History of Namibia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Part of a series on the

History of Namibia

Khoisan people

Bantu expansion

Orlam migration

Dorsland Trek

German colonisation

Herero and Namaqua Genocide

South West Africa Campaign

South African Mandate

South African Border War

SWAPO

Namibia portal

v
t
e

The history of Namibia has passed through several distinct stages from being colonised in the late
nineteenth century to Namibia's independence on 21 March 1990.
From 1884, Namibia was a German colony: German South West Africa. After the First World War,
the League of Nations mandated South Africa to administer the territory. Following World War II,
the League of Nations was dissolved in April 1946 and its successor, the United Nations, instituted
 a Trusteeship system to bring all of the former German colonies in Africa under UN control. South
Africa objected arguing that a majority of the territory's people were content with South African rule.
Legal argument ensued over the course of the next twenty years until, in October 1966, the UN
General Assembly decided to end the mandate, declaring that South Africa had no other right to
administer the territory and that henceforth South West Africa was to come under the direct
responsibility of the UN (Resolution 2145 XXI of 27 October 1966).[1]

Contents
[hide]

1Pre-colonial history

o 1.1The north - the Ovambo and Kavango

o 1.2Khoisan immigration - the Nama and Damara

o 1.3Bantu Migration - the Herero

o 1.4The Oorlams

o 1.5Baster immigration

o 1.6European influence and colonisation

2German South West Africa

o 2.1The Herero and Namaqua wars

3South African rule

4The struggle for independence

o 4.1International pressure

o 4.2Negotiations and transition

o 4.3Independence

5Post independence

o 5.1Re-election of Sam Nujoma

o 5.2Land reform

o 5.3Involvement in conflicts in Angola and DRC

o 5.4The Caprivi conflict

6See also
 7References

8External links

Pre-colonial history[edit]
There is a diversity of original peoples in Namibia. The most famous, San (also called Bushmen) are
generally assumed to have been the earliest inhabitants of the region comprising today's
Namibia, Botswana and South Africa. The San were hunters and gatherers with a nomadic lifestyle.
The most important part of their diet consisted of fruits, nuts and roots, but they also hunted different
kinds of antelopes. Over time, many different ethnic groups of immigrants settled in Namibia.
The north - the Ovambo and Kavango[edit]
The Ovambo, and the smaller and closely related group Kavango, lived in northern Namibia,
southern Angola and, in the case of the Kavango, western Zambia. Being settled people they had an
economy based on farming, cattle and fishing, but they also produced metal goods. Both groups
belonged to the Bantu nation. They rarely ventured south to the central parts of the country, since
the conditions there did not suit their farming way of life, but they extensively traded their knives and
agricultural implements.
Khoisan immigration - the Nama and Damara[edit]
Until about 2,000 years ago the original hunters and gatherers of the San people were the only
inhabitants in Namibia. At this time the Nama (also known as Namaqua), the Khoikhoi and the
Hottentots settled around the Orange River in the south on the border between Namibia and South
Africa where they kept herds of sheep and goats.
Both the San and the Nama were Khoisan peoples, and spoke languages from the Khoisan
language group.
In the 9th century the Damara entered Namibia. The Damara do not relate to the other Khoisan
peoples although they share a similar language. It is believed that they separated themselves early
on from their Bantu brothers of Southern and Central Africa and moved to Southwest Africa. It is
unclear where they came from, but they settled in the grasslands in central Namibia, known
as Damaraland.

Herero circa 1910.

Bantu Migration - the Herero[edit]

