EDITORIAL: SPYL youth quota highlights Swapo leadership challenges
The Swapo Party Youth League's (SPYL's) plea for the party to introduce a youth quota at next year’s electoral college is a clear example of how young people in the party are nothing more than water boys.
Either the party’s inner mechanisms do not promote youth advancement or the youth themselves are not well-equipped to be trusted with key responsibilities.
It also boils down to the quality of leaders the youth wing churns out.
This perhaps explains why SPYL members are finding it hard to make it to parliament and other senior government positions. Those who have managed to make it to parliament as well as ministerial positions have done so mainly by entering through the backdoor as presidential appointees.
Not so long ago, several youth leaders from the Namibia National Students Organisation (Nanso) were catapulted to lucrative positions in government at the expense of SPYL leaders.
Swapo’s elderly support base continues to be the bedrock of the party, a phenomenon that might explain the advanced age of those spearheading the party.
After all, the average age of the party’s top four leaders stands at 70.
It is an open secret that any organisation that does not prioritise youth empowerment faces a challenging future that could threaten its existence, and Swapo is no exception.
The party is not new to quotas – a few years ago, the lack of women in top positions forced the party’s leadership to introduce a gender quota to ensure that women make their way to the top.
Either the party’s inner mechanisms do not promote youth advancement or the youth themselves are not well-equipped to be trusted with key responsibilities.
It also boils down to the quality of leaders the youth wing churns out.
This perhaps explains why SPYL members are finding it hard to make it to parliament and other senior government positions. Those who have managed to make it to parliament as well as ministerial positions have done so mainly by entering through the backdoor as presidential appointees.
Not so long ago, several youth leaders from the Namibia National Students Organisation (Nanso) were catapulted to lucrative positions in government at the expense of SPYL leaders.
Swapo’s elderly support base continues to be the bedrock of the party, a phenomenon that might explain the advanced age of those spearheading the party.
After all, the average age of the party’s top four leaders stands at 70.
It is an open secret that any organisation that does not prioritise youth empowerment faces a challenging future that could threaten its existence, and Swapo is no exception.
The party is not new to quotas – a few years ago, the lack of women in top positions forced the party’s leadership to introduce a gender quota to ensure that women make their way to the top.
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Namibian Sun
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