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Home / Liswani III dismissive of Zambezi ‘referendum’
Liswani III dismissive of Zambezi ‘referendum’
2018-08-01Staff Report 2 Staff Reporter WINDHOEK - Chief Kisco Liswani III condemned suggestions from some quarters purportedly calling for a referendum as a way to drum up support to secede the Zambezi Region from Namibia saying he as the Chief of the Masubia tribe allied to Swapo - even before independence - that he will not allow that. “There is no confusion among my subjects on whether the Zambezi Region is an integral part of Namibia or not, because it is and it will remain so now and forever,” thundered Liswani III whose tribal title is Munitenge whose tribe has a long lineage of renowned chiefs who reigned supreme for over two centuries along the vast plains of the current Zambia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Angola. In a speech read of his behalf in line with the dictates of established traditional protocol at the Vekuhane annual cultural festival on Saturday at Bukalo by Dr Bennett Kangumu, Liswani III reiterated, “There is no time that any so-called referendum on this issue that we hear in some quarters will be permitted in my area of jurisdiction. We are not going to entertain nor participate in such, for we are crystal clear where this region belongs, that is being integral to Namibia.” “I also doubt that any traditional authority in the Zambezi Region will permit that in their respective areas of jurisdiction if their recent pronouncements on this issue are anything to go by,” he said. On a hit list of names that was circulated anonymously on social media containing his name and that of his ngambela, senior and area indunas and other prominent members of his tribe were listed for “mass killing” he stated, “my subjects and indeed myself are tired and running out of patience over this issue, because we get insulted, ridiculed and even threatened with assassinations and mass killings and we watch in disgust while our national leaders are being insulted. It must come to an end.” “Our silence must not be misconstrued as cowardice, we are simply allowing common sense to prevail and for those misguided elements within the region to value peace over war. Maybe its because we understand (the misery caused by) war and we value peace more,” he stated. “We want to call upon the communities from which these misguided elements come from to do more in terms of educating them to desist from their separatist tendencies and especially not allowing them space to operate from because it defeats logic for me not to support or reject an idea but allow someone to carry out activities of the same idea from my house or area of jurisdiction. It does not add up,” further elaborated Liswani III. “The silence from some national leaders and members of parliament from that community on this issue is monumental and certainly makes one wonder and we want government to take note of that,” he said in reference to some politicians from the region who are quiet on secessionism. Talk to secede the Zambezi region from the rest of Namibia was started by exiled politician Mishake Muyongo, who in August 1998 masterminded a short-lived uprising that was crushed by NDF. On a conciliatory note, Liswani III pleaded with the over 800 Namibians holed up at Dukwe to come participate in the voluntary repatriation and come back home, adding “We plead and implore you to please come back home and abandon retrogressive projects by failed politicians.” On the ties between Swapo and his tribal authority, he reminisced when the former South African colonial regime severed financial assistance to the khuta at Bukalo that at the time was under his elder brother the late Joshua Maiba Moraliswani he said it is a well-documented fact Swapo “provided financial and material support to this traditional authority from abroad. At that time, Chief Moraliswani sent three of his sons and several hundreds of his subjects including his son the current Chief of the Namibian Defence Force Lieutenant-General John Mutwa to go in exile and fight for the liberation in order to free their motherland from the yoke of colonialism. 2018-08-01Staff Report 2
