Sundaymail Editor
Online Reporter
Zimbabwe Youth Forum (ZYF), a youth organisation convened a conference in Harare last week where the issue of youth political participation took centre stage.
The event saw young people speak on the impediments they are facing in their quest for political participation.
ZYF director Mr Ashton Bumhira said young people should be encouraged to register to vote.
“Over one million young people will be eligible to vote, so our message is that the Government must make it easy for a young person, especially first-time voters to easily access national identity documents so that they can easily register,” said Mr Bumbira.
“Going forward, we want political parties to make sure that young people are viewed as assets in terms of our development and democratic participation,” he added.
He urged churches, civil society organisations and different political parties to make sure that they do not perpetuate violence and that they do not use young people to commit acts of violence, both pre and post elections.
Mr Macdonald Munyoro, the national youth programme manager for ZYF said the Zimbabwe Election Committee should be awake to the challenges faced by youths when they structure their public engagements.
“The engagements tend to be virtual, so it (ZEC) should consider whether young people in marginal communities have access to these online platforms. This could be discriminating against young people in rural areas,” said Mr Munyoro.
Online Reporter