While the 'feel-good' factor became a feature of perpetrators' behaviour after amnesty, people who were their victims still felt aggrieved.

They argued that reconciliation remained weighted in favour of violators of human rights.

While this may well be case, reconciliation must be a part of our Namibian political and social space.

And while former President Sam Nujoma was himself the architect of the policy of reconciliation in Namibia, it is lip-service rather than actual commitment that has characterised adherence to this principle.

In a hard-hitting public lecture this week, Uppsala University academic and former Swapo member Henning Melber sketched a map of reconciliation that covered politics, economics and history.

Reconciliation needs to be a two-way process in which political will and desire for forgiveness are part of the motivation.

Reconciliation cannot be simply about material benefits or a sea change expected of atrocity victims and their families.

It is both an outward and an inward process, whether the aggrieved antagonists or protagonists are nations, factions in political parties, feuding families, classes of people or different language groups.

Inward reconciliation means coming to terms with our own history.

Outward reconciliation means acknowledging that history and reaching out to those that we have hurt, brutalised or humiliated.

If we have stolen land from people, there will have to be material returns to those who have been robbed.

But this need not necessarily be money, although that can be a part of the agreement.

If people have not lived on farms or land for years, sustainable development and continuous assistance must be an outcome of any deal reached.

Inward reconciliation has more to do with internal attitudes of tolerance towards 'different' others.

In the liberation struggle, the international community awarded Swapo the status as "sole and authentic representative" of the people of Namibia.

Melber confirms that the subsequent intolerance within Swapo ranks could be largely tracked to this status.

And, he reminds us, he was formerly a cheerleader of Swapo's unique standing.

The ruling party of Namibia continues to fail to hear and note the signs of demagoguery and the perhaps unintended consequences of intolerance and to deal with it.

Yet another most recent example of bigotry was manifest by Jerry Ekandjo, Swapo Secretary for Information and Publicity, who told a rally over the weekend that Swapo members must "get rid" of the opposition Rally for Democracy.

This war talk and sabre-rattling are the stuff behind ethnic cleansing and crimes committed against humanity.

Loyalty to Namibia is not exclusive loyalty to Swapo and the Minister of Regional and Local Government and Housing must realise that people hold different beliefs, and that they are fully entitled to do so in terms of our Constitution.

He should note too that Swapo itself was a movement of different religious communities, different political groups with often divergent ideologies, and represented different class interests.

It is not a monolithic organisation and it has never been, even though the signatures of past intolerance are visible for all Namibians to see.

We are all responsible for our own history.

While this may fall on deaf ears, our appeal as The Namibian is that people such as Ekandjo do an inward journey, reflect on what has been done wrong to others in the past, and work actively to ensure that history does not repeat itself.

Above all, Ekandjo himself, as well as other political leaders of the ruling Party in Government whose narrow-mindedness results in sporadic verbal attacks on people who exercise their freedom of political choice, should re-commit themselves to the people and Constitution they are supposed to serve by not only tolerating, but also by actively promoting diversity in all its manifestations.

It is only by joining together in an inward and outward spirit of tolerance and reconciliation that we can make amends for the past by building a democratic future for the pluralistic people that we are.

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