EDITORIAL: Swallow the ego

“This is the home of the brave. But there's so many people full of greed.” These are lyrics from the song ‘Divided We Fall’ by Overtime.

Indeed Namibia has been divided on the genocide reparation issue and Germany exploited this state of affairs to offer what many are now saying is a pittance compared to the untold suffering the genocide victims endured.

We confronted Germany deeply divided and we fell on the sword of our own disintegration. Berlin must be laughing her head off watching the war of words that has erupted since the announcement of the settlement deal – with many of those bazookas aimed at each other here, and not at Germany.

There has been a lot of ego at play. Government believes it had the legitimate right to lead the negotiations, but so were do the traditional chiefs of the descendant communities, who believes this terrain is their sole mandate.

When some went to Berlin for negotiations, others were in American courts fighting a completely different battle, but against the same perceived enemy. Today, the general feeling is that we have lost a battering defeat at both fronts and the witty Germans have emerged as overall winners on a balance of scales.

Any slim hopes of an improved deal from Germany will never be attained without first patching up our domestic differences in this matter.