Inability to provide killing men, PM warns

Prime Minister Elijah Ngurare has warned that the pressure on men to provide for their families, compounded by unemployment, debt and economic hardship, is contributing to a mental-health crisis and driving some towards suicide.

Ngurare made the remarks at the launch of the DEN Impact Foundation, an initiative of First Gentleman Epaphras Denga Ndaitwah, at Droomobos outside Windhoek on Tuesday, as he called for urgent national action to address the challenges facing boys and young men.

He said Namibia must confront the growing gender disparity affecting boys without turning it into a competition with the progress made in empowering girls.

“Ultimately, experts emphasise that this shouldn't be a ‘boys vs. girls’ competition,” Ngurare said. “For decades, discussions have focused heavily on empowering the girl child.”

“Addressing the plight of a boy child is aiming at perfecting education outcomes, public safety, workforce readiness, family stability, and long-term leadership in communities.”

Ngurare’s warning takes on added significance given that he has himself spoken publicly about experiencing suicidal thoughts during a period of severe financial distress.

In July last year, the prime minister revealed that he battled crippling debt between 2015 and 2019, at a time when he was facing the possible repossession of his home and car. He said the financial pressure became so overwhelming that he contemplated taking his own life so that his family could use his life-insurance payout to settle his debts.

Ngurare said he ultimately overcame those thoughts with the support of family, friends and comrades, while acknowledging that he continues to repay the debt.

His disclosure came after three teachers in the Ohangwena Region died by suicide in the space of a week, with one reportedly leaving a note referring to financial difficulties. He subsequently called for government and the private sector to work together to support people facing financial distress.

The prime minister’s personal experience has now added a human dimension to his broader warning about the pressures confronting Namibian men, particularly the expectation that they must be providers even when economic circumstances make that increasingly difficult.

Police data for the 2023/24 reporting period previously showed 542 suicide deaths nationally, including 449 men, 80 women and 13 children. Most of the cases were recorded in the Ohangwena, Omusati and Oshikoto regions, with men accounting for more than 80% of the recorded deaths.

Ngurare said police had recorded 122 suicide cases by March 2026, comprising 98 men, 19 women and five minors.

“Behind every statistic is a human story,” he said, describing the young man carrying the burden of unemployment in silence and the father struggling to provide for his family while battling economic despair and depression.

The government’s concern extends beyond mental health. Ngurare said boys and men are increasingly falling behind in education while also confronting unemployment and other social pressures.

First Gentleman Ndaitwah has previously highlighted that boys represented only 35.4% of University of Namibia graduates in the 2025/26 graduation cycle, compared with 64.6% women. At NUST, women reportedly accounted for about 60% of graduates. He also cited Ministry of Education figures showing that 8 720 boys dropped out of school in 2023.

Ngurare said these trends could have consequences extending well beyond the classroom, affecting employability, family stability, economic participation and the development of future leaders.

The DEN Impact Foundation will seek to respond to these challenges through discipline, sport, agriculture, education, mentorship and mental-health awareness.

The foundation intends to work with government ministries, the private sector, civil society, schools and development partners, with its mandate extending across all 14 regions and 121 constituencies.

“We must stand for the boy child who sits silently at the back of a classroom, afraid to say he is struggling,” Ngurare said.

He urged parents, businesses, traditional and faith leaders and other stakeholders to create environments in which boys and men can openly discuss emotional and financial difficulties and seek counselling without being made to feel weak.

His message was also one of hope, drawing on his own experience of surviving a period in which he said financial distress pushed him towards thoughts of suicide.

“To whomever finds themselves on the verge of suicidal thoughts, please don’t go through with it,” Ngurare said last year. “Fight on, the sun will shine again amidst all hardships of life.”

“This is a moment that calls for us to stand together as a government, as a nation, as parents, as leaders, for no one to be left behind,” he said.