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The Epupa Divide

The Epupa PEOPLE in the Kunene region are deeply divided over the pros and cons of the planned Epupa hydroelectric project. With the results of the feasibility study on the scheme due to be announced early next week, OSCAR JOHNSON travelled to the region to speak to the opposing camps. (8/29/97)

About thirty kilometres from the scenic Epupa Falls, across from a dry riverbed and just west of the coarse gravel road is the homestead of Ovahimba Chief Hikuminue Kapika.

Advanced in years and clad in sparse Himba attire, his hunched posture is animated - if not bolstered - by a resolute spirit. A spirit seemingly as undaunted by the ebb and flow of querying, camera-clicking reporters as it is by the swarming controversy that has put Epupa on the map.

Chief Kapika appears only to tolerate the attention lavished on him by outsiders and at times makes a show of ignoring it. When he begrudgingly agrees to speak with the media, although his tone is earnest, it is clear he has given his answers many times before.

"The dam will affect us badly if it is built Kapika answers through one of many translators that accompany the reporters. "First we will have to move away, and secondly the whole Epupa area produces special fruit, like amurula, which sustains our way of life."

Queries about his recent trip to Europe for support, government guarantees of compensation, divisions between the Ovahimba and Herero, future strategies for his struggle, and allegations of foreign influence, payoffs and self-interest rain down on the parched dusty cap of the Himba chief.

"I went to Europe because of the problem we have about the persistent efforts of others to rob me of this place. It is people like Mika Muhenye and the government that has prompted me to go outside the country," explains Kapika. "I cannot say it was successful.I went and talked to people and they said they will notify me if they decide to help."

Despite the chief's uncertainty about international support garnered by his tour two months ago to Germany, Belgium, Norway, Sweden and the UK, it is certain that it has provided fodder for the argument often cited by those in favour of the Epupa dam that he has succumbed to "foreign influence."

DIFFERENTVOICES

Allegations that Kapika is influenced and even paid by Europeans from abroad and from Epupa's rest camps to maintain his opposition to the dam have resounded from afar afield as State House to the bustling Herero village of Ohandngu, just 215 kilometres southeast of Epupa where pro-dam advocates such as Chief John Thom reside.

In Ohandngu last week, Chief Thom and well over a dozen dignified councilmen and advisors convened near the entrance of his circular, straw-peaked home to meet with the media.

Neatly attired in pressed pants, dress shirt, leather jacket and crowned with a snug fitting brimmed hat, the Herero Chief is a portrait of a stately man of many years and few words. He prefers to let his Chief Advisor and Headman,Mika Muhenye, do most of the talking.

"Those people who are against the building of the dam are against development. They have paid Kapika, given him a car and also paid for his trip to Europe," the eloquent Muhenye orates. "Development is the government's decision. Their job is to take care of this country and our people to make sure there is development and the country is progressing forward.

"We say Kapika is influenced by foreigners because he speaks like people from overseas," adds the chief's son, Simeon Thom.


TOURISM DEAL

Chief Kapika is reluctant to admit that a land agreement between the Epupa community and at least one of the five rest camps situated near the falls is bringing his community 10 percent of the tourist company's gross monthly income (although a Kaokohimba Safari spokesperson acknowledges this arrangement). He tells those who ask about the arrangement: "go and ask the tourist operators what my relationship with them is."

But he insists that whatever the relationship, allegations of being paid or influenced to oppose the dam project are not true.

"I was never influenced by white people--even those who put the rest camps there. I didn't even want them to open the rest camps," insists Kapika. "Why does a grey (haired) man like me who has been here all his life need to be told by someone from afar what to do? People from overseas only come here to ask me what I think not tell me what to do."

Chief Kapika argues, in fact, that he and over 1.000 local Himbas are opposed to any outside influence -be it from Europe, the Namibian government or his Herero neighbours.

"The Himba make their own way of living. All we want is to be left in peace and to continue in our own area," Kapika says. "We don't want anything from the government in exchange for Epupa. We don't care about electricity, schools, nice clothes and cities - the Herero can have these things. We don't want them."

However, many of the Herero in the area such as those represented by Muhenye believe that the needs of the majority should not be suppressed by the desires of a few.

