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The New Age Voices Issue 34
Youth Agenda Trust
August 01, 2012

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It's happening! Youth voter campaign launched

Eight youth organizations under the banner of the First Time Voters (FTV) project recently launched the youth voter registration campaign that is aimed at mobilizing youths to register as voters ahead of the historic constitutional referendum likely to be held this year and general elections due next year.

The official launch of the X1G campaign marked a milestone in the history of Zimbabwe whose young people's participation in electoral processes has not only been marred by apathy but by negative participation which scaled new heights in the June 2008 election where hundreds were murdered while thousands others were left without limbs.

The 8 youth organizations who are part of the consortium are Youth Agenda Trust (YAT), Student Christian Movement of Zimbabwe (SCMZ), Students Solidarity Trust (SST), Platform for Youth Development (PYD), National Youth Development Trust (NYDT), Zimbabwe Network for Young Women in Peace Building (ZNWIP), Youth Forum (YF) and Youth Initiative for Development in Zimbabwe (YIDEZ). The grouping is coordinated by the Election Resource Centre (ERC).

The project was launched in Harare and Bulawayo in the last fortnight.

The launch reaffirmed the position of youths in determining the future of the country whose participation will undoubtedly be the game changer in future plebiscites and also charts a new trajectory in their participation in the unpredictable but dangerous political terrain of Zimbabwe.

Speaking at the launch, ERC Director Tawanda Chimhini embraced the X1G campaign which he said is certain to influence the qualitative participation of youths in the development of Zimbabwe but bemoaned the voter registration system in Zimbabwe which he said fell short of ideal systems found in other countries such as the automatic conversion of eligible voters from the national registry to the voters roll.

Youth Agenda Trust Coordinator Fortune Nyamande rallied youths across the country to heed the message and actively involve themselves in the electoral processes of the country which he said are important in making or breaking not only their future but also the future of their children.

"This is history in the making, we have seen other people doing meaningless campaigns which are not meant to serve the people of Zimbabwe but actually to divide them. I want to say that we are able to reach the 1 million new voters mark before the impending elections and hope that the initiative will go a long way in improving the lives of ordinary Zimbabweans," Nyamande said.

Douglas Tigere of SCMZ implored young people to draw inspiration from the bible were political processes were influenced by the hand of the Lord and challenged youths to refuse to be used by politicians merely on the basis that they are young, disadvantaged and vulnerable. "Young people should say no to those unruly politicians who no longer have any anything to offer to Zimbabweans who thrive on manipulating youths just because they are desperate," Tigere said.

The X1G campaign will see youth organizations going around the communities urging youths to register as voters and be part of the historic campaign. It is the first time in the history of Zimbabwe that a campaign aimed at rallying the youth vote has been conducted and it is hoped that the electoral processes in the country will never be the same after the campaign.

The June 2008 run-off election will remain etched in the minds of many as the darkest period in the history of Zimbabwe when brother turned against brother at the instigation of political leaders who refused to see beyond personal gratification. Many young people were murdered and buried in shallow graves whilst others were dumped in dams and bridges, others had their limbs cut off whilst young girls were forced into terror camps where youth militia took turns to rape them.

It remains to be seen whether the initiative by the youth organizations marks the turning of a new corner in the political landscape of Zimbabwe.

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