ONGWEDIVA – The All People’s Party (APP) says it will field more young people to contest in the upcoming regional council and local authority elections slated for November.
APP’s secretary general Vincent Kanyetu said his party has prioritised the youth, as they are the victims of the current problems faced in the country.

“APP has prioritised the youth, because they are the ones who know how to solve the problems they are encountering,” said Kanyetu.
Kanyetu said although they have considered candidates of different age groups, the party has selected candidates that can drive Namibia forward.

“You cannot take a pensioner to solve the current problems. Where will they start? They will just confuse the system,” said Kanyetu.
During the current tenure, APP does not have a single seat in the regional elections.
At local authority level, APP has candidates at four local authorities in Rundu, Grootfontein, Divundu and Maltahöhe.
The party’s vice president Erastus Shuumbwa said the nominations of candidates have been completed.
“We have the names but we will only release them on Thursday,” said Shuumbwa.

Echoing Kanyetu’s sentiments, Shuumbwa said the party is pro-youth because it wants the youth to plan and be involved in their own future.
“We do not want them to blame anyone in the future, we want them to take charge and plan for their future themselves,” he said.
Shuumbwa said it is not ideal that someone’s future is planned by a person who will not be there.
“As a party, that is our stand. We want to empower the youth so that in the future they can account and implement their own plans.  It is not right that somebody above 70 years old plans for the future,” said Shuumbwa.
The youth currently face a high unemployment rate and a lack of housing amongst other social problems. –nashipala@nepc.com.na