• By Staff Reporter

As Namibians, we need to address a pressing issue that affects our society greatly. Avoiding this topic will not make the issue we face go away, matter of fact, it will only worsen the situation. Every other day we read about violent crimes, rape and murder cases committed by men. A few months ago, a 17-year-old switched off the lights of all six of his family members. Just two days ago, a 15-year-old boy tragically committed suicide. Alarmingly, boys aged 12-17 years have been making headlines due to rape cases this year alone. To find a solution to this problem, we have to track it all the way to its root cause.  

We have made significate strides in empowering women in Namibia. The aim was to attain a 50/50 representation at leadership, and we can proudly say we have reached that goal or better yet surpassed it. While we applaud this accomplishment, we must recognize that in the process, the boy child has been left behind. One should realise that over empowering of one gender in relation to another will only result in the oppression of that gender and we are back to square one again, “state of imbalance”.
If one were to conduct a simple search on social media for girl child empowerment initiatives, the results would yield hundreds of programs. However, the same cannot be said for initiatives focused on the boy child.

The boy child has been neglected for far too long. Yes, fathers who should guide these boys are in most cases absent, but we must remember that “an absent father was once a neglected boy who was not taught the importance of being a present father and taking care of a family.” As a nation, we have a responsibility to fill this void because as of now, the streets are raising our future generation of men.

Namibia as a matter of urgency need to create serious initiatives to address issues faced by our future generation of men:   One of the most critical issues that often goes overlooked is the education of sexual discipline and emotional intelligence. The surge in rape cases can be traced back to a lack of sexual discipline among men. We need to teach boys about sexual discipline and the importance of controlling their impulses from a young age. We are currently witnessing a generation of men lacking emotional intelligence, men who crush out and can’t control their emotions. I totally get it, no one ever taught them how to.  
Unemployment among men is another critical issue. Men face greater challenges in securing jobs compared to their female counterparts. It’s important to note that, “A man left to fend for himself and survive, will survive by any means necessary, and an angry, broke man is a danger to society”. 

Statistics have it that: majority of suicide cases are men, majority of people in jail are men, majority of mental patients are men, majority of drug users are men and majority of street kids are male despite males being a minority in Namibia.
We should keep in mind that; those strong empowered women need equality empowered men to be their husbands and father of their children. And let us not forget that, we need these men to defend our country when a need arises. We should keep a balance, do not leave anyone behind. Neglecting the boy child is a ticking time bomb waiting to explode. 
Moses Uyepa is an advocate for the neglected boy child.