Accountability over rhetoric: Dr Mubita’s Independence Day speech at Bukalo

At a time when reflections on Namibia's Independence Day often drift into ceremonial praise, Dr Charles Mubita offers a necessary disruption: accountability over rhetoric.

Speaking on Impalila Island, Dr Mubita’s remarks go beyond anecdote, exposing a structural contradiction in Namibia’s post-independence project. How, 36 years after liberation, do citizens in parts of the country still operate functionally within the economic and administrative systems of another state? The continued reliance on Botswana’s Pula is more than an inconvenience; it signals gaps in state reach, infrastructure delivery, and territorial integration.

His refusal to make “promises we cannot achieve” critiques a political culture that has too often prioritised aspirational messaging over executable policy. Governance credibility, after all, depends not on ambition alone but on the alignment of commitments with capacity for implementation. By rejecting empty pledges, Dr Mubita implicitly calls for a recalibration of political accountability standards.

More strikingly, his identification of corruption and poor planning as causal factors in the failed Kasika–Impalila bridge project shifts the conversation from passive neglect to active misgovernance. Underdevelopment in regions like Zambezi is not inevitable; it is shaped, in part, by human decisions and institutional weaknesses. His assertion that “some of the billions… have gone into people’s pockets” is a direct indictment of systemic leakages in public resource management.

Yet, compelling diagnoses must translate into action. Political candour requires institutional follow-through: procurement reform, forensic audits, and transparent infrastructure planning. Without these, even the most powerful speech risks remaining symbolic rather than transformative.

Supporting Dr Mubita is therefore less about endorsing one address and more about embracing a governance ethic that values truth over comfort, delivery over declarations, and accountability over excuses. Namibia’s independence was not just political liberation; it was meant to ensure that every citizen—from Windhoek to Impalila—experiences the full substance of freedom.

This 36th anniversary should mark a pivot: from celebrating independence to interrogating its depth.

Peter Ilukena is Vice Rector: Academic, Innovation & Research at Goldstone Software Engineering Institute. He wrote this in his personal capacity.