Popular Democratic Movement Leader McHenry Venaani, has called on his party’s youth branch, the PDM Youth League, to attract and mobilise young people and be an effective instrument of change.
Venaani made the remarks on Saturday during the youth league’s national Youth Congress in Windhoek, to elect new leadership.
He said the youth league must become an effective and attractive body through which young people in the country cannot only feel heard but can bring about change at the polls by voting into power new leaders.
The growing upsurge of youth participation, crystallised in the word “enough” or the statement ‘nothing for us, without us’, must be understood in the context of this generation’s struggles for political, social and economic emancipation.
‘Young people in Africa are the most affected by unemployment and underemployment and are struggling to survive. They are poor, downtrodden and stuck in waithood, a prolonged period of suspension in which people’s access to social adulthood is delayed or denied,’ said Venaani.
He went on to say that many young people in Africa, whatever their class or background, cannot afford to form families, households and they are unable to become fully independent and partake in the privileges and responsibilities of adult life. Apart from material deprivation, young people are also marked by political ‘marginalisation”, a lack of voice and a loss of dignity, and some have attempted to escape the trap through other strategies, such as venturing into informal economy or even migrating to other countries.
‘Namibia, with one of the youngest populations in Africa, could reach a staggering 50.30 per cent youth unemployment rate by the end of 2021. Healthy and empowered youth are key to a better prosperous future for each young person, community and the continent at large,’ said Venaani.
PDM youth league outgoing Secretary-General, Bensen Katjirijova, in his remarks urged delegates to not vote for new leaders based on popularity but should vote for dedicated and competent people who have the interest of the nation at heart.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency
