- Namibia refutes purported agreement with Botswana on border security
- Botswana newspaper cited KAZA TFCA-driven agreement on border security
- Agreement was allegedly on both countries armies keeping “a low profile” on Chobe riparian boundary
BONGANI MALUNGA
The Namibian Defence Force (NDF) is set to continue its occupation of the Chobe River.
The river forms a natural boundary between Botswana and Namibia through the latter’s Caprivi Strip. However, this is now an infamous site after Namibian brothers Tommy Nchindo, Martin Nchindo and Wamunyima Nchindo and their Zambian cousin Sinvula Munyeme were killed by an anti-poaching unit of the Botswana Defence Force at approximately 11pm on 4 November 2020.
Harassment
The incident resulted in tensions between the two SADC neighbours and has seen both countries’ armed forces deployed to the area on a more permanent basis than routine border patrols long after détente and the amity that marks their relations were restored.
Even so, ordinary Namibians remain critical of the BDF and have continued to accuse it of harassment in the aftermath of the deadly incident of the fishermen that the BDF has said it had mistaken them for poachers.
According to a recent article in The Namibian newspaper, the country’s Ministry of Defence and Veterans Affairs has denied reports that Botswana and Namibia were working on an agreement to withdraw soldiers from the Chobe River border.
Unchanged
According to the publication, the ministry was reacting to an article published by Botswana’s Sunday Standard that referenced a document prepared by the secretariat of the Kavango-Zambezi Transfontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA) as having recommended that both countries’ armed forces should “keep a low profile” in the area.
A spokesperson of the Namibian defence ministry, Petrus Shilumbu, denied reports of the alleged agreement.
“The Namibian Defence Force does not have the alleged agreement as reported in the article, and NDF deployment in the Zambezi Region remains unchanged,” Shilumbu was quoted by The Namibian as saying.