Nama & Ovaherero Genocide Lectures – „Not At Eye Level!?“
An event series with the descendants representatives in Namibia and the diaspora
These lectures are organized in cooperation with solidarity initiatives in Germany. They are meant to contribute to public education about the genocide and its traumatic consequences for the Ovaherero and Namas.
The lecture is hosted by Die Urbane. Eine HipHop Partei
Wednesday, 9th of March 2022
At 6 – 8 pm CET
and it will include
- Hans Hangue from the NTLA and Economics student at the Namibia University for Science and Technology
- Junia Kaindjee from the leadership of the Ovaherero Genocide Foundation and law student at Triumphant college in Namibia
- Daniel Bendix, scholar in development studies in Germany and descendant of white German colonizers in Namibia
Hans, Junia and Daniel will discuss on the culminative impact the Genocide has on contemporary Namibian society and more specifically the Ovaherero and the Nama youth. Talking from personal experiences and observations they will share anecdotal evidence and further suggest personal opinions on what they believe must be the way forward.
The colonial continuity of this genocidal history and its impact on the youth in particular is also embedded in the issue of land ownership inequality in Namibia as will be discussed also including the example of Daniels family history and highlighting the broader political implications.
More background on the recent developments:
After several years of negotiations, a “Joint Declaration” on the German genocide of the Ovaherero and Namas 1904-08 was presented by the governments of Namibia and Germany in May 2021. This declaration was met with strong protests within the genocide-affected communities and also on the part of Namibia’s opposition parties. To date, the parliament in Windhoek has not yet given its vote on it.
Nama and Ovaherero victims' associations – especially the Nama Traditional Leaders Association (NTLA) and the Ovaherero Traditional Authorities (OTA) - have protested against these bilateral negotiations all along.
Now they are calling for a new start and for the participation of their independent and self-elected representatives.
To this end, they have started an online petition addressed to Germany’s new Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs, Annalena Baerbock.
Sign here: http://www.change.org/renegotiatenow
In November 2020, while still in opposition, her Green Party had not only officially supported the Ovaherero and Namas’ claim for self-representation.
They had also demanded a full legal recognition of the genocide under international law.
On 26 January 2022, NTLA and OTA held an online press conference. Germany’s Foreign Office reacted on the same day.
Its spokesperson made it clear that the 1904-08 genocide would still not be recognized by Germany under the terms of international law.
He then referred to the fact that individual Ovaherero and Namas were included in the bilateral negotiations by the Namibian government - which is pure tokenism. By contrast, self-elected and independent representatives of the affected communities would not be accepted as equals:
Germany's position has been since 2015 that "only the Namibian government can be negotiating partner at eye level".
The press conference was also the kick-off for the Ovaherero and Nama Genocide Lectures, which are now taking place every fortnight.