Geingob said in a statement that Germany continues to call for efforts to seek redress with the government and those in conflict “healing from wounds” instead of reparations.
According to historians, the bloody conflict occurred when the Herero natives revolted against colonial troops over land occupations. Germany, which today provides development aid to Namibia, offered in 2004 its first formal apology for the conflict.
Both countries have been in talks since 2015 to negotiate compensation for the massacre by German colonial troops. So far, eight rounds of negotiations have taken place between the countries.
“The current offer for repairs made by the German government remains an excellent issue and is not acceptable to the Namibian government,” the president said in a statement on Tuesday.
He gave no details about the offer.
CNN reached out to the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment, but is yet to receive a response.
Descendants of the few survivors are seeking another $ 4 billion compensation from the German government for what they claim was an orchestrated campaign of destruction that preceded Germany’s genocidal policies of World War II.
And for many years the Namibian government had asked Germany to call the war alliance and oblige it to make repairs to the affected tribes.
While Germany has acknowledged and expressed regret for its role of the imperial troops in the conflict, it has refused to pay compensation.
In a statement on Tuesday, Geingob said both governments had agreed to a political settlement, and their representative would continue to negotiate a revised offer.
In 2019, Germany returned a bolder 15th-century artifact it took from Namibia, known as the Stone Cross. The move was described by Monika Gruetters, Germany’s prime minister for media and culture, as “a clear signal that we are committed to re-evaluating the colonial past.”
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