During the 17th century the Herero, a pastoral, nomadic people keeping cattle, moved into Namibia.
They came from the east African lakes and entered Namibia from the northwest. First they resided
in Kaokoland, but in the middle of the 19th century some tribes moved farther south and into
Damaraland. A number of tribes remained in Kaokoland: these were the Himba people, who are still
there today. During German occupation of this region about one third of the population was wiped
out in a genocide that continues to provoke widespread indignation. An apology was sought for this
travesty in more recent times.
The Oorlams[edit]
In the 19th century white farmers, mostly Boers, moved farther north, pushing
the indigenous Khoisan peoples, who put up a fierce resistance, across the Orange River. Known
as Oorlams, these Khoisan adopted Boer customs and spoke a language similar to Afrikaans.
[2]
Armed with guns, the Oorlams caused instability as more and more came to settle in
Namaqualand and eventually conflict arose between them and the Nama. Under the leadership
of Jonker Afrikaner, the Oorlams used their superior weapons to take control of the best grazing
land. In the 1830s Jonker Afrikaner concluded an agreement with the Nama chief Oaseb whereby
the Oorlams would protect the central grasslands of Namibia from the Herero who were then
pushing south. In return Jonker Afrikaner was recognised as overlord, received tribute from the
Nama, and settled at what today is Windhoek, on the borders of Herero territory. The Afrikaners soon
came in conflict with the Herero who entered Damaraland from the south at about the same time as
the Afrikaner started to expand farther north from Namaqualand. Both the Herero and the Afrikaner
wanted to use the grasslands of Damaraland for their herds. This resulted in warfare between the
Herero and the Oorlams as well as between the two of them and the Damara, who were the original
inhabitants of the area. The Damara were displaced by the fighting and many were killed.
With their horses and guns, the Afrikaners proved to be militarily superior and forced the Herero to
give them cattle as tribute.

The first council of the Rehoboth Basters 1872, with the constitution lying on the table.

Baster immigration[edit]
The last group to arrive in Namibia were the Basters descendants of Boer men and African women
(mostly Nama). Being Calvinist and Afrikaans-speaking, they considered themselves to be culturally
more "white" than "black". As with the Oorlams, they were forced northwards by the expansion of
white settlers when, in 1868, a group of about 90 families crossed the Orange River into Namibia.
[3]
The Basters settled in central Namibia, where they founded the city Rehoboth. In 1872 they
founded the "Free Republic of Rehoboth" and adopted a constitution stating that the nation should
be led by a "Kaptein" directly elected by the people, and that there should be a small parliament, or
Volkraad, consisting of three directly-elected citizens.[4]
European influence and colonisation[edit]
The first European to set foot on Namibian soil was the Portuguese Diogo Co in 1485, who stopped
briefly on the Skeleton Coast, and raised a limestone cross there, on his exploratory mission along
the west coast of Africa.
The next European to visit Namibia was also a Portuguese, Bartholomeu Dias, who stopped at what
today is Walvis Bay and Lderitz (which he named Angra Pequena) on his way to round the Cape of
Good Hope.
The inhospitable Namib Desert constituted a formidable barrier and neither of the Portuguese
explorers went far inland.
Detail of a map of Southern Africa from 1707.

In 1793 the Dutch authority in the Cape decided to take control of Walvis bay, since it was the only
good deep-water harbour along the Skeleton Coast. When the United Kingdom took control of
the Cape Colony in 1797, they also took over Walvis Bay. But white settlement in the area was
limited, and neither the Dutch nor the British penetrated far into the country.
One of the first European groups to show interest in Namibia were the missionaries. In 1805
the London Missionary Society began working in Namibia, moving north from the Cape Colony. In
1811 they founded the town Bethanie in southern Namibia, where they built a church, which today is
Namibia's oldest building.
In the 1840s the German Rhenish Mission Society started working in Namibia and co-operating with
the London Missionary Society. It was not until the 19th century, when European powers sought to
carve up the African continent between them in the so-called "Scramble for Africa", that Europeans
Germany and Great Britain in the forefront became interested in Namibia.
The first territorial claim on a part of Namibia came when Britain occupied Walvis Bay, confirming the
settlement of 1797, and permitted the Cape Colony to annex it in 1878. The annexation was an
attempt to forestall German ambitions in the area, and it also guaranteed control of the good
deepwater harbour on the way to the Cape Colony and other British colonies on Africa's east coast. [5]
[6]

Lderitz in 1884.

In 1883, a German trader, Adolf Lderitz, bought Angra Pequena from the Nama chief Josef
Frederiks II. The price he paid was 10,000 marks () and 260 guns.[7] He soon renamed the coastal
area after himself, giving it the name Lderitz. Believing that Britain was soon about to declare the
whole area a protectorate, Lderitz advised the German chancellor Otto von Bismarck to claim it. In
1884 Bismarck did so, thereby establishing German South West Africa as a colony (Deutsch-
Sdwestafrika in German).
A region, the Caprivi Strip, became a part of German South West Africa after the Heligoland-
Zanzibar Treaty on 1 July . In exchange for the island of Heligoland in the North Sea, Britain took
control of the island of Zanzibar in East Africa.

