The Team Leader and Representative of the Genocide-Affected Communities at the Negotiation Table, Charles Eiseb, has called on all Namibians to take ownership and partake in the maiden Genocide Remembrance Day commemoration on May 28.
Between the years of 1904 and 1908, the German colonial government carried out an act of genocide against the Ovaherero and Nama people.
This ethnic extermination by the colonial German government is said to be the first genocide of the 20th century.
'It was a huge and bad situation that happened to the Nama and Ovaherero people but inclusive of other tribes, and why we should celebrate this is to pay homage and honour to the loss of life and also property deprivation and all those things that are associated with it. So basically, it's to pay homage and tribute to the lives of our ancestors."
Last year, Cabinet announced the proclamation of 28 May as the official national Genocide Remembrance Day, and it will be formally commemorated this year for the first time.
The day 28 May was chosen, as it was the day the German colonial government at the time ordered the closure of concentration camps in Namibia.
"It is an impartial day; I credit honourable Mayamberua for that when he brought this motion because it was a perspective of impartiality so that it doesn't benefit or be a day of the Hereros or the Namas, but it is impartial because all the Hereros and Namas are in the concentration camps; hence, it is an appropriate choice. People are talking about 12 April, but that is Honkranz to a section and not universal, but this one is across the board, if I can say."
Eiseb says consultations regarding this day were done.
"What promoted genocide negotiations started after the motion was presented in parliament in 2006. Genocide negotiations started in 2016, and as part of the package, a motion was brought by former MP Maamberua to commemorate this, and there were a number of consultations done for transparency and participation by the parliamentary standing committee. It took three years (2017 - 2020) for it to be brought back, and it was accepted. There was thorough consultation with the traditional authorities and communities."
He also noted that commemorating a day such as this will go a long way in making an impactful contribution to the current ongoing genocide negotiations between Namibia and Germany.
The affected communities are demanding that Germany acknowledge that what it did about 117 years ago was indeed genocide and tender an apology as well as pay reparations to the affected communities.
"It's a stepping stone towards the concluding part; it's part and parcel of the negotiation process to recognise the atrocities that were committed, the genocidal ones, and it is part and parcel of the process, so it will not stand in the way, but it will be more beneficial because it will also be more inclusive."
As it currently stands, Eiseb says the traditional leaders and authorities of the various affected communities have been consulted regarding the day.
Over 100,000 Ovaherero and Nama died in the genocide, where many were imprisoned in concentration camps, and the majority died from diseases, starvation, dehydration, abuse and exhaustion.