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The new youth challenge
MDC
Youth Assembly
September 25, 2011
Recent times present an intriguing dimension to the lead role of
the youth in socio-economic transformation in various disciplines
across the world. Mark Zeckenburg (founder and owner of facebook)
has stole leadership in the technological revolution and the new
global economy. Julius Malema seems to be the centre voice of the
downtrodden, economically deprived masses of the Republic of South
Africa. In the recent spring of revolutions in north Africa, Ivory
Coast, Libya and other parts of the world, there is no doubt that
the youth have taken forefront leadership, and in the process claimed
a greater stake in the decision making processes and attainment
of leadership positions. In Zimbabwe, there is an emerging broad
consensus that the youth are the potential game changers in the
struggle for the accomplishment of the elusive democratic revolution.
These new developments are in part a result of an accelerated economic
recession which has destroyed the hope of young people from the
US, China, Europe, Asia, Africa you name it. There are less and
less opportunities for young people to prosper, global unemployment
has reached fever pitch and so has the anger in young people. Thus
the assumption of critical leadership by the youth has both negative
and positive implications. The ball is in the court of the authorities
to ensure that they channel youth energy towards positive use. The
recent example of the violent demonstrations in the UK reveals this
clearly. Governments, the world over are faced with the challenge
of meeting the aspirations of young people in the midst of a receding
global economy and rising decline of employment opportunities. It
is in this context that the challenges confronting the youth in
Zimbabwe must be tackled in a genuine and effective way. The rabblerousing
economic empowerment being propagated by the vociferous minister
of youth can be dangerous if it is allowed to raise expectations
that will not be met. It is my considered view that there is a need
for the authorities to convey an honest message to the youth, rather
than water their appetite with political slogans promising empowerment
that will not materialize. It is important that I hasten to state
that I am referring to empowerment in the sense of empowering the
broad masses of our youth, regardless of their political or tribal
orientation in the broadest scale possible.
Hence, the recent revolutions that have rocked Africa
and mass uprisings in other countries such as Syria, South Africa
and even England show that the youth are imperative in any endeavor
aimed at importing change. This is not a novel phenomenon in any
way; however, it confirms the vitality for self introspection on
the inspiration that Zimbabwean youth can draw from these significant
events of our time. Rapturous calls have been made for the youth
of Zimbabwe to stand up and be counted. Frequently these calls fail
to trigger exhilarating responses from the youth, even where they
do; the response is a far cry to the people`s expectations. In this
article, I hope to elicit discussion on the reasons why our youth
have remained indifferent, aversive and in some instances polarized
on the issues affecting them, even though there is seeming prudence
in attempting to shape a common future based on the assumed universal
aspirations of a typical young adult. The predicament confronting
young people today cannot be summed up in a piece of paper; they
are enormous, overwhelming, stubborn and intricate. They would require
a timeline of three generations to finally eradicate or resolve
them. Hence, the purpose of this paper is not to profess to have
solutions but to share and obtain ideas, among a mountain of challenges
of some of the pressing issues in order to kick start a genuine
program of action, aimed at tackling what I call "the new youth
challenge". In doing so, there is need to use lenses that preceded
and succeed the political stalemate and the disputed electoral battle
of the time. This does not mean that these are not important, instead,
it is an attempt to view the youth challenge from a point of view
that is not affected by the emotive question of politics.
Riding
the wild stallion (political instability)
Zimbabwe`s political
instability and unpredictability is alien to a typical young person
striving to establish the foundation of their lives. I was not surprised
when I read recently that Zimbabwe had ranked the lowest among the
countries in which it is friendly to do business, and that the score
had continued to decline. Some of the statements that come from
the mouths of our politicians boggle the mind. The President of
Zimbabwe spent the entire year insisting that there would be elections
before the end of the year. Given the historical character of our
elections, naturally his statement had a massive impact of the behavior
of the market and the strategic alignment of business. His statements
were not made any better by the "economic gunpowder" that
is being machine-gunned by Savior Kasukuwere threatening to take
over every company on sight that is not indigenous. In addition
to this, widespread politically motivated violence, intimidation,
reluctance and utter refusal to strengthen the rule of law and numerous
other thoughtless utterances from ZANU PF zealots and army generals
have magnified the problem. As if that is not enough, President
Mugabe has said that the elections will be held no later than March
2012. This has effectively kept the country in an election alert
mode thereby conveying the impression of a person riding on a wild
stallion. This is the perspective in which our youth have sought
to make a living. The political instability disempowers rather than
empower the broad base of our youths. In Mbare for example, hundreds
of youth whose livelihoods have been solely dependent on Mbare have
been driven out from Mbare for being suspected to be aligned to
the MDC, for refusing to pay an illegal tax to Jimu Kunaka a political
hobo, A lout siphoning people their hard earned money with the apparent
political protection from ZANU PF. I am told hundreds of vagrants
have invaded companies in Bulawayo and are refusing to vacate the
premises. This has no doubt disturbed young people who have been
working in these companies. Even where, for argument's sake one
assumes that the youths or ZANU PF itself have a genuine reason
to take over the companies, the question that remains is whether
invasion is the appropriate way to do it. The result of this manmade
political instability is that it decelerates potential investors,
decline local confidence in our own markets. Youth cannot confidently
embark on business ventures, creativity and innovation is stalled
by a government that inculcates the impression that young people
can easily get rich on the basis of ill-gotten wealth. It is for
this reason that you have the emergence of speculative groups such
as the feral Upfumi kuvadiki. We have edified a spirit of entitlement,
bastardized respect for private property to the extent that when
upfumi kuvadiki sees an enterprising young woman running her shop,
they don't think of out-competing her but of taking over her enterprise.