German South West Africa[edit]

Main article: German South West Africa

Flag of German South West Africa

Soon after declaring Lderitz and a vast area along the Atlantic coast a German protectorate,
German troops were deployed as conflicts with the native tribes flared up, most significantly with
the Namaqua. Under the leadership of the tribal chief Hendrik Witbooi, the Namaqua put up a fierce
resistance to the German occupation. Contemporary media called the conflict "The Hottentot
Uprising".

Namaqua chief Hendrik Witbooi

The Namaqua's resistance proved to be unsuccessful, however, and in 1894 Witbooi was forced to
sign a "protection treaty" with the Germans. The treaty allowed the Namaqua to keep their arms, and
Witbooi was released having given his word of honour not to continue with the Hottentot uprising.
In 1894 major Theodor Leutwein was appointed governor of German South West Africa. He tried
without great success to apply the principle of "colonialism without bloodshed". The protection treaty
did have the effect of stabilising the situation but pockets of rebellion persisted, and were put down
by an elite German regiment Schutztruppe, while real peace was never achieved between the
colonialists and the natives.

A diamond
Being the only German colony considered suitable for white settlement at the time, [8] Namibia
attracted a large influx of German settlers. In 1903 there were 3,700 Germans living in the area, and
by 1910 their number had increased to 13,000. Another reason for German settlement was the
discovery of diamonds in 1908. Diamond production continues to be a very important part of
Namibia's economy.
The settlers were encouraged by the government to appropriate land from the natives, and forced
labour hard to distinguish from slavery was used. As a result, relations between the German
settlers and the natives deteriorated.

German troops in combat with the Herero in a painting by Richard Kntel.

The Herero and Namaqua wars[edit]

Main article: Herero and Namaqua Genocide
The ongoing local rebellions escalated in 1904 into the Herero and Namaqua Wars when the Herero
attacked remote farms on the countryside, killing approximately 150 Germans.
The outbreak of rebellion was considered to be a result of Theodor Leutwein's softer tactics, and he
was replaced by the more notorious General Lothar von Trotha.
In the beginning of the war the Herero, under the leadership of chief Samuel Maharero had the
upper hand. With good knowledge of the terrain they had little problem in defending themselves
against the Schutztruppe (initially numbering only 766). Soon the Namaqua people joined the war,
again under the leadership of Hendrik Witbooi.
Herero chained during 1904 rebellion.

To cope with the situation, Germany sent 14,000 additional troops who soon crushed the rebellion in
the Battle of Waterberg in 1905. Earlier von Trotha issued an ultimatum to the Herero, denying them
citizenship rights and ordering them to leave the country or be killed. In order to escape, the Herero
retreated into the waterless Omaheke region, a western arm of the Kalahari Desert, where many of
them died of thirst. The German forces guarded every water source and were given orders to shoot
any adult male Herero on sight. Only a few of them managed to escape into neighbouring British
territories. These tragic events, known as the Herero and Namaqua Genocide, resulted in the
death of between 24,000 and 65,000 Herero (estimated at 50% to 70% of the total Herero
population) and 10,000 Nama (50% of the total Nama population). The genocide was characterized
by widespread death by starvation and from consumption of well water which had been poisoned by
the Germans in the Namib Desert.[9][10][11]
Descendants of Lothar von Trotha apologized to six chiefs of Herero royal houses for the actions of
their ancestor on 7 October 2007.

