Namibia’s Vice President, Nangolo Mbumba says Germany’s offer of €1bn is not enough to repair the damage done to the people of Ovaherero and Nam in the Namibian Genocide of 1904-1908.
Germany on May 28 apologised for the genocide which led to the death of more than 10,000 Herero people and about 5,000 Nam people. The country offered to rebuild the regions it destroyed many years ago with €1.22bn, an amount dubbed small for the extent of destruction.
Both nations’ governments have however agreed to the money offered, a decision Herero and Nam people have expressed their disappointment in. On Friday, the Namibian government approached its citizens to formally announce the deal.
The money is expected to spread round for 30 years on projects which will be designed to renergise the war-ridden region.
Vice President Mbumba has said no amount of money in any currency can truly compensate for the life of a human being.
Resistant to colonialism in the early 20th century, the people of Herero and Nam of then German South Africa and modern day Namibia were driven to the extremes – to deserts and caves where they never survived.
The hunger, thirst and deprivation in the deserts ensured the people died in numbers, with historical reports putting the casualties at more than 10,000.