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Ovaherero Genocide Foundation

Inclusivity and honesty in all Talks with Germany: “Germany knows who the children of the victims of her murderous policies a century back are and indeed currently where they live, she must therefore soonest cease with her gimmicks of wasting resources on engaging distant and unaffected parties in her so-called genocide negotiations AND in earnest directly engage Ovaherero and Nama leadership to find permanent closure to the horrific chapter of her disastrous colonial expedition South-West Africa which can only be effected through genuine and faithful accession to a legal agreement on reparation settlement, commensurate with her crimes and negotiated only with legitimate Ovaherero and Nama representatives. It is only a fallacy that a settlement for genocide crimes meted out against ethnic groupings in pre-modern southern African states times, can be arrived at without their bonafide voices and settled only with the state of Namibia. Whilst the state of Namibia, as home to the largest share of descendants of victim’s communities remains a key stakeholder in the discussion with the German state, it cannot wholly appropriate the campaign onto itself and preferred splinter Ovaherero and Nama groupings who in the main are extremely under-representative of the broader affected communities and are fully-absorbed into the government structure and as such enjoys no latitude and or leeway to independently speak for the aspirations of our communities. Equally, the “globalization” of descendants of that war principally implies that Ovaherero and Nama people are today global communities transcending territorial boundaries and thus no single state can rationally claim monopoly and full representation over them. Accordingly therefore, only their own leadership can fully and aptly articulate their interests now resident across multiple nation-states and thus any discussion about them is only adequately crafted to the extend it incorporates genuine representative voices from them !!!” Nandiuasora Mazeingo, OGF Chairperson, April, 2021
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Namibian Parliament Motion on Genocide, 2006

On the 26th of September 2006, Paramount Chief Kuaima Riruako tabled a motion the Namibian National Assembly which was unanimously adopted as a resolution by the august Legislative House. The resolution outlined four principles that formed the basis/mandate for any negotiations and final agreements/settlement with the German regime on the genocide of our People:

1. That what happened to the Nama and Ovaherero during the 1904-1908 was a brutal act of Genocide sanctioned by the German Government of the day;
2. That the Nama and Ovaherero people are entitled to demand reparations from the German government;
3. That the Namibian government should be an interested party in any discussions between its
nationals and the German Government on the issue of reparations;
4. That dialogue be convened between, on one hand, the Namibian Government and representatives of the victim communities, and on the other hand the German Government, to try and resolve this matter amicably and thereby strength and solidify the excellent relationship between the two countries, Germany and Namibia.

This resolution was subsequently enhanced by Namibia’s Minister of Foreign Relations, Utoni Nujoma, when he made a Policy Statement in Parliament on 19th September 2011. Nujoma assured the nation that the Government of Namibia will not do anything that was not in the best interest of the Genocide victim communities and that the Government would be eager to play a facilitating role in the anticipated negotiations.