There was a time when land was the issue that defined Namibia's politics.

It fuelled election campaigns, dominated parliamentary debates and stirred emotions across every corner of the country. Land was more than property. It was about justice, dignity, opportunity and the unfinished business of independence.

Today, the silence is deafening. It is difficult to escape the conclusion that the country has, quite literally, gone fishing on land reform.

Parliament, once a battleground for passionate exchanges on the redistribution of land, has grown unusually quiet. The urgency that once accompanied discussions on one of Namibia's most sensitive and consequential issues has evaporated. 

This is not to suggest that the Land Bill has disappeared from parliament's agenda. It has not. It remains before lawmakers. But an item on an order paper is not the same as political will. Legislation can gather dust just as easily as it can gather momentum.

Meanwhile, the realities that made land reform an urgent national priority remain unchanged.

Thousands of young Namibians still cannot afford urban land. Informal settlements continue to expand faster than serviced land can be provided. Commercial farmland remains beyond the reach of the overwhelming majority of aspiring farmers. 

What has changed is not the problem. It is the political appetite to confront it.

Land reform is not a historical project that can simply be placed on pause while the country chases its next economic opportunity. It remains central to social stability, food security, wealth creation and national reconciliation.

Namibia has witnessed before how unresolved land grievances can become fertile ground for political populism. Responsible leadership does not wait for frustration to boil over before acting. It leads the conversation, however uncomfortable it may be.

Members of parliament cannot allow one of the country's defining policy questions to fade into procedural obscurity.