Political youth help pave road to 2030

ABOUT 80 young people involved in politics met 10 days ago to consider the political, social and economic challenges facing the country.

The gathering, which marked the third annual Namibia Political Youth Forum (NPYF), brought together young people from all but three of Namibia’s political parties and affiliated organisations of the National Youth Council.It concluded with a list of 24 recommendations to Government for the attainment of Vision 2030. The three parties not represented were the RDP, UDF and Swanu.In a declaration signed by Brian Riruako, Chairperson of the NPYF, and Helena Eiseb, Chairperson of the Forum’s Resolution Committee, the recommendations centred on the issues of land, the economy and the media.On land, the youth called on Government to increase its efforts to ensure ‘equitable land distribution and the provision of essential services in urban areas’, to allocate land in ‘local areas’ exclusively to Namibian citizens, and to categorise auctions of land in terms of income groups in order to allow for lower-income earners to have access to such land.Taking note of recent evictions of people from their land, the youth also called on Government to ‘urgently review the numerous immoral evictions and repossessions taking place in the country, especially those committed against the poor and the elderly’.They further urged Government to accelerate the provision of services in rural areas as a response to the ‘rapid urbanisation and competition for resources in urban areas’.On the economic front, the youth argued for the implementation of the Basic Income Grant, adding that if necessary, Government could consider commissioning a larger pilot study to provide a greater measure of its effect on mitigating poverty.In proposing suggestions on employment creation, the forum called for the creation of public works projects where workers would be assured of a minimum wage and for Traditional Authorities to initiate income-generating projects for their communities, and suggested that companies who would employ Namibia’s unemployed by given preference in the awarding of tenders.On the media, the youth recommended that ‘Government should consider lifting the ban on The Namibian newspaper to enable more citizens to have access to Government advertisements and other Government information.They further encouraged media houses to abide by the Code of Ethics, called on the NBC to ‘ensure that it visibly represents the interests of all political parties’, and advised that the National Planning Commission should engage the media in educating the public on Vision 2030.nangula@namibian.com.na