Staff Reporter
Vice President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah said that the international community’s approach to the Israel-Palestine conflict highlights serious shortcomings in its ability to address genocide and suggests potential limitations for Namibia’s genocide negotiations with Germany as well.
“The ongoing genocide against Palestine should clearly show us the inefficiency and the serious shortcomings within the international community and the various institutions to deal with issues of this nature. Against this background, banking our hopes on external organisations for a genocide that was committed more than 120 years ago in Africa by one of the current economic powers in the world, namely Germany, may not help us particularly in this highly polarised international political order,” the Vice President said.
Nandi-Ndaitwah made these remarks during her opening speech at the Chief’s Forum Meeting in Khomasdal, Windhoek, where descendants of the Nama and Ovaherero genocide victims of 1904-1908 gathered to meet with her.
“The involvement of our chiefs in the negotiations process is critical to ensure transparency and inclusivity, and it was for the same reason that the Government constituted the Chiefs Forum, composed of the traditional leaders of the affected communities, in order to provide advice and guidance to the negotiations. This forum also allows for regular feedback and the necessary inputs to the work of the Special Political Cabinet Committee on Genocide during the negotiation process,” she said.
During the meeting, she criticised the global response to genocide and highlighted how current geopolitical tensions worldwide are complicating Namibia’s genocide reparation negotiations with Germany.
“We should be mindful of the geopolitical environment that is not making our negotiations with Germany easy at this point in time. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine and what is happening in Palestine is not helpful to our ongoing negotiations. We are seeing the current genocide being committed by Israel against the people of Palestine in Gaza while the international community is watching hopelessly,” Nandi-Ndaitwah said.
She emphasised that all peace-loving communities regard the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine as genocide, and swift intervention from the international community to assist the people of Gaza was expected. However, she said, no tangible actions were taken. She highlighted this as an indication that Namibia’s genocide negotiations with Germany should therefore be approached differently.
The Vice President stressed that the consensus reached so far in Namibia’s genocide negotiations with Germany is not ideal and does not meet the expectations of the affected communities or the country in general, given the impact of the 1904–1908 genocide.
“Let me make it clear that the consensus reached so far does not constitute the agreement between the Government of the Republic of Namibia and the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany. The understanding reached by the two governments will be subjected to the National Assembly for further discussion and noting, before the whole process is finalised,” she said.
Nandi-Ndaitwah said that the Namibian Government does not believe that the 1.1 billion euros that Germany offered to pay as reparations for the genocide is enough. However, she highlighted that Germany has agreed to commit to revisiting and renegotiating the amount as the implementation of reparation ensues. Given the current geopolitical tensions in the world and what they reflect, she urged the affected communities to carefully consider their reparations demands.
“It is therefore important for us to pay attention and appreciate what has been achieved from this negotiation and indicate where improvements should be made if necessary, unless we want to prolong this issue indefinitely,” she said.
