German member of parliament (MP) Sevim Dagdelen, whose Left Party is in support of appropriate reparations to be paid to affected communities of the 1904-1908 genocide in Namibia, is scheduled to land in Windhoek tomorrow.
Just like the affected communities, Dagdelen and her party have decried the offer Germany has made to atone for its role in the genocide of Ovaherero and Nama people and property seizures during 1904-1908.
After close to seven years of negotiations, Germany acknowledged last year that it had committed “genocide” against Ovaherero and Nama inhabitants of Namibia, a territory which it colonised between 1884 and 1915.
It said at the time the money would be paid on a “voluntary basis” and that the agreement was not comparable to “reparations”.
Following the rejection of the offer by the affected communities, vice president Nangolo Mbumba, during the Chiefs Forum meeting in Windhoek recently, announced that government had written to the German government to ask for a chance to renegotiate the N$18.6 billion joint declaration.
They are yet to get a response.
“I am deeply ashamed that the German government still refuses to truly recognise the genocide against the Herero and Nama. As a parliamentarian, I would like to send a message with my trip. Instead of secret negotiations by governments, we need parliamentary initiatives by the Bundestag and the Namibian parliament,” she was quoted as saying in a letter announcing her visit to Windhoek.
“Only a genuine recognition of the genocide and the payment of appropriate reparations can pave the way for reconciliation and equal relations. Germany certainly still has a long way to go for this,” she added.
Dagdelen will be in Namibia until Saturday and is expected to meet Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila and National Assembly speaker, Peter Katjavivi.
Further talks are also planned with the Namibian-German parliamentary friendship group along with a visit to the burial sites in Okahandja and Waterberg.
On Wednesday, Dagdelen has been invited to hold a guest lecture at Unam, on the continuity of colonialism in current international politics in the light of war, sanctions and international law.
Dagdelen is the chairperson of Germany’s The Left Party parliamentary group in the Committee of Foreign Affairs, and spokesperson on international policy.
The Left Party is represented in nine of Germany’s 16 state legislatures, including all five of the eastern states. As of 2021, the party participates in governments in the states of Berlin, Bremen, and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern as a junior partner, as well as in Thuringia, where it leads a coalition with the Social Democratic Party and The Greens.
- ktjitemisa@nepc.com.na