By: Rodney Pienaar
The family of Nama Captain, Hendrick Witbooi expects the arrival of his bible and whip which is to be repatriated from Linder Museum, City Council of Stuttgart and State Badenwuttermber in Germany on the 26th of February.
The Bible is being remitted against the broader background of the call for the reinstitution of looted cultural goods and repartriation of human remains estranged during the colonial era from Africa, Education, Arts, and Culture minister Katrina Hanse-Himarwa said.
“Consequently since independence the government of Namibia made requests to the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany to approach state-owned Ethnographic Museums and other institutions to establish whether they had Namibian cultural objects and dialogues to affect their return to Namibia.”
“It is in this request that the Linden Museum decided to remit the Bible and whip to the government and people of Namibia. The Bible and the whip were initially supposed to be part of the third repatriation of remains,” she said.
Hanse-Himarwa reiterated that the delegation of 80 Namibians led by her in August last year was for the same purpose of repatriation.
“The delegation was reflective of the entire spectrum of views held by various parties in Namibia with regards to the questions of recognizing, an apology for genocide committed in Namibia between 1904 and 1908. It was, therefore, a broad and inclusive delegation of both recognised and unrecognized traditional leaders of Namibia as is the standing practice of the government of the Republic of Namibia.”
“The delegation including the Nama Traditional Leaders Association was briefed before departure by myself, the Vice President and the President to go and receive the remains and bible in a united and dignified manner that honours us as a nation without hiding the fact that we also have a difference of opinion,” she said.
Witbooi is recognised as one of the pioneer writers to have articulated a Pan Africanist philosophy which is the function foundation of Pan Africanist institutions such as the Organisation of African Unity and its successor, the African Union, said Hanse-Himarwa.
“For the youth who do not value wisdom and contribution of elders, it is important to underscore that Captain Hendrik Witbooi was the most wanted guerilla fighter still leading his deadly and efficient troops on horseback that humiliated German colonial troops at that time. No wonder he is affectionately referred to as ‘Fist of Equals’,” she said.
