Kae Matundu-Tjiparuro
Exile to exile. Once in exile, always in exile until death. This seems to be the eternal epitome of the descendants of the survivors of the Ovaherero, Ovambanderu and Nama GENOCIDES.
Unless and until they themselves, nobody but themselves, deliver themselves through their own trials and tribulations via true restorative justice ultimately. Which entails the return of their land. Putting an end to their perpetual internal exiling and continued banishment to outposts such as Gam. Where many descendants, you name them, have since independence continued to be banished by none other than their own Swapo of Namibia government. A feat PDM leader seems to find pride in since, albeit for him, the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA), now metamorphosed into the PDM, having been the one that engineered Gam for the repatriates. For what good purpose? To wallow in arrested development, as is currently the case in Gam, that is still definitely removed from development, the unrelenting efforts by Uerikua notwithstanding. While the Swapo Party maintains the Gam “refugees” are happy and safe, there is a need for the government to do more. But essentially until they are resettled elsewhere, the repatriates from Botswana practically remain refugees in the land of their forebears.
Surely Gam was not and could not have been intended as a permanent settlement as the PDM leader would make us believe. But this is what it is and has been, practically and ironically, by the design of the political will of the Swapo of Namibia. And continues to, as the unjust internment of two diehard Swapo stalwarts, one in his prime and the other with donkey years behind him, has just demonstrated. Both, for that matter, have returned from Botswana. One is a first generation and the other a fourth generation. Where they were born was not accidental but a result of the sad and horrendous historical epoch in the colonial history of Namibia. Their forefathers and mothers having escaped the Imperial German genocidal onslaught.
Many a tribute to the late James Unomasa Uerikua could not but elucidate his affinity, attachment and umbilical cord between him and what is essentially Gam, a Bantustan. Reminiscent and akin to colonial apartheid Bantustans. Continuing to exist in an independent Namibi in a formalised fashion. Just the same ways that ghettos in urban areas, and even in rural ones, where they have also been mushrooming, are being formalised.
These Bantustans have been engineered, by the PDM’s leaders’ admittance and the Swapo Party’s government’s lack of foresight and ideological commitment to radical socio-economic transformation, to become “homes”.
To many, the many were previously land-dispossessed, landless and outcasts from commercial lands. Once their usefulness has been made obsolete by land barons, usually foreigners, foremost amongst them of German descent.
Last weekend many went to bid late Uerikua and son Venturo farewell. Falsely believing they went to commit them, as well as their prodigy, the centenarian Katjambungu Mbatara, to eternal rest, “home”. But can Gam really be said to be, and has it been and will it ever be, their home despite the unpalatable and sad fact that this has become, in eternity for that matter, their eternal home? For their mortal remains, yes! But what about their souls? Can their souls really find eternal peace and rest and a home, for that matter, with their mortals condemned to internal exile in eternity? Certainly not!
The late Uerikua, understandably, a bona fide descendant of the survivors of GENOCIDE, believed in true restorative justice. A given in lieu of having been born to repatriates from Botswana. Who, once back in Namibia, have been condemned to the internal exile of Gam. Thus, his leaning towards the Joint Declaration (JD) cannot but be understandable. This is without apologising for his latter-day warming up to the JD, towing the Swapo Party line. That’s true; the Swapo Party and its government’s mechanisations have been made out as the panacea for the many socio-economic ills of Gam and its neglected and forgotten people. Who, given their historical background, must and should not only be an automatic choice in the government’s own transitional justice programmes but also must and should have been a priority.
Foremost beneficiaries of first choice in terms of land redistribution and the government’s resettlement programme. Thus, Uerikua’s apology for the JD is born out of his burning desire for development in his adopted nativity of Gam, adopted out of necessity, if not desperation, as opposed to out of free choice.
Few of those paying tribute to the late Uerikua, especially during the memorial service in the Parliament Gardens and subsequently in Gam during his funeral memorial service, despite accentuating his love for Gam, dared to centre and zero in on the true historical context of his attachment to Gam. The internal exiling of the descendants to Gam. Nor were they bold and daring enough, if at all, to speak to the state of its neglect socio-economically. Except for the leader of Swanu, Evalistus Kaaronda, who was equivocal, unambiguous and categorical. And indeed, the current governor of Otjozondjupa, John Khamuseb, in Gam, not in so many words but echoing Kaaronda by invoking the clarion call of PATJI NGARIKOTOKE!
But many in authority and positions of influence just skirted this pertinent issue. Especially the implementation of the JD, its affirmation of Bantustanisation in an independent and free Namibia, the betrayal of the cause of true restorative justice and the wholesale sell-out of the people of Gam. Not to mention the flagrant political opportunism during Uerikua’s untimely and sad departure, during his mourning and up to his interment.
As a caveat, Her Excellency the President of the Republic of Namibia has been designated by the American TIME magazine as amongst the 100 influential people in the world. CONGRATULATIONS certainly are due to HER. But can Her Excellency’s new stature and repute be of any practical consequence in the quest of the Ovaherero, Ovambanderu and Nama for restorative justice unless she awakens to the signs of the times, discards the dreaded JD and charts a new path as per the desires and best interests of the descendants? From the least to the best and lasting memory of UERIKUA!
*Kae Matundu-Tjiparuro is a descendant of the survivors of the Ovaherero, Ovambanderu and Nama genocide; a veteran and freelance journalist; a reparations advocate; and an adherent of restorative justice.
