Alfeus Lungameni Hamundja
The only thing that I know is I know nothing (Socrates). Some may say I am concerned about things that are none of my business, or that I want to solve the world’s problems.
I am not trying to do that, but if I can help resolve issues that affect me and my generation in any way, even by 1%, then I think I must do it. As a young person of 28 years, I believe in the adage: ‘Little drops of water make the mighty ocean’.
The only solution to address high unemployment in Namibia is to apply the same force and energy that oppose same-sex marriage in Namibia.
Namibian youths are going through turbulent times. We have lost a lot of our young lives due to unemployment and poverty, which leads to depression.
Perhaps we need to ask ourselves these fundamental questions: Does parental support have limits? Do we have to stop supporting our young ones when they turn 21 years old, even when they are unemployed and poor?
In my view, it is not right to let our children suffer, only to eventually have to organise expensive funerals. We should always remember that we do not take a single cent with us when we die.
Youth unemployment is a crisis in Namibia, and human nature tells me this could lead to more frustration, crimes and social unrest as time goes on.
Namibia’s Independence Day 2023, which turned violent, was a signal to more protest joblessness.
Joseph Kefas Sheehama, an independent economic and business researcher, is right when he recently predicted that “The sharp rises in the cost of fuel and electricity will hurt everyone in Namibia, but the unemployed and the poor will be hardest hit”.
The pervasive problem of youth unemployment cannot be overstated.
It needs urgent interventions for continued national peace and stability.
The Namibian newspaper last week reported that over 6 900 graduates were released into the job market, with little prospects.
Sadly, this question must be asked: how do we convince our children that education is the key, while we have a lot of unemployed poor graduates roaming in the streets, and have little chance of finding jobs now and soon?
The lack of urgency to address high unemployment among young people, even when solutions are available, suggests that our politicians only move when it is to satisfy their interest above the masses of our ordinary citizens.
Let us be hopeful that green hydrogen will create some jobs now and in the future, but it must be noted that green hydrogen is not the Alpha and Omega for employment creation in Namibia.
Albert Einstein, who lived 400 years ago before the birth of Jesus Christ, once said: “If you are failing to explain a word/subject in your language, then that means you don’t understand it”.
If I ask what is green hydrogen in layman’s language, how do we explain it to our grandparents and ordinary citizens who do not even know how to send an email?
At this point of the high rate of unemployment, eradicating poverty should be about the government pumping more money into infrastructure development, and promoting industrialisation and green schemes.
Creating employment will bring returns, instead of the basic income grant.
The government needs to spend money on boreholes in rural villages to increase horticultural production to plant things like vegetables and fruit trees so that citizens can support themselves.
This, in turn, will eradicate the food relief programmes that feed people for free.
If we apply the correct interventions, we will stop the system of giving money for free. It creates a dependency syndrome.
I see great potential for investment and development in Namibia in the areas of agriculture, tourism, mining, as well as clean and renewable energy.
Young people, let us use the ballot box – come 27 November – to punish those who do not care about high youth unemployment in Namibia.
If they care, we would see them scrapping highly-paid positions, which are largely ceremonial, and creating programmes targeted to address the unemployment epidemic.
Let us, as a nation, take stock, work on our blind spots, set the bar high and address unemployment, which is a potential threat to our peace and stability.
Long live Namibia, the child of international solidarity, midwifed by the United Nations.