Genocide: Nama chiefs snubs govt delegation
Communities in the south are ducking a high-powered delegation of Swapo MPs that is allegedly mandated to secure a buy-in into the N$18.4 billion genocide reparation package.
STAFF REPORTER
WINDHOEK
Two Nama traditional heads, Gaob Johannes Isaak from Berseba and Petrus Kooper from Hoachanas, reportedly declined caucus meetings with a Swapo delegation assigned to sell Germany’s controversial N$18.6 billion reparation package to communities.
The delegation, which included justice minister Yvonne Dausab, deputy finance minister Maureen Hinda and Swapo backbencher Lucia Witbooi, reportedly held a string of meetings with communities to convince them to accept the deal.
In a YouTube video from 14 August, Kooper said the Namibian and German governments have lost the trust of the Nama and Ovaherero people through the failed negotiations.
He cautioned the communities against a deliberate attempt by government to divide the Nama people.
“We now hear of a dubious campaign launched by the team of Nama-speaking parliamentarians to restore trust in the ill-fated government process which is determined to silence our voices. I am speaking today to the Nama people that they all note there are parliamentarians representing themselves as mothers and daughters of the Nama people and holding meetings with traditional leaders to coach and persuade them to support the government process which has sold out the interests of the Nama and Ovaherero people.”
Kooper also took issue with the fact that the delegation is not presenting itself as official delegates of the Namibian government but rather as “caring mothers and daughters of the Nama people”.
Misinterpretation of facts
Hinda yesterday vehemently denied the claims and said it is nothing but a misinterpretation of facts.
She stressed that they visited the communities with the sole purpose of information-sharing and to explain what the genocide package entails.
Deodat Dirkse, secretary-general of the Nama Traditional Leaders Association (NTLA), said there was no clarity on whether the delegation came on behalf of government or the ruling party.
The group reportedly only kept their communication on phone and declined several requests to put meeting requests in writing.
“Overall, the NTLA and all the independent traditional authorities had a meeting on the 24 August in the Hardap Region and they have unanimously decided to reject the agreement. We will issue a statement on Monday,” he said.
Charles Eiseb, who serves on the Ovaherero, Ovambanderu and Nama Council for Dialogue on the 1904-1908 Genocide, confirmed that he was roped in by the office of the vice-president to provide technical expertise.
“We have received very good reception from all the authorities we have met, but two authorities have declined to meet us. That is now Gaob Johannes Isaak from Berseba and Petrus Kooper from Hoachanas, but we had good reception. People wanted clarity,” he said.
He confirmed that they have predominately dealt with the genocide issue and what the money really means.
“We explained to them how the frontloading will work. Take for example my village, Vaalgras. Today it will probably take 10 boreholes and after 10 years it will not need 10 boreholes. If you educate the people, technical or otherwise, you will develop self-sustenance. The money will diminish but the needs will also diminish. The money, although some say it is small, will have a good impact on the seven regions,” he said.
Eiseb said the meetings were organised through traditional chiefs who on their part called on their communities to attend.
Steamroll suspicions
The offer, which has been rejected by many among the affected communities, will be discussed when Parliament resumes its sessions next week.
There is suspicion that government is planning to steamroll the deal through Parliament regardless of the opposition from affected communities as well as employing persuasive tactics such as the ‘clandestine’ meetings by Swapo MPs.
Eiseb reportedly accompanied Hinda and Witbooi on a visit to Isaak where they tried to convince him to accept the package.
Isaak told Namibian Sun they first paid him a visit early in August and asked him why he refused the deal when his community is already poor and marginalised.
“They told me that ‘us women are worried about the conditions of our own people’.”
According to Isaak, the delegation had reportedly informed him that if the Nama, Damara and Ovaherero communities refuse to accept the deal, they will suffer and will not enjoy the development from the package.
“They tried to convince that we must accept the money. My position was that I wasn’t part of the negotiation and I cannot say anything. They came back but this time it was only Hinda and Lucia. I told them that my position from the first visit still stands. They also denied that the Namibian government has signed the reparation deal with Germany,” he said.
Witbooi confirmed that she was part of the delegation and emphasised that as an elected lawmaker, it is their responsibility to inform their people of the contents of the package.
“We gave them the necessary information which many of them did not have. It is up to them to accept it or not. We have a right as elected leaders to go out and share information with them,” she said.
