By Kae Matundu-Tjiparuro
SWAKOPMUND
A Memorial Park Committee here is busy finalising its work, and once finished, think about a monument for those who perished here during the 1904-1908 war of resistance against German colonialism.
This undertaking has been given by the Mayor of Swakopmund, Rosina //Hoebes. Welcoming participants in an Ovaherero-Ovambanderu Reparation Walk as part of the 200th anniversary of the abolition of slavery and the slave trade here on Saturday, she pointed out the significant role of the coastal town when it hosted concentration camps in which many lives were lost, hence the idea of a monument to their memory. She said it was important for the young to learn history, like that of the Ovaherero-Ovambanderu, as it is important for them to know where they come from in order to know where they are going.
United Nations Resident Co-ordinator, Simon Nhongo, said there should be no place in the 21st Century for genocides, trafficking, forced labour or sexual exploitation. “There should be no place for mass rape and other war crimes perpetrated against the most vulnerable in time of armed conflict. Children should not be forced to become soldiers, work in sweet shops or be sold by their families. The fact that these atrocities take place in our world today should fill us with shame.”
Therefore, Nhongo pleaded, this should be time not only to look back on a tragic period of human history, but to also shine a light on the crimes against humanity that are taking place today. He said taking action was not only an obligation on all but a moral duty and a debt they owe to all they honour when they remember the atrocities of the past.
“Over 100 years ago the Ovaherero and Ovambanderu fought for their rights. Today, we must do the same. We must act together to stop crimes that deprive countless victims of their liberty, dignity and human rights. Together we can make the world a freer and more just place,” Nhongo concluded.
Pan African Centre board member, Maureen Hinda-Mbaziira, cautioned today’s generations against falling in the same pitfalls of divide and rule which crippled the noble struggle of their forefathers. Quoting the Chairperson of the African People’s Socialist Party and Leader of the Uhuru Movement, Omali Yeshitela, she said: “African revolutionaries, militants and progressive peoples of the world, in our demand for reparations as a proper response to the exploitation of Africa and African people worldwide … We must demand reparations for the millions of us locked up in the colonial jails and prison dungeons, for the elders who died too early and the children who’ll be born without hope for a fruitful future…”
Hinda-Mbaziira said Namibians need to hold hands together and speak in unison loud and clear that they want reparation.
“We recall with agony and sorrow the inhuman and brutal extermination order of 1904 by Lieutenant-General Lothar von Trotha meted to the Otjiherero-speaking Namibians which brutally eliminated about 65 000 people. We note with disbelief the conscious eradication of the Khoi-Namibians, as well as the orchestrated colonial scheme of isolating, enslaving and displacement of our people.”
She said Namibians are walking and marching because enough is enough.
“We are walking and marching because we are part and parcel of the African revolution to restore our lost dignity and regain our shattered pride.” She said Africans should not be content with only “flag-hoisting independence” but must wage the struggle for economic emancipation and the control of the means of production on all fronts.
She said the reparation walk should act as a unifying factor for all Namibians and all Africans as well as progressive friends of Africa all over the world to continue demanding what Africans are rightfully owed. Thus Pacon called on the Namibian Government to fully and unambiguously support the call of the Namibian people for apology and reparation if reconciliation is to take place.
Minister of Veteran Affairs, Dr Ngarikutuke Tjiriange is pained by the division within the Ovaherero community and multiple committees purporting to campaign for reparation. He said this division was playing them into the hands of the German government. He cautioned against confusing personal and political interest with the interest of the community. He said when the Germans were killing Namibians they were not asking to which politics they belonged. He vowed to continue to express his dismay at disunity at every available occasion.
“If I hurt anyone in the process I don’t care. If you don’t want to be hurt then unite and I will stop,” Tjiriange said defiantly.
Chief Christian Zeraeua was categorical that he was not in Swakopmund to look back on past wrongs but to trace the historic significance of Swakopmund to his clan. More than 100 years ago there, his clan’s mission led by Tjihundju obtained ammunition from the English and as a result his clan was saved from vanquishing in the internecine wars with the Namas.
With the end of the Nama-Ovaherero war Samuel Maharero and Michael Zeraeua then entered into a war pact against the German forces starting with the Battle of Okahandja on 12 January, 1904.
Ovaherero Paramount Chief Kuaima Riruako had a special message for “fellow German-speaking Namibians”, that “our struggle is not directed at individual peace-loving Namibian citizens like them but against the German Federal government. However, if they continue to be silent on this matter we cannot help but conclude that they share the German government’s negative attitude and stance on reparation.” He appealed to them to join hands with the rest of the Namibian nation in the “just cause of our people”.
He said following the unanimous adoption of a motion on genocide and reparation by the Namibian National Assembly, the road has now been paved for all Namibians to work out a common strategy on the issue. He further appealed to the Ovaherero and Ovambanderu in the Diaspora in Botswana and South Africa to approach their respective parliamentarians to raise the issue in their parliaments. He again implored the German Federal Government to accept responsibility and liability for the genocide “and pay reparation for the wounds to heal and reconciliation to take place as a matter of course”.
He said the German government has been turning a blind eye on the appeal of the Ovaherero for a dialogue and that is why they have turned to the international community. He thus appealed to Nhongo to follow up the petition they have forwarded to the UN, petitioning the admission of Germany as a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
In his message, Kamutuua Kandorozu, an Omuherero descendant from the South African Diaspora, appealed for an honest broker on the reparation issue, adding that developing countries seemed bent on just an apology. He said a permanent solution that does not beat about the bush is needed. He also appealed to stakeholders to seriously enter into a dialogue on reparation and to speed up the process without pre-conditions.
“The time for pre-conditions and procrastination is over as our people suffered too long. Therefore, they expect constructive engagement and positive results in this regard,” he said.