The Genocide Remembrance Day: A historical reflection of the Zambezi Rehion

Last year, Namibia commemorated the Genocide Remembrance Day for the first time since independence in 1990. The event marked a milestone in the acknowledgement of the sacrifices made by our heroes and heroines in the fight against colonial oppression.

The Nama-Herero genocide of 1904-1908 left a profound impact on the socio-economic and political structure of Namibia and the Zambezi region.

On the 1st of July 1890, the United Kingdom (UK) and Germany concluded the Anglo-German Treaty. The treaty resulted in the creation of the Caprivi Strip (Zambezi region) as a territory of German South-West Africa (Namibia).

The purpose was to grant Germany access to the Zambezi River as a shorter route to her East African colonies. It was only the Victoria Falls that prevented the Germans from sailing the river to the East African colonies due to the gorges and rapids present there.

During early German colonial occupation in Namibia, Namibian history illustrates that the Nama and Herero were the first ethnic groups the Germans encountered.

Early Germany divide and rule policy received widespread resistance from the above-mentioned ethnic groups. This is because the Nama and Herero lost most of their land and cattle to the Germans.

To restore their dignity, a war broke out between them and the Germans from 1904 and ended until 1908. Unfortunately, more than a hundred thousand Nama and Herero people perished during the war, making it the first 20th-century genocide in history.

Implication for the Zambezi region

After committing genocide, the Germans sent Captain Kurt Streitwolf to the Zambezi region (Caprivi Strip) in 1909 as the first Imperial Resident Commissioner to establish German administration in the region and put an end to the Lozi authority that prevailed in the Strip since precolonial time.

Before the arrival of Captain Streitwolf, the British warned the Lozi king to relinquish whatever power or influence he had in the Strip because the Germans were coming, and where they were coming from had exterminated the Nama and Herero people.

This information resulted in the panic and displacement of many indigenous people (Mafwe, Mayeyi, Masubia, and Mashi) from the Strip to Zambia or Botswana in fear of a similar brutality.

Although Maria Fisch depicted the arrival of the Germans in the Strip as a relief to the inhabitants by liberating them from Lozi subjugation, the genocidal news triggered many of them to flee and never return. Some of those who refused to return included the chief of the Totela people, Mwanota.

Mwanota refused to return to accept his position as chief of the Totela in fear of the Germans. His absence resulted in the Mafwe chief amalgamating the Totela, even though Lilemba argues that the Totela have always been part of the Mafwe since time immemorial.

In summary, the Nama-Herero Genocide left far-reaching consequences on the socio-economic and political structure of Namibia and the Zambezi region. In Where Others Wavered, the Founding Father, Sam Nujoma echoed that it was the Nama-Herero genocide that inspired valour in him to embark on the liberation struggle, thereby taking inspiration from Hendrik Witbooi and Samuel Maharero.

Therefore, Genocide Remembrance Day serves as a reminder of the sacrifices our forefathers made in the fight against colonial repression.

Collen Kurana is a DPhil student in peace studies at the Durban University of Technology.