To mark the 120th commemoration of the Herero/Nama genocide on January 12, Jefta Nguherimo, an Ovaherero reparation activist, held a public lecture in Otjiherero language for locals at Okakarara, highlighting the significance of the day.
Nguherimo explained the remembrance as important to the Ovaharero people, under the leadership of the late Paramount Chief Samuel Maherero, who resisted German imperialism at the turn of the 20th century.
Nguherimo is a reparation activist.
He says the genocide has had a lasting impact on Namibia, and the country must continue to explore, discuss, and find a lasting solution to the reparations issue.
“Today’s event is just to honour the heroes of the 1904 war; at the same time, it’s not only about honouring the heroes or heroines, but it’s also about remembering the painful memories of this resistance, in particular the aftermath of the war, which resulted in or culminated in the genocide of Ovaherero people. So the day is just a reminder to see where we came from and where we are, and the whole day is to educate the community about their struggle for restorative justice, in particular our demands for Germany to pay reparations.”
The public lecture was also aimed at ironing out conflicting statements made during discussions held about reparations at the national level.
“Of course, you are aware that the German government and the Namibian Giants signed a joint declaration, which was not sanctioned by the two parliaments. So my goal was to try to educate the community about the shortcomings of this joint declaration versus the demands of the people for total reparations. So I think the community got a lot of this, and of course people shared their painful stories about their families, in particular about the war, how the family was destroyed, and, of course, to put them in context, like why reparations, which is our loss of land, loss of dignity, and so many other things, contributed to the devastation of our community. So our goal is to educate the community about our demands for reparations and restore restorations.”
Nguherimo noted the participants’ interest in analysing the way forward after Namibia lost its claims of genocide, made in New York in 2019.
“I updated the community that the path towards restorative justice was not only the end of the court case we lost in New York. It is ongoing; we have taken the case to an international platform, and we’ll take it further, no matter how long it takes. So it’s just to inspire the community, please them, and not give up about our restorative justice struggle.”
Similar public lectures are expected to take place in the rural areas of the region.
Leave a Reply