Africa-Press – Namibia. LANDLESS People’s Movement (LPM) parliamentarian Edson Isaack says the party will challenge the legality of Germany’s N$18 billion genocide deal offer on both local and international platforms should Swapo manage to “bulldoze” it through parliament.
“We will not sit back and allow Swapo to proceed with their plan without an effective legal recourse. Even after they have endorsed such an ambiguous deal, we will challenge it both locally and internationally,” Isaack said at Keetmanshoop on Sunday.
The party urged communities in the Hardap and //Kharas regions to reject the genocide deal negotiated between the Namibian and German governments to address the 1904 to 1908 Ovaherero/Ovambanderu and Nama genocide.
LPM leader Bernadus Swartbooi said the joint genocide declaration contains no single aspect of official recognition of a genocide, a genuine and legally binding genocide apology to the affected communities, or reparation framework.
“The Swapo government has failed to follow the parliament-set rules of engagement of 2006. There is no way the ancestors of affected communities can be honoured in the absence of the three fundamentals being part of any genocide restitution now or in future,” Swartbooi said.
A member of the community, Rashid Rooinasie, said members of parliament should serve the nation – irrespective of their political affiliation – without fear, favour and prejudice.
“Please stop misleading the nation to protect your positions. I would rather lose my privileges for the sake of my offspring to live in a dignified manner in the distant future,” he said.
Isaack said the parliament is expected to pass the draft of the joint declaration next week. He said this would amount to a second atrocity to befall the Ovaherero/Ovambanderu and Nama communities.
He said the only difference is that this time, it would happen under the political rule of the Swapo government, while the descendants of these communities have for long suffered psychological, social and economic pains and injustices.
The LPM also accused Swapo members of parliament (MPs) Maureen Hinda, Lucia Witbooi, and Yvonne Dausab of being used by the party’s leadership to seek illegal buy-in from the affected communities before pushing the genocide deal through parliament.
Witbooi denied this, saying they had provided information on the content of the joint declaration, and the process followed by the government. “They are the people saying ‘nothing for us without us’, but they are not providing their people with information, so we did,” Witbooi said. The LPM has visited ≠Gabes, Karasburg, Ariamsvlei, Aus, Berseba, Bethani, and Tses and has delivered the same message.
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