Ovaherero and Nama community feels they should be included in reparations talks

The Ovaherero, Ovambanderu and Nama community gathered this past weekend at the Swakopmund Memorial Park in Kramersdorf for the 10th annual reparation walk to pay tribute to those who lost their lives during the 1904-1908 genocide at the concentration camp in Swakopmund.
Commenting on the Namibian Government’s decision of filing a lawsuit against the German government the Representative of the genocide reparation committee Mrs. Ida Hoofman said the only way the two governments will succeed in the reparations talks is if they include the Ovaherero and Nama people in the talks. Hoofman continued saying that reconciliation between the German government and the two communities is possible, but only if justice is served and reconciliation cannot happen without the Ovaherero and the Nama communities.
The theme of the reparations walk is “It cannot be about us without us”. The Chief of the Topnaar Community Chief Seth Kooitjie said the pre-negotiations and post-negotiations with all the stakeholders is important to prevent saying that the settlement is a secret of a few insiders. “We are saying loud and clear that let the entire composition and functions of the bodies be negotiated among Namibians first, and that the body develop its own mechanisms and tools for dealing with internal issues before engaging with the Germans” said Kooitjie. As usual, the Ovaherero, Ovambanderu and the Nama Community marched through the streets of Swakopmund, from the Sports field in Vineta where they were staying for the weekend, to the Swakopmund Memorial Park in Kramersdorf. Everybody then proceeded to the memorial stoned with the words “In memory of the thousands heroic OvaHerero and OvaMbanderu who perished under mysterious circumstances at the realm of their German colonial masters in concentration camps in Swakopmund/ Otjozondjii during 1904-1908″.
At the memorial stone Mr. Uaaka said about two years back the Germans had the memorial monument, which was placed in honour of the late Chief Kuaima Riruako, removed but the Ovaherero community had a talk with the Swakopmund Municipality and the monument was finally replaced.