Namibia cannot fully tell its own story while its streets, towns, institutions and public spaces continue to carry names rooted in a colonial past.
The growing call to replace colonial-era names with those of Namibian heroes, heroines and other citizens who have contributed to the country is therefore more than a debate about changing signs and addresses.
It is a debate about identity, memory and the kind of history Namibia wants to pass on to future generations.
Since independence, several municipalities have taken steps to rename streets and public places.
Yet the process has remained uneven, and in many communities colonial-era names continue to dominate the public landscape.
There is a strong argument for government to accelerate the process.
Public spaces are not neutral.
The names attached to streets and institutions tell people whose history matters and who deserves to be remembered.
For a country that fought a long liberation struggle, it is difficult to justify a situation where the names of colonial figures remain prominent while the names of Namibians who fought for freedom, built communities, contributed to the economy or served society remain largely absent from the landscape.
Renaming can therefore be an important part of symbolic decolonisation.
It can restore dignity, recognise national heroes and ensure that Namibia’s public spaces reflect its own history.
But there is also a legitimate warning against turning the process into another political battleground.
Renaming should not simply become an exercise in replacing colonial names with the names of politicians currently in power.
Nor should it be used to reward political allies or personalities at the expense of Namibians whose contributions have been overlooked.
The process must be transparent and based on clear criteria.
A person’s contribution to a particular community should matter.
A street in Windhoek, for example, should not necessarily be named after someone simply because that person holds political office. Greater recognition should be given to people who made meaningful contributions to Windhoek and its residents.
The same principle should apply across the country.
There are Namibians who contributed to the liberation struggle, education, health, business, culture, sport, agriculture, community development and the economy. Some are well known, while others worked quietly without ever receiving national recognition.
These are the people who should also be considered.
The debate should therefore not be reduced to whether colonial names must go.
The bigger question is who should replace them and why?
There is also a danger in allowing the process to drag on indefinitely.
Excessive caution can become an excuse for inaction.
More than three decades after independence, Namibia should have developed a clear and consistent national framework for dealing with colonial names.
At the same time, communities should not simply be presented with decisions that have already been made.
Residents, traditional authorities, historians, local leaders, businesses and affected institutions should have an opportunity to participate.
There must be consultation, but consultation must also lead to decisions.
The government can strike a balance by identifying prominent colonial names for which there is broad national agreement and dealing with them as a priority, while allowing more extensive consultation on local street and institutional names.
Most importantly, the process should not be driven by political convenience.
Namibia’s history belongs to all Namibians.
The public landscape should therefore reflect the country’s diverse history rather than the interests of one political party, ethnic group or generation.
Renaming should also not mean erasing history. Colonial names can be documented in museums, archives, history books and educational material.
Changing a street name does not mean pretending that the old name never existed.
Rather, it means deciding what Namibia chooses to honour in its public spaces.
The country should now move towards a structured, transparent and time-bound renaming programme.
It should identify colonial-era names, establish criteria for replacement, consult affected communities and ensure that the names selected represent genuine national and local contributions.
Namibia should not remain trapped in a colonial naming system simply because changing it is administratively inconvenient or politically sensitive.
The time has come to make the country’s public spaces speak more clearly to its own people, its own history and its own future.
The names on our streets should tell the next generation not only where we came from, but also who we are and whom we chose to honour.
– Contributed
