President Hage Geingob said the German genocide deal should not divide Namibians.

“The difficult work that we started in 2015 with the appointment of the late Dr Zed Ngavirue to get the Federal Republic of Germany to come to terms with its past horrors and to acknowledge that a genocide was committed against the Herero and Nama communities, should not divide us,” Geingob said during his State of the Nation Address on Wednesday.

He said through the diplomatic skill of the negotiators, Germany accepted the core demand that a genocide was committed against the Herero and Nama communities.

Members of Parliament discussed the 21 May 2021 agreement on genocide, apology and reparations which were carried out with courage and determination under intricate conditions, Geingob said.

“Germany has agreed to offer an unconditional apology to the Herero and Nama communities and pay reparations of N.dollars 20 billion, which we agree is not enough,” he said.

In September last year, protesters stormed Parliament as it was due to vote on the compensation offer from Germany to atone for its 1904-1908 genocide against the Herero and Nama people.

Namibian negotiators announced that Germany agreed to fund projects worth around N.dollars 20 billion over 30 years to atone for the killings and property seizures more than a century ago.

The protesters argued that the sum was too small for the loss and sufferings

Source: The Namibian Press Agency