RUNDU – The All People's Party’s (APP) national chairman Herbert Shihwameni has called on the government to treat all unemployed youth in the country equally, and not to give special treatment to those who were born in exile.
Speaking at a media conference at Rundu on Wednesday, the APP national chairman said his party is concerned about the recent Cabinet decision to put on hold all vacant positions in government until the process of recruiting the youth born in exile is completed.
According to the memo from the Education Ministry's Permanent Secretary, Vitalis Ankama, dated 5 November this year, the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) has directed that all vacant posts on entry level in all government ministries, offices and agencies (M/O/A) must not be filled until the recruitment process of youth born in exile had been completed.
The circular further states that the Ministry of Youth, National Service, Sports and Culture (MYNSSC) is currently busy with the verification of data of all youth who have been registered, and once the verification process has been finalized, the OPM will inform all ministries, offices and agencies on the way forward.
Shihwameni said the APP is concerned about this directive, adding that all youth are facing the same challenges and questioned why there is discrimination against those youths who were not born in exile.
“We call on especially the National Youth Council (NYC) to treat all unemployed youth on an equal basis,” he said. He furthermore suggested that any employment should be given to qualified, suitable candidates, and not just because a person was born in exile.
During the media conference, the APP leader also noted that his party confiscated 87 Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) membership cards that were allegedly issued to APP members recently.
These membership cards were allegedly issued to APP members who were made to believe that the APP and RDP had formed a coalition, and are one political party now.
The APP is an independent political party, which has its own elected leaders at national, regional and branch levels, he explained.
