S2 Episode 3: Jephta Nguherimo: Reparations to restore dignity: Pursuing justice for the ovaHerero and Nama genocide in Namibia

Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur

In this episode of Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur, Jephta Nguherimo, founder of the OvaHerero People’s Memorial and Reconstruction Foundation, speaks to us about the legacies of Germany’s genocide of the ovaHerero and Nama people in 1904-1908. It is not common knowledge that Germany’s first concentration camps were in Namibia; the camps were among the tools of genocide employed by the German colonial state. Describing how the genocide’s impact endures in Namibia’s landscape, in bodies, in families, as well as in the country’s economic conditions, Jephta discusses Herero activists’ fight for recognition and repair from Germany. He draws attention to the important shortcomings of Germany’s 2021 apology and the agreement between the German and Namibian states for a 1.1 billion euro development aid package. As he shines a light on the difference between reparations and economic aid and argues for what true reparations should entail, Jephta speaks to the link between strengthening African states and pursuing reparations for colonial crimes, as well as the role that civil society must play in this process. Throughout our conversation, Jephta reminds us that the goal of reparation is the restoration of the dignity of African peoples.
Bio
Jephta U Nguherimo is a lifelong activist, poet and a former professional labor negotiator of Herero-descent based in the US. He is the founding member of the OvaHerero People’s Memorial and Reconstruction Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the struggle of restorative justice for the OvaHerero people. Jephta was among the organizers of the exchanges that eventually forced the German government to confront and acknowledge Germany’s genocide of the ovaHerero and Nama people of 1904-08. He has led conversations and presented talks on restorative justice and memory culture at various international conferences, including the Reparations and Racial Healing Summit in Accra (2022) and the 1st Session of the UN’s Permanent Forum of People of African Descent in Geneva (2022). As a writer and poet, Jephta has also published several articles on the struggle for recognition in the Namibian and German press. He is the author of a book of poetry titled unBuried-unMarked: The Untold Namibian Story of the Victims of German Genocide between 1904–1908 and he was featured in a documentary by Al Jazeera titled “Namibia: The Price of genocide” (2021). Jephta holds a B.S. in Philosophy and International Political Economy from the University of Rochester, NY, and an M.S. in Labor Studies from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. An accomplished labor negotiator, he worked as a union representative and recently retired from the Maryland State Education Association.

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