In the New Era newspaper, dated 20 March 2025, ‘A letter to Namibia’s first President’ has highlighted some urgent issues that former politicians failed to address, especially corruption management.

The hope now rests with the new political landscape, whether it be the ruling party, “the mighty Swapo”, or opposition parties like AR, IPC, and others, to fight corruption that has been stealing citizens’ freedom to enjoy government benefits and other advantages provided by the abundant natural resources in the land.

The article emphasised that action against corruption is needed, not just words.

The masses want to see leaders’ actions against human and systemic corruption, which is why new leaders need to realise that one or two terms in high office may seem long, but in reality, it is a short period that calls for action, not just words. Only action can produce the desired outcomes in rooting out corruption. Political leaders must understand that delays in fighting corruption are essentially gestures that extend the suffering of many Namibians.

Failure to stand firm against corruption will lead Namibians to believe that corruption is a culture among all leaders who have gained power through the ballot, solely for their own enrichment and that of their associates. Therefore, leaders who allow or watch officials abusing their office to infiltrate various institutions without taking action are indirectly supporting corruption gangs.

One can agree that corruption is highly provocative, especially now that the Country has a high record of unemployed youths, more specifically among graduates, which eventually creates social instability. Those who commit corruption from one organisation to another tend to develop an untouchable attitude and eventually become difficult to control. It’s worth noting that corruption is a pervasive and greedy ghost that is indeed robbing Namibians of their fair chances to improve their livelihoods and build a resilient economy. One can easily observe the greediness mentality of corruption gangs in the case of “Fishrot”, a rot that was 100% happening under the watch of the political leadership of that time. 

Despite past corruption activities, the hope and trust is now set high in the current political sphere to firmly stand against corruption by decorating the Anti-Corruption Commission with some scary look, long, strong arms, and sharp eyes as well as systems that will easily expose and destroy corruption networks for the good of our Nation. 

The current leadership should note that corruption may become the business of the day in the public sector in the absence of active systems that can easily detect and prevent this unethical practice from going too far and spare immediate families from losing their breadwinners.

This piece credits Prof. Job Amupanda, who is currently exposing corruption on social media as voluntary work to scare corrupt officials. However, it is sad to learn that every time he speaks about it, irregularities continue to rise deliberately.

Moving forward, it is time for political leaders to find a lasting solution to corruption. The current political landscape has given hope to many by featuring individuals like James Sankwasa, who is actively working to reform local authorities. 

These are the sons of the soil who need strong support to ensure that services reach the intended people and not old-fashioned hijacking of resources meant for needy communities, which has deprived many Namibians of their fair share of the nation’s wealth.

This piece is also recognising the new, additional capable new blood into the political sphere, for instance, the likes of Dr Elijah Ngurare, Natangwe Ithete, Fillemon Wise, Veikko Nekundi et al., who seem to understand that political power is a tool of uplifting others in an equal manner, something the Country yearns to witness for many past years.  One may also appreciate the power within the notion by the President, “it is not business as usual”, but for it to be highly effective, it must have a purpose and directions on destroying all forms of corruption and entire empires without wasting any time.

With that said, “Namibia is all we have,” thus leaders should work together to cease corruption.

*Tobias Nanhinda is a librarian at the Ministry of Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare. He assists with proposals and thesis off duty. The views in this article are merely his and not of his employer: nanhix7@gmail.com