Time for a youth president

Time for a youth president It is true that in every human being's lifetime, one's livelihood cycle is to live until they die, and the only permanent life facet is 'change', for what's more, better or worse. For instance not long ago Namibia was under colonialism and 27 years thereafter gained independence, but the roles played both by the youth and adults then were equally pivotal, both mentally and physically in resisting the apartheid regime under British rule and actively managing to convince the world/United Nations, that we were better off ruling ourselves.

I for one find our Namibian liberation struggle history to be very intriguing it is a beautiful and rich story – speaking of national heroes.

The execution and the courage our heroes showed; priceless.

As a result of the unity demonstrated during these liberation battles, we were able to achieve independence as a country, and thereafter the sustainable peace, tranquility and prosperity, “the blood of the fallen shall forever water our freedom, whilst the survivors lead our freedom” that we the contemporary society enjoy and embrace today and tomorrow.

The lack of engagement and commitment is the first issue I see with our contemporary heroes, because in my view, if you want to solve a problem, then involve both the victim and the culprit and help them find an amicable solution, by listening to both concerned parties' objections, before taking drastic measures (or stance), to cultivate a comprehensive environment that serves the well-being of the entire nation's security. Recently, the youth have encountered various tribulations and quite surprising not only did the relevant ministers or the president fail to resolve the matter by consulting the aggrieved; no stance was taken for either party on matters that seemed to be a conflict of interest by the Management and some Government officials.

Thus prompting my observation of the current administration – to remind them that their leadership of the Namibian government, is owed to the Namibian citizens that gave their consent and that the youth were equally eager to vote for the incumbents' administration to govern – and for once we would like to feel the presence of our leaders, to retain the faith we had in them during the elections.

The latest UNAM scandal for one, could have served as a great platform for the incumbents to intervene and hear our cries, but to the contrary, there has been no such constructive intervention or attempts at such matters from either government or the relevant agencies.

There have been calls, from time-to-time from students at the University for the incumbent's intervention, who also happen to be stakeholders of the institution to attend to the students' (also citizens of an independent and democratic Namibia) pleas, but unsurprisingly, it fell on deaf ears and the only hope for students is therefore to write and air their grievances on social media platforms, to help get the message across.

Therefore my question is this: Is this the contemporary culture we wish to nurture or do the current leaders feels that the youth's problems are not theirs for the taking? May I remind them, they were once young too and they looked to their elders and leaders for answers and they got them and they lived in a better and more progressive environment, we the youth for once would like to make them proud the same way President Geingob, Sam Nujoma and the late Toivo ya Toivo made the elders of their time happy and proud with their accomplishments.

Today however, there seems to be no hope for us, for youth empowerment. Why not nurture the current youth to become better versions of themselves? To give you something to be proud of, and if there is any truth in the saying that “the youth are the future”, then perhaps it is worth teaching and embracing the current youth with knowledge and wisdom for the future generation to acquire and benefit from equally, thus to remedy the situation. It's time the government takes care of the youth's needs and hearken to their cries.

It is time to enrich and equip them well for a better tomorrow, a tomorrow that they themselves will look forward to in their retirement. Unemployment rate, high poverty and crime statistics are all topped by the country's youth, whilst the “unfit and self-indulging” capitalists and the elite continue to capture our national wealth, selfishly.

What kind of a future are we cultivating? We, the youth, “the leaders of tomorrow”, for once, would like to appeal to the government to hear our voices and attend to our grievances.

Start with engagement, become involved in every decision made that involves even a mere reflection of this country's future.



*Romanus Mungamba is a final year Public Management student at the University of Namibia.