Gustav Hengari, Acting Secretary for Youth Affairs with the NDMC, writes:
The Namibia Democratic Movement for Change (Namibia DMC) Youth League would like to express our total disgust and dismiss with the contempt it deserve the current Mickey Mouse politics being played by our veteran politicians.
We have noted with concern the status quo of the youth being used as propaganda tools and convenient means towards attainment of electoral victories, from all parties that have so far released their Party Candidates.
The current practise were young people are being put on so-called party lists, featuring in the middle of such list without any credible change for any seat in parliament is a clear sign that the youth of this country are being taken for a ride and are yet again at the receiving end of power hungry and shortsighted leaders.
Clearly the Namibian Youth deserve better and should be placed at places on those lists where their election to parliament is realistic. The Namibia DMC Youth League has perused through all lists released so far, and it is clear that while some Old Wine has been recycled in to new Bottles, there is a consistent pattern where many old politicians who will really not have any meaningful contributions to make towards the upliftment of the impoverished masses of this country has been retained, at the expense of many young brains that have been relegated into the political wilderness.
It is deplorable that the much talked about slogan of Youth Empowerment has become a sick joke when one looks at the current list of parties for the National Assembly. We just hope that as we wait for our party Parliamentary List to be released on 14 October 2009, Namibia DMC will show through that list that we remain one of the few parties that clearly take the youth seriously and want to empower them now and not tomorrow by listing them high on the parliamentary list.
It is regrettable that the biggest culprits amongst the lists produced so far are opposition parties who have retained many of the old veteran politicians who have for the past 20 years failed in addressing the prevailing socioand economic problems confronting our citizens.
Their only pre-occupation has and will continue to be to enrich themselves and their immediate families.
We clearly are disappointed to note that if we go by the lists produced so far, Namibia’s next parliament will be starved of new ideas and brains, while the status quo continues. May God be with mother Namibia.
