The German government has rejected demands to re-negotiate a new reparation deal over the Namibian genocide carried out during its occupation of the African nation.
In May last year Germany accepted to pay Namibia €1.1bn as reparation for the genocide committed during colonial-era.
The reparation was to be in a form of financial support for Namibia’s development through a programme.
Per the deal of the reparation there will be funding paid over 30 years through spending on infrastructure, healthcare and training programmes benefiting the impacted communities.
But some traditional leaders have since refused to endorse the deal, criticising the package offered.
The German government has now officially rejected these demands, DW reported.
“From the German government’s point of view, the negotiations for the joined declaration with Namibia have been finalized, even though talks about specific modalities of its implementation are continuing,” the government wrote in response to written questions submitted by Sevim Dagdelen, a Member of Germany’s federal parliament from the socialist Left Party told DW.
“It is a sign of arrogance that the German government simply ignores the massive criticism from Namibia’s parliament and the outrage of the descendants of the victims and leaves Namibia to deal with it,” Dagdelen said.
In 2020, Namibia’s government rejected an offer from Germany meant to settle the atrocities committed by German troops between 1904 to 1908.
The slaughter of more than 100,000 people by the Germans took place when Namibia was a German colony known as South-West Africa.
The Herero and Nama ethnic groups in Namibia had rebelled against German rule in response to the expropriation of their land and cattle by Germany.
The head of the military administration in the region, Lothar von Trotha, ordered the massacre in response to the uprising.
The indigenous Herero and Nama people had to flee their lands. Those killed were people found trying to return to their expropriated lands.
About 65,000 of the 80,000 Herero and 10,000 of an estimated 20,000 Nama people are thought to have died.
According to many published reports, victims were subjected to harsh conditions in concentration camps, and some had their skulls sent to Germany for scientific experiments.
Germany to pay Namibia €1.1bn in reparations for colonial genocide
Source: Africafeeds.com
