By Pinehas Nakaziko
WINDHOEK-Despite a humble origin, Michael Mulunga has always been ambitious when it comes to youth development in Namibia.
Born 25 years ago, and growing up in Katutura’s residential area of Shandumbala, Michael started his lower primary schooling at the Mandume Primary School in 1996. He later finished his high school at the Immanuel Shifidi in 2008. In 2012 he graduated in Business Administration with the Polytechnic of Namibia (PON). Michael is currently employed at the National Youth Council of Namibia as a Volunteer grants administrator, coordinating the Youth Development Grant Programme (YDGP). With up to nine youth national and international awards to his name, Michael says his determination to uplift Namibian youths to the next level will continue to rise. “I want to continue making a difference in the lives of fellow young people. I am therefore urging fellow young people to be pro-active and look for opportunities that can bring difference to their lives,” he says.
Michael says that in 2006 he joined the Young Achievers Empowerment Project (YAEP), an organisation in Katutura that inspires and motivates young people to have a sense of vision and a mission in their lives. Through this organisation, he realised his leadership capabilities, and since he has been involved in so many community projects that have opened new doors for him. In 2007, Michael won the second Young Community Shapers Price, at an event organised by Woerman Brock to award outstanding young people who have made a change in their communities. He also won the first price at the PoN in a Business Plan competition in 2008. In 2009 he was also selected as one of the Ubuntu International Youth Awards Jury Members (UIYAJ), an event that brought five young people from Africa and five from Europe to judge projects in Africa.
He says his best project was to participate in the United States of America (USA) President Barack Obama’s Forum with Young African leaders in Washington DC, an event that took 120 Young African leaders from sub-Saharan African countries to Washington in 2010. Michael is also a young man who is passionate about Agriculture and hopes to venture into Agribusiness one day. He completed a three- month certificate in Poultry Production and Health at the Egyptian International Centre for Agriculture recently and is currently assisting small scale farmers who want to venture into Poultry Farming. He encourages the youths to venture into agriculture as Namibia still imports quite a lot of food from South Africa.