Traditional leaders of the genocide-affected communities in Kaokoland in one of their recent meetings held in Opuwo argued that the government should not to rush the genocide discourse, and should rather engage the communities fully.

In a report availed to Nampa on Thursday, the Okaoko Okonganda Committee, a committee of eight members tasked to organise meetings to further discussions of Ovaherero-Nama genocide and uniting Kaokoland leaders under one umbrella, stated that participants discussed the need for direct involvement of the descendants of the Ovaherero-Nama genocide to be allowed to engage the German representatives directly in the genocide discussions.

Former Opuwo Urban Constituency Councilor Weich Mupia, who is one of the leading members of the committee, said they felt the Namibian government discussed the genocide issue with the German government in bad faith to favour the latter at the expense of the former, who are the descendants of the genocide victims.

The report further described the general feeling of the participants at the meeting as ‘it’s not yet done until it’s fine’, which referred to inclusivity during the Ovaherero-Nama genocide discussions with the German government.

In the meantime, the report stated that it is a well-known fact that traditional leadership in Kunene Region are divided in many ways, such that they find it difficult to sit under one roof and discuss issues of mutual interest.

“This prompted some individuals to come up with a plan to create a WhatsApp group, called Okaoko Okonganda, for them to be able to develop ways of bringing all the Kaokoland-based traditional leaders together as a catalyst for unity among the various traditional authorities,” the report reads.

It further stated that the concept of the introduction of development projects as part of reparations was denounced at that meeting and thus the two governments are urged to follow the German-Jewish reparation agreement as the model of reparation, despite the fact that the model towards Namibia should be an improved and modernised model which should cater for the current international economic calamity.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency