Namibia: A Living Legacy of Global Empire

Namibia: A Living Legacy of Global Empire

Introduction

The Republic of Namibia is a vast, sparsely populated country situated along the south Atlantic coast of Africa between 17 and 29 degrees south of the Equator. The Republic of Namibia is slightly over two decades old; however, it is a home to some of the oldest peoples on the planet. Colonial powers were late to Namibia, but their impact has been long lasting. This paper will look at the impact of European colonization during both German and South African rule and at the legacy of colonization on the independent Republic of Namibia. With a focus on the issues of past and present inequalities in regards to agriculture, infrastructure, and capital, I hope to demonstrate that Namibia, while able to elect her own head of state, is far from being free of European colonial rule.

Divided Namibia: A History of Uneven Development

Wir könnten nur sagen: Wir lieben Südwest!

We could only say: We love southwest!

Now that the current pressing issue in Namibian politics has been presented, the question now is what factors led to these events to come about? [I don’t think you’ve presented an issue – what about this – Accepting the lasting influence of colonization on current Namibian politics, a closer look at the factors that allowed this authority to continue is warranted.] In pre-colonial times, there were no fixed tribal territories in most of Namibia. There were regions in which certain tribes moved, but this movement was mainly a result of local climate conditions. Different ethnic groups identified with certain areas, but exactly what they owned was ambiguous in the eyes of the European colonial overlords (CITE). The Germans brought the notion of private property and capital to a sparsely populated borderless desert.

In 1883, a German trader, Adolf Lüderitz, bought Angra Pequena, the modern-day city of Lüderitz, from the Nama chief Joseph Fredericks. The Germans paid the Nama tribe 10,000 Reichsmark and equipped them with 260 guns (CITE). Here we have the beginning of the European money economy in a region that had no previous concept of monetary value. Though the Nama had surrendered their land, they now had a powerful European ally and access to weapons and money, a luxury their rival tribes lacked. Germany had little interest in aiding the development of the Nama people, but German colonial administrators knew that they could exploit the Nama and so they did. Germany needed to employ an indigenous army as the actual ethnic German population was far too small to effectively rule. The Nama were an expendable police force who were eager to utilize their new technologies on their tradition tribal rivals (CITE).

Believing that Britain was