Youth, you are on your own!

President Hage Geingob recently made a statement to the effect that successes in education have turned out to be a problem.

If you didn’t hear it directly from his mouth, you may be in disbelief.

This is indeed what the president stated in reference to the unemployment situation and the fact that a significant number of those who are unemployed actually have university degrees.

The obvious question to be asked is: What is the key message the president sought to communicate? Is he perhaps suggesting it was a mistake to invest in education or that if the youth didn’t have university degrees, the situation would have been better?

No matter from what angle you look at it, the president's remarks are just very difficult to understand, let alone explain. This is the reason why his media team did not attempt to clarify his statement, as it usually tries to do – unsuccessfully at times.

Interestingly, over the past few weeks, a debate has emerged regarding the children of the first family who accompanied their parents to an official international engagement. When questions were raised and the media probed the matter, the presidency released a statement stating that the president and his wife paid for the expenses of their children who accompanied them to Dubai.

The presidential statement seems to interpret the issue as limited to the cost of the trip and whether the government paid for the children. If the explanation is that the first family paid for the expenses of their children, then the question that should be asked is whether it is/was open and available for ministers and other members of the delegation to bring their children and/or husbands/wives to Dubai should they be able to personally cover the costs.

As this explanation by the presidency was being debated, the president’s oldest daughter took to social media, making remarks that added salt to the wound. She stated that they were enjoying themselves with their parents, and she advised others to do the same. She did not go into details about how other Namibians must do this.

Did she mean others must ensure their parents are also presidents to form part of the delegation? Did she perhaps imply that others must consult with or apply to her parents so that they are included in the delegation? Or did she perhaps suggest that any Namibian who wants to go and enjoy themselves can easily do so by joining an official government delegation?

This situation, when closely analysed, demonstrates exactly how the government handles the youth situation in our country. There is no direction, understanding or empathy for the youth.

A few weeks ago, the Dr Hage Geingob Cup took place at the Independence Stadium. It transpired that the youth ministry owed the municipality of Windhoek outstanding stadium utility fees. Arrangements were made for partial payment so that the Cup could take place uninterrupted.

Only a few days later, the municipality switched off their services, stating that the promises were not kept and the money was not paid as promised in the deal that enabled the Cup to go ahead at the stadium. As a result, the football league games were cancelled and only resumed when the funds were finally paid following a public spectacle. The situation of the Hage Geingob Cup and the children's trip to Dubai aptly explain the youth situation in our country.

The government appears unconcerned with the youth situation. It is prepared to isolate and privilege specific events and specific youth close to them. Of course, we do have the youth ministry, the National Youth Service and the National Youth Council. Apart from corruption scandals, no one knows what these entities do for the youth.

Unless there is a serious intervention, the youth situation will continue to deteriorate and deteriorate until the youth realise that only they can answer their own questions.

* Muthoni waKongola is a native of Kongola in the Zambezi Region primarily concerned with analysing society and offering ideas for a better Namibia. She is reachable at [email protected] or @wakongola on Twitter / X.