The Nama Traditional Leaders Association has called on Germany to formally recognise the 1904 to 1908 Nama-Ovaherero genocide.
In a press statement issued Friday, Gaob David Frederick says Germany must move beyond acknowledging its colonial past and take concrete steps to address the harm suffered by the affected communities and their descendants.
“These are not four unrelated demands. They are inseparable parts of a process of justice,” he says.
Frederick says the Nama people support a motion brought before the German Bundestag by the political party Die Linke, calling for recognition of the genocide, an official apology, and reparations.
He says recognition without an apology would leave responsibility unresolved, while an apology without reparations would fail to address the lasting consequences of the atrocities.
Frederick also calls for the direct involvement of Nama and Ovaherero representatives in discussions concerning reparations, saying the communities had been excluded from negotiations that resulted in the 2021 Germany-Namibia Joint Declaration.
“We are not asking to be spoken about. We are asking to be spoken with,” he says.
He says reparations should be distinct from ordinary development assistance and address land dispossession, compensation, and rehabilitation.
Frederick says land was more than an economic asset for indigenous communities, saying it is central to identity, ancestry, spirituality and belonging.
Beyond reparations, the association proposes youth exchanges between Namibia and Germany, research partnerships between German universities and indigenous institutions in Namibia, and a memorial in Berlin dedicated to the Nama and Ovaherero genocide.
Frederick says the German parliament to support the motion and the German government to translate its principles into concrete action.
“Justice is not the enemy of reconciliation. Justice is its foundation,” he says.
