Appoint envoy on reparations: Chief Riruako

GERMANY should take seriously its official apology for atrocities committed against the Hereros over a century ago and appoint a special envoy to enter into dialogue with his people about compensation for the genocide, a Herero leader demanded yesterday.

Speaking at the annual commemoration of the 1904 Herero uprising against German colonial rule at Okahandja, Herero Paramount Chief Kuaima announced that he would soon take his people’s reparation demands to courts in Germany. At the same occasion, a member of the German parliament, Hueseyin Aydin of the oppositional Leftist party, said Germany should “provide material redress” to the Herero.More than 80 000 Herero died in the aftermath of the uprising, when they fled to Botswana through the waterless Omaheke area, pursued by the German army after a fierce battle at the Waterberg in August 1904.The commemoration was attended by about 350 Hereros.Many stayed away because of infighting and division between a group of traditional chiefs and Paramount Chief Riruako about the way the event should be organised.As a result, what used to be a colourful spectacle with a march-past of the Commandos of the Red, Green and White Flags, a highlight of the annual programme, was disappointing.Only a few women in their traditional dresses, a small number of men in military uniforms and not a single horseman joining the parade yesterday.Early in the morning, the most senior traditional chiefs led the procession to the grave site where Chief Samuel Maharero, his father and grandfather are buried, with his descendant Chief Alfons Maharero calling on the ancestral spirits to favour the visit.The same was done at the graves of Chiefs Hosea Kutako and Clemens Kapuuo – who was assassinated in 1978 and the culprits were never arrested.”After Germany’s Minister of Economic Co-operation Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul apologised to us in 2004 at Ohamakari, we see this as an admission of guilt and Germany must pay the Herero compensation so that we can regain our dignity since we lost everything: land, livestock, lives and foremost our dignity as people,” Riruako said.”Germany paid compensation to the Jews following the holocaust and the same Germany demanded compensation from Libya for her citizens who were killed in the Lockerbie air tragedy and for those killed in a nightclub in Berlin.”If the Herero genocide could not be treated likewise, Riruako continued, “we will view this as discrimination because we (the Herero) are black and Africans, which is blatant racism and immoral and characteristic only of the Hitler era”.The Jews did not have a government at first but were paid reparations, while the German government said it could not speak directly to the Herero, he added.”But we demand the dialogue since we were affected and the Namibian Government does not have an interest in the Herero issue as such, so Germany can appoint a special envoy to talk to us,” the Herero leader demanded.”I do not want to see my people becoming so much frustrated to a point where they might be tempted to take the law in to their own hands,” Riruako warned.Chief Alfons Maharero also called for reparations from Berlin and said that government had a moral responsibility for the “ruthless slaughter” of his forefathers.”We should forge ahead with constructive dialogue as agreed by the Ovaherero-Ovambanderu Council for Dialogue on the 1904 Genocide last year, but as united people and we should not be divided,” Chief Maharero urged.German MP Aydin, who is of Turkish origin, the largest minority group living in Germany, said an official acknowledgement by the German government of the Herero genocide was “long overdue”.The Herero and also the Nama people, who suffered most under German rule, had a right to reparations, Aydin said.”It is shameful that the Herero have been forced to resort to courts by the dismissive attitude of the German state,” Aydin criticised.”Genocide does not lapse, neither morally nor legally.It is necessary to confront the past and that includes recognising the demands of the Herero.It is imperative that the German government changes its position.”DTA President Katuutire Kaura gave a historic overview of the weekend exactly 83 years ago, when more than 3 000 Hereros witnessed the reburial of Chief Samuel Maharero’s remains on August 26 1923.Maharero, who led the uprising in 1904, died in exile in Botswana.Deputy Prime Minister Libertina Amathila proposed that all the ancestral graves of the Herero chiefs at Okahandja should be declared as national monuments.OFFICIAL PROPOSAL “The National Council of Monuments should do something about that, because these Herero graves are monuments of heroes who shared their blood for the country’s freedom,” Amathila stated.The Deputy Mayor of Okahandja, Tonata Shipena, promised that the Town Council would look into the possibility of improving historic sites such as the graves of the Herero chiefs and the area where the commemoration takes place in the western part of the town.”The Town Council has been consulting with representatives of the Ovaherero and Ovambanderu to plan for making it an attractive site to serve as a tourism and information centre and as cultural centre for generations to come, relating the historic events that took place at Okahandja,” the Deputy Mayor said.”As a nation we must take pride in such events like today and must refrain from regarding them as tribal events,” Shipena