The curse of unemployment

Unemployment remains one of the most challenging social problems currently facing Namibians. The failure by government to address unemployment is undoubtedly the biggest failing of the ruling party in the last 15 years. The most recent statistics show that about 350 000 people are currently desperately in search of jobs. This figure continues to rise considering the massive job losses being experienced across industries throughout the country. The national unemployment rate, according to the Namibia Statistics Agency, stands at 34%. Government at this stage is unable to provide statistics on exactly how many jobs were shed during the last two years. It goes without saying that job losses have continued unabated and the fiscal consolidation process initiated by the authorities had a negative impact on employment in the country. President Hage Geingob last week in his State of the Nation Address spectacularly failed to account on the high levels of unemployment, which has sadly seen large masses of frustrated youth sitting at home with tertiary qualifications. A huge proportion of young Namibians can simply not find employment or earn a living given the current economic conditions. The president dedicated his SONA to the young people of Namibia, however, the point remains that there is little political will to put issues facing the youth on the national agenda in such a big way as other government programmes. The system has extremely neglected the Namibian youth and this is what our leaders don't realise. In his maiden SONA in 2015, Geingob had given us all hope for a better Namibia and an inspiration to dream big. However, things have clearly fallen apart and despite achievements here and there, the bane of unemployment has not been addressed to this day. Namibians are angry and impatient at government's misplaced priorities and not forgetting the ever-growing frustration over allegations and suspicions of corruption implicating high-level government officials and politicians. The government has failed to follow through on its commitments to reducing unemployment in the country in the absence of clear policy interventions and the much-needed investment in youth-related programmes. The young people of this country have every reason to feel left out. We need to do better.