Thus our youth no longer believe in innovation, that is why it will
take the demise of ZANU PF to produce another Strive Masiyiwa. We
must address the problem of political instability as a foundation
for fostering a new society whose prosperity is based on merit and
hard work. I cannot rightfully argue that Thabani Mpofu must give
me shares in his law firm. I must attempt to start my own and such
a spirit can only grow in a society that is rooted in the respect
for private property and the rule of law. It is not by accident
that contemporary empirical data shows that there is a positive
correlation between a democratic society and economic prosperity.
The freer a society is, the higher the likelihood for positive economic
development. How on earth can our youth make it when they are pitted
against each other by the very government that purports to have
fought for their independence so that they could learn, work and
produce freely?
Hardworking
in the stone mine (an unrewarding society)
The above political instability challenges are intrinsically
linked to a society that because of its belief in entitlement no
longer sees prudence in rewarding talent and hard work. Multitudes
of our brilliant young men and women are wallowing in poverty or
in faraway lands while in possession of first class degrees in economics,
business, law, medicine etc. Those that are employed are just like
a miner hard working in the stone mine. A typical illegal miner
is one that you imagine in a dark deep pit armed only with a chisel,
a hammer, and a dilapidated cell phone torch. In this pit, the miner
works hard in the stone mine. One can pounce the chisel a thousand
times per night and still come out with nothing. You don't know
when and which pounce, if any will ever hit the right stone that
will transform your life. The tradition of meritocracy is rotting
in the dustbins of history. One has to produce a ZANU PF card not
a degree to be employed. One has to produce a ZANU PF card to access
loans from the Ministry of Youth. One has to show to be ZANU PF
to be permitted to form Upfumi kuvadiki and even to register an
organization or a company. As a result, millions of our workforce
turn their backs and toil in the rough and tumble of other societies
where they feel that they stand a better chance to be recognized
and rewarded for their hard work. The ministry of youth is awash
with ghost workers, most of them Border Gezi graduates, relatives
and cousins of those at the top of the political echelons "working"
as youth development officer. We have long condemned this exercise
and called upon the immediate release of the audit outcome of the
civil service workforce. This inclination has left our youth with
a predisposition that is skeptical of education and the patience
and hard work that is required for one to attain wealth. There is
a need to redirect our society towards the paradigm of taking pride
in earned wealth and hard work. This can only start with an initiative
to ensure that people`s skills are recognized and rewarded on the
basis of their merit rather than the political party that they support.
Fata
Morgana in the desert: Economic Emancipation that never was . . .
The vociferous
velocity with which the ZANU PF economic empowerment program started
would have led one to believe that there would be no single poor
youth by today. On the contrary, more youths have become poorer
because of the unpredictability that ZANU PF has caused. Assuming
that ZANU PF were to take all the companies and give them to the
youths, would this change the poverty index of our youth? Certainly
not, and ZANU PF knows this. The point I am trying to make is that
if we define empowerment as seizing a company and giving it to our
cousin, there is no way statistically that we can be able to give
a quarter of our youths companies. This naturally draws from a logical
mathematical point to say the country just does not have enough
companies to give to every youth. It therefore follows that an empowerment
strategy that is genuine and sustainable should follow a different
route. To further simplify this analogy, if you see that you have
ten loaves and fifty people, and you are legitimately seeking to
ensure that people are fed, it is not a good idea to give ten loaves
to your ten friends. Rather, you have to give a certain (preferably
equal) number of slices to your delegates. Zimbabwe`s empowerment
story reminds me of my first lessons in illusion that my form one
teacher gave me. It is like a mirage in the desert or the water
that you see in a tarred road in front of you that you never reach.
It is the biblical two fish and five loaves that fed thousands.
A true Fata Morgana in the desert! The gloss promise of independence
has continued to elude us as a country, and yet we have continued
to apply the same principles and expect different results. Clearly,
this is the definition of insanity. The youth are not yearning to
drive the latest BMW in the streets of Harare. The youths seek an
empowerment programme that is broad based, impartial and effective.
