Red Flag Day called off
Genocide negotiations brought up
An eleventh-hour compromise reached a day before the start of the annual commemoration of Red Flag Day at Okahandja potentially averted what could have been a bloody weekend for the Ovaherero.
After urgent negotiations among parties and government institutions, it was decided that neither the Maharero Royal House Traditional Authority nor the Ovaherero Traditional Authority (OTA) would commemorate the day.
While the Maharero group completely stayed away from the contested Erf 1755 at Okahandja which the OTA claims as its property, members of the OTA, as well as paramount chief Vekuii Rukoro, arrived at the plot for brief discussions and feedback on what had transpired during the negotiations the day before.
The OTA had intended to seek an urgent High Court interdict to reverse permission by the minister of urban and rural development, Sophia Shaningwa, to the Maharero group to use the plot for the commemoration.
On 25 August acting government attorney Shanghala Kashiindi wrote a letter of demand to Dr Weder, Kauta&Hoveka, the legal representatives of the OTA, in which he said Shaningwa would not retract her letter of permission to the Maharero Royal
House.
On the same day, 25 August, Attorney-General Sackey Shanghala wrote a letter to Chief Tjinaani Maharero and to Rukoro of the OTA in which he said that after negotiations Shaningwa had withdrawn her 22 August letter in which she “purported to grant the Maharero” permission to utilise the plot.
Shanghala in this letter mentioned that the Maharero and OTA groups agreed that the commemoration would be called off.
He added that his office would talk to both parties in the coming week “to determine how we may amicably put this matter of the Kommando grounds and structure to rest, for the use of all parties, today and tomorrow”.
A descendant of Maharero, PhanuelKaapama, yesterday said the group had considered the possibility of a standoff and caution after the negotiations.
“We had to consider whether bloodshed or the loss of even a single life is worth it. We also considered our commitment to the rule of law. It is on this basis that we have consented to call off the commemoration,” Kaapama said.
He said although the group had called off the commemoration “for now”, for this year, the Maharero group implored the Namibian government to “dissolve the lingering tension” over the plot.
“We brought the issue to the attention of the government a year ago and nothing happened but we now demand that the government resolve it within one month,” Kaapama said.
The Maharero is adamant that the OTA and the Okahandja municipality had concluded the sale of the land to the OTA under a shroud of secrecy after it (the Maharero) had objected to the sale.
“The erf is not an ordinary piece of land but carries with it a 93-year-old heritage of all Ovaherero people. Any deal concluded in secrecy compromises the public interest,”Kaapama said, adding that the plot should fall under the National Heritage Council.
The OTA, however, maintains that the land sale was above board and that it is the legal owner since it paid for it in full.
Shaningwa said at a press briefing on Thursday that a recent investigation showed that the plot is in fact the property of the Okahandja municipality.
GENOCIDE TALKS
Festus Mundjua of the OTA said the origin of the tensionis because the government is “furious” because the Ovaherero and Nama demanded to represent themselves directly in talks with the German government over genocide reparation claims.
The government has in the meantime sent letters to various members of these groups with a request that they join its negotiation structure. The groups, however, have dug their heels in and rejected the invitation.
“The so-called negotiation structure is what lead to the Okahandja saga; it is a grudge,” said Mundjua.
He said the government should have stuck to the letter and spirit of the resolution on genocide against the Namibian people adopted by the National Assembly on 26 October 2006 in which, amongst others, it was resolved that those affected by the 1904 to 1908 genocide are “entitled to demand payment of reparations from the German government”.
The resolution further provides that the “Namibian government should be an interested party in any discussions between its nationals and the German government on the issue of reparation”.
“You cannot start without the resolution which makes no mention of government-to-government negotiations,” said Mundjua.
CATHERINE SASMAN
After urgent negotiations among parties and government institutions, it was decided that neither the Maharero Royal House Traditional Authority nor the Ovaherero Traditional Authority (OTA) would commemorate the day.
While the Maharero group completely stayed away from the contested Erf 1755 at Okahandja which the OTA claims as its property, members of the OTA, as well as paramount chief Vekuii Rukoro, arrived at the plot for brief discussions and feedback on what had transpired during the negotiations the day before.
The OTA had intended to seek an urgent High Court interdict to reverse permission by the minister of urban and rural development, Sophia Shaningwa, to the Maharero group to use the plot for the commemoration.
On 25 August acting government attorney Shanghala Kashiindi wrote a letter of demand to Dr Weder, Kauta&Hoveka, the legal representatives of the OTA, in which he said Shaningwa would not retract her letter of permission to the Maharero Royal
House.
On the same day, 25 August, Attorney-General Sackey Shanghala wrote a letter to Chief Tjinaani Maharero and to Rukoro of the OTA in which he said that after negotiations Shaningwa had withdrawn her 22 August letter in which she “purported to grant the Maharero” permission to utilise the plot.
Shanghala in this letter mentioned that the Maharero and OTA groups agreed that the commemoration would be called off.
He added that his office would talk to both parties in the coming week “to determine how we may amicably put this matter of the Kommando grounds and structure to rest, for the use of all parties, today and tomorrow”.
A descendant of Maharero, PhanuelKaapama, yesterday said the group had considered the possibility of a standoff and caution after the negotiations.
“We had to consider whether bloodshed or the loss of even a single life is worth it. We also considered our commitment to the rule of law. It is on this basis that we have consented to call off the commemoration,” Kaapama said.
He said although the group had called off the commemoration “for now”, for this year, the Maharero group implored the Namibian government to “dissolve the lingering tension” over the plot.
“We brought the issue to the attention of the government a year ago and nothing happened but we now demand that the government resolve it within one month,” Kaapama said.
The Maharero is adamant that the OTA and the Okahandja municipality had concluded the sale of the land to the OTA under a shroud of secrecy after it (the Maharero) had objected to the sale.
“The erf is not an ordinary piece of land but carries with it a 93-year-old heritage of all Ovaherero people. Any deal concluded in secrecy compromises the public interest,”Kaapama said, adding that the plot should fall under the National Heritage Council.
The OTA, however, maintains that the land sale was above board and that it is the legal owner since it paid for it in full.
Shaningwa said at a press briefing on Thursday that a recent investigation showed that the plot is in fact the property of the Okahandja municipality.
GENOCIDE TALKS
Festus Mundjua of the OTA said the origin of the tensionis because the government is “furious” because the Ovaherero and Nama demanded to represent themselves directly in talks with the German government over genocide reparation claims.
The government has in the meantime sent letters to various members of these groups with a request that they join its negotiation structure. The groups, however, have dug their heels in and rejected the invitation.
“The so-called negotiation structure is what lead to the Okahandja saga; it is a grudge,” said Mundjua.
He said the government should have stuck to the letter and spirit of the resolution on genocide against the Namibian people adopted by the National Assembly on 26 October 2006 in which, amongst others, it was resolved that those affected by the 1904 to 1908 genocide are “entitled to demand payment of reparations from the German government”.
The resolution further provides that the “Namibian government should be an interested party in any discussions between its nationals and the German government on the issue of reparation”.
“You cannot start without the resolution which makes no mention of government-to-government negotiations,” said Mundjua.
CATHERINE SASMAN
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