Opinions

Appolonia Iithete Youth voter turnout in Namibia is not just a numerical statistic but a reflection of broader socio-economic, educational, and regional dynamics that shape political participation among young citizens. An understanding of these trends and behaviours is essential for identifying the obstacles to and possibilities for promoting a more representative and involved democracy. Socio-economic factors play a significant role in influencing youth voter turnout in Namibia. For many young Namibians, voting represents a pathway to influence policies that could address unemployment, improve economic prospects, and secure a better future. However, socio-economic disparities between urban and rural areas often create…

Tomas Nashongo Youth participation in voting is fundamental to deciding our nation's future. Despite constituting a significant portion of the electorate, many young people remain disengaged and detached from political issues. Providing motivators that align with the interests and values of the youth is one of the most effective ways to engage them in governmental issues. Politicians can thus target youthful electors with their missions by understanding what drives this age. This could involve implementing programs such as providing contribution-free or heavily subsidised services, fostering professional development and educationally achievable outcomes, or advocating for causes that are important to young…

Aradhana Khowala Those of us in the West like to think of ourselves as the centre of the progressive world. On a recent flight to Namibia where I was invited to give a keynote at the African Hospitality Investment Conference, a story riveted me and captured my attention because it had an ending that I didn’t expect. It was the recent Gender gap report from WEF and it was clear to me that we remain stubbornly stuck to our prejudices about Africa and it’s time for a rethink. Since its independence in 1990, Namibia has made strides in achieving gender…

Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) chief electoral officer Peter Shaama said recently that the ECN during the ongoing voter registration exercise it had then registered 366 036 voters. Which by that time was 21 percent in two weeks. Representing an average of 29 918 registered voters per day during the period 10 to 15 June. With the Khomas region then leading the process with 77 098 registered voters, followed by Ohangwena with 40 122 registered voters. The Zambezi region had registered the least voters (11 381), followed by the regions of Omaheke, Kunene, Hardap and /Karas. This pace may have…

Professor Joseph Diescho (Shakawewe: 26.06.24) Namibia's political leadership landscape is becoming a theatre of absurdity. There is something very unfortunate, weird and downright distasteful about Vipuakuje Ivan Muharukua's return to Swapo's leadership saga. The whole event that played out in Katutura on 25 June 2024 bespeaks a politics of dishonor, a politics without principles, a politics of personal greed and hubris, a politics that has no regard for other people's intelligence,  a politics of Me, Myself and I, and a politics of banality. To have political ambition is one thing, but unfounded arrogance with no rectitude base and no followers…

CAN any one coming from the background of the colonial project of the West put any premium on the much vaunted developments in South Africa, which are very much still work in progress if not very much fantasies of white liberalism as well as opportunists and liberation pretenders running out of ideas and their grands schemes being shown for what they really are and have been. Very much a neo-colonial project that it is and has been, which is part of the grand colonial project which is part of the global capitalist imperial project, which has seen the South being…

“You will not be able to stay home, brother You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out You will not be able to lose yourself on skag And skip out for beer during commercials, because The revolution will not be televised”. Goes the opening lyrics from the song by Gill Scott-Heron, pioneer of rap music. I relived the song live at Hyde Park in the late 1980s while performing live during the days of agitation for the end of Apartheid capitalism colonialism in Namibia, and likewise the reform of Apartheid in South Africa. Reform of…