said.”Okahandja is the place in Namibia where the Namibian people have said ‘no’ to colonialism and where meaningful resistance has been waged against colonial forces.Today these facts are major landmarks of the history of the country,” Shipena emphasised.At the same occasion, a member of the German parliament, Hueseyin Aydin of the oppositional Leftist party, said Germany should “provide material redress” to the Herero.More than 80 000 Herero died in the aftermath of the uprising, when they fled to Botswana through the waterless Omaheke area, pursued by the German army after a fierce battle at the Waterberg in August 1904.The commemoration was attended by about 350 Hereros.Many stayed away because of infighting and division between a group of traditional chiefs and Paramount Chief Riruako about the way the event should be organised.As a result, what used to be a colourful spectacle with a march-past of the Commandos of the Red, Green and White Flags, a highlight of the annual programme, was disappointing.Only a few women in their traditional dresses, a small number of men in military uniforms and not a single horseman joining the parade yesterday.Early in the morning, the most senior traditional chiefs led the procession to the grave site where Chief Samuel Maharero, his father and grandfather are buried, with his descendant Chief Alfons Maharero calling on the ancestral spirits to favour the visit.The same was done at the graves of Chiefs Hosea Kutako and Clemens Kapuuo – who was assassinated in 1978 and the culprits were never arrested.”After Germany’s Minister of Economic Co-operation Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul apologised to us in 2004 at Ohamakari, we see this as an admission of guilt and Germany must pay the Herero compensation so that we can regain our dignity since we lost everything: land, livestock, lives and foremost our dignity as people,” Riruako said.”Germany paid compensation to the Jews following the holocaust and the same Germany demanded compensation from Libya for her citizens who were killed in the Lockerbie air tragedy and for those killed in a nightclub in Berlin.”If the Herero genocide could not be treated likewise, Riruako continued, “we will view this as discrimination because we (the Herero) are black and Africans, which is blatant racism and immoral and characteristic only of the Hitler era”.The Jews did not have a government at first but were paid reparations, while the German government said it could not speak directly to the Herero, he added.”But we demand the dialogue since we were affected and the Namibian Government does not have an interest in the Herero issue as such, so Germany can appoint a special envoy to talk to
us,” the Herero leader demanded.”I do not want to see my people becoming so much frustrated to a point where they might be tempted to take the law in to their own hands,” Riruako warned.Chief Alfons Maharero also called for reparations from Berlin and said that government had a moral responsibility for the “ruthless slaughter” of his forefathers.”We should forge ahead with constructive dialogue as agreed by the Ovaherero-Ovambanderu Council for Dialogue on the 1904 Genocide last year, but as united people and we should not be divided,” Chief Maharero urged.German MP Aydin, who is of Turkish origin, the largest minority group living in Germany, said an official acknowledgement by the German government of the Herero genocide was “long overdue”.The Herero and also the Nama people, who suffered most under German rule, had a right to reparations, Aydin said. “It is shameful that the Herero have been forced to resort to courts by the dismissive attitude of the German state,” Aydin criticised.”Genocide does not lapse, neither morally nor legally.It is necessary to confront the past and that includes recognising the demands of the Herero.It is imperative that the German government changes its position.”DTA President Katuutire Kaura gave a historic overview of the weekend exactly 83 years ago, when more than 3 000 Hereros witnessed the reburial of Chief Samuel Maharero’s remains on August 26 1923.Maharero, who led the uprising in 1904, died in exile in Botswana.Deputy Prime Minister Libertina Amathila proposed that all the ancestral graves of the Herero chiefs at Okahandja should be declared as national monuments. OFFICIAL PROPOSAL “The National Council of Monuments should do something about that, because these Herero graves are monuments of heroes who shared their blood for the country’s freedom,” Amathila stated.The Deputy Mayor of Okahandja, Tonata Shipena, promised that the Town Council would look into the possibility of improving historic sites such as the graves of the Herero chiefs and the area where the commemoration takes place in the western part of the town.”The Town Council has been consulting with representatives of the Ovaherero and Ovambanderu to plan for making it an attractive site to serve as a tourism and information centre and as cultural centre for generations to come, relating the historic events that took place at Okahandja,” the Deputy Mayor said.”As a nation we must take pride in such events like today and must refrain from regarding them as tribal events,” Shipena said.”Okahandja is the place in Namibia where the Namibian people have said ‘no’ to colonialism and where meaningful resistance has been waged against colonial forces.Today these facts are major landmarks of the history of the country,” Shipena emphasised.