The Kunene region that encompasses Epupa is one of Namibia's least developed areas where unemployment and drought are the order of the day. In addition to endorsing the goveniment's stance that the dam would reduce its 80 to 100 per cent of the dependency on South Africa for electricity, local proponents also expect to bolster the local economy.

"The importance of Epupa and the need for development outweigh Kapika's concerns - there is no justification to stop something such as the construction of the dam if it is going to benefit many people," Muhenye contends. "There are many people in this area that do not have jobs.

"We feel that if the dam is built it will provide jobs for the people. The dam will also provide electricity which to a certain extent will be more substantial. It will also bring pipelines to the different villages in the area that will carry water. It might prompt people to start gardens and grow crops.

"I don't think Kapika will lose his land," says Advisor and Deputy Chief, Oliphant Kapi, referring to the distance of Kapika's home from the falls. "But if we don't have development he is surely going to lose more."

Some Namibians, however, question the viability of the dam, citing persistent low levels of the Kunene River and untapped potential of the country's Kudu (natural) gas fields and solar and wind generating altematives.

According to DTA Parliamentarian, Katuutire Kaura,the Epupa dam project is a "white elephant."

"There are the Kudu gas fields and energy underwater off shore that businesses are willing to exploit and we wouldn't have to use N billion to do it," He says. "International consultants are willing to contract it.

"This is not a development project it is a political project," claims the MP. "That area is predominantly DTA, by building the dam they (the Swapo majority) want to bring in more (politically aligned) Ovambo people. The government has not even thought about how they would compensate the Himba."

But whether the proposed project is designed to politically weaken or divide the communities of the Kunene region or not,it has emphasized differences among the Himba and Herero living there.

"We always hear from people saying that there is a division between us and the others but all I can say is we had many meeting and we have never decided that we were divided at those meetings," Muhenye says.

However, he then adds, "I won't say that we are undivided."

Like Muhenye, Chief Kapika insists that it is not a 'division' but a difference of opinion over whether the dam should be built on Himba land that sets the two cousin clans apart.

Many people in the area insist "we are the same people with the same culture and traditions--it is only dress and lifestyle that we differ on."

It is a difference caused by colonial forced migration, relocation and varying degrees of adaptation to western culture and modernity.

"There is no division between the Himbas," explains Chief Kapika. "All Himbas stand together we are the same people. It is only some Herero-Himbas that want the dam that are a problem. When a person comes from another area and says what should be built when he does not live here - that alone will set us apart.

"Those who claim to be Himbas and want to open that dam that will end our way of life; and those who come to rob Himbas of our culture and livelihood are far apart from us."

Advocates on both sides of the Epupa dam issue feel justified in fighting for their right to live a chosen lifestyle; and both sides argue that their right to do so is being threatened by the other.

"Any development--any government project affects people, affects the environment - even Windhoek when it was started there were people living around there," Muhenye argues. "The way the Himbas are dressing themselves and continuing their way of living is just their choice. I don't see how that makes them so much different than us. I don't understand what makes them really feel that they should stay in Epupa."

Muhenye and his colleges do admit, however, that they have nothing to lose and everything to gain if the dam is built.

"We are a great distance from the (proposed) dam location. In terms of negative effects to us the chances are very very slim," concedes Muhenye. "I think there will be many positive resuits from the building of the dam. Even the road will be improved."

Amid cries of development and tradition, jobs and traditional livelihood, and politics and foreign influence Mubenye's attempt to counter one reporter's question regarding the groups alleged allegiance to Swapo makes a poignant statement about the root of the controversy.

"The idea for the Epupa dam didn't come from the present govemment," countered Muhenye. "The idea originally came from the (apartheid) South African government."

Regardless of the origin of the proposed dam project, however, Chief Kapika says that those living in the Epupa region and elsewhere have a very direct approach to a dilemma which leaves them no other choice.

"We have decided that Epupa will not be built. Those of us who are against the dam will come together and the government will have to build the dam on top of us," Kapika says. "I just want the people of Namibia to know I am here - I am a person who is being strangled and oppressed - but I am not asking for any help. If you call for someone surely, if they feel for you, they will help without being asked."




