White suit, black suit: Colonialism in a chameleon skin
Namibia marked 36 years of political independence in 1990. That victory was not gifted. It was paid for in blood, torture, exile, prison, and the silence of unmarked graves. Without that struggle, there is no Constitution, no vote, no Namibia.
Lazarus Kwedhi
Namibia marked 36 years of political independence in 1990. That victory was not gifted. It was paid for in blood, torture, exile, prison, and the silence of unmarked graves. Without that struggle, there is no Constitution, no vote, no Namibia.
Gratitude for that is non-negotiable. That is why we have monuments, Independence Day, Heroes’ Day, and commemorations for the Genocide, Cassinga, and the Oshakati Bank bomb blast.
They exist to remind us of our nation’s vulnerability under colonialism and apartheid rule, and of the work we must still do so it never happens again.
But gratitude cannot be a gag. From all four corners and the centre of the country, the same question keeps rising: if we are free, why does freedom still feel incomplete?
The Oshiwambo proverb “Mpa lya tuka opo lya nambele” says it plainly. The rope was cut, but tied again in the same place. The change came, but the problem did not leave.