South African rule[edit]

In 1915, during World War I, South Africa, being a member of the British Commonwealth and a
former British colony, occupied the German colony of South West Africa.
In February 1917, Mandume Ya Ndemufayo, the last king of the Kwanyama of Ovamboland, was
killed in a joint[clarification needed] attack by South African forces for resisting South African sovereignty over
his people.
On 17 December 1920, South Africa undertook administration of South West Africa under the terms
of Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations and a Class C Mandate agreement by
the League Council. The Class C mandate, supposed to be used for the least developed territories,
gave South Africa full power of administration and legislation over the territory, but required that
South Africa promote the material and moral well-being and social progress of the people.
Following the League's supersession by the United Nations in 1946, South Africa refused to
surrender its earlier mandate to be replaced by a United Nations Trusteeship agreement, requiring
closer international monitoring of the territory's administration. Although the South African
government wanted to incorporate South West Africa into its territory, it never officially did so,
although it was administered as the de facto 'fifth province', with the white minority having
representation in the whites-only Parliament of South Africa. In 1959, the colonial forces in Windhoek
sought to remove black residents further away from the white area of town. The residents protested
and the subsequent killing of eleven protesters spawned a major Namibian nationalist following and
the formation of united black opposition to South African rule. [12]
During the 1960s, as the European powers granted independence to their colonies and trust
territories in Africa, pressure mounted on South Africa to do so in Namibia, which was then South
West Africa. On the dismissal (1966) by the International Court of Justice of a complaint brought
by Ethiopia and Liberia against South Africa's continued presence in the territory, the U.N. General
Assembly revoked South Africa's mandate.

The struggle for independence[edit]

Main article: South African Border War
The Odendaal Plan for dividing Namibia into bantustans

Also in 1966, South West Africa People's Organisation's (SWAPO) military wing, the People's
Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) began guerrilla attacks on South African forces, infiltrating the
territory from bases in Zambia. The first attack of this kind was the battle at Omugulugwombashe on
26 August.[13] After Angola became independent in 1975, SWAPO established bases in the southern
part of the country. Hostilities intensified over the years, especially in Ovamboland.
In a 1971 advisory opinion, the International Court of Justice upheld UN authority over Namibia,
determining that the South African presence in Namibia was illegal and that South Africa therefore
was obliged to withdraw its administration from Namibia immediately. The Court also advised UN
member states to refrain from implying legal recognition or assistance to the South African presence.
While previously the contract work force was seen as "primitive" and "lack[ing] political
consciousness", the summer 1971/72 saw a general strike of 25% of the entire working population
(13,000 people), starting in Windhoek and Walvis Bay and soon spreading to Tsumeb and other
mines.[14]
In 1975, South Africa sponsored the Turnhalle Constitutional Conference, which sought an "internal
settlement" to Namibia. Excluding SWAPO, the conference mainly included bantustan leaders as
well as white Namibian political parties.[15]
International pressure[edit]
In 1977, the Western Contact Group (WCG) was formed including Canada, France, West Germany,
the United Kingdom, and the United States. They launched a joint diplomatic effort to bring an
internationally acceptable transition to independence for Namibia. The WCG's efforts led to the
presentation in 1978 of Security Council Resolution 435 for settling the Namibian problem.
The settlement proposal, as it became known, was worked out after lengthy consultations with South
Africa, the front-line states (Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe),
SWAPO, UN officials, and the Western Contact Group. It called for the holding of elections in
Namibia under UN supervision and control, the cessation of all hostile acts by all parties, and
restrictions on the activities of South African and Namibian military, paramilitary, and police.
South Africa agreed to cooperate in achieving the implementation of Resolution 435. Nonetheless, in
December 1978, in defiance of the UN proposal, it unilaterally held elections, which were boycotted
by SWAPO and a few other political parties. South Africa continued to administer Namibia through its
installed multiracial coalitions and an appointed Administrator-General. Negotiations after 1978
focused on issues such as supervision of elections connected with the implementation of
the settlement proposal.
Negotiations and transition[edit]

Map of South West Africa (Namibia)

