Every child failed by the system is a scar on Namibia’s conscience.

For years, the signs have been staring us in the face. I raised the alarm. Others did too. Yet here we are, mourning fresh graves in Okahandja, paying the price of a country that listens only after the blood has already been spilled.

This is not just tragedy. It is failure. It is systemic neglect wearing the mask of sadness. A National Child Safeguarding Review is not a nice-to-have. It is a moral emergency.

No child should have to rely on luck to survive in their own country. We must stop pretending that this is normal. We must stop moving on after the headlines fade. I demand action. And so should every Namibian.

On 5 September 2023, I publicly warned through my article “An Urgent Call for a National Child Safeguarding Review in Namibia” that the cracks in our child protection systems would cost lives. We are now living that cost. What we see unfolding is not an unforeseen tragedy; it is the direct consequence of a national failure to implement the protections we already have in law.

Since 2015, Namibia has had the Child Care and Protection Act (Act 3 of 2015), a progressive, rights-based legal framework designed to uphold the best interests of every child. It promises protection, prevention, and accountability. Yet, nearly a decade later, those promises remain largely unfulfilled. Our system, on paper strong, remains dangerously weak in practice.

The deaths of children—including those we mourn today—are not isolated. They are evidence of systemic neglect, of a society that responds with outrage only after young lives have been lost. Training workshops and awareness programmes, while important, are not enough. Namibia does not need more projects; Namibian children need protection. Real, tangible, enforceable protection.

What Must Happen Now

1. Establish an Independent Child Protection Oversight Body, empowered by law to monitor, audit, and publicly report on the system’s performance.
2. The Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare must commit to annual public accountability reports that move beyond activity lists to measurable enforcement outcomes.
3. Every region must have fully functional and properly resourced Child Protection Units within the police service, as the Act demands.
4. Launch an emergency national audit immediately to review known cases of child abuse, neglect, and systemic failures.
5. Provide a clear, well-publicised national hotline through support with organisations such as LifeLine/ChildLine Namibia, with robust whistleblower protections to ensure safe reporting.
6. Shift from treating child protection as goodwill to recognising it as a constitutional and legal duty.