The Affirmative Repositioning movement has accused the respondents in a case in which it demands the removal of the Veterinary Cordon Fence of deploying delaying tactics to avoid arguments on the merits of the case.

AR activist-in-chief, Dr. Job Amupanda, was referring to technical arguments in the case, which are not necessarily the merits of the case.

Dr. Amupanda says these delaying tactics are aimed at financially draining him and derailing him from proceeding with the case.

Dr Amupanda dragged both the Minister of Agriculture, Water, and Land Reform, Carl Schlettwein, and Attorney General Festus Mbandeka to the High Court in May last year after his parcel containing meat from the other side of the Veterinary Cordon Fence, also known as the Redline, was confiscated at the Oshivelo checkpoint.

Amupanda vowed to fight until the Redline is decommissioned, saying it is a colonial symbol being used as a political and socio-economic barrier that continues to divide the country into two distinct economies.

A report released in 2014 reaffirmed that agriculture's contribution to the Namibian economy, will sharply rise from a mere 6.6% to 24% if the redline is removed, Amupanda reiterated.

He also expressed confidence in the judiciary's ability for redress on his demands.

The Redline was erected in 1896 during the German colonial-era in Namibia, to contain a rinderpest outbreak.

It was later used by the South African apartheid regime to control the north-south movement of indigenous people and their livestock.

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Photo Credits
Windhoek Observer
Author
Kaipaherue Kandjii