In the period, four UN Commissioners for Namibia were appointed. South Africa refused to recognize
any of these United Nations appointees. Nevertheless, discussions proceeded with UN
Commissioner for Namibia N2 Martti Ahtisaari who played a key role in getting the Constitutional
Principles agreed in 1982 by the front-line states, SWAPO, and the Western Contact Group. This
agreement created the framework for Namibia's democratic constitution. The US Government's role
as mediator was both critical and disputed throughout the period, one example being the intense
efforts in 1984 to obtain withdrawal of the South African Defence Force (SADF) from southern
Angola. The so-called "Constructive Engagement" by US diplomatic interests was viewed negatively
by those who supported internationally recognised independence, while to others US policy seemed
to be aimed more towards restraining Soviet-Cuban influence in Angola and linking that to the issue
of Namibian independence. In addition, US moves seemed to encourage the South Africans to delay
independence by taking initiatives that would keep the Soviet-Cubans in Angola, such as dominating
large tracts of southern Angola militarily while at the same time providing surrogate forces for the
Angolan opposition movement, UNITA. From, a Transitional Government of National Unity, backed
by South Africa and various ethnic political parties, tried unsuccessfully for recognition by the United
Nations. Finally, in 1987 when prospects for Namibian independence seemed to be improving, the
fourth UN Commissioner for Namibia Bernt Carlsson was appointed. Upon South Africa's
relinquishing control of Namibia, Commissioner Carlsson's role would be to administer the country,
formulate its framework constitution, and organize free and fair elections based upon a non-racial
universal franchise.
In May 1988, a US mediation team headed by Chester A. Crocker, US Assistant Secretary of State
for African Affairs brought negotiators from Angola, Cuba, and South Africa, and observers from
the Soviet Union together in London. Intense diplomatic activity characterized the next 7 months, as
the parties worked out agreements to bring peace to the region and make possible the
implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 435 (UNSCR 435). At the Ronald Reagan/Mikhail
Gorbachev summit in Moscow (29 May 1 June 1988) between leaders of the United States and the
Soviet Union, it was decided that Cuban troops would be withdrawn from Angola, and Soviet military
aid would cease, as soon as South Africa withdrew from Namibia. Agreements to give effect to these
decisions were drawn up for signature in New York in December 1988. Cuba, South Africa, and the
People's Republic of Angola agreed to a complete withdrawal of foreign troops from Angola. This
agreement, known as the Brazzaville Protocol, established a Joint Monitoring Commission (JMC)
with the United States and the Soviet Union as observers. The Tripartite Accord, comprising a
bilateral agreement between Cuba and Angola, and a tripartite agreement between Angola, Cuba
and South Africa whereby South Africa agreed to hand control of Namibia to the United Nations,
were signed at UN headquarters in New York City on 22 December 1988. (UN Commissioner
N4 Bernt Carlsson was not present at the signing ceremony. He was killed on flight Pan Am
103 which exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland on 21 December 1988 en route from London to New
York. South African foreign minister, Pik Botha, and an official delegation of 22 had a lucky escape.
Their booking on Pan Am 103 was cancelled at the last minute and Pik Botha, together with a
smaller delegation, caught the earlier Pan Am 101 flight to New York.)
Within a month of the signing of the New York Accords, South African president P. W. Botha suffered
a mild stroke, which prevented him from attending a meeting with Namibian leaders on 20 January
1989. His place was taken by acting president J. Christiaan Heunis. [16]Botha had fully recuperated by
1 April 1989 when implementation of UNSCR 435 officially started and the South African
