Germany to Pay Namibia $1.3 billion Reparatory Fee in Recognition of Colonial Genocide

Heiko Maas, Germany Foreign Minister

The German government on Friday announced it will pay Namibia, a former colony of it, the sum of $1.3 billion for the atrocities committed against the Herero and Nama ethnic groups.

Announcing the decision via a statement on Friday, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas acknowledged the crimes committed over 100 years ago have been recognized as genocide and as such the descendants of the victims will get the sum.

Mass also asked for forgiveness for the crimes he tagged as “crimes of German colonial rule”.

“Our goal was and is to find a common path to genuine reconciliation in memory of the victims. This includes naming the events of the German colonial period in what is now Namibia, and in particular the atrocities in the period from 1904 to 1908, without sparing or glossing over them. We will now also officially call these events what they were from today’s perspective: a genocide,” Maas said.

During those years Maas referenced, at least 80,000 Herero and Nama people were killed following an anti-colonial uprising.

Reacting to the offer of the German government, Namibian presidential press secretary Alfredo Hengari told CNN that the African nation sees the formal recognition of the crimes as a critical step in reconciliation and reparation.

“These are very positive developments in light of a very long process that has been accelerated over the past five years,” Hengari said. “People will never forget this genocide; they live with it. And this is an important process in terms of healing those wounds,” he said.

The offer however elicited a cold reception from advocacy groups of the genocide. They rejected the offer citing being alienated during the discussions.

“Is this the kind of reparation that we are supposed to be excited about?” Paramount Chief of Herero People and former attorney general Vekuii Rukoro told CNN. “This is just a public relations. This is a sellout job by the Namibian government. The government has betrayed the cause of my people,” Rukoro added.

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