The All People's Party has said eligible young Namibians must stand up and be counted in 2024, by showing up at polling stations to cast their vote.
This position was ventilated by APP's acting president, Nangolo Shuumbwa, in an interview with New Era this week.
The discussion covered a buffet of issues, including the party's political programme, youth unemployment, the struggling health and education sectors as well as the possibility of forming a coalition force by the opposition, as they again attempt to unseat Swapo from government.
At the onset, one thing was clear from Shuumbwa: That the youth must turn out in their numbers in 2024.
"There was a time during the 2020 local and regional elections, when we pulled lot of crowds to our meetings. Most people that attended are youth. Even if we look at our database, most members are youth," Shuumbwa said.
"For example, in Oshana, we have 2 000 members. But when it comes to elections, you can't even get 2 000 votes. That means most of the youth are not going to elections," he lamented.
It is the politician's conviction that young Namibians are not only letting the APP down, but the entire nation, by not fully participating in elections.
He is, however, encouraged by the robust debates by young people across different social media platforms.
Shuumbwa said the discourse cannot simply stop there, where some young people have earned themselves the tag for keyboard warriors who are brave on social media fora but nowhere to be seen when and where it matters most.
"We have been encouraging our members and we will come with a workshop to inform them of the importance of their votes. The youth are not only letting APP down. They are letting many organisations down. You see how the youth are radical on social media. But when it comes to elections, they are not turning up. That is the challenge. Be that as it may, we still believe that come 2024, we are going to do better," he said.
One of the biggest challenges the country faces is youth unemployment, Shuumbwa noted.
According to a report by Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Namibia's unemployment rate stood at 33.6% in 2021, while the younger in the age group 20-24 made up 57.0%.
More so, a report revealed recently that over 80 000 graduated from local universities over the past five years, however, most of them are struggling to penetrate the job market.
The topic, he added, enjoyed the party's attention when its leadership convened to map the way forward over the weekend.
"Youth unemployment is growing, yet the economy is not growing. Each year, we have students graduating. As we are speaking, we have masses of our graduates on the streets. We hope to go to our policy conference soon, where we are going to come up with solutions to put on the government's table, that 'here are our proposals'," he said.
Shuumbwa is not the only concerned politician.
Recently, 24-year-old Popular Democratic Movement lawmaker, Maximalliant Katjimune also registered his dismay.
Most young Namibians, it is held by certain quarters, have given up politics and see it as an 'elderly forte'.
"I think we are all to be concerned because in Africa in general, Namibia in particular, we all know that young people constitute a significant majority of the electorate. Yet we see their participation in active politics very low. So, we all have to do more as young politicians, as elderly politicians to ensure that we effectively coordinate and incorporate young people into mainstream politics so we see," Katjimune stated.
Coalition
On coalition politics, APP is ready to engage others in the opposition bench, as long as such talks are in the country's best interest and based on bread-and-butter issues.
His comments come at a time when Affirmative Repositioning (AR) leader Job Amupanda declared his intention to run for the highest office in the land. Meanwhile, the movement itself is also in the process of becoming a full-blown political party.
APP, he hastened to say, has not engaged Amupanda or anyone on possible coalition or endorsing a single candidate.
"If there will be any coalition talk, if it is going to be in the interest of the people, we are going to support it. We have no problem with supporting anything that has the interest of the nation at heart. We don't have a problem with entering into any coalition. But it should be done in consultation with the members and a collective decision within the organisation. APP is not a one man show," he said.
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Other political formations such as the PDM, Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP), National Unity Democratic Organisation (Nudo) and the fast-growing Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) have all shown their intentions to form a coalition with other opposition, if it is what it will take to topple Swapo.
On the other hand, the Landless People's Movement (LPM) does not see the opposition's collective hate as a sustainable ideology on which a coalition should be formed.
Local pundits have little hope in the possibility of a coalition government emerging in 2024.
Among others, their pessimism is premised on the performance of the Windhoek municipal council, which is dominated by opposition members.
The council has struggled to find a winning formula since 2020.
Bickering and politicking have dominated the affairs of the council, while residents have been waiting with bated breath, for the delivery of affordable quality services that were promised to them in 2019, observers said.
