We’re not asking Germany for favours – Swartbooi

A Namibian delegation has just returned from Germany, where it allegedly convinced the German government to ‘top up’ the money offered for reparations for the 1904-08 Nama and OvaHerero genocide.Ambassador Tonata Itenge-Emvula, chairperson of the technical committee on genocide, led the delegation that consisted of several members of the affected communities and members of the original negotiating team.She confirmed that the delegation continued the negotiation process in Germany, and said the public will be informed in due course on the outcomes of the meetings.According to some of the delegates, Germany - which has until recently insisted that the matter is closed and finalised - has now agreed to revisit the notorious joint declaration that was announced with an N$18.4 billion price tag.“We met with them last week, and Germany said they will top up on that money. They will also consider paying it out over five or 10 years instead of over 30 years, which is the biggest issue people had with the agreement,” a source said.Restorative justiceLandless People’s Movement (LPM) leader Bernadus Swartbooi said they are not asking Germany for favours.“Germany has nowhere to go. Namibia has nowhere to go. At some point, they will start talking to us. There are those who pretend that they want to talk to us, saying ‘let this joint declaration run its course, then you can ask development aid from Germany from another point’.“We say no, we cannot accept a joint declaration as long as it refers to 1904-1908 and allow people to use the suffering of the Nama and Ovaherero to get money on this side, and then we must beg on the other side.“We are not asking for favours – it is restorative justice,” he said.He added that government has launched a relentless campaign to divide the Nama and Ovaherero leaders on the matter.“That is why the vice-president [Nangolo Mbumba] quickly called a meeting to say they will start the story again, because they are in a corner.“The matter is not about the amount of money, but the fundamental issue of a process that must be handled correctly.”Not worth our livesHe also stressed that affected communities would not be wooed by the construction of facilities.“Not even for a goddamn tarred road will we discard the genocide matter. Since when is a tarred road or a clinic worth the life of our people?” he asked.Swartbooi further commended the consistent leadership provided by the Ovaherero chiefs, adding that attempts to divide the nation will not yield results.“They have delivered every time in the history of this nation, that is why this nation is one of the few who meets four or five or six times a year to brief each other on what is being done so that what the leadership does is known by the people and what the people want is known by the leadership.”jemima@namibiansun.com

We’re not asking Germany for favours – Swartbooi

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-02

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We’re not asking Germany for favours – Swartbooi

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-02

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