A lawmaker in the Bundestag, the German federal parliament, has accused her country's government of using divide-and-rule tactics on the 1904–08 Nama/OvaHerero genocide reparation as the call for renegotiation intensified.
Sevim Dagdelen, a member of the Left Party who is in Namibia on a fact-finding mission, says Germany is doing everything to allegedly avoid responsibility for its colonial war crimes.
Dagdelen described Germany's €1 billion as compensation for the genocide as a disgrace, urging the descendants to unite and not have infighting, as this could derail the reparations process.
"I think I want to emphasize something from the German side: a lack of political will to deal seriously with the many German colonial and war crimes, and especially the consequences of historical responsibility; and you're right, development aid is not reparations. The €1.1 billion the government wants to provide over a period of 30 years is a disgrace, and I am aware that the joint declaration also led to fierce debates in Namibia amongst descendants and parliamentarians, and it shouldn't be forgotten that Germany bears the main responsibility."
She says Germany is also fighting criticism for refusing to renegotiate the joint declaration by framing the outcry in Namibia as an internal conflict.
"Based on my experience in foreign policy, I believe that further fragmentation of Namibian society will further weaken its negotiating position vis-à-vis Germany. It will weaken, and therefore I recommend if I am allowed, that Namibia act with a strategy to speak with one voice in negotiations with Germany. This is very important because they are trying to misuse and divide. Machiavelli said, 'Divide and conquer,' and this is what is happening at the moment."
Dagdelen promised to sensitize lawmakers in Germany on the 1904–08 Nama/Ovaherero genocide in pursuit of a resolution to sanction re-negotiations.
"I will, when I am back in Germany, consider all these meetings in my talks with my colleagues in the Parliament, both within my own parliamentary group, Die Linke, and with the others from the other parliamentary groups, because one thing is right: I am a very passionate parliamentarian. I really believe in the strength of parliament, and as parliamentarians, we should take it into our own hands and not let it just be in the hands of governments."
The lawyer-turned-politician will also visit memorial shrines in both Okahandja and Waterberg to pay respects to heroes and heroines of the ferocious colonial German regime.