Okandjoze:The Okandjoze Chiefs Assembly on Genocide (OCAG) has made a historic demand for reparations, valuing their claim at N$12.9 trillion, in response to the atrocities committed by the imperial German regime against the Ovaherero and Nama communities between 1904 and 1908.

According to Namibia Press Agency , the assembly convened at Farm Platsak in the Oshikoto Region, where they rejected Germany's current bilateral aid proposals. Instead, they presented a comprehensive reparations plan, emphasizing that standard development assistance cannot replace formal acknowledgment and adequate compensation for the past genocide.

The OCAG communiqu© stressed that reparations should not be replaced by bilateral development aid, as these do not address the specific historical crime. The proposed payment models, aligned with Germany's national budget, suggest various annual payment scenarios N$429.9 billion over 30 years, N$258 billion over 50 years, and N$129 billion over 100 years.

OCAG further criticized the Joint Declaration signed in May 2021 by Germany and Namibia, which recognized the atrocities as genocide but did not include the terms "reparations" or "compensation." Germany's pledge of pound 1.1 billion, or approximately N$20.56 billion, was intended as a gesture of reconciliation but did not meet the expectations of the victim communities, according to the assembly.

The assembly maintains that the Joint Declaration's terminology and provisions do not sufficiently address the concerns of the victim communities' descendants. They argue that the revised provisions fail to adequately resolve the genocide issue.

Attempts to obtain comments from the Namibian government and the German Embassy were unsuccessful.