Namibia's Odd Geography
THE finger of land in north-eastern Namibia called the Caprivi strip
must be the silliest contrivance of the doodlers
who drew the modern map of Africa. The strip pokes Namibia
450 kilometres (280 miles) into the heart of Africa. The Germans, who
ruled Namibia, then
known as South West Africa, from the late 19th century until 1915,
wanted access to the Zambezi, which they
thought (wrongly) to be navigable as far as the Indian Ocean.
Obligingly, the other European powers carving up
Africa gave Germany the corridor it wanted.
The lines cut through the Lozi kingdom. Ironically, territory played
little part in the complex system of allegiances by
which the Lozi kings ruled the upper Zambezi valley for centuries.
As in many other African kingdoms, the system was
based on people, not land: Lozis were loyal to their king
wherever they happened to live. Now split between Angola,
Namibia, Botswana and Zambia, the Lozis get a bad deal in all
four countries and their desire for unity has grown.
The
reasons for the current flight into Botswana go back to
Namibia's war against South African occupation. Some of
the Lozis supported the Namibian nationalist movement, SWAPO;
others were against it. The divisions continued after
independence in 1990. The Namibian government made no concessions
to Lozi separateness and gave the area little
development aid: a UN report recently described Caprivi as
Namibia's poorest region. A Caprivi Liberation
Movement was formed with the ambition of linking up with fellow
Lozis in Zambia; the government has been trying to
crush it.
In Zambia any
suggestion of Lozi separatism is strictly banned, though the king is
allowed
a ceremonial role. Before
Zambia's independence in 1964, the Lozis had been ruled separately
in what was called Barotseland. An
underground movement, the Barotse Patriotic Front, exists and
has reportedly held talks with the Namibian
Caprivians.
At one time such movements would have been easily crushed. Neither
African governments nor their western backers
had any interest in letting nation-states break up. Recently,
with cross-border interventions within Africa becoming
more common, and with governments, such as that of Congo, having
difficulty in controlling their territory, the Lozis
have a better chance of reasserting themselves.
Source: The Economist, November 21st, 1998.