A faction, under the leadership of Salomon Witbooi, also held a commemoration event for the annual |Khowese Gaogu Tses in Gibeon. 

Witbooi, who is challenging the recognition of Hendrik Ismael Witbooi as leader of the Witbooi Traditional Authority, has urged Gibeon residents and visitors alike to guard against vandalism of heritage sites.

The weekend celebrations, which started on Friday and ended on Sunday, featured a host of activities, including visiting historical places at Gibeon.

Witbooi was not pleased to see some heritage sites vandalised.

"People are coming to destroy the good things that have been placed there for the good use of the people. You can see what happened here. We have to unfortunately spend resources and money that could have been used to restore the area."

The day was further aimed at educating young people about their history with a drama that depicted the war between the Germans and the Nama and how the horsemen, under the leadership of the late Kaptein Hendrik 'Outa !Nanseb' Witbooi, captured the Germans.

A Representative of the Genocide-Affected Communities, Charles Eiseb, hopes that genocide negotiations can soon be finalised.

"Negotiations should be done by March 2024 so that the money can come in and better the lives of our people by establishing different projects. On October 6, we had the last conversation with the Germans in Windhoek. The last time we were in Berlin, and this time around, they came to Windhoek."

The day was commemorated under the theme "Uniting for a New Beginning for Our Heritage."