Namibia Must Silence the Guns Beyond September

The Windhoek Observer welcomes the decision by the Namibian Police Force and the Ministry of Safety and Security to once again provide an amnesty for people in possession of illegal firearms, ammunition and related materials. The September Amnesty Month is a sensible and potentially life-saving intervention, and the police deserve credit for recognising that removing illegal weapons from circulation is ultimately more important than simply punishing those who surrender them.

The message from Acting Inspector-General Major General Anne-Marie Nainda that “this is not about punishment; it is about prevention” is precisely the right starting point.

But prevention must not end on 30 September.

The amnesty provides a window of opportunity. It cannot, however, become an annual ritual in which the police make an appeal, a number of firearms are surrendered, statistics are announced, and the matter effectively disappears until the following September.

Namibia needs a sustained national campaign against the normalisation of firearms as instruments of protection, status, intimidation or conflict.

The figures cited by the police are sobering. Between September 2025 and June 2026, the country recorded 20 murders involving firearms, 261 robberies with aggravating circumstances, 176 cases of pointing a firearm, 88 cases of unauthorised possession of firearms, 170 cases involving possession of arms and ammunition, and 94 firearm thefts.

These are not merely statistics. Behind every number is a victim, a family, a community or a potentially devastating encounter that could have ended differently had a firearm not been present.

The surrender of 86 firearms and 3,197 rounds of ammunition during last year’s amnesty is encouraging. It demonstrates that voluntary disarmament can work and that there are people prepared to relinquish weapons when given a safe and credible opportunity to do so.

But the real measure of this year’s amnesty should not simply be how many weapons are handed in.

It should be what happens afterwards.

The police have given illegal firearm owners a clear deadline: 30 September. Until then, people holding unlicensed firearms have an opportunity to surrender them confidentially and without prosecution. After that date, the protection ends.

That promise must be taken seriously.

If the police say that those who continue to possess illegal firearms after the amnesty will be apprehended and prosecuted, then the public must see evidence that this will happen. Otherwise, the amnesty risks becoming little more than another public-awareness exercise.

There is nothing wrong with giving people an opportunity to do the right thing. In fact, it is a responsible approach. But an amnesty only has credibility when it is followed by enforcement.

From 1 October, the police should demonstrate that the rules have changed.

This means targeted investigations into illegal firearm networks, intelligence-led operations, stronger controls around firearm theft and trafficking, and prosecutions where evidence supports them. It also means ensuring that firearms surrendered during the amnesty are properly recorded, secured and destroyed or otherwise disposed of in accordance with the law.

The country must also confront the broader question of gun culture.

Namibia should not allow the idea to take root that carrying a firearm is an ordinary or desirable part of everyday life. A firearm is not simply another possession. It is a weapon capable of taking a life within seconds.

The police are therefore correct to emphasise that an unlicensed gun is not a tool of protection but a threat to peace and security.

But the principle should go further. Even lawful firearm ownership should come with an unmistakable culture of responsibility, accountability and restraint. The objective should not be to create a society in which citizens increasingly feel that safety depends upon who has the biggest or most accessible weapon.

That is particularly important in addressing gender-based violence. A domestic dispute involving words, anger and alcohol can become a fatal confrontation when a firearm is readily available. The presence of a gun can transform an argument into an irreversible tragedy.

The same applies to organised crime, robbery, poaching and other forms of criminality. Every illegal firearm circulating in society potentially provides criminals with the means to inflict greater harm.

The response therefore cannot rest solely with the police.

Schools, churches, traditional authorities, community organisations, youth groups and families all have a role in promoting a culture in which violence and firearms are not romanticised. Public figures and social influencers should be equally careful not to portray guns as symbols of power, masculinity or prestige.

The African Union’s Silencing the Guns initiative provides Namibia with an important continental framework. But silencing guns should mean more than collecting weapons. It sh