To vote or not to vote . . .

 

harmonised elections. This simply means that we will be selecting the people we want to represent us as councillors, Members of Parliament, senators and the President all on the same day.

Each person who is 18 years and above and is a citizen of Zimbabwe is eligible to vote. You must have an acceptable form of identification, normally your identity card issued by the Registrar-General’s Office. You also have to be a registered voter and many registry offices around the country are currently registering voters.

To move on, the questions are many. Do teens have a role to play in the process? Are 18- and 19-year-olds mature enough to make decisions on who should lead the country? And are those teens that are eligible going to vote when the time comes? What do the youths expect from the new Government?

I spoke to 30 teens aged between 16 and 19 in equal ratios of girls to boys and these are their answers:
All 30 said the youths have a right to have their views aired and respected by the leaders. Therefore, they have a role in the election by advocating for the candidates with their interests at heart.

Twenty-eight said 18 is the accepted majority age and by then a person can make the right decisions in elections. The two who disagreed thought that 21 and 25 would be more appropriate ages for people to become eligible to vote as they would understand life better.

Only six teenagers, five of them boys, said they were definitely going to vote in the next election. The rest said they did not even know the potential candidates in their areas and would not bother.

On the final question all the teens said they would like to see a country where everything that they need is more accessible.
Communication in the form of more affordable internet gadgets and broadband was on the top of the list of almost everyone.

Next was education with special emphasis on tertiary education, then food, followed by transport and health. All 30 teens said they would also like to be assured of getting a job after they complete their education, even if it is not their first career choice.

This round goes to the guys because they are likely to go and vote and make their voices heard. So girls, the challenge is set for you; are you going to just drift along or are you going to stand up and be counted?
Till next week, keep it real.