It is well documented that corruption is rife in most African countries, and at times it seems as though rules and laws are nothing but words on paper and depending on whom you are or what you do, they might not apply to you as they would apply to the next person.
That is the picture those in positions of power send out to the youth, and with the economy being what it is currently, their strong and honest leadership is needed dearly now more than they know. While they are performing their duties they should know that the youth are eagerly watching and learning from them, not just expecting results, but also learning how to behave and react should they find themselves in a similar situation.
It’s sad that the picture they paint is not always perfect, as while there are some leaders that do execute their duties efficiently, there are others that just make a whole organisation look bad. The youth aspire to be in similar positions like their leaders someday and while we look up to them they at times do a terrible job of looking down on us.
Our football fraternity has been in a shambles for the past few years. We watched our team celebrate winning the COSAFA Cup and then in a short span our players went a whole season without a league, simply because our leaders are not doing a very good job of keeping the organisation well oiled.
The same with the City Police and City of Windhoek issue. Two very important institutions of the country, yet the reports coming from there are not pleasing to hear for any youth of the country. It’s disappointing actually. We are supposed to run to them when we have problems, yet it’s them giving us a headache, their leadership is letting us down.
The one word that keeps popping up out of all these issues is mismanagement. On the African continent the word mismanagement is closely related to corruption. Maybe if the leaders of today set a better example the leaders of tomorrow wouldn’t be heavily corrupt.
One day the youth of today will find themselves in the positions of the current leaders, and when push comes to shove, they shouldn’t be surprised if we take a page from their book and follow in their footsteps.
While everything does come with its challenges, and I would like to think the leaders are trying their maximum best to deal with them, they should just set an example that the youth can look up to. Lead by example.
*Olavi Popyeinawa has a diploma in Alternative Dispute Resolution and is currently studying law, LLB at the University of Namibia (Unam). He will weekly contribute this column on youth mattersInstagram: niceguy_olavi Facebook: Olavi Longfellow Twitter: @OlaviPopyeinawa