appointed Administrator-General, Louis Pienaar, began the territory's transition to independence.
Former UN Commissioner N2 and now UN Special Representative Martti Ahtisaari arrived in
Windhoek in April 1989 to head the UN Transition Assistance Group's (UNTAG) mission.[17]
The transition got off to a shaky start because, contrary to SWAPO President Sam Nujoma's written
assurances to the UN Secretary General to abide by a cease-fire and repatriate only unarmed
Namibians, it was alleged that approximately 2,000 armed members of the People's Liberation Army
of Namibia (PLAN) SWAPO's military wing, crossed the border from Angola in an apparent attempt
to establish a military presence in northern Namibia. UNTAG's Martti Ahtisaari took advice from
British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, who was visiting Southern Africa at the time, and
authorized a limited contingent of South African troops to assist the South West African Police in
restoring order. A period of intense fighting followed, during which 375 PLAN fighters were killed. At a
hastily arranged meeting of the Joint Monitoring Commission in Mount Etjo, a game park
outside Otjiwarongo, it was agreed to confine the South African forces to base and return PLAN
elements to Angola. While that problem was resolved, minor disturbances in the north continued
throughout the transition period.
In October 1989, under orders of the UN Security Council, Pretoria was forced to demobilize some
1,600 members of Koevoet (Afrikaans for crowbar). The Koevoet issue had been one of the most
difficult UNTAG faced. This counter-insurgency unit was formed by South Africa after the adoption of
UNSCR 435, and was not, therefore, mentioned in the Settlement Proposal or related documents.
The UN regarded Koevoet as a paramilitary unit which ought to be disbanded but the unit continued
to deploy in the north in armoured and heavily armed convoys. In June 1989, the Special
Representative told the Administrator-General that this behavior was totally inconsistent with
the settlement proposal, which required the police to be lightly armed. Moreover, the vast majority of
the Koevoet personnel were quite unsuited for continued employment in the South West African
Police (SWAPOL). The Security Council, in its resolution of 29 August, therefore demanded the
disbanding of Koevoet and dismantling of its command structures. South African foreign minister, Pik
Botha, announced on 28 September 1989 that 1,200 ex-Koevoet members would be demobilized
with effect from the following day. A further 400 such personnel were demobilized on 30 October.
These demobilizations were supervised by UNTAG military monitors.[18]
The 11-month transition period ended relatively smoothly. Political prisoners were granted amnesty,
discriminatory legislation was repealed, South Africa withdrew all its forces from Namibia, and some
42,000 refugees returned safely and voluntarily under the auspices of the Office of the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Almost 98% of registered voters turned out to elect members
of the Constituent Assembly. The elections were held in November 1989 and were certified as free
and fair by the UN Special Representative, with SWAPO taking 57% of the vote, just short of the
two-thirds necessary to have a free hand in revising the framework constitution that had been
formulated not by UN Commissioner Bernt Carlsson but by the South African appointee Louis
Pienaar. The opposition Democratic Turnhalle Alliance received 29% of the vote. The Constituent
Assembly held its first meeting on 21 November 1989 and resolved unanimously to use the 1982
Constitutional Principles in Namibia's new constitution.
(According to The Guardian of 26 July 1991, Pik Botha told a press conference that the South
African government had paid more than 20 million to at least seven political parties in Namibia to
oppose SWAPO in the run-up to the 1989 elections. He justified the expenditure on the grounds
that South Africa was at war with SWAPO at the time.)
Independence[edit]
Main article: New York Accords

