A statue of a German colonial officer was taken down in Namibia

The controversial statue in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, was removed after pressure from activists. A 2.4-meter-tall bronze statue of Kurt von Francois, a German colonial officer in Windhoek, was removed from its pedestal with the help of a crane. The moments when the statue was dismantled were celebrated with applause. The statue of Kurt von Francois was erected in 1965, as he is seen as the founder of the city of Windhoek.

A petition to remove the statue was launched by an activist group called A Curt Elvewell. Activist Hildegard Titus, who led the petition, said in a statement that von Francois was “wrongly called the founder of Windhoek” and a symbol of “colonial oppression”. The decision to remove the statue from the Windhoek City Council garden was made last month.

Windhoek spokesman Harold Akwenye said the statue will remain in the museum for now but will be “replanted” once a new location is agreed.

On the African continent, Von Francois, a senior officer in the German colony known as South West Africa between 1889 and 1894, in the 1890s, mostly women and child He was the operational commander in the Hoorncrans massacre, which killed at least 80 people. Revolt of the Namibian people.

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