WINDHOEK – The Ministry of Industrialisation, Trade and SME Development has failed in controlling foreign direct investors (FDIs) who come into the country with their own employees and ignore local graduate youths, said Swanu Youth League president Brian Ngutjinazo.

“Why is the ministry silent about the number of employees that come with FDIs and overlook the fact that Namibians need to work for such institutions to gain experience and skills?” Ngutjinazo said when addressing the media here on Friday.
Ngutjinazo called on the Ministry of Industrialisation, Trade and SME Development and the Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation to set up a commission of enquiry to investigate the number of Namibians who work for FDIs compared to foreigners, and to release their finding in May.

Furthermore, Ngutjinazo also complained about the National Youth Service (NYS), saying the NYS, which according to him is supposed to facilitate employment opportunities for the Namibian youth, is now staging a form of competition with vocational schools by offering vocational courses.  

“We are therefore asking the NYS to create platforms for employment of graduates instead of competing with VTC, Unam or Nust,” said the youth league leader.

Additionally, Ngutjinazo called on government to unfreeze all frozen positions such as those of nurses, teachers, police, and the defence force.

He said the government should acquire loans from other countries to sustain civil servants.
“Use the loans that government obtains from Germany and other nations to sustain civil servants, instead of pumping billions of dollars on airports and other infrastructure that needs no expensive renovation – after all a productive nation is an economically stable nation,” he said.

Also, Ngutjinazo said the Development Bank of Namibia is surely not serving its purpose.
“The bank needs to avail grants not loans for graduates or the youth to enter into the business environment for the development of Namibia,” he said.  

“Where does the bank expect a graduate to get collateral from if they just graduated?  We request the bank to use a graduate qualification as a requirement of obtaining a business loan,” he added.