Genocide negotiations between Namibia and Germany took more than five years due to numerous counter-offers from the European nation, which were “totally unacceptable”, Vice President Nangolo Mbumba said today. Both countries last month reached an agreement over the mass killing of Namibians more than 100 years. The deal includes an offer of N$18 billion to aid projects in the country over 30 years. “I am fully aware that the reparation amount was always going to be a highly contentious issue,” Mbumba told journalists at State House today. “In 2016, the Namibian government submitted a quantum for reparations to the government of the Federal Republic of Germany. This quantum was the total calculation of the loss of life, ancestral land, livestock and cultural properties and heritage of the Ovaherero and Nama communities between 1904-1908. The German government gave a counter-offer of a lesser amount. It was for these reasons that negotiations took more than five (5) years due to numerous counter-offers from Germany, which were totally unacceptable to Namibia. This situation almost led to a deadlock and inconclusive talks.” According to Mbumba, the N$18 billion offer agreed may not be adequately enough to address the initial quantum of reparations initially submitted to the German authorities. “However, in any negotiation, and based on the principle of give and take, the government of Namibia believes that the amount even if it is not enough, Germany has agreed to commit to revisit and renegotiate the amount, as the implementation of the reparations ensues. The implementation will also be subjected to periodic impact assessment and evaluation at agreed intervals. This assessment will be done with the objective to ascertain on whether the primary objective of the reconciliation and reconstruction programmes of improving the livelihoods of the affected communities has been achieved.”