PDM’s youngest MP vows to tackle youth unemployment

• By TRACY TAFIRENYIKA

NEWLY elected and youngest member of parliament for the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), Maximalliant Katjimune, has vowed to improve the high unemployment rate among young people stating that it is massive and requires a multifaceted approach to arrest.

With the unemployment rate currently standing at 46 percent, Katjimune said that his first move to address youth unemployment will be to push the matter in parliament through motions and questions.

Katjimune stated this in an exclusive interview with Confidente this week.

“The advocacy around youth unemployment will be centered on a two legged approach”.

“Firstly, we will be relentlessly pushing the matter in Parliament through multifaceted motions, questions and other interventions that speak directly to the question of youth unemployment”.

“Secondly, we are of the view that the youth unemployment question cannot be solved only through Parliament, and that our advocacy will have to go beyond the Chambers of Parliament and into the streets and boardrooms of key stakeholders of society that have an interest”.

Katjimune added that it is important that young people join student politics during their formative years and then gradually move up the ladder.

“Young people should remain true to themselves, steadfast and disciplined. Most importantly, they should read. There is nothing worse than a young person who does not read.

It is indeed an honor to having been afforded the privilege of representing my political party as its youngest member at 24 in Parliament”, katjimune said.

“Being an MP at such a young age is not something that I take lightly, and is a fundamental responsibility. The Namibian people, through universal suffrage, elect Members of Parliament and mandate us to be the representatives of all Namibians, and that is a sacred duty I do not take lightly,” he stated.

Katjimune’s journey started during high school when he was at Jan Mohr Secondary School and joined NANSO at the time.

He continued with his student leadership journey in university where he served in various capacities in the Student Representative Council of the University of Namibia and the Student Union of Namibia, before joining active politics through the PDM youth league.

The youth league ultimately led Katjimune to being nominated as part of the Honourable Venaani’s five names for the Parliamentary which were recently elected.

According to the brief background statement in the third National Youth Policy.

Namibia has a dual economy, with a rapidly growing informal sector, with 66.

5% of the total employed population in informal employment (67.5% women; 65.6% men). In addition, of the total number of the urban population, 57.3% are employed in the informal sector, while 81.1% employed in the informal sector are from the rural population.