Answering a question from a fellow Bundestag parliamentarian of the Left Party, Sevim Dagdele, relating to negotiations between the German Federal government and its Namibian counterpart most recently, German Federal Minister of State for Europe and Climate, Dr Anna Lühman, had this to say.

“To the knowledge of the Federal government, this [involvement of genocide descendants] has taken place in a comprehensive fashion, including on October 22 when over 250 Nama, Herero, Damara and San chiefs met on invitation of the Namibian vice president, and the great majority of them expressed support for the continuation of negotiation with Germany.”

Yours truly ideologically, a bona fide descendant of the survivors of genocide, has unashamedly been proactive in the reparations movement since its inception in 2003, leading to the 2004 commemoration. 

Not only this but he has been unashamedly and unapologetically an integral part of the quest for Germany to account, closely following the process as it has come to be hijacked and usurped by Namibian and German governments, and attending and observing the October 22 event Dr Lühman is referring to. 

The event is the chiefs’ forum held by Vice President Nangolo Mbumba on 27 October 2022 at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST), where no clear consensus emerged, contrary to assertions – if not fabrications and twisting by both Namibian and German officialdom. 

“The chiefs acknowledged the diversity of opinions expressed by various speakers. However, the overriding consensus of the forum was that negotiations should continue and that the affected communities should unite behind the government’s efforts in resolving the issue,” reads an excerpt from Mbumba’s media statement on 3 November 2022.  It is as ambiguous as it is contradictory because it talks about chiefs and speakers at the same time. Whether they are the same is not clear. 

Then it refers to diverse opinions. With diversity, one takes to be different. How differing opinions that prevailed at the forum could now have been nurtured into consensus is baffling. But this has become the narrative of both governments, Namibian and German, which was never challenged by those whose mere attendance, and observation have come to be deliberately misrepresented, misconstrued and maliciously twisted as support for the two governments to continue with the negotiations. 

This is despite some of the chiefs have been categorical in their meeting with the VP that they remained firm in rejecting the Joint Declaration calling instead for the recalibration of the whole process. 

Not only this but in their meeting with the VP a day before the 27 October 2022 chiefs’ forum, some chiefs united by their Okandjoze memorandum of understanding, which they signed in August 2021, established from the VP the agenda of the chiefs’ forum, whereupon they were informed by none other than the VP that it was merely to give “feedback”, thus attending the chiefs’ forum to have more information. 

It is anyone’s guess what more information these chiefs wanted from the VP at the chiefs’ forum that the VP did not provide them with at the meeting with him on 26 October 2022, a day before the chiefs’ forum.

Be that as it may be, true to the fears and suspicions of some, both governments are eventually using the forum to garner support among the descendants for their ill-intended and ill-conceived bilateral agenda. The grain thereof, which is pushing for the implementation of the joint declaration. 

It is mindboggling how the German embassy in Windhoek could not independently ascertain and verify by itself and for itself the veracity of the presumed support. 

Isn’t one reason why the government of the Federal Republic of Germany has an embassy in Windhoek so that it can and could provide it with reliable, independent and verifiable information, including the genocide of the Ovaherero and Nama? 

Instead of it joining the big lie chorus of the chiefs’ forum, giving unqualified support, if support is the only thing that the chiefs as descendants have been reduced and relegated to in their cause?  Can one blame other fellow descendants for somehow holding fellows who attended the chiefs’ forum last October for being vicariously responsible somehow for giving both the Namibian government and its German counterpart the excuse to deceitfully and in bad faith continue with the negotiations? 

The big lie shall soon dissipate – and at this juncture, it cannot but have been a very instructive learning curve for especially some of the chiefs. That both our Namibian government nor its German counterpart does not have an iota of a genuine interest in the plight of the descendants of the survivors of genocide, nor any compunction and empathy for their horrible past. 

In fact, the writing to this effect has long been on the wall but the descendants’ trust and confidence in their government seem to have been limitless but not endless.  They must now have reached that point of no endlessness. That they must now awaken to the reality that the agendas of the Namibian government and its German counterpart have never been the same and shall never be the same.  This is all the more reason that all descendants truthfully realise the sanctity of their common abominable atrocious past and the imperativeness of their commonality to be able to push forward as one person with a common purpose, awakened to the harsh reality that they can no more and no longer have trust and confidence in whatever way in both their Namibian government and its German counterpart. 

If the big lie they are toting of majority support emanating presumably from last October’s chiefs’ forum regarding majority support for their secret agendas regarding genocide, apology and reparations must and should be the last straw as far as the descendants are concerned.