Allexer Namundjembo
Youth leaders and activists have warned that large-scale recruitment in the security sector does not address unemployment.
This comes as the Namibian Police Force (Nampol) is recruiting 1 750 cadet constables for the 2026/2027 financial year. Applications close on 13 May 2026.
Affirmative Repositioning (AR) member of parliament Tuhafeni Kalola said youth unemployment remains a major challenge.
According to data from the Namibia Statistics Agency, young people aged 15 to 35 make up 71% of the country’s three million population.
“Most of our young people try by all means to acquire degrees in different sectors; therefore, they are employable in all sectors, not merely in security sectors. As a matter of fact, the government must never make police and defence an effort of addressing unemployment at all,” he said.
Kalola said many young people are joining the security sector out of necessity.
“The hard truth is that young people go there just for the sake of the bread and butter issue. We are losing experts in different sectors as young people forcefully resort to going through the security sector beside their expertise in other fields or sectors,” he said.
He said unemployment should not remain high in a small population.
“We can do better.”
Youth leader and Landless People’s Movement (LPM) Mariental councillor William Minnie said the trend shows deeper problems in the economy.
“The continued absorption of young people into the security cluster as a primary response to unemployment is not a solution but a symptom of a deeper structural failure in our economy. Namibia cannot police its way out of unemployment,” he said.
Minnie said the country should invest in sectors such as manufacturing, construction and technology.
He also called for public works programmes to create jobs.
“Young entrepreneurs are already creating value under extremely constrained conditions, yet they are consistently failed by weak institutional support, limited access to finance, and bureaucratic inefficiencies,” he said.
He said the National Youth Development Fund (NYDF) is not meeting expectations.
NYDF is a N$257 million government initiative which aims to provide affordable financing at 2% to 4% interest, along with technical support to youth-owned enterprises, particularly in agriculture, green projects and manufacturing.
Another youth leader Mandume Gabriel said youth unemployment remains higher than the national average.
He said recruitment into the police and defence force offers short-term relief.
“At its core, employment in the security sector requires more than just a need for income—it demands commitment, discipline, and a genuine calling toward public safety and national service,” he said.
He said many join without that motivation.
“This misalignment raises serious concerns about the long-term effectiveness and integrity of the security sector,” he said.
Youth activist Onesmus Iyambo shared the same sentiment with the Windhoek Observer.
“It offers immediate relief to the suffering young people, but it does not, in any meaningful way, readjust the economy toward sustainable job creation,” he said.
He warned that skilled workers may leave their fields.
“Take, for instance, when an engineer becomes a police officer, the individual is still employed, but the engineering sector remains undernourished. Multiply that across thousands of young people, and the cumulative effect becomes significant,” he said.
About 2 000 police cadets were recruited in the 2024/2025 financial year, with more than 52 000 applications.
Another intake of about 2 000 officers is planned for 2025/2026, with an additional 1 000 recruits advertised in 2026.
The Namibian Defence Force also recruited about 1 500 members in 2022.
In 2025, more than 600 National Youth Service (NYS) graduates were absorbed into the defence force, with another 430 earmarked for police recruitment.
These programmes come as unemployment remains high, with the rate estimated at 36.9%.
