The German Bundestag (parliament) yesterday held a plenary debate around the 1904-08 Ovaherero and Nama genocide, which saw the country’s far-left party Die Linke [The Left] supporting and challenging the German government’s current approach to ongoing negotiations.
Die Linke has long criticised the German government’s bilateral agreements with Namibia, specifically the controversial 2021 Joint Declaration between the two governments.
The party’s core arguments mirror the demands of the affected indigenous groups.
The German government’s pledge of €1.1 billion (N$20.50 billion) over 30 years is structured as ex-gratia development aid rather than legal reparations, Die Linke argues.
In a motion currently before the German Bundestag, Die Linke contends this financial framework is completely insufficient and demands legally recognised reparations.
The party also strongly objects to the exclusion of self-determined traditional Herero and Nama authorities from direct trilateral negotiations with the two governments.
In its motion, Die Linke is pushing for the descendants to be formal signatories rather than having the deal processed strictly as a state-to-state agreement between Berlin and Windhoek.
Speaking on the sidelines of yesterday’s plenary debate, Mutjinde Katjiua, the paramount chief of one of the Ovaherero Traditional Authority (OTA) factions, welcomed the historic motion brought before the German Bundestag by Die Linke, which seeks to unequivocally recognise the genocide.
“In the last 10 years, the Governments of Germany and Namibia have pursued a process that fails to provide unequivocal recognition of genocides of the OvaHerero and Nama peoples.
Instead, Germany describes the genocides as “events” which can apparently be described as “genocides from today’s perspective”.
This language implies that it was acceptable to exterminate the OvaHerero and Nama peoples at the time because we were not regarded as members of the so-called “civilised nations,” said Katjiua. He continued: “The resulting Joint Declaration provides €1.1 billion (N$20.50 billion) for reconciliation and reconstruction through development aid. Development aid cannot substitute for comprehensive reparations.
Hence, we reject the Joint Declaration in whole and have filed a lawsuit in the Windhoek High Court to set it aside.
The motion by Die Linke calls upon the moral integrity of the German people, through their elected representatives in the Bundestag, to uphold Article 1 of Germany’s Basic Law, which declares that: “Human dignity shall be inviolable. To respect and protect it shall be the duty of all state authority”.
The debate inside Germany aligns with rising political tensions in Namibia, where civil society groups like the Genocide Reparations Advocacy Forum (Graf) and opposition leaders have urged Germany not to ratify the Joint Declaration.
Critics argue that the document avoids structural justice, while Namibian leaders are calling for unified public alignment before any final text is signed into law.
“Germany now faces a clear choice, either to perpetuate injustice or to uphold human dignity through full recognition of the Herero and Nama genocide, and meaningful reparative action.
We call upon the German Bundestag to unequivocally recognise the genocide and to ensure the direct and meaningful participation of affected communities and their chosen representatives; and to establish an inclusive process toward comprehensive reparative justice,” said Katjiua.
On Tuesday in Parliament, Prime Minister Elijah Ngurare said he is not fully informed about the German Bundestag’s planned debate but stressed the need for Namibians to unite and establish a common position on the contested genocide Joint Declaration.
He was responding to Nudo’s member of Parliament, Vetaruhe Kandorozu, who questioned him on whether the government is aware that the German Bundestag is scheduled to debate two motions on the 1904-1908 genocide and the contested Joint Declaration.
Ngurare called for further discussion, saying the issue should be debated in Namibia and that the concerns of affected communities and the sacrifices of genocide victims should be recognised.
“We now need to be able to ventilate this issue… so that we can coin a united position and honour all those who have sacrificed and who have been subjected to the most inhuman treatment,” he said.
-ohembapu@nepc.com.na
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