The National Youth Council (NYC) has collapsed into paralysis. What was supposed to be the engine of young voices in Namibia is now a cautionary tale of dysfunction, governance failures, suspended directors without due process, missing financial reports, and youth openly defying ministerial appointees. The picture is one of decay, not leadership.
Now, with minister Sanet Steenkamp and deputy minister Dino Balloti at the helm of the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture, the country expects more than sympathetic statements and administrative tinkering. This is the moment for them to lead decisively, because NYC cannot continue like this.
Dysfunction in plain sight
The problems are not new. A forensic report has laid bare mismanagement and breaches of law. The board has failed to produce budgets and audited accounts. Staff have cried foul over procurement interference and the absence of basic resources. Affiliates have stormed the offices in protest.
This is not youthful energy; it is institutional collapse. The NYC is failing at the very tasks it was created for: representation, empowerment, and policy advocacy for young people. And every week that passes without intervention deepens the rot.
The constraints that choke the NYC
The council is being choked by four harsh realities:
- Governance instability: Boards and directors come and go in quick succession, leaving no room for stability or accountability.
- Financial opacity: Missing budgets, absent audits, and dubious contracts. Without clean financials, there can be no legitimacy.
- Loss of credibility: Youth on the ground do not trust the council. Instead of being their platform, it is now viewed as a playground for factional politics.
- Political interference: The constant cycle of suspensions, interim boards, and ministry meddling has stripped the NYC of autonomy and authenticity.
Unless these are confronted directly, the NYC will remain in free fall.
The irony we cannot ignore
President Nandi-Ndaitwah has placed young people in critical government positions, sending a clear signal of trust in the next generation. That was a courageous and forward-looking decision. But the irony is glaring: while young people are stepping into national leadership, the one body meant to be their flagship, the NYC, is in shambles.
What message does this send? If the youth cannot govern themselves within their own council, how will the public trust them to govern the country tomorrow? This is the perception NYC’s dysfunction feeds, and it undermines the President’s effort to showcase young leadership as credible and capable.
Steenkamp and Balloti cannot afford hesitation
This is why Minister Steenkamp and deputy minister Balloti cannot afford to sit back and observe. They must lead firmly and visibly. Angry letters and polite meetings are not enough. The ministry must:
- Demand audited accounts immediately and publish them.
- Clarify governance rules—no more endless interim boards or suspensions without process.
- Reconnect the NYC with real youth voices through structured consultations in all regions.
- Remove leaders who fail in their duties and pursue legal action where financial misconduct is proven.
This is not about “managing a crisis”. It is about re-establishing an institution’s credibility from the ground up.
Enough is enough
The NYC’s paralysis is not only a youth issue. It is a national one. Tourism, energy, finance, and education – all sectors have youth at their core. If the body that represents them is failing, it drags the rest of us down with it.
The time for excuses is over. Minister Steenkamp and deputy minister Balloti must show they are prepared to make hard calls, not recycle the same tired playbook of suspensions, reshuffles, and empty turnaround strategies. Namibia has seen that movie before, and the ending is always the same: decline.
A call to action
The youth of Namibia deserve an NYC that works. They deserve leaders who can handle money responsibly, govern fairly, and resolve disputes without chaos. They deserve a ministry that takes their future seriously, not one that manages their decline.
Minister Steenkamp and deputy minister Balloti now carry that responsibility. The question is simple: will they seize the chance to rescue the NYC, or will they allow it to slide into irrelevance?
For the sake of Namibia’s youth, and for the credibility of young leadership itself, we cannot afford another failure.
