The Importance of Youth in Politics

Political participation is vitally important in a developing country like Namibia.

According to the online Webster’s Dictionary, “political participation is the active engagement by individuals and groups with the governmental processes that affect their lives.”

Some see politics as a dirty game, filled with fat cats and corruption, while others believe political office bearers are there to serve the community which is why they are called public servants.

Men are often seen as natural political animals but it is important for everybody, most especially young people, to critically get involved in the politics of the day.

Unemployment is one of several social issues affecting our country, and one which draws the attention of the youth to politics. If unemployment is high, like in Namibia where it is estimated that up to one third of the population is unemployed, youth are likely to get politically involved in an effort to effect change.

Political participation allows people to support and elect leaders that they feel will do the best job running the country. This is important because it is what is going to truly determine the way in which our current and future generations will function.

Tobias Ismael, a graduate from the University of Namibia and a Swapo party member, said young men should engage politicians to focus on their welfare to create jobs.

“It is only when young people start getting involved in the affairs of the country that we will see change,” he said.

Ismael says the involvement of the youth in politics tends to be advantageous as young men need to get involved in order to amass experience to lead in the future, as young people are the future of any nation.

“The future of any country lies in the hands its young people. It is thus of paramount importance that the youth are practically and tangibly incorporated in mainstream decision making.”

Ismael further stated that for the national developmental plans to be actualised, young people should start by getting involved and laying a formidable foundation in politics that can transcend the country to a greater status and contribute in attaining the objectives outlined in the visions and plans respectively.

“It is in the 2030 and the Agenda 2063 that young people should progressively participate in for the realisation of their desired future,” he stated.

“Young people should not be deemed as a threat but should be encouraged through correction and guidance to do the right things,” Ismael said while adding that young people should never be regarded as agents of destruction.

“The only challenge facing youth politics are the elders who are trying to infuse their authority in the various structures which can deprive it from fulfilling its mandate.

Chairperson of Namibia Youth Development Organisation, Kotokeni Shimbindja said the youth are the catalysts to a desired future because they are inheritors of the future.

Shimbindja says it is imperative that men play an active role in politics.

“For many years we, particularly Africans, have produced quite a large number of bad leaders,” he said, adding that there’s a lack of understanding of the true meaning of politics.

He said young men need to get involved and cautioned that it should be for a good purpose such as uniting and serving the people for their development and prosperity.

Shimbindja gave an example of Nelson Mandela who stood up for black South Africans during apartheid.

He said young people must get involved in politics in order to learn and gain wisdom so that they can be able to engage in constructive discussions as future leaders.

Shimbindja also referred to a Donald Trump quote which states that “it will take a new breed of politicians to push meaningful reform. It requires a risk-taker with titanium nerves and vision”.

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