Govt not opposed to Ohamakari

WINDHOEKELVIS MURARANGANDA

The Minister of Information and Communication Technology, Joel Kaapanda, says the government is not opposed to calls by OvaHerero people for official recognition of the Battle of Ohamakari.
Kaapanda was responding to an enquiry by Namibian Sun after a group of OvaHerero urged the government to recognise the August 11 battle against German colonial forces and declare the day a national holiday.
"During the [National Assembly] debates on the Veterans' Bill these suggestions came up and they were discussed," said Kaapanda.
"These included recognising places where historical events took place, such as Ohamakari and Shark Island."
"We are waiting for the bill to be either amended or reviewed to accommodate these suggestions. There is no opposition from the side of government in this regard."
Kaapanda could not say when the bill will be amended to include the recognition of Ohamakari or declare the day a national holiday. He referred all queries on the subject to the Ministry of Veterans' Affairs.
For his part, Veterans' Affairs Permanent Secretary William Amagulu directed all queries on the Ohamakari event to the Minister of Youth, National Service, Sport and Culture, Jerry Ekandjo, who could not be reached for comment.
"Ohamakari is not within our area of jurisdiction. We cater for events which happened from 1959 up to independence [1990]," explained Amagulu.
History has it that the battle of Ohamakari happened in 1904 as part of the OvaHerero resistance against German colonial rule, ultimately leading to the German army chief Lothar von Trotha ordering the extermination of all OvaHerero people on October 2 that year.
During this year's commemoration on Sunday at Ohamakari near Okakarara, senior members of the community said about 34 000 OvaHerero died at the hands of Von Trotha's troops.