PAUL T. SHIPALE (with inputs by Folito Nghitongovali Diawara Gaspar)
The Unspoken Mandate Beyond the Rhetoric of Liberation
For too long, the echoes of liberation speeches have reverberated across our Namibian landscape, promising unity, prosperity, and an end to the corrosive blight of corruption. A presidential address on Namibia’s Heroes’ Day, let it be understood, is no mere rhetorical exercise it is a profound symbolic act, designed to venerate our national heroes, to forge a deeper unity among our people, and to inextricably link the hallowed legacy of the past with the audacious vision of the nation’s future. Yet, beneath these grand pronouncements, the pulse of the nation beats with a simpler, more visceral yearning.
What, indeed, do the people truly demand beyond the well-worn platitudes? They demand the tangible: the unceasing flow of water, the unwavering flicker of electricity, roads that do not betray the traveler, and hospitals that heal rather than condemn the ailing. They demand employment, particularly for the vibrant youth, whose potential, though boundless, remains tragically untapped. They demand justice, not as a hollow cry from the podium, but as a lived reality, where corruption is met with uncompromising retribution and nepotism is banished from our collective consciousness.
Peace, yes, but a peace that delivers sustenance, opportunity, and an unassailable dignity. And above all, they demand leadership that listens, not merely when the flags unfurl and the cameras descend, but in the profound silence where the true decisions that shape our destiny are forged.
In essence, the Namibian soul cries out for fewer symbolic monuments and a greater abundance of lived results. If the generation of Founding President Sam Nujoma valiantly wrestled for the dawn of freedom, then the generation now led by Her Excellency President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah yearns for the equitable distribution of its fruits.
It is precisely this imperative that saw her stand on this Heroes Day, not merely as the Head of State, but as the veritable Mama wa SWAPO, as she was named by the Late Mwalimu Kambarage Julius Nyerere when she was SWAPO’s Chief Representative to East Africa and based in Tanzania, but now we can proudly call her Mama wa Namibia as the first female President of the country, a figure burdened with the scarred duty not only to venerate the past, but to fiercely safeguard the present and meticulously sculpt the future.
Founding President Nujoma’s Covenant of Memory: The Unbreakable Thread of Nationhood
When Founding President Sam Nujoma, in 2002, consecrated Heroes’ Acre, he did more than inaugurate a monument; he anchored the very soul of the nation in an enduring covenant of memory. His declaration “The blood of all these sons and daughters of Namibia watered the tree of our liberty and will always be remembered by present and future generations” was not mere rhetoric, it was a solemn vow.
Heroes’ Acre, in his vision, transcended mere stone and eternal flame, it was a living promise that the diverse tapestry of Namibia’s peoples, irrespective of their origins, would forever share in the nation’s identity and its indomitable unity. His voice, resonant with the weight of sacrifice, enshrined remembrance as the binding thread of our nationhood a vision deeply rooted in the understanding that freedom, purchased at the highest conceivable price, must therefore be guarded with an almost sacred reverence.
Yet, Namibia’s struggle, let us be unequivocally clear, was never an isolated skirmish. It was an integral, pulsating current within the grand Pan-African tide, nurtured by the open embrace of Zambia, the blood-soaked battlefields of Angola, and the unwavering solidarity of Tanzania, Cuba, and indeed, the wider progressive world. Founding President Nujoma’s covenant of memory, therefore, belongs not solely to Namibia, but to the very heart of Africa itself a testament to a shared destiny forged in the crucible of anti-colonial struggle.
Nandi-Ndaitwah’s Call to Responsibility: The Mandate for Renewal
Two decades hence, in the crucible of Katima Mulilo, President Nandi-Ndaitwah took up this sacred covenant, yet shifted its profound weight. Where Founding President Nujoma bequeathed memory, she, with an unflinching gaze, bestowed a mandate. Her words, sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel, cut through the complacency, corruption, she declared, was nothing less than treason. She said We are too few to be poor as Namibians, she warned, a stark indictment of a nation whose potential remains tragically unfulfilled. And with a chilling prescience, she cautioned that without radical change, we are on a crusade for self-destruction.
Her Heroes Day address was no mere ritualistic incantation, it was a clarion call, a stark warning, and a fervent exhortation. She implored the nation not merely to honor the sacrifices of the past, but to preserve their profound meaning through an unwavering commitment to unity, an unyielding demand for accountability, and the creation of genuine opportunity for our burgeoning youth. If Founding Father Nujoma consecrated the past, President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, with a palpable urgency, confronts the present. Her tone, though maternal in its protective embrace, was uncompromising in its demand for reform, a protective stance for peace, yet an insistent demand for systemic change. As Namibia’s first female President, she irrevocably broadened the Pan-African narrative.
