Namibia: We Want Our Land Back - Hereros

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Namibia: We Want Our Land Back - Hereros

The Namibian (Windhoek)

August 15, 2006
Posted to the web August 15, 2006

Brigitte Weidlich
Windhoek

THE Herero people are demanding the return of land
they lost during the German colonial era, the
Paramount Chief of the Ovaherero, Kuaima Riruako, said
at the weekend.

Herero communities also have to be "reconstructed and
rebuilt" with modern infrastructure like potable
water, electricity, modern roads and health
facilities, Riruako demanded.

He was speaking at a ceremony at Okakarara to
commemorate the Battle of the Waterberg in August 1904
between Herero and German soldiers.

Riruako said the current impasse with the German
government over the Herero's reparation demands was
unfortunate, and accused Berlin of "sweeping the
tragic history of the Herero under the carpet".

Referring to a special initiative announced last year
by the German government for the Herero, Nama and
Damara people in Namibia, who particularly suffered
under German colonial rule, Riruako dismissed the
exercise as a "bogus scheme".

He said it made a mockery of his people by creating
instability and division among them, while "buying the
silence of some influential members of our modern
society".

The Initiative for Reconciliation and Development
(IRD) was conceived as a practical follow-up to a
public apology for German colonial crimes made by
Germany's International Co-operation Minister, Heidi
Wieczorek-Zeul, at Okakarara in 2004.

The aim is to create and finance development projects
exclusively in areas predominantly inhabited by
Hereros, Namas and Damaras.

According to the German government, the N$160 million
for this initiative is in addition to regular German
development aid.

The initiative can only spring into action once it has
been endorsed by the Namibian Cabinet.

An agreement on the Initiative was supposed to be
signed in December, when President Hifikepunye Pohamba
paid a state visit to Germany, but the Namibian
delegation refused to do that, saying it first had to
consult affected communities.

Meanwhile, a source in the Herero community told The
Namibian that Deputy Prime Minister Libertina Amathila
had carried out consultations earlier this year.

The agreement was signed when the bilateral
negotiations for co-operation between Germany and
Namibia were concluded a few weeks ago.

"We are however very frustrated that no concrete steps
have been followed and what the projects will be," the
source told this newspaper.

Riruako also criticised Government's stance that all
land belonged to the State, saying this was preventing
Hereros from having land lost under German rule
returned to them.

"This is unacceptable and a holdover from colonial
settler days," Riruako lashed out.

The German Embassy in Namibia declined to comment on
Chief Riruako's statements.

"There will be no statement made," an embassy official
told this newspaper yesterday, when approached for
comment.