The United Democratic Party (UDP) is a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area'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 on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

, representing mainly people from Eastern Caprivi and advocating for the

secession Secession is the formal withdrawal of a group from a Polity, political entity. The process begins once a group proclaims an act of secession (such as a declaration of independence). A secession attempt might be violent or peaceful, but the goal i ...

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 in 1985 as successor to the Caprivi African National Union. In 1988 the National Progressive Party split off. Originally a member of the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (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, a separatist

guerrilla Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, Partisan (military), partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include Children in the military, recruite ...

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 Political parties of minorities in Namibia Political parties disestablished in 2006 {{Namibia-party-stub

History

See also

References