Germany atones, but not all are at peace in Namibia
Parties must ensure that redress for decades-old crimes does not reopen old wounds without salving them, experts say
Germany apologised on Friday for its role in the slaughter of Herero and Nama people in Namibia more than a century ago, and for the first time described the massacre as genocide as it agreed to fund projects worth more than à1bn.
Namibia’s President Hage Geingob welcomed the “historic” move, but Herero paramount chief Vekuii Rukoro dismissed a deal agreed on by Germany and Namibia as “an insult” because it does not include payment of reparations.
Instead, Germany will fund à1.1bn (R18.4bn) worth of reconstruction and development projects in Namibia, which German foreign minister Heiko Maas said will directly benefit the genocide-affected communities.
“That’s a black cat in the bag instead of reparations for a crime against humanity,” Rukoro said. “No self-respecting African will accept such an insult in this day and age from a so-called civilised European nation.”
German soldiers killed an estimated 65,000 Herero and 10,000 Nama people in a 1904-1908 campaign after a revolt against land seizures by colonists in what historians and the UN have long called the first genocide of the 20th century.
Though Germany has previously acknowledged “moral responsibility” for the killings, it avoided making an official apology for the massacres to avoid compensation claims.
In a statement announcing an agreement with Namibia following more than five years of negotiations, Maas said the events of the colonial period should be named “without sparing or glossing over them”.
“We will now also officially call these events what they were from today’s perspective: a genocide,” he said.
“In light of Germany’s historical and moral responsibility, we will ask Namibia and the descendants of the victims for forgiveness.”
Namibian media reported on Thursday that the funds promised by Germany will support infrastructure, health-care and training programmes over a period of 30 years.
Geingob welcomed the move as a “step in the right direction”, presidential spokesperson Alfredo Hengari said.
“The apology on the part of Germany and acceptance there was a genocide is in itself historic and speaks to the moral responsibility Germany has towards Namibia and the communities affected by the first genocide of the 20th century,” he said.
That’s a black cat in the bag instead of reparations for a crime against humanity Vekuli Rukoro
Herero paramount chief
Germany, which lost all its colonial territories after World War 1, was the thirdbiggest colonial power after Britain and France. However, its colonial past was ignored for decades while historians and politicians focused more on the legacy of Nazi crimes, including the Holocaust.
Sima Luipert, 52, who identified herself as of Namibia’s Nama people, said Germany should not have directed its apology to the Namibian state, which did not exist at the time of the genocide and was given no mandate to speak to Germany on behalf of traditional authorities.
“Germany must come to the Nama people, and to the Herero people, and to ask for forgiveness,” she said. “It is up to us to decide if that apology is genuine or not.
“This is not about money, it is about the restoration of human dignity.”