Land Debate Apology

Both articles refer to an isolated sentence uttered by me during a Deutsche Welle (DW) 'street debate' interview at Okakarara. Reference is made to the following sentence: “The people who came to Namibia did not steal land – they bought the land under the laws of the government of the day.”It is ironic that this programme I participated in was concerned with the ongoing reconciliation process required by the Namibian people in view of the genocidal atrocities committed by the German colonial government – especially during the period from 1904 to 1908.We as Namibians have to acknowledge Namibia's colonial past with all its atrocities, bloodshed, confiscation of land, its socio-economic consequences and most of all, the loss of dignity of its people. We have to know what happened and build our future on our history.Our reconciliation is about respect for what happened as well as respect for each other with the aim to unite and cohabitate peacefully as Namibians. This process is certainly not about dividing along language, race or skin-colour lines. We all have to take responsibility for the aim of this process and work for unity and peace in the spirit of an independent Namibia. Namibia has its own Constitution and subscribes to the rule of law which has to guide our attitudes, discussions and deeds in the process of reconciliation. The draft joint declaration between the German and Namibian governments is part of this reconciliation process. I see this process being addressed on two interdependent levels.On the one level, the government level, this joint declaration deals with the acknowledgement of the 1904 to 1908 genocide, apology and reparations, a motion submitted to the Namibian parliament in 2006 by the late chief Kuaima Riruako. On the other level, the process needs to be executed by the Namibian people themselves. Without denying the atrocious wrongs caused by previous governments, we have to find ways to structure and maintain a common continuously peaceful future within the framework of Namibian law.It is within the framework of the above that I argued land is acquired by people within the laws set by the government of the day. At the same time, I am fully aware that the strictly legal acquisition of land never fully exempts any landowner from the responsibility towards it. Land which in history was confiscated by governments and resold 'rightfully' under their own formulated laws is problematic at the best of times. Land and land ownership are connected to emotions and come with a deep sense of commitment towards its history and people, but also to sustainability. These mostly non-monetary responsibilities set farming apart from any other profession.I feel a part of this responsibility is to participate in the national debate about land and the reconciliation process at large. However, we can only do this together, as Namibians, within the framework of and respect for our laws. In view of this, it is indeed disappointing to see a reporter reducing a complex debate to a single sentence taken out of context. It is also disappointing that this newspaper article has caused a small group of people to hand over a petition to a representative of the governor of Otjizondjupa region, “challenging the notion that local Germans acquired their land in Namibia legally” as was reported by The Namibian. The article goes on to quote petitioners openly propagating illegal land invasion and even violence. Whatever the motives for this divisive form of journalism, I find it surprising and hardly helpful. By putting my remark back into context I hope to have made a more conducive contribution to the debate in question.However, I have read in the same newspaper article that the petitioners are asking for an apology for that isolated sentence which obviously created an unfortunate misunderstanding among that specific group of people and maybe others. In the spirit of peaceful coexistence and the reconciliation process, I want to effectively apologise to each and everyone who took offence. I am and always was open to constructive dialogue as long as it does justice to the complexity of the matter and the emotions in its wake.Harry Schneider-Waterberg

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