Namibia: Namdia’s Lack of Genocide Remembrance Support Angers Traditional Leaders

THE Nama Traditional Leaders Association (NTLA) has slammed the Namdia Foundation’s lack of support with regards to hosting a genocide remembrance slated for 21 and 22 April at Shark Island, at Lüderitz in the ||Kharas region.

The occasion will raise awareness of the 1904 to 1908 genocide and its effects on contemporary society.

NTLA patron for international affairs Sima Luipert says Namdia should be mindful of how the land on which it mines and sells Namibian diamonds to the international market was taken forcefully and brutally by the German authorities.

“Namdia owes an explanation to the Nama Traditional Leaders Association on why they rejected to support the hosting of the genocide memorial day.

“Namdia has a responsibility to the Nama people, besides all Namibian people. Therefore we want to know what they ‘carefully considered’ and reached consensus on that they cannot support the event,” she says.

In a press release issued on Friday, Lazarus Kairabeb said the Nama people has never gained anything from their involvement in the diamond industry, and are offended about the way certain corporates continue to increase inequalities.

Kairabeb said it is no wonder that southerners were apathetic during the 2019/20 elections.

“Organisers of the event sent out letters to corporate benefit receivers, such as the Namdia Foundation and others, only to find that for ‘considerate reasons’, the proponents of the event or the event itself are found not worthy of support,” he said.

The Namdia Foundation has rejected what it termed “the politicisation and tribalisation” of its endeavours.

Foundation spokesperson Beverley Coussement says the foundation has invested close to N$6 million in various programmes in the Hardap region, such as the construction and donation of an oxygen generation plant at the Mariental State Hospital, and blankets and food parcels to communities at Tses and Berseba in //Karas.

She says the foundation sponsored the Pan-African Centre of Namibia for the centenary commemoration of the killing of Abraham Morris, which was held at Keetmanshoop in June 2022, and has sponsored two students from the //Kharas region with Namdia Foundation bursaries.

“It is understandable that the foundation’s resources are limited, and that it cannot approve every single request it receives. However, by prioritising its resources and focusing on making a sustainable impact, the foundation can ensure it is making the most significant difference possible within the scope of its capabilities,” Coussement says.

Chairperson of the organising committee Johannes Ortman says the request was for monetary or other support.

He says the planned occasion would be an educational event for all Namibians – particularly the youth – and will involve lectures, a genocide walk, speeches of the NTLA and Ovaherero Traditional Authority chairpersons, and a gala dinner.

“This ‘limited resources’ is an excuse we are not buying into, since these are people who are mining and selling our diamonds extracted from our region.

“We have just come to the conclusion that the refusal is because it’s a genocide event.

“We will go to the minister of mines and energy to get the Namdia Foundations’ support for this event as we do not take the refusal lightly,” Ortman says.