Namibia: A Country Divided

Namibia has the third highest levels of income inequality in the world. 6% of the population own 70% of the land and here, the wounds of German Colonisation run deep. Between 1904 -1908, the Germans established concentration camps where the indigenous Herero and Nama people were interned. Up to 80% of them died in what Germany later recognised as the first genocide of the 20th Century. While the descendants of these victims, like Karvita, live on illegal settlements in constant fear of eviction, the descendants of these colonists continue to own most of the land and have no problem justifying their inheritance. Most of Namibia’s vast natural resources are owned or controlled by foreigners. The diamond industry is dominated by DeBeers and the ruling Swapo party, widely seen as corrupt, is propped up by its historic ally: China. The construction and uranium industries are controlled by the Chinese and documents leaked in 2021 revealed that North Korea was illegally subcontracted to build the country’s State House. Most of the country is sparsely populated, enabling nature to flourish. It’s home to one to one of the greatest wildlife populations in the world, including the only free roaming black rhinos. But these animals are constantly threatened by Chinese mafia while global warming is increasing desertification, threatening indigenous communities.