Africa-Press – Namibia.
Despite government’s effort to alleviate the growing unemployment by recruiting youth into the security clusters, some young people seem to be unappreciative of such.
Such efforts have come under fire in recent times.
The recent one came from the Students’ Union of Namibia (Sun) yesterday at a press conference.
Spokesperson Johannes Malapi expressed that over-reliance on recruitment into the security sector, correctional services, police and military reflects a dangerous and narrow approach that undermines genuine development, creativity, innovation and economic transformation.
“Namibia is a peaceful country. There are no current or imminent threats that warrant an increase in military personnel. The continued militarisation of employment opportunities suggests a misdiagnosis of the root causes of youth unemployment,” he said.
Citing the retired lieutenant general and First Gentleman Epaphras Ndaitwah, who in April this year said that the Namibian Defence Force (NDF) is “not for stupid people”.
At the time, Ndaitwah also discouraged the notion that individuals who fail to excel academically should be recruited into the force.
Legal affairs executive member Intelligent Katire disagreed with Ndaitwah, saying if there is a need to increase military personnel, the government should consider recruiting street vendors and those in rural areas into the army.
“There are people who deserve to be soldiers. There are people who do not go to school.
They are there in the rural areas. Some of them are here in Windhoek. Those are the people who should be recruited. Because at the end of the day, the police officers do not even want to see the street vendors. They chase them away,” he asserted.
For More News And Analysis About Namibia Follow Africa-Press
