About ten aspiring soldiers have been camping at the gates of the Osona military base at Okahandja for the past two weeks.

They told nbc News on Friday that their hope to be admitted into the recruitment programme has failed.

The group has been sleeping on the floor under a makeshift structure, bracing for the dropping winter temperatures.

They want employment and are desperate.

They struggle for meals at the gate, and often officials would provide them with leftovers from the base. 

They say they have run out of money, and this setup makes it difficult for them to get proper hygiene.

Markus Likius, one of the protestors, said they became impatient, and the only way was to camp outside the base to make sure that their voices are heard.

''What brought me here is actually the struggle from the streets – tired of being on the streets, right? So we applied for NDF jobs. We went for pre-entry and all these kinds of things. We are shortlisted on the list, and some were not shortlisted and did medical and fingerprint checks; whatever is there. Some are in; some are outside here with us."

There are people outside the camp who are not on the final list but have hopes of being recruited, said Moses Rapi.

Of these camping at the base, only one is, however, on the cleared list; the rest are hoping for drop-outs to be considered.

Responding to the protestors, NDF Spokesperson Colonel Petrus Shilumbu informed nbc News that a decision has been made today that those candidates who were declared fit in the regions but were left behind are to report this Friday to the training facility.

He said that they will go through the medical examination review just like others before they are declared fit for training.