Opinions

On Wednesday night, Namibia lost not just a police officer but a son of the soil, a protector, and a man whose devotion to duty shone through even in his final moments. Sergeant Eustance Simasiku Matongo, aged only 34, was gunned down in Walvis Bay while responding to an armed robbery. His death is a painful reminder of the risks our men and women in uniform face every single day, often with little appreciation, and sometimes with outright hostility from the very society they serve. The weight carried by police officers The Namibian Police Force, like many across the world,…

Namibia this week hosts the inaugural Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) Global Policy Forum. James Chapman, managing director of Bank Windhoek, has marked the moment with an essay celebrating his bank’s role in expanding access: rural branches, cellphone banking, local-language ATMs, digital apps, and fee-free accounts. These steps are commendable. But Namibia cannot afford to confuse corporate milestones with national transformation. Financial inclusion is not a marketing slogan; it is a matter of economic justice. And justice, if it is to mean anything, must be enforced through political will, not polished through corporate press releases. The ghosts of exclusion Before…

This past week, Namibians were once again confronted with an image that should never have existed 35 years after independence: children sitting under trees, trying to learn. The scene was Ndama East Primary School in Kavango East, where 552 learners, yes, five hundred and fifty-two children, are being taught under the shade of trees. Each tree is a “classroom”.  There are more than twelve such “classrooms”, manned by fourteen qualified teachers doing their utmost with nothing but chalk, voices, and hope. The man who brought this story to the national consciousness was not a government minister, not an education inspector,…

When the vice president Lucia Witbooi, travels to Algiers in September to represent President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah at the Intra-Africa Trade Fair (IATF2025), she carries more than a delegation badge.  She carries Namibia’s opportunity to shape its place in a continental market of 1.4 billion people, underpinned by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The fair, themed “A Gateway to New Opportunities”, is not just a showcase of trade. It is a laboratory for Africa’s economic future. The AfCFTA, established in 2018 and operational since 2021, is the largest free trade agreement since the formation of the World Trade Organisation.…

Namibia’s diplomatic service has historically been framed around political solidarity, liberation credentials, and the maintenance of good neighbourly relations. These have been important foundations. But the times have changed. The 21st century demands that diplomacy be primarily economic. Today’s ambassadors should not only attend receptions and negotiate communiqués; they should be Namibia’s chief salespeople in foreign capitals. If the Ministry of International Relations and Trade is serious about trade, then returning diplomats should be evaluated not only on how many bilateral agreements were signed, but on whether they facilitated investment, opened markets for Namibian products, or created opportunities for Namibian…