The Namibian government on Wednesday took down the statue of a colonial-era German official in the capital Windhoek in response to an outcry from local activists.
The 2.4-metre bronze statue of Curt von Francois stood on a high pedestal in the heart of Windhoek city for 57 years.
Unveiled in 1965, the statue was seen as a symbol of colonial oppression in the southern African nation.
Von Francois was infamously credited for contributing to the genocide of Herero and Nama peoples between 1904 and 1908. Germany was colonial ruler of the then German South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1884 to 1915.
Between 1904 and 1908, German settlers killed more than 100,000 indigenous Herero and Nama people in massacres historians have called the 20th century’s first genocide.
Germany has apologised for its role in the massacre of Herero and Nama people between 1904 and 1908 and has promised more than one billion euros in financial support to descendants of the victims.
The Namibian government, however, announced last month that it was in the process of renegotiating the compensation agreement with Germany following an outcry by local activists that the amount offered by Berlin was too little.
The removal of the statue follows a two-year legal battle in which activist Hildegard Titus of the A Curt Farewell movement petitioned the courts for the statue to the taken down since it was a reminder of the sad past.
The statue would now be kept at the Windhoek City Museum.
JN/APA