Witbooi's stolen Bible coming home with skulls
Twenty-six Nama and Ovaherero skulls, as well as the legendary Hendrik Witbooi's stolen Bible, will form part of the third repatriation of Namibian historical items from Germany on 31 August.
German NGO, Berlin Post-Kolonial, said the looted Bible, a cultural object of national importance stolen through colonial injustice, will be returned to Namibia at the same time as the skulls.
Education minister Katrina Hanse-Himarwa will lead the delegation to Charité University in Berlin, where the skulls are currently held.
The skulls have been collected from five or six institutions, but according to sources these are not the last ones that will be returned.
They are, however, the latest ones to be identified historically.
Deputy education, arts and culture permanent secretary Veno Kauaria said the Namibian delegation consists of civil servants from 10 different government institutions, as well as 25 people from traditional authorities of the affected communities.
The German embassy confirmed it will cover the travelling costs of the 25 traditional leaders.
The embassy said yesterday it will contribute 50 000 euro (N$837 813.40 at the current exchange rate) towards the travelling expenses.
Kauaria said the travelling and accommodation expenses of the government delegation will not exceed N$200 000.
On 29 August the Namibian delegation will receive the skulls at a Christian memorial service at the French Cathedral in Berlin.
Upon their return to Namibia on 31 August, the skulls will be displayed at the Parliament Gardens, where there will also be a service.
Kauaria said the skulls will then be kept at the National Museum of Namibia, which also houses the other remains repatriated in 2011 and 2012.
She said the government and the affected communities will eventually meet to discuss how the skulls should be dealt with for posterity.
Not without controversy
Sources preferring anonymity said the size and composition of the Namibian delegation had created issues.
They said Willem Konjore, the chairperson of the Nama Traditional Leaders' Association (NTLA), alleged that government had overstated the organisation's representation for the trip.
Kauaria said all the issues had been amicably resolved.
Berlin Post-Kolonial also reported that an alliance called No Amnesty For Genocide welcomes the long-overdue repatriation of the human remains and the return of the Witbooi Bible.
However, the alliance said it is strongly opposed to the manner in which the planned church ceremony in Berlin will be conducted.
Its objection is that the event will not be open to the public and that it will be placed into a religious context, “and is tainted by the fact that several important leaders of the victim communities have not been invited”.
These excluded leaders are those who have taken Germany to court in New York, as a result of their exclusion from intergovernmental reparation talks, the alliance said.
“Why has the German government shifted the event of the restitution of our abused ancestors onto the Protestant Church? We demand a state-led restitution ceremony inside the German parliament. President [Frank-Walter] Steinmeier, who himself called for an apology from Germany when he was opposition leader, must now finally ask the Herero and Nama for forgiveness,” said Berlin-based Ovaherero activist, Israel Kaunatjike.
The alliance also called on the German government and the German federal states to return, without delay, the “countless” human remains that were stolen from former German colonies such as Togo, Cameroon, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and Papua New Guinea.
CATHERINE SASMAN
German NGO, Berlin Post-Kolonial, said the looted Bible, a cultural object of national importance stolen through colonial injustice, will be returned to Namibia at the same time as the skulls.
Education minister Katrina Hanse-Himarwa will lead the delegation to Charité University in Berlin, where the skulls are currently held.
The skulls have been collected from five or six institutions, but according to sources these are not the last ones that will be returned.
They are, however, the latest ones to be identified historically.
Deputy education, arts and culture permanent secretary Veno Kauaria said the Namibian delegation consists of civil servants from 10 different government institutions, as well as 25 people from traditional authorities of the affected communities.
The German embassy confirmed it will cover the travelling costs of the 25 traditional leaders.
The embassy said yesterday it will contribute 50 000 euro (N$837 813.40 at the current exchange rate) towards the travelling expenses.
Kauaria said the travelling and accommodation expenses of the government delegation will not exceed N$200 000.
On 29 August the Namibian delegation will receive the skulls at a Christian memorial service at the French Cathedral in Berlin.
Upon their return to Namibia on 31 August, the skulls will be displayed at the Parliament Gardens, where there will also be a service.
Kauaria said the skulls will then be kept at the National Museum of Namibia, which also houses the other remains repatriated in 2011 and 2012.
She said the government and the affected communities will eventually meet to discuss how the skulls should be dealt with for posterity.
Not without controversy
Sources preferring anonymity said the size and composition of the Namibian delegation had created issues.
They said Willem Konjore, the chairperson of the Nama Traditional Leaders' Association (NTLA), alleged that government had overstated the organisation's representation for the trip.
Kauaria said all the issues had been amicably resolved.
Berlin Post-Kolonial also reported that an alliance called No Amnesty For Genocide welcomes the long-overdue repatriation of the human remains and the return of the Witbooi Bible.
However, the alliance said it is strongly opposed to the manner in which the planned church ceremony in Berlin will be conducted.
Its objection is that the event will not be open to the public and that it will be placed into a religious context, “and is tainted by the fact that several important leaders of the victim communities have not been invited”.
These excluded leaders are those who have taken Germany to court in New York, as a result of their exclusion from intergovernmental reparation talks, the alliance said.
“Why has the German government shifted the event of the restitution of our abused ancestors onto the Protestant Church? We demand a state-led restitution ceremony inside the German parliament. President [Frank-Walter] Steinmeier, who himself called for an apology from Germany when he was opposition leader, must now finally ask the Herero and Nama for forgiveness,” said Berlin-based Ovaherero activist, Israel Kaunatjike.
The alliance also called on the German government and the German federal states to return, without delay, the “countless” human remains that were stolen from former German colonies such as Togo, Cameroon, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and Papua New Guinea.
CATHERINE SASMAN
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