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Post-election 2013: What’s next for the youth in Zimbabwe
Youth Empowerment and Transformation Trust
September 16, 2013

Young people have been urged to be creative under the current dispensation given that the recent appointments in government do not promise much on terms of fulfilling youth aspiration.

Speaking at a YETT networking forum titled, Post Election 2013: What’s next for the Youth of Zimbabwe held at SAPES trust, former Finance Minister and Mavambo Kusile Dawn leader, Dr Simba Makoni called on young people to be innovative and not wait for government to solve the problem of unemployment and youth vulnerability.

“If Saviour Kasukuwere who is 42 did not manage to solve youth challenges during his tenure of office there is nothing much you can expect from the new youth minister who is 60 years old,” he said. “There is need to articulate policies that empower people to do things for themselves, young people should aspire to be creative in the way they make a living, although current circumstances compel young people to be entrepreneurs.”

Through questions and answers, the conversation clearly showed the need for young people to organize and work effectively with those in leadership to prioritize youth issues in decision making.

“Youth need to come up with a very citizen way of addressing effectiveness of the new government. Young people should demand quality service and urge leaders to move away from politics of power to service”, added Otto Saki, one of the four panelists that comprised of Pretty Mubaiwa from Student Christian Movement of Zimbabwe and Rosewita Katsande, YETT Programmes Manager.

The panel also encouraged youths to depoliticize the youth sector and push for a shared youth agenda across political divide. Rosewita suggested non-partisan youth centers to provide spaces for youth peer engagement and skills training. “There is need to create an apolitical Youth Commission that addresses challenges faced by youth,” she said.

Meanwhile, Pretty Mubaiwa said participation of young women is generally low as they live mostly in the private sphere, because the public sphere remains largely male dominated.

“The government should allow room for more women to participate as there has been a violation of the new constitution, which stipulates that there must be gender equality in all key government institutions”, she said.

However, young people still blamed lack of information as the main deterrent in solving youth participation.

“I am from the high-density suburbs of Budiriro where it is not easy for some of my colleagues to get a dollar to purchase a newspaper and most of the information channels are not accessible to youths in marginalized areas, let alone platforms like these where I can engage in conversations with key stakeholders,” commented one participant.

Meanwhile, earlier in the day, 50 young people from Harare, Kadoma, Chinhoyi, Bulawayo, Hwange, Lupane, Plumtree, Mutare, Kwekwe and Kariba had gathered to reflect on the participation of young people in the 31st July Harmonized Elections and it was noted that youth participation apathy was mainly as a result failure by political parties to articulate strategies to put an end to youth challenges.

It was agreed during the reflection meeting that young people need to rise above political party politics and realize that what brings the youth together is the common denominator of youthfulness. It was noted that, awareness campaigns that were held in the run up to elections presents an opportunity to drive youth participation but a call was made to adopt strategies to ensure youth voices are shared.

The legislature was also noted an entry point to ensure that the government delivers effective services to the people as parliament has align several legal statues with the new constitution.

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