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The prime minister called for unity during the noisy parliamentary meeting, but opposition lawmakers accused the government of not marginalizing them and the directly affected communities.
Opposition politicians in Namibia lashed out at the government’s deal with Germany as lawmakers in Windhoek began to debate
In the planned settlement agreement, Berlin officially recognized the genocide of the colonial army in the early 20th century and agreed to settle for 1.3 billion US dollars.
The funds to be used for development projects will be allocated within 30 years.
Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila outlined the details of the agreement and kicked off a heated parliamentary debate on Tuesday.
“This issue is indeed a sensitive issue,” she said, and her call for unity was interrupted by questions from members of the parliament.
She said: “The important thing is that we don’t have a disagreement on this issue, but to pursue it together until we reach a logical conclusion.”
But opposition politicians took turns condemning the deal, accusing the government of marginalizing them and the communities directly affected by the genocide in negotiations that reached an agreement last month.
“They ruled out communities, Namibian groups…this is the apartheid imposed by the government,” Edson Isaacks of the opposition Landless People’s Movement (LPM) in Namibia described the result of the transaction process as “inconsistent.” Standard agreement”.
Another LPM MP Utaara Mootu told Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, “You betrayed us”.
“You did not allow equal participation based on human rights policies. She added that you did not give us the opportunity to talk about the economic trauma caused by genocide.
The agreement needs to be approved by the Namibian and German parliaments, and then signed by the foreign ministers of the two countries.
Josef Kauandenge, the leader of another opposition party, the National Unity and Democracy Organization (NUDO), declared that “we will not become a party to any signatory just because we are not involved.”
“The agreement can be signed between the governments of Germany and Namibia, but the vast majority of Nama and Ovaherero people will reject it with due contempt,” Kauandenge said.
The Prime Minister insisted that “full consultations were conducted with the affected communities during the negotiations”.
However, the descendants of the affected communities stated that they Not included in the process. They demand that compensation be paid directly to their community.
Last week, Nangolo Mbumba, Vice President of Namibia, stated that the development budget provided by Germany as compensation for genocide was “not enough”, but it will be reconsidered as the funds are launched.
The German Empire conquered what is now Namibia and used it as a colony from 1884 to 1915, treating people cruelly.
The government of this southern African country began negotiations with its former colonizer, Germany, in 2015 on the massacres of the Herero and Nama people that rebelled against the ruler in 1904 and 1908.
Historians say that about 65,000 of the 85,000 people living in Herero were killed at the time, while at least 10,000 of the 20,000 Nama people living there at the time were killed.
After years of repetition, the parties reached a landmark agreement last month, and Germany officially recognized these killings as genocide.
Kuugongelwa-Amadhila said that the German government had agreed to “unconditionally apologize to the affected communities and the entire country” for the genocide.
The German President will issue a statement of apology in the National Assembly. The specific date has not yet been determined.
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