26 Mar 2019

Botswana has urged the African Union (AU) to prioritise the liberation of the Saharawi people as failure to do so would be betrayal of Western Sahara inhabitants.

This was said by Vice President Slumber Tsogwane when delivering a statement at a two-day SADC solidarity conference with the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic in Pretoria yesterday.

 Mr Tsogwane said continued failure to prioritise the issue would be a letdown on the AU Constitutive Act and the very principles that the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) was established for in 1963.

He said Botswana deeply regretted that Western Sahara remained the only major territory still on the UN’s list of colonised territories in the world.

As a result of the continued occupation of most parts of Western Sahara by Morocco, he said, the Saharawi people continued to endure suffering, turmoil and oppression.

“I therefore wish to reiterate Botswana’s long-standing position that we strongly believe that the people of Western Sahara, like the rest of the African people, deserve their right to self-determination, freedom and independence, as enshrined in the UN Charter and the AU Constitutive Act,” he said.

Mr Tsogwane said Botswana had fully endorsed the position taken by the UN Security Council for the warring parties to resume negotiations without preconditions and in good faith.

“Most importantly, we wish to take this opportunity to commend the Saharawi people for their diplomatic tenacity and relentless efforts in their quest for freedom and independence. We hope that this conference will give them moral and political motivation to soldier ahead, and to amplify their legitimate claim to their right to self-determination and independence. I am also confident that the conference will give a clear signal to Morocco and its allies that the SADC region is united and will continue to mobilise international support for the decolonisation of the Saharawi people,” he said. 

The Vice President assured his audience that Botswana would continue to recognise Western Sahara as a sovereign state as well as a full and founding member state of the AU. 

“Let me once again express Botswana’s unwavering support to the Saharawi people in their pursuit of self-determination, in the spirit of the UN Charter, the UN General Assembly Resolution 1514 and in accordance with the 1991 Settlement Plan. We shall remain seized with this matter until all the vestiges of colonialism are erased from the African map” he said.

The conference opened on Monday with a ministerial plenary session chaired by Namibia’s deputy prime minster and also chairperson of the SADC ministerial council Ms Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah. 

The first working group discussed the role of the international community in ensuring the implementation of the UN resolutions and the AU decisions on Western Sahara, including strengthening measures against exploitation of the territory’s natural resources.

 Former Nigerian president Mr Olusegun Obasanjo was the lead discussant while Botswana’s international affairs minister Dr Unity Dow was the rapporteur. 

The second group discussed the strengthening of international solidarity with the people of Western Sahara to ensure their right to self-determination.

After the opening statement by SADC chairperson and also Namibian president Mr Hage Geingob, Saharawi president Mr Brahim Ghali was given the platform to share the plight of his people.

 Other SADC heads of state in attendance were South African president Mr Cyril Ramaphosa, Mr Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe and Prime Minister of Lesotho Mr Thomas Thabane. ENDS