SUPERVISOR: DR. A. NIIKONDO

This study investigated the problem of stagnation in career development for commissioned officers in the Namibian Defence Force (NDF). The study examined the hypothetical assumptions that commissioned officers especially those who are educated regard career development and progression processes in the NDF as stagnant, and the implementation of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) Personnel Policies as inconsistent. Thus, they are likely to become frustrated and to resign, because of lack of a clear relationship between their academic qualifications and career opportunities in the institution. This problem is evident in the inconsistency between the personnel policies’ implementation and the academic qualifications of staff as far as training, appointments and promotional opportunities for commissioned officers in the NDF are concerned. The study used the descriptive- quantitative research method based on an analysis of the artillery brigade officers ’ corps. The conclusions and recommendations contained in this thesis are based on the observed inconsistencies in career policy implementation in the NDF