Windhoek skyline

By 9 February 1990, the Constituent Assembly had drafted and adopted a constitution.
Independence Day on 21 March 1990, was attended by numerous international representatives,
including the main players, the UN Secretary-General Javier Prez de Cullar and President of
South Africa F W de Klerk, who jointly conferred formal independence on Namibia.
Sam Nujoma was sworn in as the first President of Namibia watched by Nelson Mandela (who had
been released from prison shortly beforehand) and representatives from 147 countries, including 20
heads of state.[19]
On 1 March 1994, the coastal enclave of Walvis Bay and 12 offshore islands were transferred to
Namibia by South Africa. This followed three years of bilateral negotiations between the two
governments and the establishment of a transitional Joint Administrative Authority (JAA) in
November 1992 to administer the 780 km2(300 sq mi) territory. The peaceful resolution of this
territorial dispute was praised by the international community, as it fulfilled the provisions of
the UNSCR 432 (1978), which declared Walvis Bay to be an integral part of Namibia.

Post independence[edit]

Namibia's founding president, Sam Nujoma.

Since independence Namibia has successfully completed the transition from white minority
apartheid rule to a democratic society. Multiparty democracy was introduced and has been
maintained, with local, regional and national elections held regularly. Several registered political
parties are active and represented in the National Assembly, although Swapo Party has won every
election since independence.[20] The transition from the 15-year rule of President Sam Nujoma to his
successor, Hifikepunye Pohamba in 2005 went smoothly.[21]
Namibian government has promoted a policy of national reconciliation and issued an amnesty for
those who had fought on either side during the liberation war. The civil war in Angola had a limited
impact on Namibians living in the north of the country. In 1998, Namibia Defence Force (NDF) troops
were sent to the Democratic Republic of the Congo as part of a Southern African Development
Community (SADC) contingent. In August 1999, a secessionist attempt in the northeastern Caprivi
region was successfully quashed.
Re-election of Sam Nujoma[edit]
Sam Nujoma won the presidential elections of 1994 with 76.34% of the votes. There was only one
other candidate, Mishake Muyongo of the DTA. [22]
In 1998, with one year until the scheduled presidential election when Sam Nujoma would not be
allowed to participate in since he had already served the two terms that the constitution allows,
SWAPO amended the constitution, allowing three terms instead of two. They were able to do this
since SWAPO had a two-thirds majority in both the National Assembly of Namibia and the National
Council, which is the minimum needed to amend the constitution.
Sam Nujoma was reelected as president in 1999, winning the election, that had a 62.1% turnout with
76.82%. Second was Ben Ulenga from the Congress of Democrats (COD), that won 10.49% of the
votes.
Ben Ulenga is a former SWAPO member and Deputy Minister of Environment and Tourism,
and High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. [23] He left SWAPO and became one of the founding
members of COD in 1998, after clashing with his party on several questions. He did not approve of
the amendment to the constitution, and criticised Namibia's involvement in Congo.
Nujoma was succeeded as President of Namibia by Hifikepunye Pohamba in 2005.[22]
Land reform[edit]
One of SWAPO's policies, that had been formulated long before the party came into power, was land
reform. Namibia's colonial and Apartheid past had resulted in a situation where about 20 percent of
the population owned about 75 percent of all the land. [24] Land was supposed to be redistributed
mostly from the white minority to previously landless communities and ex-combatants. The land
reform has been slow, mainly because Namibia's constitution only allows land to be bought from
farmers willing to sell. Also, the price of land is very high in Namibia, which further complicates the
matter.[citation needed]
President Sam Nujoma has been vocal in his support of Zimbabwe and its president Robert
Mugabe. During the land crisis in Zimbabwe, where the government confiscated white farmers' land
by force, fears rose among the white minority and the western world that the same method would be
used in Namibia.[citation needed]
A Congolese soldier during the Second Congo War, 2001.

Involvement in conflicts in Angola and DRC[edit]

In 1999 Namibia signed a mutual defence pact with its northern neighbour Angola.[24] This affected
the Angolan Civil War that had been ongoing since Angola's independence in 1975. Both being leftist
movements, SWAPO wanted to support the ruling party MPLA in Angola to fight the rebel
movement UNITA, whose stronghold was in southern Angola. The defence pact allowed Angolan
troops to use Namibian territory when attacking UNITA.
The Angolan civil war resulted in a large number of Angolan refugees coming to Namibia. At its peak
in 2001 there were over 30,000 Angolan refugees in Namibia. The calmer situation in Angola has
made it possible for many of them to return to their home with the help of UNHCR, and in 2004 only
12,600 remained in Namibia. [25]Most of them reside in the refugee camp Osire north of Windhoek.
Namibia also intervened in the Second Congo War, sending troops in support of the Democratic
Republic of Congo's president Laurent-Dsir Kabila.
The Caprivi conflict[edit]
Main article: Caprivi Conflict
The Caprivi conflict was an armed conflict between the Caprivi Liberation Army (CLA), a rebel group
working for the secession of the Caprivi Strip, and the Namibian government. It started in 1994 and
had its peak in the early hours of 2 August 1999 when CLA launched an attack in Katima Mulilo, the
provincial capital of the Caprivi Region. Forces of the Namibian government struck back and
arrested a number of alleged CLA supporters. The Caprivi conflict has led to the longest [26] and
largest[27] trial in the history of Namibia, the Caprivi treason trial.

See also[edit]
History of Africa

History of Southern Africa

Politics of Namibia

List of Presidents of Namibia

Shark Island Concentration Camp

References[edit]
1. Jump up^ Cedric Thornberry (2004). A Nation Is Born: The Inside Story of Namibia's
Independence. Gamsberg Macmillan Publishers Ltd. pp. 911. ISBN 978-99916-0-521-0.

