Justicia Shipena
“As a person of your political argument and record that has fought apartheid, why are you allowing Germany to practise apartheid atonement to the genocide victims of the OvaHerero and the Nama people?”
Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) leader and member of parliament McHenry Venaani posed this question to President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah during her state of the nation address (Sona) on Wednesday.
Venaani questioned why Namibia appears ready to accept a settlement he believes is lower than what Germany has paid in other cases.
He pointed to a recent United Nations (UN) resolution recognising transatlantic slavery as the “gravest crime against humanity” and calling for reparations.
The resolution, proposed by Ghana, was adopted by 123 countries at the UN General Assembly in New York two weeks ago. Three countries opposed it, including the United States and Israel, while 52 abstained, including the United Kingdom and European Union members. Germany is a member of the EU.
Venaani criticised the proposed joint declaration between Namibia and Germany on genocide, saying it does not reflect fairness when compared to payments made to Jewish victims of the Holocaust.
“The Germans are paying the Jews one billion every year; for the last 30 years, they have paid 90 billion. Every year they pay a billion to Jews, but they want to pay Namibians one billion in the next 25 years,” he said.
He questioned how affected communities are expected to accept the deal.
“And how do you want us to accept the joint declaration if the Germans themselves are practising atonement and reparation for apartheid? And why is your government accepting that kind of apartheid?” he asked.
Venaani said the scale of loss during the genocide justifies a higher settlement.
“At least 10% of that amount that they have paid to the Jews, because more Namibians died than the Jews. Jews died in numbers, 67 million, but in terms of percentage, 60% of Nama people were wiped out and 80% of OvaHerero people were wiped out,” he said.
“So is the government ready to really position the negotiations so that we get a fair deal for these communities and that we don’t allow apartheid atonement and reparation to be given?” he asked.
Agreement remains open for future talks
In response, Nandi-Ndaitwah defended the government’s position, saying the agreement is structured to allow ongoing engagement rather than close the issue.
She said the government rejected a clause that would have ended future negotiations.
“So when we first brought the joint declaration here, you remember there was article 21? 21 that was talking about closing the chapter. And that’s where we say, ‘No, this we cannot.’ It cannot talk about closing the chapter because we know where they started with the Jews. They started not at the level where they are now,” she said.
She said removing that clause keeps the process open.
“And that’s exactly what we are saying: let us start, but then we must leave that open. That is why it’s now open in the joint declaration,” she said.
She added that the agreement allows for continued review.
“So in the review of the joint declaration, so that we will continue to really, in the same way they are treating the Jews, they should also treat us. Hence that opening that we are now having,” she said.
Nandi-Ndaitwah said the deal is not meant to be final.
“So the healing, which we say is long-awaited healing, is going to be a real healing that they have to take a process for,” she said.
Just before the question-and-answer session, Nandi-Ndaitwah told lawmakers that the revised joint declaration is in its final stages and will be tabled before Parliament before signing.
“The joint declaration has been reviewed and will be tabled before the National Assembly prior to signing,” she said.
“A conclusion is now within reach, possibly before the year’s end,” she added.
Germany acknowledged the genocide in 2021 and committed €1.1 billion over 30 years for development projects in affected areas.
The agreement has faced opposition from some genocide descendants, who say it does not amount to reparations and excludes affected communities.
Descendants maintain process lacks legitimacy
Sima Luipert, a fourth-generation genocide survivor, said the process does not recognise genocide or reparations.
“As the Nama Traditional Leaders Association always has been saying, the talks between the Namibian and German governments are not about reparations, nor has there been any genocide acknowledged by Germany as long as they say, from today’s perspective, Germany feels that it was legal to do what they did,” she told Windhoek Observer on Wednesday.
“So there is no acknowledgement, and therefore whatever the two governments are negotiating is a development aid package, and that is between the two governments,” she said.
She said affected communities have not been included.
“It has got nothing to do with the Nama and Ovaherero people. So regardless of whether they conclude the process or not, the fight will continue to hold Germany accountable for genocide,” she said.
“Yes, so it’s irrelevant what the two governments are agreeing on because it’s not an agreement between Germany and the communities against whom these atrocities were committed,” she said.
“It is a discussion between two states and the genocide was not committed against the Namibian government or the people that represent the Namibian government. The Nama people have got legitimate leaders and therefore Germany has a responsibility to talk to these legitimate leaders from whom they had dispossessed and committed such a horrendous crime,” she said.
She said the fight would continue for as long as meaningful discussions with affected communities have not taken place.
As a descendant of the survivors of the Ovaherero, Ovambanderu and Nama genocide, Kae Matundu-Tjiparuro also questioned the process.
“I think the first question one should ask is ‘to be concluded by whom?’ If the communities or a section of the communities are affected and should own this process, they are saying they have not been part of it. Now, concluded between whom? That is the biggest question,” he said.
He said the process is viewed by some as illegitimate, arguing that nothing can be concluded as long as affected communities have not been part of it.
Matundu-Tjiparuro added that descendants have consistently raised concerns from the beginning, describing the process as flawed and questioning whether the government has ignored these sentiments despite clear opposition from a significant section of genocide survivors’ descendants.
“Or does the government think that it owns the process to be able to say it will conclude it while against the best wishes of the descendants of the survivors of the genocide?” he asked.
He questioned whether the issue is about involving communities or allowing them to own the process, arguing that neither the Namibian nor German governments should decide on their behalf.
He said the descendants of genocide survivors are the rightful authorities in the matter and that both governments should listen to their views.
Matundu-Tjiparuro also criticised the consultation process, saying engagements with communities have not been meaningful and that their input has largely been disregarded in decision-making.
“As I understand, the government did not even listen to them. There was no discussion between them. As soon as the government had their position, the president ended the meeting and that was it,” he said.
“In fact, I understand the government… they were intransigent, saying that the train had already departed and whoever wanted to board the train had to try to see whatever stop they could catch it. That was the attitude. Do you call those consultations?” he questioned.
“We expect our government to stand behind us as descendants but not to assume the role of ultimate architect, definer and arbiter of the restorative justice package,” traditional leaders under the Okandjoze Chiefs’ Assembly told Nandi-Ndaitwah during a meeting at State House early last month.
They said descendants have been sidelined and called for a national conference.
“There is a need for serious recalibration through a national conference to dialogue on the path forward,” they said.
Between 1904 and 1908, German colonial forces killed more than 75 000 Ovaherero and Nama people.
The killings are widely recognised as the first genocide of the twentieth century.
