It will be appropriate to borrow the title of Tjingaete’s book, “Weeping Graves of our Ancestors,” to express the current situation in Namibia in terms of the high unemployment level.
The Namibian masses who challenged the contract labour system will be shocked to witness what is happening throughout the country in terms of job scarcity. In all interviews today, the number of applicants does not tally with the expectations of the interview panels.
In most cases the interview panellists are always overwhelmed by the number of turnouts of the invited applicants. Imagine, inviting only 100 applicants and you receive more than 1 000! This situation tells a sad tale about the reality in terms of unemployment in this country.
There are many reasons cited which might have triggered the situation of high unemployment rates, which might be understandable, but the question which lingers on the minds of many concerned Namibians is the duration of that understanding. The youth are always eager to get ‘the bread on the table’ which is of course their right. One cannot expect that after so many years in both secondary and tertiary education, the youth should be left to fend for themselves.
Of course, the Government has made some inroads in youth employment, but it appears they are not enough to satisfy a population of less than three million people with such abundant resources in the country.
One may give a number of reasons for the failure of such youth employment projects, but the fact is that many people are without jobs now and the situations seems to see no solution in the near future. Articles have been written and papers presented at conferences, seminars and workshops, but these efforts bear little employment fruition.
The unemployment saga in Namibia should have been solved immediately after Independence, but there was no political will as people were busy reorganizing and solidifying and consolidating their positions in the newly created political dispensation. It seems the political elite that time never thought of the dire consequences of failing to prepare for future unemployment dilemmas.
The country is going into an election next year while the ruling party is riddled with chains of challenges ranging from corruption to the high levels of unemployment. The incoming government, of course under the leadership of the ruling party’s candidate, will need to convince the electorate especially the youth that their unemployment needs will be taken care of. This election cannot be compared to the previous ones, as it is clear that the youth are not comfortable with the current political dispensation as it has failed to address their unemployment plight.
The issue of the liberation struggle may feature here and there during elections, but it does not hold much water anymore this time around, as many people feel betrayed by those who were supposed to save them. During this election let the campaigners from all political parties appeal to the youth in order to find out what they need in order to address their fears and plight. It cannot be any election as usual, but the political campaigners should think outside the election box. If asked what they want, the youth will definitely respond with lists of projects which will require funding from the Government. It is not enough to tell them that the Government will create jobs, without elaborating how that will be done.
It is a fact that the Government cannot be expected to provide jobs for all the people in the country, but it should aid those who are willing to create their own jobs by providing financial support. The usual song that the Government cannot employ everyone has been sending sweet but discord melodies to our ears, but the fruition is not coming in large numbers. There are nations around the globe, where most services are free as provided by their Governments, but in Namibia is another story.
With a small population and all these resources, Namibia should have done better. To concretize their promises, as the country moves into an election year, the political parties should come out with programmes which are workable and bear fruits as soon as possible to appease the anger of the unemployed majority. The need to get solution to the current situation of joblessness should be sought soonest as mere empty employment promises may not augur well with the youth and the teachers who qualified and being told that there are jobs and should actually employ themselves.
The campaigners should discuss with the youth the possibility of employing them in the agricultural sector as Namibia should have plenty of food and security thereof. This is an important step in any country as it would equally avoid food dependence on other nations. In addition to being involved in the agricultural sector, the Government should introduce incentives and subsidies like markets where the produce can be sold on time and with money which equate their labour and costs. It should also provide farming equipment which will enable the young farmers to operate by themselves. Still agriculture has been the backbone of many nations, as a nation which cannot feed cannot stand proud among nations.
The other area could be the military national service, in which the youth after graduating from Grade 12 could be coopted into the army for two years. During this period, the recruitees are able to acquire skills which will assist in terms of reducing reliance on the Government for jobs. The issue of building more schools is equally understandable, but retirees and those on contract need to make way for the ones who need employment soonest.
Prof. Makala Lilemba is an academician, author, diplomat, motivational leader, researcher and scholar.