adminYouths constitute a majority of the country’s population and up to 60 percent of registered voters.
The country’s main political parties, Zanu-PF and the two MDC formations, are busy enhancing their membership, with programmes and messages specially designed for youths. Weekend rallies have become a common feature across the country with parties urging the youth to vote in their large numbers.
Social networking sites, which are mainly used by the youths, have become a latest way of penetrating the youths’ arena, with parties flooding the networks with their ideas and activities.
Zanu-PF Politburo Secretary for Youth Affairs, Cde Absalom Sikhosana, said the coming election would be a fierce battle between the giants. The youth, he said were potentially a deciding force.
“Elections are about numbers and the demography of our country shows that the youth, those aged between 18 to 25 years, are a majority. In reality the youth vote is a major issue in the political dispensation of this country,” said Cde Sikhosana.
“This is the group of our population that should decide the future of this country by voting in a manner that will not allow the country to go to the hands of the mercenaries. That is why our message is that the youth should go out and register as voters in their large numbers.
“It is when the youth vote resoundingly for us that the country will be in a position to defend the legacy bequeathed on us by the founding fathers of the revolution. It is through this election that we have to advance our country and never go back to colonialism.”
It is estimated that out of a population of about 12, 9 million people in Zimbabwe, five million of them are between the ages 18 and 35 years. The minimum age for one to be eligible to vote is 18 years. Estimates are that only 18 percent of youths participated in the 2008 polls and blamed the development on the “cumbersome” voter registration process that discourages them.
Bulawayo-based political analyst, Mr Effie Ncube said every party needs the youth vote especially after realising that a majority of the youth did not vote in the 2008 polls.
He said the parties have a challenge to convince the youth that they can address the socio-economic issues that mainly affect the youngsters.
Said Mr Ncube: “The problem in Zimbabwe is that our parties have neglected the youth for a long time and the youth are now challenging that.
“Attracting the youth is a strategic decision for the parties at this moment because the youth are the largest segment of eligible voters that is not polarised. They are willing to listen to anyone who talks to them.”
MDC-T MP for Mbizo, Mr Settlement Chikwinya said the youth were a decisive force whenever elections are held anywhere in the world.
He said the youth, unlike the elderly, were a dynamic group that every serious political party cannot afford to ignore.
“Politics is a game of numbers and the youth constitute a majority of active decision makers in the political arena. Because of this every political party that wants to set up a government would seek to be in touch with the youth,” said Mr Chikwinya.
“Our country has high unemployment rates and many social amenities are no longer there. All this affects the youth and tends to stimulate them to challenge the status quo.
“The issues that affect the youth cut across the political party divide and parties are seeking to address these issues.”
Zapu southern region coordinator Retired Major Mark Mbayiwa said attracting the youth vote was a challenge for all political parties.
He said liberation movements successfully defeated the colonial establishment mainly because of the support from the youth.
“Any political party that wants to win polls will seek to attract the youth. The elderly people are tired of politics and often have fixed political views.
“However, the youth are the foot soldiers of a party and if you fail to attract them you are gone. All the parties Zanu-PF and the MDCs have a challenge of how to accommodate the youth who are energetic, innovative and would want to see things done differently,” said Rtd Major Mbayiwa.
The Professor Welshman Ncube-led MDC is also pushing its way in a bid to lure the youth and recently it has been calling for the introduction of online voter registration, which allows voter registrations to be done on the internet.
“Cognisant of the trends the world over, we feel that in this technological era, the current system of voter registration in Zimbabwe is nonsensical. Registering online allows the kind of privacy and freedom from pressure that the current voter registration process lacks. It could also prove to be a great motivator for youth voters and others,” Mrs Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga, the party’s secretary general.
Online Reporter