Attempts to reach Hinda were unsuccessful, while Dausab could not respond on short notice.
WINDHOEK
Two Nama traditional heads, Gaob Johannes Isaak from Berseba and Petrus Kooper from Hoachanas, reportedly declined caucus meetings with a Swapo delegation assigned to sell Germany’s controversial N$18.6 billion reparation package to communities.
The delegation, which included justice minister Yvonne Dausab, deputy finance minister Maureen Hinda and Swapo backbencher Lucia Witbooi, reportedly held a string of meetings with communities to convince them to accept the deal.
In a YouTube video from 14 August, Kooper said the Namibian and German governments have lost the trust of the Nama and Ovaherero people through the failed negotiations.
He cautioned the communities against a deliberate attempt by government to divide the Nama people.
“We now hear of a dubious campaign launched by the team of Nama-speaking parliamentarians to restore trust in the ill-fated government process which is determined to silence our voices. I am speaking today to the Nama people that they all note there are parliamentarians representing themselves as mothers and daughters of the Nama people and holding meetings with traditional leaders to coach and persuade them to support the government process which has sold out the interests of the Nama and Ovaherero people.”
Kooper also took issue with the fact that the delegation is not presenting itself as official delegates of the Namibian government but rather as “caring mothers and daughters of the Nama people”.
Misinterpretation of facts
Hinda yesterday vehemently denied the claims and said it is nothing but a misinterpretation of facts.
She stressed that they visited the communities with the sole purpose of information-sharing and to explain what the genocide package entails.
Deodat Dirkse, secretary-general of the Nama Traditional Leaders Association (NTLA), said there was no clarity on whether the delegation came on behalf of government or the ruling party.
The group reportedly only kept their communication on phone and declined several requests to put meeting requests in writing.
“Overall, the NTLA and all the independent traditional authorities had a meeting on the 24 August in the Hardap Region and they have unanimously decided to reject the agreement. We will issue a statement on Monday,” he said.
Charles Eiseb, who serves on the Ovaherero, Ovambanderu and Nama Council for Dialogue on the 1904-1908 Genocide, confirmed that he was roped in by the office of the vice-president to provide technical expertise.
“We have received very good reception from all the authorities we have met, but two authorities have declined to meet us. That is now Gaob Johannes Isaak from Berseba and Petrus Kooper from Hoachanas, but we had good reception. People wanted clarity,” he said.
He confirmed that they have predominately dealt with the genocide issue and what the money really means.
“We explained to them how the frontloading will work. Take for example my village, Vaalgras. Today it will probably take 10 boreholes and after 10 years it will not need 10 boreholes. If you educate the people, technical or otherwise, you will develop self-sustenance. The money will diminish but the needs will also diminish. The money, although some say it is small, will have a good impact on the seven regions,” he said.
Eiseb said the meetings were organised through traditional chiefs who on their part called on their communities to attend.
Steamroll suspicions
The offer, which has been rejected by many among the affected communities, will be discussed when Parliament resumes its sessions next week.
There is suspicion that government is planning to steamroll the deal through Parliament regardless of the opposition from affected communities as well as employing persuasive tactics such as the ‘clandestine’ meetings by Swapo MPs.
Eiseb reportedly accompanied Hinda and Witbooi on a visit to Isaak where they tried to convince him to accept the package.
Isaak told Namibian Sun they first paid him a visit early in August and asked him why he refused the deal when his community is already poor and marginalised.
“They told me that ‘us women are worried about the conditions of our own people’.”
According to Isaak, the delegation had reportedly informed him that if the Nama, Damara and Ovaherero communities refuse to accept the deal, they will suffer and will not enjoy the development from the package.
“They tried to convince that we must accept the money. My position was that I wasn’t part of the negotiation and I cannot say anything. They came back but this time it was only Hinda and Lucia. I told them that my position from the first visit still stands. They also denied that the Namibian government has signed the reparation deal with Germany,” he said.
Witbooi confirmed that she was part of the delegation and emphasised that as an elected lawmaker, it is their responsibility to inform their people of the contents of the package.
“We gave them the necessary information which many of them did not have. It is up to them to accept it or not. We have a right as elected leaders to go out and share information with them,” she said.
Attempts to reach Hinda were unsuccessful, while Dausab could not respond on short notice.
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