Snubbed:
Chiefs Reject Epupa Study (10/29/97)


Oscar Johnson

On Saturday at Epupa, a group of officials, including members of the Namang consortium that carried out the feasibility study, were asked to leave by residents as they 'could not be held responsible' for what might happen to the group if they remained.

During weekend meetings at Opuwo and Epupa to brief residents on the recently released draft feasibility study, the presence Director of Energy, Paulinus Shilamba, and the head of a Unam mediation team, Dr. Kuiree Tjitpangandiera, were sharply called into question.

On Friday, Regional Ovahimba Chief, Paulus Tjivara spurned attempts by NamPower official, John Langford, to hand over a five-volume summary of the study after repeatedly asking who Shilamba really was.

Members of the over 30-strong Opuwo delegation of headmen and councillors also queried if the government had not already decided to build the dam and if it was democratic to resettle people against their will.

Tjitpangandjera was also accused of coming to "kill his own people," at the two-and-a-half-hour meeting.

The following day in Epupa, Ovahimba headmen and chiefs from the Namibian and Angolan sides of Epupa falls again questioned the motives of Shilamba and Tjitpangandjera.

At a three-hour meeting, Ovahimba Chief of Epupa, Hikuminue Kapika, quoted Deputy Minister of Mines and Energy, Jesaya Nyamu, who reportedly told a public meeting in march to "read my lips - the dam will be built."

"Have you all heard that (Shilamba) is with the Ministry of Mines and Energy under Nyamu?" Kapika asked the crowd of over 150 Epupa residents who replied with a unanimous "Yes."

"Now the issue becomes very interesting because (Tjitpangandjera) is also speaking the same language as Nyamu," Kapika added. "But I said if the report is to come it must not come from them.

"If they are doing a study they are doing it on my behalf because this area is mine" he said. "We must first talk to the people who are doing the study".

Kapika reluctantly accepted the five-volume feasibility summary only to give it right back to Kunene Governor, Eddi Amporo, who will keep it in his office along with the copy intended for Tjivara.

The technical report, which is written in English, will also be available in Opuwa's library for use by a largely illiterate and almost entirely Otjiherero speaking public, according to Government and Namang officials.

The Ovahimba response to the delegation was contrary to claims last week made by Tjitpangandjera to The Namibian that negotiations were "very positive" and the Unam team of about 10 faculty members was "accepted by the people" in the area.

The failed Government attempt to renew talks with Ovahimba communities affected by the proposed dam comes on the heels of the recently compiled but partially incomplete draft feasibility study.

According to the 21 volume Namang report, the social impact part of the social environmental study was never completed.

The incomplete report is attributed to a public meeting last March in Opuwo where a hardline approach by Ministry of Mines and Energy officials provoked Ovahimba leaders into discontinuing talks with Government and Namang officials.

Sources have speculated that without the social impact study in place Government will be hard pressed to find international funding to build the hydroelectric dam in either the proposed Epupa or the Baynes mountain-sites.

Fighters Won't Budge Until They See Nujoma (6/24/97)


Oscar Johnson

A disgruntled crowd of around 300 unemployed ex-PLAN soldiers descended on Parliament yesterday insisting they were prepared to campout until they gained an audience with the president.

Former members of The People's Liberation Army of Namibia, frustrated at being out of work since Independence, rallied in the courtyard of the National Assembly yesterday afternoon after a march from Swapo headquarters and a protest outside State House.

"Our purpose for gaththering here today has to do with our fate. We fought for this country but since independence--seven years ago--we have never gained anything or enjoyed any fruits of independence," said Kondja Shili Nghilpangelwa, spokesperson for the group.

"We have been addressing this question and bringing it to the attention of the government for the past seven years. But the government has failed to address the issue," Nghilpangelwa maintained.

Between 200 and 300 protesters clustered throughout the courtyard of Parliament all with the same intent.

"I have come here to ask for a job," Benjamin Gerwiseb said. "The president promised to give us jobs and he hasn't yet."

Even though it was known that President Sam Nujoma is currently in the Omusati region, protesters assembled before the parliamentary hall determined not to negotiate with anyone except the head of state himself.

"When we went to the State House we knew the president was not in Windhoek but we have decided to wait for him until he comes and we are prepared to sleep here no matter how many days until he comes to meet with us," Nghilpangelwa said.

