botswana/namibia - Cour international de Justice

256. The key passages in his Report are as follows:-
"12.6 Morphology of the southern channel. In contrast to the northern channel, the southern
channel is highly sinuous, has an irregular width, and very low saw-tooth shaped banks that
are only a few centimetres high in places (Photographs on Sheets 21, 22 and 23). Where the
right bank of the southern channel is adjacent to the Chobe Ridge the bank consists of rock
and consolidated soil protected from erosion by riverine vegetation (Photographs 6 and 7 on
Sheets 21 and 22). The characteristics of the two banks of the southern channel are typical
characteristics of a stable, sinuous channel, where water in the river is conveyed along a
broader overlying channel. Examples of this type of channel can be seen in Photograph 3a of
the Mfolosi River and Photograph 11b of the Chobe River at Ngoma Bridge.
12.7. Striation pattern on Kasikili Island. A study of the 1925 to 1985 aerial photographs on
Sheets 14,15 and 16 shows a distinctive striation pattern on the surface of Kasikili Island that
has not changed over this period. This pattern is notably absent along a broad band that has a
lighter and smoother surface on the aerial photographs. The southern channel is located within
this band that identifies the southern channel as being the path along which the bulk of the
water in the Chobe River is conveyed. The right bank of the overlying channel is the foot of
the Chobe Ridge, and the opposite edge of the channel is indicated on Diagram 4 on Sheet
17." (emphasis supplied) (Namibian Memorial, Vol. VI, Part 1, Expert Report, pp.34-5).
257. The Court is respectfully requested to study Diagram 4 on Sheet 17 (Namibian
Memorial, Vol.VI,Part 2), in relation to these passages from Professor Alexander's Report. At
the outset it must be emphasised that Diagram 4 is a construct of the Namibian Government.
What it reveals is a Chobe River not seen on any of the forty-one maps referred to in the
Rushworth Report (Namibian Memorial, Vol.V,p.31, Annex 102). The reason for this is the
need of the Namibian Government and its advisers to marginalise the northern and western
channel of the River Chobe. The actual main channel of the Chobe in this sector has been
replaced by Zone d, Diagram 4, which the Report identifies 'as being the bed of the currently
active channel of the Chobe River' (p.22, Para.8.11). Zone d is equated (in Paragraphs 12.6
and 12.7, quoted above), with the southern channel. From Diagram 4 on Sheet 17 it should be
appreciated that the "southern" or "Alexandrine" channel is superimposed on an area which
all the maps and aerial photographs show as an island,and further superimposed on the
western third of that island where some of the highest elevations are located. (Second Opinion
of Professor Sefe, Appendix 2).
(C) The Major Distortions and Errors of Professor Alexander's thesis
258. To establish the candidature of the southern channel to qualify as the main channel,
Professor Alexander is driven in his thesis to:-
(i). distort and misrepresent the geomorphology of the region, making the Chobe River part of
the flood plain of another river;
(ii). select a restricted time for application of the treaty definition, focusing solely on a season
of the year, high flood, when both the northern and southern channels and the Island are
obliterated. He thereby totally ignores the consistent configuration and the presence of two
channels, with the northern as the wider and deeper, which all the maps and aerial
photographs, made at different seasons, have given to the bifurcation of the Chobe River
around Kasikili/Sedudu Island;