ZAMBIA-NAMIBIA: Chiluba condemns secessionism

Zambian President Frederick Chiluba has condemned related secessionist movements in Zambia and neighbouring Namibia. Speaking in Lusaka on Wednesday after private talks with Namibian President Sam Nujoma, Chiluba said: "I can safely say that such elements are unpopular and they don't enjoy the kind of support that can threaten the status and stability of politics in Zambia," the PANA news agency reported. Since last year, secessionist agitation has grown in Namibia's Caprivi Strip echoing similar sentiments among the Lozi ethnic group in Zambia's western province. In pre-colonial times, Caprivi was part of the western Zambian Barotseland empire and strong cultural links remain. Last week, the Botswana government granted political asylum to 1,116 Caprivi refugees out of 2,500 who had fled Namibia since October claiming they feared persecution at home. The first group of Caprivians to cross the border was led by Mishake Muyongo, a former leader of Namibia's opposition Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA). Some of the refugees, including Muyongo, were allegedly armed, and are regarded as the leadership of the Caprivi Liberation Movement. According to Zen Mnakapa of the Namibian Society for Human Rights, alleged repression in Caprivi by the paramilitary Field Force has eased. "It has not stopped altogether but there has been an improvement for the better. People are no longer being beaten by the Field Force," he told IRIN. He said the reduced tension was related to the ruling SWAPO party sweeping the board in regional council elections in November. Caprivi was a DTA stronghold, but only 25 percent of the electorate voted compared with the national average of 65 percent.