The United Democratic Party (UDP) is a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

, representing mainly people from Eastern Caprivi and advocating for the

secession Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics le ...

of the Caprivi Strip. Following a government directive from 1 September 2006 to forbid all the party's meetings in Namibia, it is effectively banned.

History

The party was founded by

Mishake Muyongo Albert Mishake Muyongo (born 28 April 1944) is a Namibian politician and former Member of Parliament who is living in exile in Denmark. Muyongo was born into Mafwe Royal House in Linyanti, South West Africa. He received education at the Roman ...

in 1985 as successor to the

Caprivi African National Union Caprivi may refer to: Places * Caprivi Region, a former name of Zambezi Region, an administrative region of Namibia * Caprivi Strip, a part of Namibia * Caprivi conflict, a secession attempt by the Caprivi Liberation Army and the Namibian governme ...

. In 1988 the National Progressive Party split off. Originally a member of the

Democratic Turnhalle Alliance The Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), formerly the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA), is an amalgamation of political parties in Namibia, registered as one singular party for representation purposes. In coalition with the United Democratic ...

(DTA) group of parties, it was expelled from this alliance in 1998 after it openly voiced support for the secession of the Caprivi. It has been alleged that the party is closely connected to the

Caprivi Liberation Army Caprivi Liberation Army (CLA) is a Namibian rebel and separatist group which was established in 1994 to separate the Caprivi Strip, a region mainly inhabited by the Lozi people. It operates only in the Caprivi strip. Background The Caprivi Str ...

, a separatist guerrilla group fighting Namibia in the Caprivi conflict in 1998/99. The party activities stalled after most of the party's leadership went into exile. Following an attempted revival in 2006, meetings of the party were declared illegal.

References

20th century in Namibia 21st century in Namibia Banned political parties Political parties established in 1985 Political parties in Namibia Separatism in Namibia Lozi people 1985 establishments in South West Africa {{Namibia-party-stub

History

See also

References