Poor planning in the design and construction of the genocide statue that will be replacing the Reiterdenkmal, currently accommodated in the courtyard of the Alte Feste museum, will cost the taxpayer millions.
This statue, planned for unveiling on Independence Day this year, might not be ready if longer hours are not put into the construction process of the statue, on which government has already spent over N$8 million. This does not include the design changes to the statue.
According to a well-placed source at the Mansudae Oversee Project (MOP), government currently cannot decide on the genocide statue’s final design features, despite construction of the foundation and the dome already at an advanced stage.
MOP has overseen the billion dollar construction of other government projects such as State House, Heroes Acre, the Memorial Museum and other remembrance shrines throughout the country.
This has prompted the Ministry of Youth, National Service and Culture to request government to reconsider proposed changes to the overall design of the statue.
Government had proposed that a number of alterations be made to the statue, such as the depiction of children breaking a chain, which can only be done if the dome is no longer part of the design features.
The ministry is of the opinion that such a move will diminish the monuments size and render it disproportionate, while proposing that the dome be kept and the group of children replaced by a giant sculpture of a single adult male and female breaking the chains, which symbolise Namibia’s independence from colonial oppression, and in remembrance of those that perished during the war of national resistance.
It further argued that, while it is important to reflect the children on the statue, the ministry prefers that the 1904-07 genocide are more appropriate, hence the depiction of the two fighters breaking the chains of oppression.
In addition, the ministry is against the removal of the dome, being of the opinion it symbolises the shelter where the prisoners were incarcerated to die of hunger and agony, and the dome also represents the historical dwellings of the Namibian people.
A statue of the Founding President, Dr Sam Nujoma, in front of the Indepedence Memorial Museum will also be unveiled on Independence Day.
This statue, planned for unveiling on Independence Day this year, might not be ready if longer hours are not put into the construction process of the statue, on which government has already spent over N$8 million. This does not include the design changes to the statue.
According to a well-placed source at the Mansudae Oversee Project (MOP), government currently cannot decide on the genocide statue’s final design features, despite construction of the foundation and the dome already at an advanced stage.
MOP has overseen the billion dollar construction of other government projects such as State House, Heroes Acre, the Memorial Museum and other remembrance shrines throughout the country.
This has prompted the Ministry of Youth, National Service and Culture to request government to reconsider proposed changes to the overall design of the statue.
Government had proposed that a number of alterations be made to the statue, such as the depiction of children breaking a chain, which can only be done if the dome is no longer part of the design features.
The ministry is of the opinion that such a move will diminish the monuments size and render it disproportionate, while proposing that the dome be kept and the group of children replaced by a giant sculpture of a single adult male and female breaking the chains, which symbolise Namibia’s independence from colonial oppression, and in remembrance of those that perished during the war of national resistance.
It further argued that, while it is important to reflect the children on the statue, the ministry prefers that the 1904-07 genocide are more appropriate, hence the depiction of the two fighters breaking the chains of oppression.
In addition, the ministry is against the removal of the dome, being of the opinion it symbolises the shelter where the prisoners were incarcerated to die of hunger and agony, and the dome also represents the historical dwellings of the Namibian people.
A statue of the Founding President, Dr Sam Nujoma, in front of the Indepedence Memorial Museum will also be unveiled on Independence Day.
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