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WINDHOEK. – Namibian communities whose ancestors were massacred by German colonial forces and had their property seized more than a century ago are calling for fresh talks with Berlin to negotiate the return of ancestral land.

Germany agreed in May 2021 to fund projects worth US$1.2 billion over 30 years to make up for the property seizures and killings by German colonial forces between 1904 and 1908, after the tribes rebelled against German rule.

But critics have said Germany should not have directed its apology to the Namibian state, which did not exist at the time of the genocide and had no mandate to speak to Germany on behalf of traditional Herero and Nama authorities.

Mutjinde Katjiua, leader of a faction of the Ovaherero Traditional Authority, said the exclusion of descendants of the affected communities from the talks deviated from a 2006 parliamentary resolution that stated negotiations should be between those communities and the perpetrator government.

The communities also argue that the issue of land ownership was not addressed in the 2021 joint declaration, noting that ancestral land taken by German forces has not be returned – Reuters