EDITORIAL: Justice, but for whom?

When President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah addressed parliament recently - via Prime Minister Elijah Ngurare - her message to the Anti-Corruption Commission and the Office of the Prosecutor General was clear: accountability must no longer be optional in this country.Notably, the judiciary was left out of this directive, likely in adherence to the doctrine of separation of powers between the executive and the courts. But anyone paying close attention can read between the lines: the war on corruption, and indeed, on all forms of criminality, cannot be fought with one arm tied behind our backs. The judiciary must be part of the solution.But herein lies the problem. Too often, our courts appear disconnected from the urgent needs and lived realities of society. While it’s true that the law is not an exact field of mathematical certainty, there are moments when judicial decisions defy logic and trample on public trust. There is no justice in a system that allows known, repeat offenders to return to our streets with alarming ease.When a person out on bail for murder commits another killing, the responsibility does not rest solely on the criminal. It rests on the system that empowered him to repeat it. The blood is on the court’s hands.We understand the frustrations of our law enforcement officers. They risk their lives to hunt down and apprehend society’s most dangerous elements, only to see them walk free, time and again. One can only imagine the demoralisation of arresting the same person repeatedly.The law often speaks of public interest when courts deliberate on bail decisions. But what public interest is served by unleashing armed robbers back into the very communities they terrorise? How does it serve justice to grant freedom to killers while the families of victims still grieve?

EDITORIAL: Justice, but for whom?

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Namibian Sun 2025-12-29

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EDITORIAL: Justice, but for whom?

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Namibian Sun 2025-12-29

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