On the chilly morning of August 12, 1904, thousands of Namibia’s Ovaherero (plural for Herero) woke up to the loud thunder of blazing machine guns. There was also the commotion created by the sounds of women and children running helter-skelter in search of cover from the ambushing German colonial forces.

In the subsequent battle that ensued on the day, mothers watched in awe as their sons fell to the ground one after the other at the hands of the more superior German colonial troops who have infiltrated the Herero camps and launched an attack.

Thousand of Herero who gallantly attempted to stand up to the German onslaught lay dead.

Those who braved the pursuing German attacks were cunningly led into the dry and arid plains of the Omaheke (part of modern day Kalahari Desert) in a cynical ploy where the Germans only left open the way into the desert.

The battle plan was that those who escaped the German bullets should die of thirst. Waterholes for 240 km around the desert were either patrolled or poisoned, and those Herero who came crawling out of the Omaheke, desperate for water, were bayoneted.

Reality march to death

This left the Herero with but one option: to cross the desert into Botswana (then called Bechuanaland) - in reality a march to death. This, indeed, is how the majority of the Herero perished

When it was all over, about 60 per cent to 70 per cent of the total Herero population was dead in what was considered the first genocide of the twentieth century.

More than a century later, as they convened on August 12 to pay homage to the dead,.the descendants of those who lost their lives in the most inhumane way possible have vowed to forgive but never to forget what they describe as atrocities committed by the German colonial forces against their ancestors.

Herero paramount Chief Kuaima Riruako, in an exclusive interview with Africa Review last week, swore never to allow his subjects to forget how their ancestors suffered at the hands of their colonial masters despite the many years that had passed since the events.

“A hundred years is nothing. It’s just one small century and it won’t change how we feel about the crimes against humanity committed against our people,” Chief Riruako said.

He said although he does not encourage hate amongst his people towards the Germans, he admittted that it had been difficult cooperating with people who show no signs of remorse.

“I do not preach hate, but I feel the anger, pain and frustration of my people on days like these when they reflect on past events. All we want is for the Germans to own up to their mistakes and pay reparations to the Ovaherero for what they did to us,” he said.

Calls for apology

The chief has continuously called on the German government to officially apologise to the Herero and consequently pay reparation for “…having robbed them off their dignity and humanity.”

Germany offered its first formal apology for the colonial-era massacre in August 2004 - exactly a century after the genocide occurred.

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