A nation that confronts its most sensitive questions with honesty and courage is often a nation that ultimately triumphs, no matter how long the journey may take. 

History repeatedly shows that countries do not collapse because they discuss difficult issues; rather, they weaken when they avoid them.

Silence around sensitive national matters may create temporary comfort, but unresolved questions have a way of returning with greater intensity. It is therefore through open reflection, thoughtful dialogue and courageous leadership that nations preserve both unity and justice.

The incident that occurred on 4 March in the National Assembly awakened my mind and raised many questions. Among those questions, one stood taller than the rest: did we as a country truly do enough to address the land question within the framework of national reconciliation after independence? What transpired in the legislative assembly was not a simple exchange of words in a heated debate. It touched on something deeper – a historical wound that still lives in the consciousness of many Namibians.

When a member of parliament tells another member to “go back to Italy”, it ceases to be merely a parliamentary disagreement. It becomes a moment that forces the nation to pause and reflect. Such words do not arise in isolation; they often emerge from deeper frustrations and unresolved historical questions.

Whether one agrees with the statement or condemns it outright, it nevertheless reveals that the land question and the legacy of colonial dispossession remain emotionally powerful issues within our society.

This is not to justify reckless language or to undermine parliamentary decorum. Words spoken in the nation’s highest legislative chamber must always reflect the dignity of the Republic. However, moments like this should also prompt deeper reflection rather than mere condemnation.

Sometimes a controversial statement is not only a breach of protocol but also a symptom of unresolved national questions. If such moments are ignored without national reflection, they risk leaving the underlying frustrations unaddressed.

Many scholars and writers have warned about the danger of ignoring such moments in the life of a nation.

The Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe explored this idea powerfully in his famous novel Things Fall Apart.

Although the novel is set in pre-colonial and colonial Africa, its central lesson remains timeless: societies do not collapse suddenly; they weaken gradually when internal tensions, historical grievances and cultural fractures are left unattended. Achebe reminds us that the strength of a nation lies in its ability to confront its internal contradictions, before they grow into deeper divisions.

Similarly, political scholars Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, in their influential book How Democracies Die, argue that democratic institutions rarely collapse overnight. Instead, they are slowly weakened when political actors begin to normalise extreme rhetoric, dismiss legitimate grievances or fail to address rising tensions within society. Their research across many countries shows that democracy survives not merely through laws and institutions, but through a culture of responsible leadership and honest national dialogue.

Namibia, since independence, has demonstrated remarkable maturity in managing its historical transition. Under the leadership of Dr Sam Nujoma, the country adopted the policy of national reconciliation, a decision that remains one of the most admired aspects of Namibia’s democratic transition. Instead of revenge, Namibia chose peace. Instead of chaos, Namibia chose constitutional order. This decision protected the young nation from the instability that has affected many other post-colonial societies.

Yet reconciliation was never meant to mean the end of the conversation about justice. It was meant to create the space for that conversation to take place peacefully. Land dispossession during colonial rule was real, painful and deeply disruptive to many communities.  Scholars such as Wolfgang Werner have written extensively about how colonial land policies created structural inequalities that continue to influence Namibia’s socio-economic landscape today.  Addressing those inequalities has always been one of the unfinished tasks of independence.

Over the past decades, Namibia has attempted to confront the issue through policies such as land resettlement programmes and national consultations. The First National Land Conference in 1991 and the Second National Land Conference in 2018 both represented serious attempts by the nation to deliberate on land reform. 

These processes demonstrated that Namibia is willing to talk about difficult issues through democratic dialogue rather than conflict. 

*Hidipo Hamata is a former Member of Parliament. He writes from Omafo in Helao Nafidi.