But then maybe we shouldn't even try to negate it completely, because it is an integral part of our history and adds to the fascination of what is present-day Namibia.

This isn't a uniquely Namibian problem.

It is an issue with which the people of many formerly occupied countries grapple, and there must surely be a compromise of sorts.

WHAT we really should get rid of is the colonial mentality, and huge steps have already been taken by Government to right the wrongs of the past.

Apartheid for one.

But because the South Africans subjected the people of this country to an inhuman system for decades, doesn't mean we must tear down every physical aspect of the country that was built up during that era.

DTA President Katuutire Kaura, for example, now proposes that the names of our capital city and eight other towns in Namibia be changed to their 'pre-colonial indigenous names'.

It's probably no coincidence that all the changes he proposes are Herero names, and this won't go down well with other Namibians in any case.

(And lest he forget, the name of the DTA itself is a colonial relic!).

But there are some who may wholeheartedly agree with Kaura.

Others may say there's no reason why we can't have a mix.

Cost is obviously a factor, and so is accessibility.

These are things we ought to think about.

We've probably spent a substantial sum changing street names in virtually all towns, and there are a multiplicity of 'Sam Nujoma' roads and buildings throughout the country.

Soon the 'Hifikepunye Pohamba' name will proliferate as well.

Many of our names are a mouthful for outsiders, and accessibility is important.

Travellers who cannot pronounce the names of the places they want to visit might even see this as something of a deterrent.

And I often wonder how tourists manage to get their tongues around a casual 'meet you in Mandume Ndemufayo Avenue', for example! Let's simplify if we can.

If the names were simply 'Nujoma National Park' or 'Pohamba Plaza' or 'Mandume Mall' it would be so much easier.

To put in the 'Shafishunas' and 'Hifikepunyes' etc is extraneous and unnecessary.

We should of course make sure our current history is represented in street names, monuments and the like.

But that really shouldn't mean that 'Luederitz Street' or the name 'Oranjemund' should be scrapped.

Our colonial history represents nasty chapters in the life of the country, especially the way in which our people were treated by both the South Africans and their German predecessors, and this continues to take its toll.

But some 'good' came as an offshoot those times, and no one can deny, for example, that the South Africans left us a sound road infrastructure, even if the aims behind it were not necessarily noble.

But it would be a senseless act indeed to tear up the tarmac simply because the South Africans planned it.

And our labour built these roads, after all! Likewise, who can deny the quaintness a town like Swakopmund must present to tourists with its German, albeit colonial, architecture? At the same time, our own cultures are represented.

And, likewise, tourists flying into Ondangwa and Oshakati are fascinated by the intricate patterned landscape of the traditional Owambo homesteads, for example.

We're known as a country of contrasts, in geographic and other terms, and this is part of our 'selling power', surely? We're not a homogeneous country.

We're a country of diverse cultures, diverse groups and peoples, diverse landscapes.

Even the colonial past adds to this mix in its own way.

Kaura should rather devote himself to issues of pressing national concern rather than fiddle around with the unique balance history has created in Namibia.

Columns Of The Last 48 Hours

•  A Lazy Nation Won't Make It
•  Political Perspective
•  Tolerance As A Structuring Value In Our Transformation
•  Tolerance As A Structuring Value In Our Transformation
•  The Digital War On Poverty
•  Governance In Africa - An Unfinished Business
•  From the Sidelines : Race on for NPL chair