(MENAFN) Namibia will never forget the atrocities committed by German colonial forces in the early 20th century, President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah said on Wednesday during the country’s first official Genocide Remembrance Day. Speaking at a ceremony in Windhoek’s Parliament Gardens, she honored the memory of the estimated 100,000 OvaHerero and Nama people killed between 1904 and 1908 in what is recognized by the UN as the first genocide of the 20th century.

Nandi-Ndaitwah described the horrific conditions under which many victims were held, including concentration camps where prisoners were starved and subjected to abuse. She also condemned the removal of victims’ skulls to Germany for so-called scientific research.

While acknowledging Germany’s 2021 apology and €1.1 billion ($1.2 billion) development aid pledge, the president noted that the offer does not meet the full expectations of the affected communities. Still, she welcomed Berlin’s formal recognition of the genocide as a step toward justice and reconciliation.

“Though we may differ on the final compensation, we must persist in our efforts for a just resolution,” Nandi-Ndaitwah said, highlighting Namibia’s ongoing negotiations with Germany since 2013.

Ahead of the event, the German government called its colonial crimes in Namibia the “darkest chapter” in bilateral relations and reaffirmed its moral and political responsibility, emphasizing the importance of reconciliation.

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