The commemoration of the Genocide Remembrance Day at national level for the first time in history yesterday was a moment for Namibians to reflect on the cost of the country’s liberation and a reminder of the importance of unity. This solemn and emotional moment for the nation forced us to confront a painful chapter of our past while also asking difficult questions about justice, and at the same time embracing national unity. 

The genocide committed by imperial Germany between 1904 and 1908 against the Ovaherero and Nama communities remains one of the darkest periods in Namibia’s history. Tens of thousands of people lost their lives through mass killings, forced displacement, starvation and concentration camps. Families were destroyed, livestock confiscated, land stolen and entire social structures destroyed. 

For the Ovaherero and Nama communities, the wounds of genocide are not merely historical. They continue to live with the consequences today. The dispossession of ancestral land disrupted economic systems that sustained generations. 

Communities lost not only property and wealth, but their social standing and bargaining power within the country they once freely occupied as majority. The effects of that destruction continue to echo through generational trauma and unresolved debates around land and restoration of justice. 

Yet, the impact of the genocide did not stop with the directly affected communities. 

Namibia as a whole was profoundly affected in many ways. 

A nation’s strength lies in its people. 

The genocide drastically reduced the population of what is now Namibia, robbing the country of human potential, indigenous knowledge systems and economic productivity. Entire generations who would have contributed to the development of the country never lived to do so. Namibia today stands out as one of the world’s empty countries, affecting it bargaining powers and its recognition at global stages. 

Some of the effects seem as minor as Meta refusing to compensate content creators because of the small population and many more. The economic scars of colonial violence therefore belong not only to Ovaherero and Nama descendants, but to Namibia collectively. Hence, a decentralised commemoration is a clarion call for this reflection. 

One can also not help but to talk about the Namibians of German descent who were born into a history they did not create nor chose. 

Yet, they too often carry the psychological burden of ancestral sins, navigating questions of identity, belonging and historical responsibility in a country still healing from colonial trauma. 

The genocide also planted seeds of division and mistrust that colonial systems later deepened through apartheid and racial segregation. In many ways, Namibia continues to wrestle with the long shadow of that history. 

But remembrance must not divide us further. It must unite us in truth. 

As Namibia commemorates this day under the theme of ‘from genocide to resilience’, which is of course under the banner of One Namibia, One Nation, we are reminded that unity does not mean ignoring pain or silencing historical injustice. 

True unity can only emerge when a nation honestly confronts its past and acknowledges the suffering of its people. 

The challenge before Namibia is, therefore, delicate but necessary: how do we remember truthfully without creating new divisions? How do we pursue justice while protecting national cohesion? How do we honour the victims without imprisoning future generations in inherited guilt? 

These are not easy questions, but mature nations confront difficult histories rather than avoiding them. 

Genocide Remembrance Day must therefore become more than a symbolic annual event. It should be a national platform for education, dialogue, healing and reconciliation. 

This day also reminds us that the pain of one community ultimately becomes the pain of the nation. When one group suffers dispossession and dehumanisation, the social fabric of the entire country weakens. Equally, when healing takes place, all Namibians benefit. 

Therefore, all Namibians should unite in ensuring that more conversations about genocide continue in the best interest of the victims. This is especially the case at the time of discussions for just reparations, atonement and apology. 

All Namibians should stand together to help the descendants of the genocide to have their voice heard in the call for the restoration of their culture, dignity, land and identity for the much-needed peace and stability. 

Namibia’s greatest achievement since independence has been maintaining peace and stability in a continent often scarred by conflict. 

That peace was built on the vision of reconciliation championed at independence. This is the reconciliation that the Nama, Herero and all Namibians at large demand.