The Ministry of Defense and Veteran Affairs has announced the planned recruitment of new members, despite a recruitment freeze imposed by government as part of its cost containment measures.
It is not clear if the Ministry secured a government exemption for the recruitment.
Finance minister Iipumbu Shiimi when quizzed by The Brief if government had sanctioned the planned recruitment by the Namibian Defense Force, which could further drive up its wage bill said, “I am not well acquainted with that recruitment process of NDF and its cost implications, therefore I don’t have much information, which puts me in an awkward situation to comment.”
The planned National Defense Forces (NDF) recruitment comes as the government, the Namibia Public Workers Union (Napwu) and the Namibia National Teachers Union (Nantu) are currently deadlocked over salaries.
The government maintains that it has no capacity to offer any increment, while the unions are demanding salaries in line with rising food costs.
Simonis Storm economist Theo Klein said the planned recruitment by the NDF might be part of government efforts to create jobs.
“It is refreshing to see that strategies are somewhat aligned as the new job vacancies in the military target applicants who are aged between 18 and 25. This might be one of the government’s attempts to create jobs for the youth and could form part of the initiative towards the youth as presented in the Budget Speech earlier this year,” he told The Brief.
He, however, said the economic benefits from the recruitment could be low as they do not aid any economic productivity.
“While allowing some unemployed youth citizens to be employed and earn an income – which is definitely a positive – these jobs do not necessarily aid long-term productivity or lead to efficiency gains within the economy, but rather serve regional diplomacy or political interests. Depending on how many jobs are being provided by the military, the economic benefits could be low,” Klein said.
Namibia has a civil servant workforce of over 100 000, which costs the government about N$2.4 billion monthly in salaries.
