Border treaty irks Zambezi residents - spy agency

There is a feeling of discontent among community members in the Zambezi Region, mainly because of a controversial border treaty signed by President Hage Geingob and his Botswana counterpart Mokgweetsi Masisi in 2018, the country’s spy agency told a parliamentary committee.

It is understood that residents in the region living along the controversial Namibia-Botswana border feel the Namibian Defence Force (NDF) is not doing enough to protect them against what many perceive as Botswana’s 'trigger-happy' armed forces.

This is according to findings contained in a report on the visit to the Zambezi Region to assess the security situation along the border, compiled by the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs, defence and security.

As part of the committee’s outreach to various stakeholders, the report contains comments from the Namibia Central Intelligence Service (NCIS), which highlight tensions and concerns among communities living close to the border.

Daily risks

Villagers living near the border said they even fear engaging in day-to-day activities such as farming, fishing and herding their animals.

“Community members living alongside the river, as part of their livelihood, do engage in activities like fishing expeditions, crop farming, reed and grass cutting, and grazing, but this exercise has become too risky for them because of harassment by the Botswana Defence Force (BDF),” the NCIS noted.

The recently-tabled report, which also delved into the shooting of the slain Nchindo brothers, who were gunned down by the BDF, found that the 2018 boundary treaty between Namibia and Botswana has had the opposite effect of solidifying peace. Instead, it has resulted in the unfair treatment of Zambezi inhabitants at the hands of the BDF, the report finds.

“The NCIS also confirmed that indeed members of the BDF continue to cause tension among residents living along the Kasane and Ngoma areas, especially those seen or found walking alongside the river because they are suspected to be poachers, despite being legitimate residents and fishermen in the area,” the NCIS said.

Inadequate protection

The NDF is also accused of failing in its duty to protect villagers from attacks by the BDF.

“Community members say they feel unprotected because Namibian soldiers live within community villages as opposed to their BDF counterparts, who live and tend to patrol their borderline, especially from 18:00 till dawn. Furthermore, it was mentioned that it is easy for BDF to patrol the border after hours because their part of the line is more of a game park while the Namibian side is habituated by people,” the NCIS said.

Deadly meeting

Namibia and Botswana formalised the Boundary Treaty in 2018, recognising colonial borders put up during the Berlin-Africa conference in 1885, a move that gained the support of the African Union at the time and was seen as a peaceful resolution to border disputes.

Three brothers, Tommy, Martin and Wamunyima Nchindo and their cousin Sinvula Muyeme, who was a Zambian national, were shot and killed on 5 November 2020, when the BDF found them in the southern channel of the Chobe River, amid allegations that they were poachers. Their mother, Alphonsina Mubu, died five days later, and their sister was hospitalised for shock.