WINDHOEK: Namibia’s President Hage Geingob on Tuesday said reparations offered by Germany for mass killings in its then colony at the start of the twentieth century were “not acceptable” and needed to be “revised.”
German occupiers in Namibia killed tens of thousands of indigenous Herero and Nama people in 1904-1908 massacres, which historians have called the first genocide of the 20th century.
In 2015, the two countries started negotiating an agreement that would combine an official apology by Germany as well as development aid.
Geingob on Tuesday was briefed by his government’s special envoy Zed Ngavirue on the status of negotiations.
The briefing took place ahead of a final round of talks for which a date has yet to be set.
“The current offer for reparations made by the German government remains an outstanding issue and is not acceptable to the Namibian government,” Geingob said in a statement after the briefing, adding that Ngavirue had been asked to “continue with negotiations for a revised offer.”
No details were provided on the offer.
The president also noted that Germany had declined to accept the term “reparations,” as that word was also avoided during the country’s negotiations with Israel after the Holocaust.
Ngavirue rejected Germany’s reference to reparations as “healing the wounds” and said the terminology would be subject to further debate, according to the statement.
Berlin was not immediately available for comment on the claims.
Germany has acknowledged that atrocities occurred at the hands of its colonial authorities and some officials have even recognized it as a genocide.
But the country has repeatedly refused to pay direct reparations, citing millions of euros in development aid to the Namibian government.
Namibia was called German South West Africa during Germany’s 1884-1915 rule, and then passed under South African rule for 75 years, finally gaining independence in 1990.
Tensions boiled over in 1904 when the Herero rose up, followed by the Nama, in an insurrection crushed by German imperial troops.
In the Battle of Waterberg in August 1904, around 80,000 Herero fled including women and children.
German troops went after them across what is now known as the Kalahari Desert. Only 15,000 Herero survived.
The German government has so far refused to apologize for the killings.
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Namibia rejects German genocide reparations offer
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Namibia rejects German genocide reparations offer
- German occupiers in Namibia killed tens of thousands of indigenous Herero and Nama people in 1904-1908 massacres
- Germany has repeatedly refused to pay direct reparations, citing millions of euros in development aid to the Namibian government
Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party re-elects To Lam as general secretary
HANOI: Vietnam’s leader To Lam was re-elected Friday as the general secretary of its ruling Communist Party, securing a new five-year term in the country’s most powerful position and pledging to rev up economic growth in the export powerhouse.
Lam, 68, was reappointed unanimously by the party’s 180-member Central Committee at the conclusion of the National Party Congress, the country’s most important political conclave.
In a speech, he said he wanted to build a system grounded in “integrity, talent, courage, and competence,” with officials to be judged on merit rather than seniority or rhetoric.
No announcement was made about whether Lam will also become president. If he were to get both positions, he would be the country’s most powerful leader in decades, similar to Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
The Congress was framed by Vietnam’s defining national question: whether the country can transform itself into a high-income economy by 2045. During the meeting, Vietnam set a target of average annual GDP growth of 10 percent or more from 2026 to 2030.
The gathering brought together nearly 1,600 delegates to outline Vietnam’s political and economic direction through 2031. It also confirmed a slate of senior appointments, electing 19 members to the Politburo, the country’s top leadership body.
Beyond settling the question of who will lead Vietnam for the coming years, the Congress will also determine how the country’s single-party system responds to world grown increasingly turbulent as China and the United States wrangle over trade and Washington under President Donald Trump challenges a longstanding global order.
Vietnam’s transformation into a global manufacturing hub for electronics, textiles, and footwear has been striking. Poverty has declined and the middle class is growing quickly.
But challenges loom as the country tries to balance rapid growth with reforms, an aging population, climate risks, weak institutions and US pressure over its trade surplus. At the same time it must balance relations with major powers. Vietnam has overlapping territorial claims with China, its largest trading partner, in the South China Sea.
Lam has overseen Vietnam’s most ambitious bureaucratic and economic reforms since the late 1980s, when it liberalized its economy. Under his leadership, the government has cut tens of thousands of public-sector jobs, redrawn administrative boundaries to speed decision-making, and initiated dozens of major infrastructure projects.
Lam spent decades in the Ministry of Public Security before becoming its minister in 2016. He led an anti-corruption campaign championed by his predecessor, Nguyen Phu Trong. During his rise, Vietnam’s Politburo lost six of its 18 members during an anti-graft campaign, including two former presidents and Vietnam’s parliamentary head.
Lam, 68, was reappointed unanimously by the party’s 180-member Central Committee at the conclusion of the National Party Congress, the country’s most important political conclave.
In a speech, he said he wanted to build a system grounded in “integrity, talent, courage, and competence,” with officials to be judged on merit rather than seniority or rhetoric.
No announcement was made about whether Lam will also become president. If he were to get both positions, he would be the country’s most powerful leader in decades, similar to Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
The Congress was framed by Vietnam’s defining national question: whether the country can transform itself into a high-income economy by 2045. During the meeting, Vietnam set a target of average annual GDP growth of 10 percent or more from 2026 to 2030.
The gathering brought together nearly 1,600 delegates to outline Vietnam’s political and economic direction through 2031. It also confirmed a slate of senior appointments, electing 19 members to the Politburo, the country’s top leadership body.
Beyond settling the question of who will lead Vietnam for the coming years, the Congress will also determine how the country’s single-party system responds to world grown increasingly turbulent as China and the United States wrangle over trade and Washington under President Donald Trump challenges a longstanding global order.
Vietnam’s transformation into a global manufacturing hub for electronics, textiles, and footwear has been striking. Poverty has declined and the middle class is growing quickly.
But challenges loom as the country tries to balance rapid growth with reforms, an aging population, climate risks, weak institutions and US pressure over its trade surplus. At the same time it must balance relations with major powers. Vietnam has overlapping territorial claims with China, its largest trading partner, in the South China Sea.
Lam has overseen Vietnam’s most ambitious bureaucratic and economic reforms since the late 1980s, when it liberalized its economy. Under his leadership, the government has cut tens of thousands of public-sector jobs, redrawn administrative boundaries to speed decision-making, and initiated dozens of major infrastructure projects.
Lam spent decades in the Ministry of Public Security before becoming its minister in 2016. He led an anti-corruption campaign championed by his predecessor, Nguyen Phu Trong. During his rise, Vietnam’s Politburo lost six of its 18 members during an anti-graft campaign, including two former presidents and Vietnam’s parliamentary head.
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