adminChristopher Farai Charamba Political Writer
In 2013, former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan wrote an opinion piece on International Youth Day titled “Let the Young Lead”.
In it, he stated the following: “I am convinced more than ever that any society that does not succeed in tapping into the energy and creativity of its youth will be left behind.”
According to the former Secretary-General, in his experience, political apathy exhibited in the youth was a result of young people being disillusioned by the political institutions that govern their existence. He mentioned that the world was developing at incredible rate and young people had the dynamism, energy and an inherent understanding of this changing global experience that they needed to be included by decision makers.
Last Thursday, President Emmerson Mnangagwa took part in the first ever youth town hall meeting.
This event was different to the Presidential Youth Interface rallies held last year, a point President Mnangagwa noted early on in the discussion.
The town hall was a much more intimate engagement. There was a selected invite-only crowd, much different to the thousands who attended the interfaces and there was dialogue between the President and the audience. It was hosted by the Global Shapers, a young persons’ initiative of the World Economic Forum (WEF) and so the theme of the town hall was “The Road to Davos”, where the President and his team currently find themselves.
The event was meant to be a platform for young people to engage their President, ask him questions and raise whatever issues they had in order for him and his Government to better understand the position of the youth. Or at least this is how it had been marketed on social media. As the first event of its kind, where the youth were able to sit and talk to their President, those that organised the town hall should be commended for their efforts. The youth are often spoken to or spoken at rather than spoken with and so such a platform, where dialogue and discourse take centre stage, are extremely important.
A town hall of such a nature changes the kind of interaction the political elites have with young people and are the first steps in bringing about a cultural and social change as well as inclusion of young people and their ideas into mainstream political spaces.
Unfortunately, this particular town hall did not quite live up to the billing, despite the fact that President Mnangagwa looked prepared for a frank and challenging discussion.
His team comprised both Vice Presidents, a handful of Cabinet ministers and the Reserve Bank Governor.
There were a number of issues that one can nit-pick at in the whole event.
The first was that there were a good 30 minutes at the beginning wasted on lengthy protocol and unnecessary speeches. This resultantly cut down the time that the President had to then take questions from the floor and limited the amount and level of engagement.
The moderator was Vimbayi Kajese, a former news anchor on China’s CCTV, now tech entrepreneur.
She took a casual approach to the situation, where a thoughtful and deliberate approach would have been better.
She kicked off by taking a selfie with the President, which itself is not a bad thing, but this set the tone for the rest of the engagement.
The questions asked were basic and routine, some of them with answers already in the public domain; President Mnangagwa did not break a sweat. He was asked about his ascension to office, he joked about his border jumping.
Kajese asked him about his relationship with former President Mugabe, he responded that Cde Mugabe was his mentor.
She then painted a scenario for the President of a young unemployed 27-year-old living at home with no social life and asked, somewhat mildly, what the administration was doing for such individuals. The President replied there were safety nets to cater for the underprivileged while Zimbabwe was working its way back from its unfavourable economic position.
There were other questions that really did not address clearly any of the issues that would have struck a chord with the wider youth of Zimbabwe.
When the questions were open to the floor, of which they could only take four, the pattern continued.
Those who asked questions seemed to be promoting themselves and their youth organisations rather than interrogating the mind and office of the President. One individual spoke about how his organisation worked to support the grassroots in Zimbabwe and travelled around the world to promote Zimbabwe. He asked the President for Government support in their endeavours.
President Mnangagwa asked him what kind of support he wanted. He replied that he would like ministers to accompany them on their trips to promote Zimbabwe.
This was the standard that was exhibited at the town hall. No one asked directly what the Government was doing about youth unemployment. Or what policies the Government was crafting or working on in their 100-day plan to bring about substantive changes to the lives of young people in Zimbabwe.
One individual asked about the foreign currency crisis, but the conversation did not move towards questioning the high interest rates and the fact that young people do not have access to credit or investment opportunities.
Even the Road to Davos itself, the theme of the meeting, was not fully covered. President Mnangagwa mentioned that they were going to tell and show the world that Zimbabwe was open for business and that was it. No one asked what the new mantra “Zimbabwe is open for business” actually means and how the youth can take advantage of this dispensation.
What was particularly disappointing was the fact that the President seemed to be begging for a challenge.
He kept mentioning that he was there to listen to youth and asked a number of times what it was the youth expected of him and his administration. The room did not articulate any of this.
One cannot paint the entire youth of Zimbabwe off the select few that were invited to the town hall. Perhaps in a different setting, the conversation would have been more stimulating. But there are a few issues that can be picked out from the situation.
The first is to realise that there are different groups of young people in the country and that each set has different priorities, thoughts and feelings. This is important for the youth to realise, particularly when they represent each other, but also for decision makers, to realise they need to engage different sectors of the youth.
The second thing is for young people to ask themselves what it is they truly want and craft a way of articulating these desires. This message is one they should take to their public officials, but also use to measure the abilities of those vying for elected office in the coming elections.
Finally, one wonders what the actual state of the youth is in Zimbabwe. There is a shortage of formal employment and universities have been criticised for producing students who, while book smart, lack practical skills.
It would be beneficial for an organisation like the Zimbabwe Youth Council to assess the current state of the youth economically, socially, politically, educationally and in other facets to get a better understanding of where the country’s young are and what needs to be done to better facilitate their growth and participation with hopes that one day they will lead.
Online Reporter
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