Germany’s development aid and other preferential loans to Namibia over the past 35 years have crossed the N$32 billion mark, official figures provided by the two governments show.

However, the Okandjoze Chiefs’ Assembly (OCA) has cautioned Namibians against allowing the former colonial master’s generosity to derail their pursuit for restorative justice in the ongoing genocide matter. 

The OCA is an umbrella entity made up of various traditional authorities and leaders from communities affected by the genocide. 

This week, German ambassador to Namibia Thorsten Hutter, announced that his country’s total financial and technical support to Namibia has, since Independence in 1990, surpassed N$32 billion.

Underlining the deepening cooperation between the two countries, Hutter said Germany’s main objective through its aid, has always been to reduce poverty, create jobs and lower the unequal wealth distribution in Namibia. 

“Today, the cooperation between the Namibian and the German governments is orientated towards and aligned with the National Development Plan 5 and the Harambee Prosperity Plan II.”

It has covered more than 60 major capital projects countrywide.

Hutter was speaking during this week’s celebration of 35 years of German-Namibian development cooperation, where he and the director general of the National Planning Commission (NPC), Obeth Kandjoze, exchanged notes on various key development projects and areas of cooperation.

Kandjoze meanwhile underscored the importance of the incoming administration led by Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah and the German coalition government to ensure the genocide issue gets priority both on the social and political fronts and is timeously concluded. 

“We all want to see it concluded. A lot of Namibians are looking forward to ensuring this matter reaches finality. It is my wish that this issue be concluded soon, and it is now up to the new political dispensations, here in Namibia and in Germany, to ensure it is finalised. I’m optimistic that new the leadership in both countries will uphold the commitments made and ensure closure to a painful chapter in our shared history. To be honest, the matter has taken a bit too long (to finalise),” he said. 

Despite the mammoth development aid from the Germans over the past three decades, Mbakumua Hengari, one of the chairpersons of the Technical Committee of the OCA, has warned that Germany’s financial assistance should not be allowed to serve as an escape route from facing its dark colonial history with Namibia.

Caution

Hengari is one of the country’s leading advocates for restorative justice and just reparations in the ongoing genocide negotiations between Namibia and Germany.

“We know they are going to sign that joint agreement this year against our will because our government is cornered and currently has no leg to stand on at the negotiating table. 

But what do you expect from a government that is so heavily dependent on German financial support to survive? We have clearly communicated our grievances on countless occasions, but it seems our government is hellbent on wanting to sign that agreement. They can go ahead and sign it, but our position remains the same,” said Hengari.

“If they are going to sign it, they should do it on their own accord and not in the names of the affected communities. Our cause is about the recognition of a genocide committed here by the Germans, an apology, and reparations. It was never about the continuation of German development aid now being disguised as reparations for killing and marginalising generations of Namibians. We are talking about land reform, reparations and reconstruction through a mutually agreed process, not a process being forced down our throats by Germans.”

Due to its dependence, the Namibian government is vulnerable, out of options, and has no power to convince or at least arrive at a respectable compromise with its German counterparts on the genocide issue, Hengari observed.

Unresolved history

The genocide carried out against the Ovaherero and Nama by German colonial troops between 1904 and 1908, on the extermination order of German military commander Lothar Von Trotha, culminated in the death of more than 100 000 indigenous Namibians.

The extermination order, which was ruthlessly carried out, directed that all Herero men and women with or without guns, with or without cattle within the then-German South West Africa territory, were to be shot, and that no more Herero prisoners would be taken. 

This resulted in the extermination of nearly 90% of the Ovaherero people.

Those century-old atrocities committed by the Germans are what today remain a thorny issue in Namibia and Germany’s political and diplomatic relations. 

It is equally those 120-year-old genocidal events that forced the two governments in May 2021 to come up with a joint declaration, which sought to address historical injustices and map out a new shared future between the two peoples.

But that joint declaration was overwhelmingly rejected by the majority  of Namibian society and talks between the two governments have since been clouded with uncertainty, both on the social and political fronts.

In the rejected joint declaration of 2021, Germany offered 1.1 billion euros, or about N$18 billion, for developmental projects in seven identified regions as damages for genocide committed between 1904 and 1908, which is a far cry from Namibia’s reported N$1.1 trillion demand.

Key resolutions

Meanwhile, last December, it was reported that Cabinet had resolved the signing of the Joint Declaration on the genocide, apology and reparations between Namibia and Germany will take place this year.

As one of the first key steps, ministers who will be appointed as special envoys of the vice president will be tasked with engaging and sanitising the affected communities in the seven identified regions, which are Erongo, Hardap, //Kharas, Khomas, Kunene, Omaheke, and Otjozondjupa.

The same engagements and sensitisation will also be extended to the affected Namibians in the diaspora, particularly in Botswana and South Africa.

As per Cabinet resolution, the foreign ministers of Namibia and Germany will then sign agreements that will be tabled in both the German Bundestag and the Namibian National Assembly for further consideration and ratification.

The German side has already started working on an official apology text to be issued to the affected communities in Namibia.

The Namibian government will be accorded the opportunity to review the text for potential input before the German president is tasked with formally issuing the apology on behalf of the German government and its people.

Another process will be to choose an appropriate venue where the German president will formally tender an apology to the affected communities, after which he will arrive in Namibia to deliver it.

The final step in the process, as per last year’s announcement, will be to set up a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for the reconstruction and implementation of projects related to the agreement in the seven identified regions.

Any implementation of the declaration depends on the German Bundestag endorsing its budget implications, as not all parties support the genocide negotiations.

The declaration was also never supported by all parties, especially the Liberal Democratic Party (FDP), which brought about the German government’s downfall some months ago.

-ohembapu@nepc.com.na