By Kae Matundu-Tjiparuro WINDHOEK Does the apology as offered by the German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the Special Initiative which she also announced after the apparent apology, represent the reparation that Namibian communities which suffered under German colonial rule are campaigning for? This is the question uppermost in the minds of the affected communities as their voice for Germany to own up to its historic responsibilities, specifically towards them, becomes more vociferous and unified. At the same time, the Special Initiative, which the Minister, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul announced, has reached its advanced phase with advertisements in the local media for entities to tender for contracts for projects under the Special Initiative. Communities who suffered under German colonial rule met at two venues over the weekend in the Karas and Otjozondjupa regions. In the Karas Region various traditional communities, among them Ovaherero under Paramount Chief Kuaima Riruako, Witboois under Captain Hendrik Witbooi, Ovaherero (otherwise known as the Oorlams from Vaalgras) under Chief Joel Stephanus, Chief John Arnold of the San, Chief /Gaseb of the Damara and Chief Seth Kootjie of the Topnaar, joined Chief David Frederick and the!Aman community in commemorating 100 years of the beheading of !Aman Chief, Cornelius Frederick. The remembrance at the notorious Shark Island, where victims of the German colonial regime were incarcerated in concentration camps and left to perish from hunger and diseases, heard repeated calls by the various traditional leaders for a unified and concerted effort to reclaim their heritage. “The Namibian government should stand together with the Namibian people that suffered at the hands of the German imperial forces and demand for reparations,” host community’s traditional leader, Frederick, encapsulated the mood of the commemoration, pointing out that the Nama has for long been quiet on the matter “but the time has come that we should also make our voices heard”. German Ambassador to Windhoek, Arne von Kittlitz, careful not to steer away from the official German line on reparation, reiterated the apparent apology already offered. “In the words of the Lord’s Prayer that we share, I ask you to forgive us our trespasses,” he echoed Wieczorek-Zeul’s words at Ohamakari in 2004 during the centenary commemoration of the issuing of the Extermination Order by General Lothar von Trotha, then German Forces’ commander in Namibia. Both the Namibian government and a section of the affected communities, notably Ovaherero through Chief Riruako, Chief Tezee Maharero, Chief Munjuku II Nguvauva, readily accepted the “apology”. A coated offer of reparation, albeit the German authorities never admitted to this being reparation, termed the “Initiative for Reconciliation”, followed eight months after the German “apology”, through an announcement by Wieczorek-Zeul in Germany. Through the Initiative for Reconciliation, Germany was prepared to support a programme “to address the injustices of German colonial rule in Namibia about 100 years ago” as one Namibian daily reported. Germany would over 10 years pay N$160 million for the programme. The initiative, which later came to be known as the “Special Initiative”, has been met with mixed feelings by the affected communities, from outright condemnation and rejection to cautious tacit approval. However, one thing that has been clear among the affected communities is that it could not represent reparation despite the media regularly referring to it as such. Riruako then commented on the Initiative as follows: “The money being offered is in terms of the Government’s (German) own reconciliation agenda and has nothing to do with the claim of the Ovaherero for reparation.” Two years or so down the line, this seems to be the groundswell view among the affected communities. The Initiative has meantime become a subject of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Namibian and German governments. However, this has not in any way clarified whether this is reparation or not. “The Special Initiative is meant for development projects in areas and for communities that had particular ‘historic ties’ with the German colonial government,” von Kittlitz explains in a written message he sent to the Fourth Summit of the Ovaherero/Ovambanderu Council for Dialogue on 1904 Genocide (OCD-1904) which took place in Okakarara over the weekend. Could one read this to be the reparation that the various “historic communities” have been and are calling for? “The overall objective of the Special Initiative is to address the conditions of abject poverty in the communities,” von Kittlitz’s message reads further, which does not help much in putting the Initiative in its proper perspective given the Reparation-Initiative confusion. Could what the Prime Minister Nahas Angula said at the same summit over the weekend maybe go some way to dispel the confusion? “The principle of restorative justice requires that we work to restore those who have been injured. Those affected by the crime of colonial genocide should define how the restoration programme should be developed.” If it does, then the cardinal question remains – when are the German government and the affected communities going to talk around reparation or restorative justice?