2. Jump up^ Reader, John (1998). Africa: A Biography of a Continent.

3. Jump up^ "The Rehoboth Basters of Namibia". The Cardboard Box Travel Shop.

4. Jump up^ "Constitution of Rehoboth 1872". Rehobothbasters.org.

5. Jump up^ http://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10539/8533/ISS-95.pdf?sequence=1

6. Jump up^ http://www.history.ukzn.ac.za/files/theses/hartman-honours.pdf

7. Jump up^ "History of Namibia. From Adolf Luederitz to Sam Nujoma.". Namibia-travel.net.

8. Jump up^ Encyclopdia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.

9. Jump up^ Samuel Totten, William S. Parsons, Israel W. Charny, "Century of genocide: critical
essays and eyewitness accounts", Routledge, 2004, pg. 51 [1]

10. Jump up^ Marie-Aude Baronian, Stephan Besser, Yolande Jansen, "Diaspora and memory:
figures of displacement in contemporary literature, arts and politics", Rodopi, 2007, pg. 33, [2]

11. Jump up^ Dan Kroll, "Securing our water supply: protecting a vulnerable resource", PennWell
Corp/University of Michigan Press, pg. 22

12. Jump up^ Forced Removal from Old Location Vantaa.fi

13. Jump up^ Petronella Sibeene (17 April 2009). "Swapo Party Turns 49". New Era.

14. Jump up^ Rogers, Barbara (Spring 1972). "Namibia's General Strike". Africa Today.
Bloomington: Indiana University Press. 19 (2): 38. ISSN 0001-9887. JSTOR 4185227.

15. Jump up^ Address by the Right Honourable Nahas Angula MP, Prime minister of the
Republic of Namibia on the occasion of the official inauguration of the SADC Tribunal House
Windhoek 18 November 2005 SADC.int

16. Jump up^ The New York Times, 22 January 1989 "Botha suffers mild stroke January 18,
1989"

17. Jump up^ Profile of Martti Ahtisaari Archived 19 July 2010 at the Wayback Machine.

18. Jump up^ United Nations Transition Assistance Group Archived 29 August 2009 at
the Wayback Machine.

19. Jump up^ Chronology of Namibian Independence

20. Jump up^ "Country report: Spotlight on Namibia". Commonwealth Secretariat. Archived
from the original on 5 July 2010. Retrieved 12 July 2010.

21. Jump up^ "IRIN country profile Namibia". IRIN. Retrieved 12 July 2010.

22. ^ Jump up to:a b "Elections in Namibia". African Election Database.

 23. Jump up^ "Benjamin Ulenga: Congress of Democrats". Congress of Democrats.

24. ^ Jump up to:a b William, Vincent. "Namibia: Situation Report" (PDF). United Nations High
Commission on Refugees.

25. Jump up^ "2004 UNHCR Statistical Yearbook - Namibia" (PDF). United Nations High
Commission on Refugees.

26. Jump up^ Werner Menges (2007-08-08). "Main treason trial set to soldier on in
September". The Namibian.

27. Jump up^ Werner Menges (2005-11-02). "Caprivi treason trial up and running again". The
Namibian.

External links[edit]
"Namibia - UNTAG Background". United Nations. Archived from the original on 29 August
2009.

"Background Note: Namibia". U.S. Department of State.

"History and economy - Namibia Travel Guide". Bradt Travel Guids.

The African Activist Archive Project website has material on the struggle for independence
and support in the U.S. for that struggle produced by many U.S. organizations including National
Namibia Concerns, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America(and predecessor organizations). Other organizations on the Archive
with significant material on Namibia include the American Committee on Africa, Episcopal
Churchpeople for Southern Africa, and the Washington Office on Africa (available on the Browse
page).

"History of Namibia - A Summary". Namibia-travel.net.

"WHKMLA:: History of Namibia". Korean Minjok Leadership Academy.

"Chronology of Namibian History: From Precolonial Times to Independent Namibia". Dr.

Klaus Dierks.

Encyclopdia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.

Pre-colonisation history

"Bushmen". Survival International.

"Southern African Rock Art". Steve Lonker.

"The people of Namibia". The Cardboard Box Travel Shop.

"People and culture - Namibia Travel Guide". Bradt Travel Guids.

Baster history
 "Rehobothbasters.org".

"Basters - Namibia Travel Guide". Bradt Travel Guids.

"The Rehoboth Basters of Namibia". The Cardboard Box Travel Shop.