“Cabinet declares 28 May as Genocide Remembrance Day
Martin Endjala
The Cabinet has declared 28 May a Genocide Remembrance Day, effective in 2025, and endorsed it as a public holiday.
The information, communication, and technology minister, Emma Theofelus, made the announcement on Tuesday [28 May; ed.].
“Cabinet directs the Ministry of Justice to draft a proclamation as required under Section 1(3) of the Public Holidays Act, 1990 (Act No. 26 of 1990) to be certified by the Attorney-General for consideration and signature of the President in order to coincide with the public announcement of Genocide Remembrance Day on 28 May 2024,” she said.
Theofelus stated that the Cabinet also instructed the Ministry of Education, Arts, and Culture to utilize Genocide Remembrance Day as a unifying element and pinpoint key locations for monument construction, in collaboration with the Technical Committee on Genocide, Apology, and Reparations (GAR) of the Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation.
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“The origins of this important commemoration can be traced back to the 2006 motion for genocide negotiations tabled by the late Dr. Kuaima Riruako in the National Assembly. Further, the motion to establish a dedicated Remembrance Day was moved by [Usutuaije] Maamberua. In both cases, we owe a debt of gratitude to the Members of Parliament for their bold and bipartisan approach to addressing this critical issue,” said [the speaker of the National Assembly, Peter] Katjavivi.”
- Full report on the website of the Windhoek Observer (last checked in May 2024)
Editor’s note: On 28 May 1908 the commander of the colonial German Schutztruppe, Ludwig von Estorff, ordered the formal closure of all concentration camps in then German South West Africa.