The liberation struggle, let us never forget, was not solely borne by men with rifles, it was sustained by the indomitable spirit of women who sheltered the fighters, who nurtured communities from the ashes of oppression, and who, against all odds, gave voice when silence was expected. As Mama wa SWAPO and Mama wa Namibia, President Nandi-Ndaitwah embodies a truth that Africa, in its journey towards self-realization, too often conveniently forgets, that women’s leadership is not a mere supplement, but an indispensable, central pillar to the continent’s profound renewal.
Continuity and Contrast: The Unfinished Symphony of Liberation
Herein lies the profound continuity, yet also the stark contrast, that defines Namibia’s post-independence trajectory:
Founding President and Father of the Namibian Nation, H.E. Dr. Sam Nujoma (2002): He gifted Namibia a monument of memory, a sacred space for remembrance.
President Netumbo Ndemupelila Nandi-Ndaitwah (2025): She demands a movement of reform, a dynamic push towards tangible progress.
One immortalized the supreme sacrifice; the other, with an urgent imperative, seeks to ensure that such sacrifice was not tragically in vain. One bound us together through the shared crucible of history, the other insists that our unity must persist through the unwavering pursuit of justice and an unceasing commitment to renewal. Both speak from distinct epochs, yet their voices converge on a singular, irrefutable truth that the precious blood of Namibia’s heroes must, under no circumstances, be squandered.
And this profound truth, let it be known, does not halt at Namibia’s meticulously drawn borders. The insistent cry for reform emanating from Windhoek finds its resonant echo in the bustling streets of Lusaka, the vibrant markets of Maputo, the resilient spirit of Harare, and the sprawling expanse of Kinshasa. Across the vast and diverse tapestry of Africa, independence, though it proudly hoisted the flag of self-determination, has yet to fully set the table of shared prosperity. The second liberation, the liberation from the insidious grip of hunger, the corrosive blight of corruption, and the debilitating chains of inequality remains the unfinished, yet utterly imperative, work of a continent yearning for its true destiny.
A Living Legacy: From Memory to Mandate, From Root to Flower
Heroes Day, let us acknowledge, had never been a static observance. In 2002, its sacred task was to remember, to etch into the national consciousness the profound sacrifices made. In 2025, its urgent task is to renew, to infuse that memory with the vibrant energy of transformative action as well as to remember the battles of Kamenga and others that took place in the Caprivi Strip. Yet, and perhaps the most significant pronouncement said by President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah on this year’s Heroes Day commemoration is to declare that the government has decided to put up two tombs at Heroes Acre for the Former Vice President of SWAPO, Brendon Simbwaye and the late Tobias Hainyeko, the First Commander of SWALA, later renamed PLAN, respectively.
Nevertheless, freedom, undoubtedly, was secured by the valiant heroes of Omugulugwombashe such as Tobias Hainyeko, Brendon Simbwaye, and countless others whose names, though unwritten, are etched in the heart of the nation. Bur freedom, devoid of dignity, bereft of sustenance, and lacking the bedrock of justice, remains a tragically incompetent symphony.
From the foundational legacy of Founding President Nujoma to the forward-looking mandate of President Nandi-Ndaitwah, the arc of Namibia’s unfolding narrative is strikingly clear, independence, though achieved, carries with it a promise yet unfulfilled. The father of the nation bequeathed us memory; Mama wa Namibia, with a profound sense of responsibility, reminds us that the present is our sacred charge.
If memory serves as the deep anchoring root then action, decisive and unwavering, must be the vibrant, blossoming flower. And only when prosperity is genuinely shared, when justice is unequivocally upheld, and when peace becomes a tangible lived reality in the daily lives of our people, as eloquently articulated by the learners from Mavuluma SSS and their teacher Mr Kaine, with their recited poems and with tears in their eyes speaking passionately from their hearts and stole the show, will the immense sacrifices of Namibia’s heroes truly bear their ultimate, glorious fruit.
The Call to Conscience Africa’s Unfinished Symphony
The mirror of Heroes Day, let us reflect, does not merely cast its gaze upon Namibia, it reflects the very soul of Africa itself. The heroes of Omugulugwombashe stand in an unbroken lineage with the martyrs of Soweto, the visionary dreamers of Accra, and the indomitable fighters of Maputo and Harare. They, in their boundless courage, gifted us the radiant dawn of freedom. But it falls to us, the inheritors of their struggle, to meticulously construct the full, glorious day of freedom.
Mama wa Namibia has spoken, but her words demand more than passive reception, they demand the active engagement of her people’s hands and hearts, and the unwavering solidarity of Africa as a whole. The question, then, returns to us, the inheritors of this profound legacy, will we, as Africans, remain content with the mere remembrance of memory, or will we, with collective resolve, forge prosperity into the tangible fulfillment of memory’s most sacred promise? The answer to that question and the way forward is Unity of purpose and action. With real veritable unity, as a nation, we will overcome any obstacle as the Late Founding President and Father of the Namibian Nation used to say; “A people united, striving to achieve a common good for all members of the society, will always emerge victorious!” Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of our employers and this newspaper but solely our personal views as citizens and Pan-Africanists.