The Forum of German-speaking Namibians has hailed late Founding President Sam Nujoma for ensuring that minority groups such as themselves felt safe and part of a new democratic dispensation at the dawn of independence.
It is something many were unsure of at the time.
Paying tribute to the late anti-colonialism icon who died on Saturday at age 95 in Windhoek, the Forum of German-speaking Namibians said Nujoma, through the policy of national reconciliation and nation-building, allowed German-speaking Namibians to preserve their culture and the German language.
“We are grateful to the founding father for his invaluable contribution in securing freedom of speech and expression, and it being entrenched in our Constitution, which paved the way for peaceful cohabitation and the continued cultural diversity in our motherland, including the protection of our mother language, German,” said Harald Hecht, the forum’s spokesperson.
“Nujoma spearheaded the liberation struggle for the independence of Namibia with vision, vigour and determination for over 30 years, which earned him the highest respect and recognition locally and internationally. After the negotiated settlement for Namibia’s independence, Nujoma laid the foundation for Namibia’s future on liberty, unity and solidarity. He was also instrumental in developing and implementing the policy of national reconciliation, which was promoted under the unitary slogan of ‘One Namibia, One Nation.’
Namibia and Germany have a long and hostile history, which stems from the bloody and vicious 1904/08 Ovaherero and Nama genocide, which saw the German colonial government launch a campaign of ethnic extermination.
It was the first genocide of the 20th century, where over 100 000 Ovaherero and Namas died.
The first phase of the genocide was characterised by widespread death from starvation and dehydration due to the prevention of the Ovaherero from leaving the Kalahari Desert by German forces.
Once defeated, thousands of Ovaherero and Namas were imprisoned in concentration camps, where the majority died from diseases, abuse and exhaustion.
Despite that blood-spattered history, which remains an unclosed chapter in some pockets of society, the Forum is grateful to Nujoma as the country’s founding president for being visionary and unifying, and for choosing to hold hands with all Namibians.
The unresolved genocide issue continues to cause resentment within Namibia, where farmers descended from the original German settlers of the 1800s still own land seized from the Herero and Nama.
From the onset of the Nujoma administration, Namibia’s government was committed to a declaratory policy of reconciliation.
The then-new Constitution, under Article 141 [Existing Appointments], guaranteed that “persons holding office on the date of independence shall continue to hold such office. . .”, and that clause meant many white officials who previously supported apartheid and racial laws were still retaining their jobs in a free and independent Namibia.
-ohembapu@nepc.com.na