Zorena Jantze
PRESIDENT Hage Geingob, speaking at the State of the Nation Address (SONA), expressed apprehension on the declaration of a State of Emergency on youth unemployment, adding that doing this could lead to the youth being recruited by “certain” forces which could mislead them.
Geingob said this in response to questions posed by the leader of the official opposition party, Popular Democratic Movement’s (PDM) McHenry Venaani, who shared that, according to a United Nations (UN) report, youth unemployment in the country has reached 50% – a palpable figure, whilst, he said, the country prioritises condom tenders that amount to N$600 million.
The same concerns were echoed by Josef Kaundenge of NUDO, who said that youth unemployment is a crisis as the country has seen instances where more than 3 000 youths run and tremble over each other to apply for ten advertised posts. Are current interventions such as security sector recruits enough or should more be done, Kaundenge posed.
“I would like to thank members for asking questions. Starting with the leader of the official opposition, he is saying we have a youth crisis, whatever it is. Can you declare a youth crisis? Firstly, when you declare a State of Emergency, you have to get information, there must be intelligent people who will give you advice. This and this have to be done, otherwise we will have a crisis and so… We know it’s a crisis. We are trying to do it our way of creating jobs, it’s not enough, yes. However, crisis management is not an easy thing,” Geingob said.
He added that this could be gleamed from the State of Emergency that was declared on Covid-19.
“If you declare crisis, the country is to be questioned. If you declare crisis, it’s a very serious matter, rightly so maybe, unemployment of youth is a serious crisis. You are right. If the youth rise up, it will be a crisis, we count the youth from maybe 14 to 20 years, they can get guns from somewhere, terrorism I talked about, they are available, they can recruit them… There is a danger it is true. Let’s talk about it seriously. But I am not a member of parliament, I am a guest here,” Geingob said.
The president further encouraged parliamentarians to approach the prime minister as she is the leader of government and, by constitutional amendment, in charge of administration.
“It’s a problem, it’s a serious crisis we are facing, but I am worried about declaring a State of Emergency over youth unemployment. They could be misled and recruited by other forces,” Geingob said. He added that there are other things that can be done, such as creating jobs at an accelerated pace to diffuse the danger the country is facing.
