Rukoro wants UN to tackle reparations

New OvaHerero Paramount Chief Vekuii Rukoro has called on the Namibian government to take the issue of genocide reparations to the United Nations, so that the Nama and OvaHerero can receive compensation from Germany, just as the Jews did after the Second World War. Speaking this past weekend at the OvaHerero, OvaMbanderu and Nama Cultural Festival in Botswana, Rukoro accused Germany of failing to pay reparations to Namibians because they were not of European descent. The Namibian tribes used the event at Omauaneno to plot the way forward in terms of genocide reparations for the atrocities committed by the German colonial government more than 100 years ago in the then German South-West Africa. Rukoro said Germany has recognised and compensated the victims and families of those who died in the Holocaust committed during World War Two, but was refusing to do the same for the families of those who had been exterminated during the German colonial period in Namibia. He emphasised that the genocide should not be treated solely as a foreign relations issue between Germany and Namibia. “We refuse that the genocide against our people be reduced to a bilateral aid issue between the two governments,” Rukoro stressed. He argued that Germany acknowledged its atrocities in Poland and paid damages for decades to Jewish communities in that country. He called on the Namibian government to tackle the issue of reparations head-on and described the Namibian-German Special Initiative Programme (NGSIP) as “nonsense”. Without disclosing too much, Rukoro said they have a plan which will work, but that it needed government’s collaboration. He stressed that no preconditions should be attached. Rukoro said that for a very long time some people have been dividing the OvaHerero, OvaMbanderu and Nama, and added that traditional leaders who cannot open their eyes must realise that the “train of unity will leave them behind”. “Do not let the call for justice be silent,” Rukoro said. He also called for dialogue between the German and Namibian governments on the genocide and reparations issue. According to Rukoro the tribes owe their gratitude to the people and government of Botswana, particularly to the late Chief Tshekedi Khama, who welcomed them during the difficult days of German extermination campaign. Rukoro said his predecessor, the late Paramount Chief Kuaima Riruako did not live long to see the fruits of his efforts and pledged as his successor to continue the “unfinished business” of reparations. He also highlighted the fate of the OvaHerero, OvaMbanderu and Nama that had been scattered in the Diaspora. He called for dialogue with the Botswana and South African governments, as well as other countries, about their situation. He also urged for a regular line of communication with the OvaHerero, OvaMbanderu and Nama traditional leaders in Botswana, Namibia and South Africa, because their common history and culture transcended the geopolitical boundaries of the three countries. According to Rukoro, their existence is tangible proof that the Namibian tribes had defied the odds and indeed defeated the German colonial war machine. “If this had not been the case, we would not have been sitting here looking at each other, as we are doing today. That’s why I am delighted,” he said. Rukoro emphasised that the genocide reparation issue, which Riruako started, cannot be fought by one group alone, but requires the participation of every descendant whose parents survived the extermination orders. Rukoro said to the chairperson of the Nama Traditional Leaders Association, Chief Dawid Frederick of !Aman Nama group in Bethanie, had stood shoulder to shoulder with Riruako. “As you have requested, I shall continue to remain faithful to the ‘unfinished business’ the two of you have started,” Rukoro said. The festival was also addressed by Botswana President Ian Khama. OMAUANENO FRED GOEIEMAN