The Swapo Party has failed the Ovaherero and Nampa people by accepting an unjustifiable agreement that excluded the descendant survivors of the imperial German genocide, Executive Director in the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, Mbeuta Ua-Ndjarakana has said.

Speaking at a media conference where he also announced his resignation from the Swapo Party on Thursday, Ua-Ndjarakana said the Swapo-led government has derailed the genocide motion from reparations and restorative justice to bilateral project gestures by the Germans.

The Namibian government has accepted Germany’s reparations offer of N.dollars 18.4 billion over 30 years for the 1904-1908 colonial onslaught which many Ovaherero and Nama leaders, including the late Kazenambo Kazenambo and late Ovaherero Paramount Chief, Advocate Vekuii Rukoro have detested and rejected.

“What government has accepted is basically bilateral projects. German-funded projects are not new, they have been doing this, why is it called reparations now,” asked Ua-Ndjarakana.

He fumed that Swapo has reduced its members to mere hand clappers for votes, with no appreciation given to the voice of the affected communities, adding that the deal should not even be introduced in Parliament but rather through a referendum by affected communities.

“Germans need to be placed before the pressure of the international community through the United Nations system for Germany to own up to its inglorious history on our communities. I have decided to part ways with Swapo and join our traditional leaders and other civil society organisations pursuing the just cause over the blood of our forebearers,” Ua-Ndjarakana said.

The Namibia Press Agency