The election year 2024 has come to a close and brought a lot of change to the global democratic landscape. At least that’s what young people expected. Most Western countries are facing aging societies where young people struggle to make a significant difference in political decision-making. In Africa, though, the younger generation dominates the continent, with 60% of the African population being under the age of 25.(1), (2) With that, a lot of political change derives from the youth. Reflecting on the Namibian national elections, we’re looking at how Generation Z in Africa shapes future democracy and how that relates to the rest of the continent.
The common misconception that young people don’t care about politics is clearly wrong. Generation Z in Africa is highly political and has proven to bring about change in various countries. A famous example is Kenya, where the student movement recently led to grassroots activism, influencing political decision-making directly by blocking the legislation of a brutal tax bill. But Kenya isn’t the only country where the younger generation is demanding change.
Namibia held its national elections last November, and for the first time ever, the South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO), which liberated Namibia 30 years ago and has been ruling ever since, faced a realistic chance of losing its absolute majority in their national assembly. In the last election, SWAPO lost over 16% of votes, and the trends were rising. The so-called “born frees,” people born after 1990 who have never experienced colonial rule in Namibia, made up over 42% of the voter population. (3),(4) They have a different perspective. For them, it’s no longer about who freed them but who feeds them.
Although Namibia is a relatively peaceful democracy, it still faces a lot of issues that reflect the core values of Generation Z. One of the biggest concerns is severe youth unemployment. First-time voter Christopher said:
“I think it is very important to use your right to vote if you are not happy with how it is going. I vote for change. I hope with the outcome of this election that the unemployment rate will decrease. I want to have a future in Namibia, with a job.”
Unemployment also widens income inequality. Equality in general is another key issue for young people in Namibia. They want to shape the political discourse and protect marginalized groups like the LGBTQ+ community, which still faces significant stigma in Namibian society. Generation Z blames these ongoing issues on SWAPO’s 35-year rule and wants something new.
Photo by katsuma tanaka on Unsplash
But on election day, not everything went as planned. Most polling stations only had one or two voting booths, leading to endless queues. Furthermore, the voter registration system in many constituencies broke down due to overheating, and ballot papers ran out, causing the process to take even longer. Some people stood in line for more than 12 hours, only to be sent home without voting.
A key issue for Generation Z in this election was that the older generation could skip the queue, voting faster since many older people couldn’t wait that long. This led to many young people losing their chance to vote while stuck in long lines.
To make things worse, the election was prolonged only in certain constituencies. In Windhoek, the country’s biggest metropolitan area, only one polling station extended voting. Young people tend to move to metropolitan areas for employment, creating a high concentration of Generation Z voters in Windhoek. Again, it was made difficult for young people to exercise their democratic rights, with long queues in Windhoek potentially undermining the democratic power of young Namibians.
In the end, the ruling party SWAPO, and their presidential candidate, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, won the presidential election and again secured an absolute majority in parliament. Was Namibia’s first female president the “change” Generation Z wanted to see? Nonetheless, SWAPO’s majority in the national assembly has grown extremely tight at 53.8%. Compared to the last elections, SWAPO lost a whopping 12%, showing a clear trend away from SWAPO and towards a future of equality and change. Although the demands of young people couldn’t be met entirely, the signs of change are undeniable. Namibia isn’t the only country where ruling parties had to compromise votes in 2024. (5), (6), (7) In South Africa, the ruling party since independence, the African National Congress, had to form a coalition with its biggest rival for the first time, and in Botswana, a new alliance achieved a landslide victory, overturning the ruling party.
The challenges faced by Namibia, from youth unemployment to limited access to democratic participation, mirror broader trends across the continent. As Africa’s younger generation continues to demand representation and change, Namibia stands as a prime example and a symbol of hope. Perhaps the voices of young people are being heard. Maybe one-party systems in Africa will transform into democracies where everyone can participate, especially young people.
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