A law firm in Namibia has filed a previously announced lawsuit against the controversial reconciliation agreement with Germany.

According to the lawsuit published on the Department of Justice's website, entitled "Bernardus Swartbooi v. Speaker of the National Assembly," the plaintiffs seek to invalidate and set aside the so-called "Joint Declaration" by the two states.

The declaration is incompatible with at least eleven articles in the constitution.

Swartbooi is a Namibian MP and opposition politician.

The Landless People's Movement organization and eleven traditional authorities from the affected Herero and Nama ethnic groups have also joined the lawsuit.

Claudia Bröll

Political correspondent for Africa based in Cape Town.

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The joint declaration for an agreement between Namibia and Germany, which should contribute to reconciliation, has been on the table for almost two years.

For almost six years, both countries had been negotiating reparations for the German genocide of Herero and Nama from 1904 to 1908.

In the end, Germany agreed, among other things, to pay 1.1 billion euros over 30 years.

The money will flow into development projects.

In addition, the crimes against the Herero and Nama should be recognized as genocide, and the German state should apologize.

Not signed to date

But the declaration has not yet been signed.

Several associations of the descendants of the victims and members of the opposition vehemently reject them and call for new negotiations.

They call the agreement an “insult”, but the Namibian government spoke of a breakthrough after years of negotiations.

The then German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said at the announcement: "I am happy and grateful that we were able to reach an agreement with Namibia on how to deal with the darkest chapter of our common history." The lawsuit should now result in a signature move further away.

If successful, negotiations would have to start again.

One point of contention is the nature of the Herero and Nama organizations' involvement in the negotiations, which were conducted by chief negotiators from both governments.

The organizations could participate in an advisory body.

From the point of view of the critics, however, they should have sat directly at the negotiating table.

However, the Namibian government has repeatedly emphasized that the President has the authority to conclude international treaties.

The assertion that the declaration was made without the participation and consultation of the communities concerned is false.

There is evidence that the President and Government have approached the representatives of the affected communities to join the negotiation process.

The German government has also repeatedly made it clear that its negotiating partner is the Namibian government.

There is also loud criticism of the 1.1 billion euros.

These are not reparations, but bilateral development aid.

The lawsuit is expected to be harshly dismissed by the Namibian government.

The federal government also announced last year that it regarded the agreement as "negotiated".

Discussions would only have to be held about the modalities of implementation.

Victims' associations have previously failed in two lawsuits in American courts because the courts did not consider themselves competent.

This is the first lawsuit before a Namibian court.