By Sabina Elago
WINDHOEK– A section of the youth in Katutura does not only feel that the government has failed them but also feel that they have been snubbed by both government and municipality officials who failed to turn up at the convention on Saturday to address them on various issues of concern to them.
One youth also feels that they should boycott the upcoming Presidential and National Assembly elections to express their disappointment. Vice Chairperson of Samora Machel Youth Forum, Michael Amushelelo, says they are disappointed as different officials they invited to address them did not turn up, leaving their querries unattended. “We invited officials from the City of Windhoek and Ministry of Land to address on the ability of the youth to acquire property, and the Ministry of Youth to address us on high unemployment among Namibian youth, but they did not show up, this just show that our leaders do not really pay attention to us the youth.”
The youth had their first ever youth convention on Saturday at Martti Ahtisaari Primary School in Wanaheda, where they discussed high unemployment among the Namibian youth, and the inability of the youth to acquire property. “The time to act is now, enough with the talking, the youth must come together as one and take action as the government has failed us,” says the youth from Samora Machel Constituency.
They say the government must do something with the Ramatex building, something that will create employment or use the building for the vocational training of the youth. They do not appreciate that the government is not attending to their problem. They say lots of jobs are being given to foreigners, especially in the mining industry, while there are a lot of unskilled and unemployed youth in the country. What is the government doing to the youth that are not educated but always come up with good useful idea? They want to know.
One of the youth who attended the convention, Queen Namundjembo, says the youth of Namibia are not doing enough to make sure the government hear them out .“We just talk and keep quiet, we do not put pressure on the government to what we really want as Namibian youth, now most foreigners feel more Namibian then us,” says Namundjembo. She adds that Namibians cannot afford to buy houses or own property but foreigners come in and buy them. “It is like the land belongs to some people as we are asked a lot for our own land. They ask things that they know we do not have just to make sure we do not own any property.”
Namundjembo says because of the English language, a lot of smart young people end up in the streets. “Most smart learners do not enter varsity due to the fact that they fail or have low grade in English and they do not have money to improve. This is killing our doctors and engineers to be.”
“What is the government doing for us as the youth?” asks Kashiwanwa Weshila, a Gender and Young Women Youth Activist. “We need radical changes because we have been speaking for some times now but there are no changes. If the government did not provide a written document that says what they will do for us the youth, lets boycott the election,” says Weshila. Despite the no-show by the officials, Amushelelo says the convention was a success as the youth turned up in numbers sharing their ideas and concluding conclusion that the solution lies in their own hand by the showing what they want in life and all they need is a platform.