At the very elementary level, they seek a government that will strive
to meet their basic necessities of life including healthcare, education
and freedom. They want to ensure that they will be able to attain
shelter, send their children to school and provide them with healthcare
when they are sick. This does not need anybody to illegally take
over a company that you will not be able to run. On the other hand,
I am not in any way delusional to think that our youths are not
enterprising enough. That is why I propose a broad based; stratified
empowerment strategy that identifies the dexterously intricate classes
of the youth and provide answers to their peculiar needs, this one-size-fits
all solution fits nobody. It is for this reason that the economic
emancipation of the black majority that was promised at independence
has not and will not reach us under the current establishment.
The Answer: Difficult game of chase There is no
doubt that the problems articulated above are enormous, multifaceted
and entrenched in the political culture of corruptibility that ZANU
PF has authored for our society. The realization of sustainable
political stability remains the biggest breakthrough that young
people must organize themselves towards. The biggest mistake that
Malema and Kasukuwere have made is isolating youth groups that they
do not ideologically agree with, in the process, their perspective
of the youth challenge, sectoral and partisan as it is, has narrowed
down their diagnosis of the problem according to whether you agree
with their version of understanding the history and conception of
the liberation struggle and its location in the current debate among
the progressive youth formations. It is a misnomer that these two
do not understand the basic tenet of democracy which states that
you do not have to necessarily agree to co-operate, in fact you
co-operate because of your divergent views which enrich the socio-economic
and political discourse of the youth. For intolerant figures like
these, whose misconception of leadership makes them to expect everyone
to agree with them, it is incomprehensible that they should co-operate
with people that disagree with them. It is only under a stable political
environment rooted in the rule of law, transparency and accountability
that one can begin to foster a culture of tolerating divergent views.
This is indeed a difficult game of chase for sectoral leaders that
are accustomed to addressing card holding crowds whose only role
is to cheer the leader while asking how high to jump. Sadly, this
does not even enhance the leader`s understanding of the problems
affecting the people as the bussed squads are not able to articulate
their problems frankly for fear of being suspected to be disloyal.
There is a need
to re-look into the youth empowerment fund with the lenses of the
Government
of National Unity. This will enable a broader oversight of the
fund beyond the fungible hands of ministry of youth officials and
their friends. Thus, the control over and the oversight of the empowerment
funds must be placed under the tripartite perspective of the GNU
in order to guarantee that youths who do not have ZANU PF cards
can also access this national cake. Secondly, as stated above, there
is a need for broad consultations on both the empowerment fund and
the indigenization strategy. This will enable the ministry to avoid
policies that dissuade investors as well as alienate those youths
who are marginalized such as those in the rural areas, from minority
tribes, the uneducated and all the down trodden. Thirdly the empowerment
and indigenization strategy of the government must take into cognizance
the divergent and convoluted interests of the youth and design programs
aimed at empowering young people in line with their aspirations.
It should be noted that not all youth that want to go into business,
some want to achieve in sport, drama, music, academia and so forth.
Fourthly the agenda of empowerment must not be misunderstood to
be replacing merit and hard work. There is an implicit impression
that youths will be empowered to become automatically rich and never
work in their lives. While this sad reality has occurred to those
youths close enough to the corridors of power to benefit from this
asset stripping of state resources, this should never be condoned.
The empowerment project must do just enough to enable our youth
to work and fend for themselves with probity. The accumulation of
ill-gotten wealth leads to the enrichment of the few to the unfair
and unjust deprivation of the majority of our youths who do not
have connections in the state. It is therefore in the interest of
the majority that there should be a good, incorruptible government
to avoid asset tunneling by greedy elites and their henchmen and
women. It is imperative at this stage to highlight the intrinsic
benefit of a democratic society to the majority as it is only a
democratic government supported by the rule of law that can ensure
that national resources benefit the nation and its entire people.
ZANU PF has sought to perpetuate anarchy and disorder to avoid accountability
and transparency. It is therefore crucial for youth to strive for
the establishment of political stability that will bring order and
predictability to allow for investment and rebuilding of the economy,
all of which will provide the needed opportunities for youth to
make a decent living. This is obviously inseparable from the need
for the partners of the GNU to comply with and implement all the
provisions of the global political agreement. This should lead to
the conduction of a free and fair election supervised, monitored,
observed and underwritten by SADC, the outcome of which must be
respected and upheld as the will of the people of Zimbabwe. This
should be the starting point towards designing and implementing
a non-partisan, non-sectoral, realistic, effective and people-centered
youth empowerment and indigenization policy.
In the final analysis, there is nothing that will
convince the youth which does not bear the following ingredients
namely a stable political environment rooted in the rule of law,
evidence that in whatever it does, the government is committed to
protecting the good image of our country. This entails the development
of a sound empowerment and indigenization strategy with an appropriate
management infrastructure based on a efficient internal control
mechanism and an effective risk management plan. Last but not least,
the government`s plan must show proof of reporting to and maintaining
constant relationships with the public and other relevant internal
and external stakeholders. Only such an elaborate plan constructed
on the strength of a process of participatory democracy will unlock
the difficult "new youth challenge" logjam.
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