It’s Time to Revamp Namibia’s Independence Celebrations

It is encouraging that this year’s independence celebrations will be held across Namibia’s 14 regions, rather than being concentrated at one venue.

However, it’s a moment that also begs another question: Who is this important celebration really aimed at? After 36 years, isn’t it time to rethink the top-down way in which we tend to mark Independence Day?

Among others, it has become a vehicle for predominantly celebrating the ruling party’s heroes rather than the nation’s.

Further, our current political rally-style independence celebrations appear to have reached their sell-by date. Herding hundreds of people into a stadium while dignitaries mingle in white marquee tents does not reflect the country thousands of Namibians sacrificed and fought for.

Last year, Swapo secretary general Sophia Shaningwa was accused of taking 30 000 food packs intended for Independence Day celebrations to dish out to the public.

It is important that we celebrate independence. Namibia’s freedom followed centuries of colonial subjugation. It was hard won and came on the back of decades of armed struggle and sacrifice.

However, we need to find ways to mark the event which unites Namibians from all backgrounds, and which also reaches across generations. It’s true that interest in the day has waned with each successive generation for whom the ‘struggle’ has increasingly become a theoretical event.

Let’s embrace progressive and inclusive ideas and inject a new dynamism into how we celebrate our freedom.

Independence Day must reflect what a diverse Namibia looks like in 2026, both its realities and people. The young, the poor and those generally forgotten must feature if the organisers are serious about inclusion.

The fact that president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah plans to address the public at midnight with her independence message shows there is an appetite to do things differently.

Events like this should also be realistic in celebrating our gains and drawbacks.

A few weeks ago, the Namibia Statistics Agency released a report saying 606 435 people, or 41.6%, of the country’s total urban population, live in shacks. That should remind us all that economic freedom is far from a reality for many.

It is also time for political leaders and organisers to realise there is a disconnect between young people and the ruling elite with their often tired rhetoric. While historically vital, the message of peace and stability must make way for talk of economic liberation and human dignity.

It doesn’t feel like a celebration if each year it’s largely the same tired old programme with the same tired acts, and the same old tired speeches being dusted off and given a new date stamp.

We need to do better. We need to get to grips with the future.

Happy Independence Day, Namibia.

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