A ruling by a full bench of the Windhoek High Court has shifted the trajectory of the legal fight over the 2021 Namibia-Germany joint declaration on the 1904-08 Ovaherero and Nama genocide. 

The court has decided not to add Germany as a respondent in the case, at least for the time being.

Some members of the Ovaherero community, led by Professor Mutjinde Katjiua, held a commemoration today marking the anniversary of the 1904 extermination order against the Ovaherero and Nama people.

Descendants of the Nama and Ovaherero communities in Namibia gathered in Lüderitz, located in the ||Kharas Region, for the annual Genocide Memorial at Shark Island.

The Nama Traditional Leaders Association (NTLA) has rejected the government's approval for the signing of the Nama and Ovaherero genocide reparations agreement with the German government. 

Cabinet approved the signing of the Joint Declaration in mid-December last year. 

The Herero and Nama genocide is a moral and legal crime, and therefore, there is a need to revisit the dialogue between Namibia and Germany at the community and people-to-people levels. 

Windhoek Mayor Queen Kamati has highlighted several key initiatives driving the city's progress, such as a voluntary house exchange programme that allows homeowners to trade their historic houses for newly built ones.

This is part of the city's affordable housing project. 

The Director of the Swakopmund Genocide Museum mobilised residents and visitors from all over the world to volunteer in a campaign to restore unmarked graves of the genocide victims.

President Nangolo Mbumba has assured the members of Parliament of an update on the genocide negotiations on a separate platform.

This follows questions by the leader of PDM, McHenry Venaani, on the progress of the discussions.

Kunene Governor Marius Sheya has warned against tribalistic remarks pitting the Damara and Nama tribesmen at Khorixas.

Sheya called out issues brewing at the Ward 9 communal area, where the locals are at loggerheads over alleged non-ancestral people being allocated plots to farm and residing there.

Special Rapporteurs from the United Nations (UN) have confirmed that the participation rights of the Ovaherero and Nama people have been violated by the German and Namibian governments in terms of international law. The rapporteurs also urge the German government to grant reparations.