Namibia has sent representation to a cannabis regulation conference in Colorado, in the latest indication yet that the government is having a change of heart regarding outdated laws that continue to criminalise all forms of cannabis use and is working quietly behind the scenes to incubate a cannabis economy and create jobs.

A ministerial-level official in the Namibian government was among attendees to the 2025 CANNRA Cannabis Regulators Association Meeting held in Denver on 10 and 11 June, which brings together industry professionals, regulators and policy advocates to engage in discussions on cannabis, cannabinoid and hemp regulatory and policy topics.

Lydia-Mutindi Jacobs, the Acting Deputy Chief: Law Reform and Development Commission in the Ministry of Justice (pictured above) posted images and observations during the two-day event, highlighting among others the benefits of a regulated cannabis industry.

Her unexpected appearance at the prominent cannabis and hemp gathering is seen as a sign that the government is preparing to join other countries in the region that have decriminalised cannabis for medicinal and industrial purposes. Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe have all passed friendly legislation while Botswana is moving fast to adopt enabling legislation.

With Namibia conspicuously missing from this list of neighbouring countries that have adopted guidelines to facilitate cannabis commercialisation, it is small wonder that the government is moving to take steps to change its prohibitionist stance.

It recently  sent out a public notice inviting citizens to propose new legislation or suggest amendments to existing laws and pro-cannabis activists have rallied behind the call to demand that the country’s draconian colonial-era legislation be scrapped for being outdated and for perpetrating poverty and the denial of religious and other human rights.

On 2 July 2025, the Windhoek High Court will adjudicate a lawsuit by Ganja Users of Namibia (GUN), the country’s leading pro-cannabis organisation, to declare the ban on cannabis unconstitutional.

GUN is one of four main pro-cannabis bodies in Namibia in a joint application to the Ministry of Justice and Labour Relations requesting that laws such as the Abuse of Dependence-Producing Substances and Rehabilitation Centres Act 41 of 1971, imposed during the country’s period as a colony of South Africa be amended.

The deadline for suggestions for news law is today, Friday 13 June.

This comes as police intensify raids and seizures and make arrests on an almost daily basis for cannabis-related offences. In one of the latest seizure incidents, they raided an illegal cannabis farm in Okahandja in the north of the country, uncovering a plantation with an acreage of more than 1.5 hectares and arresting three people, including a South African.

Activists bemoan provisions that allow police to raid and search properties without a warrant and that do not give suspects arrested for possession protections under the constitution, including the presumption of innocence until charged.

They have also gone all out to hold new President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah to her word: she has promised to prioritise agriculture in order to stimulate job creation. Activists say cannabis should be incorporated in such plans given its potential to create thousands of jobs.

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