Youth unemployment is a ticking time bomb
Government must act now, warns United for Change
MOSA MAOENG
MASERU – Lesotho’s youth unemployment crisis demands urgent, proactive intervention – not just promises, say activists.
United for Change acting chairman, Tumelo Moteuli, has called on Prime Minister Ntsokoane Matekane’s administration to treat youth unemployment as a national emergency, warning that the current inaction is a “ticking time bomb.”
Moteuli’s remarks follow the Prime Minister Ntsokoane Matekane’s recent address on government strategies to curb unemployment, which activists argue lack bold, transformative solutions. Drawing parallels to the swift response to Covid-19, Moteuli stressed that youth unemployment – now at a staggering 48.8 percent – deserves equal urgency.
Moteuli criticized the government’s tendency to act only after crises erupt, citing the chaotic Lesotho Defence Force recruitment interviews as a wake-up call.
“The youth planned protests to force action because they’re tired of empty promises,” he said.
“This is the same generation that voted for this government, only to be ignored.”
While acknowledging initiatives like the 80 youth farmers set to benefit from the SADP programme, Moteuli highlighted systemic barriers: “How can unemployed youth meet SADP’s financial requirements in this economy?”
He urged leveraging sectors like tourism and arts, where young Basotho are already active, suggesting events like a King’s Birthday Tournament to create immediate opportunities.
With a youth job summit slated for June 18, Moteuli suspects it’s merely a move to placate planned protests.
“We are tired of forums and plans. We need implementation,” he asserted, noting that Basotho youth cannot wait another two years for change.
Echoing this sentiment, Advocates for the Supremacy of Constitution (SECTION 2) coordinator, Kananelo Boloetse, called the government’s proposals “marginally tinkering at the edges of a deep crisis,” pointing out that “symbolic gestures won’t suffice. We need systemic reforms that address structural roots, not temporary relief.”
Boloetse urged sustained engagement beyond “yesterday’s press conference.”
In this press conference Prime Minister Matekane outlined measures like employing 6 000 skilled youth in major works, 8 350 quarterly in waste management, and 1 220 in tree-planting initiatives. Programmes like Sebabatso and Pathways to Sustainable Livelihoods have, according to Matekane, supported thousands, while 95 percent of 1 800 TVET graduates have found work in the Polihali Dam project, a component the second phase of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project.
Yet, critics argue these efforts are fragmented and short-term. With 30.1 percent overall unemployment and nearly half of Lesotho’s youth jobless, the demand is clear: concrete, scalable action and not just plans to defuse the time bomb.
