervention, were not consulted at the time of compiling this newspaper article. Looking at the diction chosen by this journalist in the article you will notice the vulgar language used. One does not have to be a language expert to see how this reporter grossly ridicules the ethics of journalism and the reason is very clear: he has the same interest as Mr Evans Simasiku, the lead police officer in the arrest of the land owners! In the light of the above, why should we be surprised to hear that the invaders claim that the area in question, where they were found ploughing illegally, is Lake Liambezi They of course mistakingly regard it that way because they come all the way as far as Kabbe constituency with the purpose of grabbing land without following the correct procedure of the Communal Land Reform Act No.5 of 2002, Sections 19,20 and 21 because they have a planned back-up by this officer. Evans Simasiku and his cohorts are like this journalist Inambao, who reports erroneously about something that he has no full knowledge of and does not care with his responsibility of informing the nation correctly! We, the owners of that land would like to inform the public that the area in question is rather known as Kweha, the ancestral communal land used by communities from Shaile, Kanono, Malundu, Chincimane and Kikiya. The naked truth is that when one speaks of Lake Liambezi, one is referring to the lake itself, which falls under the jurisdiction of the descendents of Mr Lidindi. These descendents are presently residing in the areas of Lusu, Masokotwane, Machita, Kwena, Sikanjabuka and Muyako, specifically the families of Mandebu, Kasungo Buchane, Sinvula, Lyonga, Mapepa, Samusinza, Kachana, Simasiku Buchane, and Mabuku Mathe and so on. These are the descendents of people who were residing in that area even before one could dream that it would be flooded and develop into a big lake! The area in question at Kweha instead belonged to Mr Frans Chilinda Mupolilo, the father of Mr Chilinda Alfred, hence other four people arrested with Mr Chilinda are either grand or grand-grand children of Mr Mupolilo. Clearly indicating that the five were arrested for reserving the fields, which are rightfully theirs. Kweha is where their ancestors were ploughing up to 1948 when the Chobe River overflowed and flooded Liambezi, which in turn flooded Kweha. From 1985 when floodwaters subsided, the rightful owners of the land, as above, started coming back both into the lake and in Kweha to resume their agricultural activities like before. A good example is Messrs (exiled) Chief Borniface Bebi of the Mafwe (1986 to 1998) and Mishake Muyongo who were ploughing in that area, sharing boundaries with Mr Chaka Daniel. Mr Chaka is a living witness and he is still ploughing his place today. Any interested person should ask Mr Chaka as to who gave him the authority/permission in that area where he had been ploughing since 1929. He has answers to this question! Let it be known clearly that the fields where Bebi and Mishake were ploughing belong to their uncle, Chief Simataa Danten who ruled the Mafwe from 1931 to 1944. After he was deposed as chief, he resided in Muyako ploughing both in Kalengwe and the area in question with the only border between him and Botuanaland (Botswana today). The place where Muyako Combined School is situated today is the exact place where Chief Simataa Danten Mamili resided at the time. In order to illustrate how our ancestors were residing and ploughing in the Kweha area, from the far east one would get Chief Simataa Danten, and then came the key figure Mr Frans Mupolilo Chilinda, who was ploughing at a place specially known as ‘Ilalangwena’ followed by Messrs Salwendo and Puzeli Masole from Malundu village. Next were Mutumuswana and Joel Mwilima respectively, both from Kanono village. In the far west was Samati of Shaile village. If one proceeds further westwards, one comes to a place where Hon. Chief George Simasiku Mamili is ploughing currently. Now can someone come up and tell the nation, where do the Masubia claim ancestral rights – in Lyambezi or in Kweha? Which Masubia ancestor resided and ploughed either in Lake Liambezi or Kweha prior to 1948 through the 1952 floods? For your information, the Masubia in Muyako came to Muyako after the floods of 1952 with the sole purpose of fishing in the lake while others moved in and changed their allegiance from Chief Mamili to Chief Liswani due to the Subia dialect that the said fishermen spoke. This does not in any way dispute the fact that their parents, grandparents and their descendents were subjects of Chief Mamili. It is therefore provoking and deliberately wrong to mention “Chief Mamili and Liswani are claiming ancestral rights in Lake Liambezi.” All that Chief Liswani can claim in Muyako are his subjects/people not land. In the same vein as we have illustrated, the Mafwe ancestors both in Lake Liambezi and Kweha Strip are challenging any Masubia to come up with a counter-argument of ancestors who resided and ploughed in the areas in question. If the Masubia claim any right in the lake, why didn’t they challenge the presence of the said Mafwe ancestors in the beginning including the two former Mafwe royal chiefs and Mr Mishake Muyongo recently before the two left into exile? Why should they (Subias) use the government to invade and acquire land that belongs to another tribe? For the public’s interest, Induna George Mwinga Lukonga is not an original resident of Muyako, he rather comes from Mahundu area, near Ibbu and came to Muyako during the 2000s with the sole purpose to seek and grab land. Now if the invaders come all the way from Mahundu, Itomba, Kabbe, Lusese, Ngoma, Ikaba, Schucksmannsburg, who had been allocating this land in question to them? In conclusion, this Traditional Authority will not indulge itself or condone any charges against its subjects. The matter is in the respected court of law. It will rather observe the developments of the matter with keen interest. It is further inviting all peace-loving Namibians to denounce the actions taken against the five Mafwe subjects, the unfair treatment of the Mafwe tribe and the illegal invasion/grabbing of Mafwe fields by the Masubia. The Mafwe Traditional Authority is therefore humbly requesting the Hon. Governor of the Caprivi Region and the Regional Police Commander of this region to ensure that all the intruders and invaders of the Mafwe fields are withdrawn and removed from the Mafwe fields as soon as possible. This region has had enough problems in the past hence we should all stand up and stop any more incitements that could revive the ugly past instances between these tribes! Finally there is no place known as ‘Sichi” in Namibia. Any person who wants to see that place should rather go to Botswana and ask. He would be shown this place situated next to Parakarungu. The misinformation given by Mr Lukonga is loud enough to tell everybody where this man comes from. If Mr Lukonga wants to be a hero at all, let him be an agent for peace and justice not for trouble! Hence the Mafwe Traditional Authority will not sit idle while its land is being grabbed by other traditional authorities/tribes! S.L. Shozi Ngambela B. Mueze Senior Induna