Ovaherero foundation hits back at local Germans

JEMIMA BEUKESWINDHOEKThe Ovaherero Genocide Foundation (OGF) has hit back at the Forum of German-speaking Namibians, which recently rebuked threats that Namibian descendants of German genocide victims might be forced to invade land taken away from them.OGF, in a recent statement, said the Germans’ forum fails to understand the dire consequences of the 1904-08 Nama and Ovaherero genocide perpetuated by their forebears.The OGF chairperson Nandiuasora Mazeingo said these remarks by the German-speaking community is “reckless”, “insensitive talk” nuanced with fearful undertones, and confirms that the German-Namibia deal is for all intents and purposes about the preservation of their ill-gotten privileges.They also reminded the local German community to take action and to address the abject poverty on the borders of the land they have occupied for the last 100 and more years, in what is called native Reserves, but also in their own backyards as manifested in the conditions of their labourers.“Particularly, as relates to skewed land ownership in Namibia and that we, descendants of the victims of land dispossession a century back, must toe the line. It is evident that the release of that statement came as an essence of fear of the loss of their property. Well, we have a message for our half-brothers who to this day enjoys the spoils of our common ancestors' looting expedition in backward Africa-they after all are our half-siblings who enjoyed parental support and inheritance denied to us. Our message is that your continued denialism, ignorance, indifference to our calls for justice, and insensitivity to our socio-economic condition caused by the loot of our common white parents from our differentiated black parents (your step-mothers, step-uncles) is counterintuitive to furthering your agenda,” he said.Mazeingo added that the attitude of the German-speaking Namibians is untenable in light of the fact that the land ‘looted’ from the affected communities and bequeath as inheritance to the German-speaking Namibians living in Namibia.LoyaltiesHe also urged the local Germans to reconsider their loyalty to Germany which is a foreign land and instead take hands with the affected communities with whom they share a common history and blood relations.“Your continued wish to hold onto the land looted from your step-family and as such inheritance due to us, your half-siblings from dear daddy's rape excursions beloved "mommy" and you our half-siblings were supposed to never know about and so we strongly advise that you change your ways and begin the necessary conversation with us (brother to brother, sister to sister) to share in the abundance we are commonly endowed with. Your greed, your arrogance, your insensitivity, your loyalty to a foreign place is illogical and it certainly shall explode in your face sooner rather than later. Namibia is our common heritage, the land you hold today has a long and rich history traced back to us, it was toiled and laboured by our forebears. Let us build it together, let us together live-off it through a win-win formula. The opposite to that is only against our common interest. Further, your journey of racial-superiority nuanced in the subtext of your speech, of indifference to our calls for historical redress, of rooting for a foreign power usurping our interest and thwarting our calls for genuine justice, is counterproductive and it must be ceased with,” he said.This follows a statement in which the forum chair Harald Hecht said they welcome the N$18.9 billion compensation package for the genocide and that they are offended by the veiled threats against landowners and German-speaking Namibians.He also said the German-speaking community is disturbed by sections within the OvaHerero, OvaMbanderu and Nama communities that are dissatisfied with the way in which negotiations took place and the amount finally agreed upon between the two Government negotiating teams.jemima@namibiansun.com

Ovaherero foundation hits back at local Germans

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-15

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Ovaherero foundation hits back at local Germans

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-15

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