Paper 2 - General Knowledge Test
Paper 2 (General Knowledge) checks that you follow the world you are asking to join: Namibia's Constitution and institutions, African and global affairs, geography, history, basic science, environment and economics. Questions are factual and wide-ranging, so breadth beats depth. Build a mental timeline of Namibia since 1990 and a map of the region, then add organisations and their roles.
Stable core to know cold
- Namibia became independent on 21 March 1990; Windhoek is the capital; the Constitution is the supreme law.
- State power is split into executive (President and Cabinet), legislative (National Assembly and National Council) and judicial (courts).
- Namibia has 14 regions; the Namibian dollar is pegged one-to-one to the South African rand.
- Namibia belongs to the UN, AU, SADC and the Commonwealth; SADC is headquartered in Gaborone, the AU in Addis Ababa.
- The UN was founded in 1945; its Security Council has five permanent members with veto power.
- Know the difference between the UN General Assembly (one state, one vote) and the Security Council (peace and security).
Worked example
"Which body has primary responsibility for international peace and security?" A. UN General Assembly B. UN Security Council C. SADC D. International Court of Justice The General Assembly debates and recommends; the ICJ settles legal disputes between states; SADC is regional. The Security Council alone can impose binding sanctions and authorise peacekeeping - B.
Traps
- Mixing up SADC and the AU, or their headquarters.
- Using facts that have changed (office-holders, membership, region names).
- Choosing an option that is true but does not answer this question.
- Absolute options are rarely right when the question asks for a general role.
Read a quality newspaper and note one Namibian, one African and one global item daily.