Staff Writer
President Hage Geingob made a startling revelation on Thursday when answering questions after delivering his state of the nation address that his government turned down a N$192 million dollar settlement offer from the German government as part of reparations.
“They offered Euro 10 million and we said that is an insult,” he said.
The revelations by the President means the country could be gunning for more in compensation and comes after German minister for economic cooperation and development Gerd Müller in September last year said the reparation negotiations between the two countries could soon be finalised.
Geingob also revealed that the Germans had offered to send a high level delegation to Namibia to apologise for atrocities committed by German troops from 1904 to 1908 against the Ovaherero and Nama.
“They’ve agreed to come at a higher level to apologise, maybe here in the Parliament. It’s the best, I hope we are not going to attack them,” he said.
This comes as the German government officials have asked for forgiveness for the past atrocities and acknowledged the crime, but the country has refused to call it genocide.
Geingob said he had declined a proposal for the removal of Dr Zedekia Ngavirue, the country’s former Ambassador to the European Union from his position as the special envoy for the technical committee on genocide.
“There was a question to remove the professor and I declined because that is a man I respect. I asked him to come and he came, so I am not going to humiliate him,” he said.
The long-serving diplomat has been leading genocide talks on behalf of Namibia since his appointment in 2015.
The President urged the various local interested parties to come together to bring finality to negotiations that have dragged on for years.
“We need to come together and hold hands to avoid the Germans laughing at us,” he said.
The U-turn in policy by the German government is in direct contrast to the country’s previous position as communicated by former German Ambassador to Namibia, Christian-Matthias Schlaga, that the country will not reconsider its position regarding offering financial compensation to Namibia, as any financial claim can only be made by those directly affected and not descendants as is the case in Namibia.
The Namibian Government established diplomatic relations with the German Government in February 1991, shortly after Namibia’s independence, and the German Parliament acknowledged a special moral and historic responsibility towards Namibia.
