Moreba petitions UK govt

Tue, 23 Oct 2012 16:20:14 +0000

The Movement for Restoration of Barotseland (MOREBA) says it is in full support of the Barotse National Council (BNC) that has resolved that Barotselandestablish itself as a sovereign state in line with the consequences of terminating the Barotseland Agreement of 1964.

In their submissions to the British High Commissioner James Thornton on  October 16 in Mongu, MOREBA has also warned that the route to statehood by the Barotseland will not be an easy walk as the PF government is determined to frustrate every move even by draconian measurers.

In a document signed by MOREBA Chairperson Mutungulu Wanga and Secretary Mungandi Mundandi, the two leaders revealed that not a single Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) has passed without the Barotse Royal Establishment (BRE) and the people ofBarotselandmaking submissions calling for the restoration and implementation of the Barotseland Agreement.

“Three sessions of negotiations with the first republican president Dr Kenneth Kaunda yielded nothing while similar feat during the tenure of second republican president Dr Fredrick Chiluba ended up into a rebuff where in  government described the matter as ‘statute stale’.” The statement reads in part.

They said that nothing portrays the attitude of the Zambian government on the issue of restoring the Agreement more vividly than the embarrassing manner in which the PF government threw out the recommendations of the Roger Chongwe Commission report despite the Commission being appointed by president Sata with the sole aim of getting to the root of the Barotseland problem and establish the necessary remedies.

“The BNC that convened on March 27 2012 took note of the fact that all reasonable avenues for saving the unitary state have been applied and failed, and consequently resolved thatBarotselandestablish itself as a sovereign state,” they said.

MOREBA has maintained that the government of theUnited Kingdomcannot stand aloof in the matter as  it is and will be a source of reference in resolving this matter adding that the independence  that the British Government captained in 1964 was not properly docked as far as the question ofBarotselandis concerned.

“In this respect, the international community in general and world organizations in particular are expected to play their various roles as relating to the promotion of individual human rights, the right to self determination of peoples and the observation of norms of decency in the conduct of public affairs” the document states.

The Evolution of the Barotse question has culminated in the quest for separate statehood by the Barotseland and MOREBA is addressing the role that the British Government can and should play to facilitate orderly and pacific settlement of the dispute between the people of Barotseland and the government of the republic of Zambia arising from the unique position of the British government as a co-founder of the failed state of Zambia.