Hereros condemn racist poster

THE Ovaherero Genocide Committee and the leaders of the Ovaherero and Ovambanderu have distanced themselves from hate messages displayed at a march by the Herero community to the Prime Minister’s office last week.

In statements issued yesterday, the leaders said they did not support a small poster reading ‘Kill all whites’, carried by a group among the protesters. The Ovaherero Genocide Committee said it believed the protesters in question had “infiltrated” the march down Independence Avenue.It said it had written and vetted all the messages on the posters and had phrased them in such a manner that it would not disturb harmonious race relations in the country.The committee said it believed the men carrying the poster in question were bystanders who “either got too emotional and/or excited” and wrote the poster without permission from the organisers.Around 200 Hereros led by Chief Kuaima Riruako marched through the streets of Windhoek last Wednesday to hand over a petition to Prime Minister Nahas Angula in protest against Germany obtaining a seat on an extended United Nations Security Council and to demand reparations from Germany for the 1904-1907 genocide.This week, the National Society for Human rights said expressions of hate were tantamount to inciting violence and even genocide.A spokesperson for the Ovaherero Genocide Committee, Edwin Kanguatjivi, said committee members immediately confiscated and destroyed the poster when they noticed it.”These demonstrators may have had their own agenda of hate which the Ovaherero Genocide Committee does not and shall never support, let alone allow any of its platforms to be used for devious agendas,” said Kanguatjivi.The leaders of the Ovaherero and Ovambanderu Council for Dialogue held an urgent meeting on Tuesday to discuss the incident.In a statement issued by the Supreme Chief and Chairperson of the Opuuo Summit, David Kambazembi, he reiterated the undertakings of the Ovaherero/Ovambanderu Consultative summit in May to formulate a collective position on the structure, format and content for structured dialogue for reparations.The meeting resolved that the Ovaherero and Ovambanderu Council should engage directly with Germany to discuss reparations and restorative justice.The Ovaherero Genocide Committee warned that those with “hidden agendas” and “reactionary ideologies” to fuel hate among the Herero people or prevent the committee from achieving its objectives would meet harsh resistance.The committee said it condemned all violence, respected the laws of the country and the policy of national reconciliation.The NSHR said this week that it suspected that the poster was penned by a group calling itself the ‘Malcolm X School Of Thought’ and that it planned to identify the people in question.The Ovaherero Genocide Committee said it believed the protesters in question had “infiltrated” the march down Independence Avenue.It said it had written and vetted all the messages on the posters and had phrased them in such a manner that it would not disturb harmonious race relations in the country.The committee said it believed the men carrying the poster in question were bystanders who “either got too emotional and/or excited” and wrote the poster without permission from the organisers.Around 200 Hereros led by Chief Kuaima Riruako marched through the streets of Windhoek last Wednesday to hand over a petition to Prime Minister Nahas Angula in protest against Germany obtaining a seat on an extended United Nations Security Council and to demand reparations from Germany for the 1904-1907 genocide.This week, the National Society for Human rights said expressions of hate were tantamount to inciting violence and even genocide.A spokesperson for the Ovaherero Genocide Committee, Edwin Kanguatjivi, said committee members immediately confiscated and destroyed the poster when they noticed it.”These demonstrators may have had their own agenda of hate which the Ovaherero Genocide Committee does not and shall never support, let alone allow any of its platforms to be used for devious agendas,” said Kanguatjivi.The leaders of the Ovaherero and Ovambanderu Council for Dialogue held an urgent meeting on Tuesday to discuss the incident.In a statement issued by the Supreme Chief and Chairperson of the Opuuo Summit, David Kambazembi, he reiterated the undertakings of the Ovaherero/Ovambanderu Consultative summit in May to formulate a collective position on the structure, format and content for structured dialogue for reparations.The meeting resolved that the Ovaherero and Ovambanderu Council should engage directly with Germany to discuss reparations and restorative justice.The Ovaherero Genocide Committee warned that those with “hidden agendas” and “reactionary ideologies” to fuel hate among the Herero people or prevent the committee from achieving its objectives would meet harsh resistance.The committee said it condemned all violence, respected the laws of the country and the policy of national reconciliation.The NSHR said this week that it suspected that the poster was penned by a group calling itself the ‘Malcolm X School Of Thought’ and that it planned to identify the people in question.