The determined spokesPerson said that after several years of negotiating with various Government departments, they now only wanted to talk to the President.

"We don't want to speak to any other Govemment Official not even the Prime Minister himself," said Nghilpangelwa. "We only want to speak to the president."

Although Nghilpangelwa declined to disclose the group's message for the President, one participant said it was a simple one.

"It's about the bread," explained a reserved protester who wished to remain anonymous. "They have been trying since independence to get a job so they can get money to buy bread - so they try now to face the head of state."

Last night the ex-fighters said they would not move until they had seen Nujoma. One report last night said the President may not return to Windhoek until next week.

The demonstration is the latest in a string of protests by former fighters. In 1995 their feelings boiled over and resulted in a nightmare situation for Government. In a tense stand-off Deputy Minister Hadino Hishongwa was held hostage in Katutura and riot police had to be called in before he was released.

Government has increased recruitment into the police and army and created the Socio-Economic Integration Program for ex-combatants in response to the plight of former soldiers. However, the moves have failed to satisfy many ex-fighters who apparently still feel left out in the cold.
 

Deadly Disease; Nation's No. 1 Killer (May 1997)

Oscar Johnson

The killer disease Aids is tightening its stranglehold on Namibia and HIV/AIDS could reach mass epidemic proportions unless urgent measures are taken to stem the tide. Yesterday, the United Nations Development Programme revealed that the spiraling number of HIV/AIDS cases in Namibia had made it the country's No. 1 killer.

"One in 15 Namibians could be dying of AIDS by the year 2001," Country Programme Advisor for the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS, Mary Guinn Delaney said at yesterday's launch of the 1997 Namibia Human Development Report (NHDR) in the Namibian Capitol.

"The picture we're trying to paint is one of urgency," Delaney underlined.

In 1996, 925 Namibians died of AIDS, making it the new No. 1 cause of death in the nation, statistics contained in the report revealed.

The report shows that the hardest hit areas are the northen regions of Omusati, Ohangwena, Oshana, Oshikoto, Kavango and Caprivi, which comprise 60 per cent of Namibia's population and account for 73 per cent of all reported cases of HIV/Aids infection.

According to National AIDS Control program statistics for the first quarter of 1997, the reported number of HIV/AIDS cases already reflect nearly one-third of last year's total. There are currently 30,000 reported cases of HIV/AIDS in Namibia. However, Delaney said that after figuring-in unreported cases, the number was estimated to be more than 100,000.

Apart from the toll in human lives, AIDS is also having an impact on the economy. In 1996 the direct costs of caring for people with Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and HIV consumed almost three per cent of Namibia's total budget for health.

This is set to rise to 13 per cent by the year 2001. Indirect costs of the epidemic resulting from lost productivity, absenteeism, replacement and training could amount to 15,3 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product in the next four to five years.

Health and Social Services Minister Dr Libertina Amathila, who also spoke at the launch, suggested that the social stigma often placed on those infected with HIV/AIDS was a major part of the problem.

"In Namibia many people are isolated when they're infected because it's a so-called shameful disease," Amathila said. "Because of this there may be two ways they decide to go: they will say 'because I got this disease from either a woman or man, I'm going to infect (them)' or you take your own life."

Despite the statistics, there is evidence that the HIV/AIDS growth rate can be curbed.
Amathila said the Ministry of Health and Social Services was currently running a pilot project in Walvis Bay which would train social workers to counsel those infected with HIV/AIDS.

"If we have counselors that can inform people that this is not the end of the road and that this is not a shameful disease... people will seek advice and seek counseling," Amathila said.

Delaney also listed a number of so-called hope indicators. The UN official pointed to high-level government commitment to solving the problem, active programs by the Ministry of Health and Social Services and a growing awareness countrywide of HIV/AIDS--all of which she described as a good start.

Delaney also noted that there were no documented cases of HIV/AIDS infection through blood transfusions in Namibia.

She expressed her belief in an NHDR suggestion which entailed a national plan for AIDS education programs with matching services such as counseling and health care that would be available in rural and urban areas.

"This, I'm happy to say, is underway under the leadership of the Ministry of Health," Delaney said.