Land and genocide hand in hand

The Ovaherero Traditional Authority (OTA) say the only way to restore faith in the government's resettlement efforts is to immediately suspend all resettlement activity until the issue is finalised at the proposed land conference in September.

In a press statement issued yesterday on behalf of the Ovaherero Chiefs' Council after a two-day meeting, the OTA expressed concern about the government's perceived ambivalence about the question of ancestral land.

OTA spokesperson Bob Kandetu said the government's approach to such a sensitive matter left much to be desired. “We look forward to raising these matters with the head of state at his earliest convenience,” he said.

He added that the authority's position was that all matters of resettlement must be suspended until after the envisaged land conference, “as the only way to restore a measure of integrity of the process of resettlement”.

He said that the Chiefs' Council had noted with concern that the willing-buyer, willing-seller model had not performed well and that the process had not been well managed.

“Also, there is no evidence that those who were settled on these farms were the most deserving. In Namibia, there are those who have lost land and deserve to be resettled and those who yearn to be settled on land as entitlement.”

He said the Ovaherero and Nama people had lost land and wealth through colonial expropriation and that their assets were forcibly taken from them by Germany over 112 years ago and redistributed to German settlers and soldiers.

The OTA also raised concern about the “status and format” of the planned land conference later this year.

Kandetu said the authority hoped the land conference would be “above board” and “fairly managed”, despite the strong views already expressed by the government.

Sins and apologies

Yesterday's comments came in the wake of this week's confession of guilt and a request for forgiveness issued by the Evangelical Church of Germany (EKD).

In subsequent interviews, church officials described the apology as long overdue.

“From the depths of our hearts, we ask the descendants of the victims, and all those whose ancestors suffered from the exercise of German colonial rule, for forgiveness for the wrong done them and the pain they suffered as a consequence,” the church said. In a lengthy document adopted this week by the EKD, the church said it was clear that the German response to the Ovaherero and Nama resistance was “clearly genocidal”. The apology stated: “As the Evangelical Church of Germany, and successor organisation of the former Prussian Evangelical High Church Council, we expressly confess our guilt today towards the entire Namibian people and before God.”

The statement said the actions were “a great sin and not to be justified at all”.

It further said the church was “deeply aware that any acts of atonement cannot undo the injustice committed”.

The document concluded with a list of proposed examples of the way in which the church could cooperate in the “process of healing memories in Namibia and Germany”, including supporting efforts to gain public recognition of the genocide in Germany, and assisting with the transfer of the remains of genocide victims still in Germany.

The Chiefs' Council said they had resolved to “tirelessly take the campaign for reparations to the doorstep of Germany”.

They accused the country of not having shown any respect for the reparation campaign.

“Germany has proven that they have no respect for human lives as testified by the genocide against two nations and the scorn they continue to pour on our leaders,” they said.

JANA-MARI SMITH