Who are the Germans to tell us what to say?

THE Government has come under fire from the different Herero Groups that will accompany Culture Minister Kazenambo Kazenambo to Germany to repatriate the skulls of Namibians killed during the 1904–1908 genocide.

“It is regrettable that our Government and some Members of Parliament are being drawn into entertaining the divisive voices, petitions and trivialities instead of focusing on the original request of the OCD-1904 which states that the return of the skulls must be linked to the Otjisuta (restitution) since it is part and parcel of the entire question of genocide. It was then suggested that the delivery and acceptance of the skulls should be accompanied by an undertaking of both governments to engage in a dialogue process leading to restorative justice (Otjisuta),” said Ueriuka F. Tjikuua, the secretary of the Ovaherero/ Ovambanderu Council for Dialogue on the 1904 genocide (OCD 1904).

The German Ministry of Foreign Affairs pointed out to the Namibian government that “if the repatriation of the skulls is seen by the Namibian side in the context of commemorating a shared past, the Ministry would be willing to fund 2 to 3 delegates as well as the repatriation process itself. However, should this repatriation be seen in the context of ‘atrocities’, the Ministry would find it difficult to fund the process,” read the Cabinet submission. Tjikuua said this stance of the German Foreign Ministry should not be tolerated and the Government should not fail its citizens by submitting to the conditions of not raising the spectre of atrocities. “This is a clear reflection of the colonial mindset by the present German Government which denotes disrespect for the collective pain and suffering of the descendants of those skulls, if not condoning the decimation, murder and the driving out of the Ovaherero, Ovambanderu and Nama people.”

The patron of the Ovaherero Genocide Committee, Festus Muundjua, said it would be unfortunate for the Namibian Government to take instructions from the Germans. “Will our Government obey this instruction and dare tell the Nama and the Ovaherero not to raise the issue of war atrocities or another issue, for that matter,” asked Muundjua. He said that they don’t think that there should be anybody dictating to the Namibian Government to tell them what, or what not, to say. “How can we not see the repatriation of the skulls in the context of atrocities when the German Government of Kaiser W ilhelm ll allowed our people to be killed in order to chop off their heads for the so-called scientific studies?

Is that in itself not atrocious,” Muundjua said. He viewed the request of the German Foreign Ministry as “preposterous and unnecessary blackmail,” adding that the German Government should bear the cost of the return of the human remains to Namibia.

click to enlarge The patron of the Ovaherero Genocide Committee, Festus Muundjua, Alfons Kaihepovazandu Maharero, Supreme Chief of the Maharero Group