from ALFRED SHILONGO in Windhoek, Namibia
Namibia Bureau
WINDHOEK, (CAJ News) – IN the warm breeze sweeping across Namibia’s Khomas Highlands on a recent morning, elderly Herero and Nama activists stood solemnly before rows of candles marking the nation’s first official Genocide Remembrance Day, a new state‑sanctioned commemoration of atrocities committed more than a century ago.
For many descendants of the victims, the day — designated on May 28 to honour the closure of German concentration camps in 1908 — is also a stark reminder of what they see as unfulfilled promises from Germany.
Between 1904 and 1908, German colonial forces in then German South‑West Africa unleashed a brutal campaign of extermination against the Herero and Nama peoples after uprisings against colonial rule.
General Lothar von Trotha’s infamous “extermination order” drove tens of thousands into the arid Kalahari, where starvation and dehydration joined systematic executions and forced labour in what many historians regard as the first genocide of the 20th century.
Estimates suggest that around 65,000 Herero and 10,000 Nama — representing up to 80 % and 50 % of their respective populations — perished in the campaign.
More than a century later, the wounds have not healed.
Namibians speak of a profound sense of betrayal and unfinished business. “We celebrate remembrance, but our expectations of justice are still unmet,” said Israel Kaunatjike, a Herero activist and founder of the “No Amnesty on Genocide” campaign.
“Our ancestors were slaughtered, lands stolen, and now we wait.”
After decades of avoidance, Germany formally acknowledged the colonial killings as genocide in 2021.
In a joint declaration with Namibia, Berlin conceded that troops had perpetrated genocidal violence and committed to pay €1.1 billion (about US $1.35 billion) over 30 years to fund development in regions where Herero and Nama descendants live.
German officials framed the funds as a gesture of reconciliation and development assistance, not legally defined reparations.
Heiko Maas, then German foreign minister under former Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government, was a key figure in these negotiations.
Maas described the atrocities as genocide and said Germany would “officially call these events what they are from today’s perspective,” offering an apology and forgiveness requests from Berlin to Namibia and descendants.
But critics say the distinction between development aid and direct reparations is more than semantic.
Unlike Germany’s historic compensation to Holocaust survivors, the Namibian agreement explicitly avoids the term “reparations” — a choice Berlin asserts helps avoid legal precedents for other former colonies.
More than three years after the 2021 declaration, no substantial payments or detailed implementation plans have materialised.
Analysts cite bureaucratic and political hurdles on both sides, as well as Germany’s insistence on framing the contribution as non‑compensatory.
A December 2025 report noted that German funds have yet to be released, further frustrating survivors and activists.
“For many Namibians, development projects are welcome,” said human rights scholar John Nakuta, “but they do not satisfy demands for justice for the genocide itself.”
Even at the negotiation table, critics point out that Herero and Nama communities were excluded from meaningful participation and that the Namibian government negotiated on behalf of all citizens, often sidelining the very groups whose ancestors suffered most.
International human rights organisations have been vocal about the inadequacy of the current approach.
Amnesty International has criticised Berlin’s reluctance to engage directly with affected communities and to commit to lawful reparatory justice, insisting that “there cannot be true justice if those affected are excluded from the talks.”
Then Amnesty’s regional director Tigere Chagutah said Germany’s response, more than a century on, remains “shameful.”
Similarly, other advocacy groups have argued that without restitution — including land rights and the return of human remains taken to Europe — development funds risk perpetuating colonial power dynamics rather than addressing enduring harm.
The Namibian government, now led by President Netumbo Nandi‑Ndaitwah, has kept pressure on Berlin to move beyond symbolic gestures.
At the inaugural Genocide Remembrance Day event in 2025, she reiterated the government’s commitment to continue negotiations until a satisfactory conclusion is reached, acknowledging the genocide and achieving reparatory justice.
“We must remain committed that as a nation, we shall soldier on until the ultimate conclusion is reached,” her statement read.
In previous interviews, President Nandi‑Ndaitwah has expressed optimism that a final reparations deal could be concluded by 2026, while emphasizing that Namibia expects full recognition, apology, and reparation — not just development assistance.
Despite gestures of apology and infrastructure commitments, the German government has maintained that the term “reparations” is not legally applicable to colonial‑era crimes, arguing that no international legal framework existed at the time of the atrocities.
Berlin insists that its reconciliation framework represents both moral responsibility and constructive engagement, while resisting terminology that could open it to open‑ended legal claims from other former colonies.
However, with the launch of annual Genocide Remembrance Day and the growing unity among Namibian civil society, demands for genuine reparations are becoming harder to ignore.
“Recognition is important,” said Kaunatjike, “but compensation and justice must follow.”
As Namibia and Germany approach yet another deadline in their negotiations, the question remains: Can reconciliation be achieved without reparatory justice?
For thousands of Namibians whose families still bear the scars of lost lives, land and culture, the answer is clear — and the wait goes on.
– CAJ News