The Joint High Level Committee between Angola and Namibia convened on Saturday in the southern province of Huila to discuss operating guidelines for the management, maintenance, and safety of the Cassinga Memorial in Jamba Municipality.
The Memorial is a project that the governments of the two nations launched five years ago with the intention of erecting two monuments in Cassinga (Huila Province) and Chetequera (Cunene Province) to remember those who lost their lives in the slaughter carried out by the South African army against a camp of Namibian refugees.
Following two years in Angolan territory, the refugees were persecuted and murdered on May 4, 1978, with a total of 600 dead, among civilians and military of the two countries being buried in two mass graves. The refugees, who came from 14 Namibian provinces, had arrived in Cassinga in March 1976 as a result of the armed conflict raging in Namibia.
After the “Savannah” invasion, the Cassinga assault was seen as the second significant military operation of the racist South African army in Angola. The SWAPO delegation in Chetequera, Cunene, was also a target of the action in addition to the camp.
The one-day gathering follows a joint inspection of Cassinga Monument’s ongoing construction, which has 80 percent of its work finished and is scheduled to be inaugurated later this year.
The participants addressed the draft operational instructions for the management, upkeep, and security of the monument throughout the discussion.
The delegations also signed the operational instructions for the management, upkeep, and security of the memorial and completed the joint report of the High Level Committee.
General Domingos André Tchikanha, the secretary of state for former combatants and homeland veterans in Angola, ordered the commissions’ technicians to make clear presentations of any concerns that might still be of concern.
Frans Kapofi, Namibia’s minister of defense and veterans affairs, on the other hand, stated that his country continues to value Angola’s efforts in approving the monument’s construction and its financial support of the endeavor.
Along their 1,376-kilometre shared land border, Angola and Namibia have allowed some of their citizens to travel freely since 2007.