The OvaHerero community gathered at Pioneers Park Cemetery to lay a wreath at the gravesite of the late Kamaituara Kukuri.

Chief Kamaituara Kukuri was a leader of the Otjosazu community and a clergyman in the Evangelical Lutheran Church. 

The laying of the wreath is to reflect on the late Kukuri's contribution and sacrifices during the colonial oppression.

Kukuri played a role in the resistance against German colonial forces and was executed by hanging in Windhoek.

Between 1904 and 1908, the German colonial troops carried out a brutal campaign against the Ovaherero and Nama communities in what was known as German South West Africa.

The campaign, which was widely recognised as the first genocide of the 20th century, resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Hereros and Namas. 

The Chief of Ombandi Royal House, Rikukurura Kukuri, said there is a need to teach history about genocide in schools.

"Genocide remembrance must be taught at schools; the young people must know about this; it must form part of the curriculum, and that is why I am saying the younger generation should know their history," he said, adding that "We are not satisfied with simply saying that, well, sorry, there must be reparations. That is what we want to see. And I think as far as the young people are concerned, because we don't know how long this struggle will go on, they must actually come out."

The Councillor of Katutura Constituency, Vezemba Katjaimo, said the Genocide Remembrance Day is the day to reaffirm a commitment to justice.

"It's a call for us to remember to mourn and to reaffirm our commitment to fight for justice. In that tragic loss of thousands of men, women, and children, we must remember that their suffering was not in vain."

Also speaking at the event was Mbakumua Hengari, the Chairperson of the Okandjoze Chiefs Assembly on Genocide's Technical Committee.

"We are; we have an appointment with the destiny of our future generations. The matter that we are standing for is sacred because it is the liberty and the justice of our ancestors. But it is also the basis of the future, of the next generation, just as we were products of the genocide and the trauma that came with it."