Overview

• Namibia declared May 28 a national holiday and held a candlelit vigil and minute of silence in Windhoek, where President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah delivered the keynote address
• The date commemorates the 1908 closure of colonial concentration camps, but historians and descendants argue it fails to capture their distinct experiences
• Organisations representing Herero, Nama and Damara communities refused to attend, citing exclusion from planning and limited representation among speakers
• Between 1904 and 1908, German troops killed an estimated 60,000 Herero and 10,000 Nama people in what is widely recognised as the first genocide of the 20th century
• Although Germany formally recognised the genocide in 2021 and pledged €1.1 billion in development aid, survivors’ groups say no official reparations or compensation have been delivered