Reiterdenkmal to be hidden away

The Reiterdenkmal is going to be removed from public prominence and will now be placed in the Alte Feste courtyard. This is to make way for new statues, which will be placed in front of the Independence Memorial Museum. The announcement comes after the Minister of Youth, National Service, Sport and Culture, Jerry Ekandjo on Friday addressed German Cultural Council's annual general meeting (AGM). The minister reportedly said the statue does not represent national reconciliation where it currently stands, but rather provokes a strong reaction from the majority of Namibians. Ekandjo also apparently said that once the statue moves will no longer face in the direction of Berlin. The controversy surrounding the 'Rider on the Horse' has over the past few months escalated, after President Hifikepunye Pohamba said at a Heroes' Day commemoration in the North it should be removed completely and sent back to Germany. There have also been rumours that government wants to strip the statue of its national monument status. The Head of the National Museum and Chairperson of the National Heritage Council, Esther Mwoombola-/Goagoses, told Namibian Sun yesterday certain procedures have to be followed before the statue could be moved. She said it was the council's job to follow these procedures in order for it to comply with government's directive to move the Reiterdenkmal. She also said when the council has met and a final decision reached the public will be informed. Following Friday's meeting Ekandjo reportedly said that the statue is not German culture. He apparently quoted from a document titled The Kaiser's Holocaust when he said: “The principle behind this monument is to honour the dead and to encourage the living to propagate and build up what was achieved in a hard war fought selflessly for the love of the fatherland. The venerated colonial soldier that looks out over the land from there announces to the world that we are the masters of this place, now and forever.” The document further states: “The statue had been erected on the site of Windhoek's main concentration camp where as many as four thousand Herero had been beaten, starved and worked to death.” Ekandjo had also said that in other countries and regions in the world there are riots and demonstrations. "We are a nation. Namibia is a peaceful country and we must do what we can to keep the peace." He further said there were Namibians who "live in different worlds", and that "many white people do not know the text of the national anthem today". “We Namibians were separated for too long a time, while we are still brothers and sisters. We elders are still living partly in the past, some holding on to old times,” Ekandjo said. WINDHOEK ELLANIE SMIT