BY JUSTICE ZHOU
A group of seven Zimbabwean youth activists who attended the Global Changemakers' African Youth Summit in Cape Town last month have added their voices to sharp-rising concerns by young people in the country that the government is constantly overlooking them in public policy issues, calling for urgency in addressing their grievances.
The youth seminar which culminated in the World Economic Forum Africa Summit from June 10 to 12 is a British Council initiative that drew 80 participants from the world over who spent five days, sharing best practices in the areas of human rights, climate change, poverty reduction, education, HIV/Aids, and social entrepreneurship. They work independently or in teams on projects to improve the quality of lives of fellow teenagers in their local communities.
“I don’t think much is being done on the part of government particularly to empower youths and embrace their ideas towards development”, said 21-year-old Novuyo Tshuma, a youth activist and first year Bachelor of Commerce student at the University of Witswatersrand in South Africa who was part of the Zimbabwean team at the Cape Town summit. Tshuma, a published author, who won third prize in the prestigious annual Intwasa Short Story Writing Competition in 2008, added that unless politicians devolve the responsibility of charting the course towards youth development to youngsters themselves, their future and dreams remain in a perpetual risk.
Be it political, economic, business, or other spheres, youths say they have suffered incremental marginalization by traditional policy makers, to the detriment of their lives. And in this era where “conceptualization” is the buzzword in matters to do with harnessing the thinking abilities and creativity of adolescents, politicians are being slammed for doing society a huge disservice when inhibiting youths from being active members in decisions around shaping the country’s future.
Whereas the progressive world has duly embraced the irreversible phenomenon of active youth participation in social developmental affairs, it is felt that the Zimbabwean government should do the same and not be the maverick out, reverting to its customary hampering stance towards young voices. The creation of an enabling and freer climate in which young people cloister around a table to brainstorm for their interests and goals is thought to be the way to go.
“Nothing much is being done by government to address the problems faced by youths especially women. I will be interested to see at least an open platform provided on which youths could debate their challenges and also showcase their talents and abilities so as to help improve their lives,” said Novuyo who is currently working on a magazine to cater for Zimbabwean youths. As a youth campaigner she strives to create opportunities and to turnaround the lives of fellow youngsters from poor communities in the City of Bulawayo by harnessing their talents through the Youth Action program which she is currently involved with.
There is however an extremist standpoint in some political circles that where it concerns allegiance, one must have actively partaken in the war that delivered Zimbabwe ’s freedom from colonial rule. As such, those who were born on the eve of independence in 1980 or after, are branded by some politicians as “born free”, an adjective meant to deride young people as thus lacking the conditional requirements of what it takes to play a role on matters pertaining to governance.
The crisis of nearly ten years spawned abnormal price rises and record unemployment levels of 90 percent, and has seen youths being the hardest hit. The harsh economic environment has negatively affected students, opting out of school as they could no longer afford the fees. Owing to financial constraints, some female students have resorted to selling themselves for sex to raise funds, desperate to finish their studies thereby exposing themselves to HIV and unwanted pregnancies. Others have indulged in criminal activity ending up in the horrible jails and alcohol abuse with loss of hope.
In what has been described as a “Tsunami” and “the largest exodus of migrating people since the fall of the Berlin Wall” by some sections of the world media, young people escaping hardship in recent years into nearby countries account for the largest chunk of the estimated 3 million Zimbabwean refugees. Some have perished on the way to wild animals, river drowning, thugs and the likes. The rest have experienced the harsh realities of living in foreign lands. With the formation of a national unity government, many ponder returning to their country of birth. But with little signs of economic recovery being noticed, they remain stuck and destitute abroad.
Nonetheless, in a society where pluralism and freedom of expression are anathema, where even staging a peaceful protest amounts to plotting “regime change”, could youths in Zimbabwe exorcise the ghost of perpetual exclusion?
“I envision a Zimbabwe which has proper plans laid out for its economy, and not a mash of a dozen incompatible "projects & visions", a Zimbabwe in which people participate in government at both local and national level and are aware of their rights as citizens,” another activist Bongani Ncube, a Computer Science student at the University of Tlemcen in Algeria who is there on a government scholarship.
As a writer, Bongani has been published in the NAMA nominated "Echoes of Young Voices I: Identities and Diversity: Beyond Scribbled Words" and its successor "Echoes of Young Voices II: Silent Cry" .He is currently working on a magazine that caters for Zimbabwean youths with fellow author Novuyo Tshuma.
Although the regime of Robert Mugabe has been pinpointed as the principal chauvinist, resistant to the idea of co-opting youths into the policy cycle in its longest existence in power, the activists say even with the recent formation of an inclusive government teenagers are still subject to the political bigotry of yesteryear
In fact, the GNU concept to a certain extent provides a window of opportunity for transformation and youths may in turn seize this unfolding dynamic with great optimism. On the other hand, a pessimistic view that little could change in terms of encompassing youths as a valuable resource may not be ruled out as well, as there is evidence of the Zanu (PF) modus operandi still keeping its foothold. For instance, students protesting high fees at institutions of higher learning are at crossroads to find that the same brutal security services policing culture of the past is creeping in again with innocent scholars being truncheoned, tear-gased and arbitrarily jailed to be convicted with flimsy terrorism charges. Some Zimbabwe National Student Union (ZINASU) leaders are worried that they are still being hauled before courts at a time when they should be concentrating on their schoolwork.
In the forefront of the myriad of impediments to the youths’ quest for a democratic social space in which they could occupy a more meaningful position and interact freely with government and with their counterparts, is perhaps the controversial National Youth Service
The youth institution which was launched in 2001 by Mugabe’s dictatorship, is widely slated by critics as one bizarre establishment the Zanu(PF) leadership has abused to instrumentalise unemployed youngsters and preserve the stranglehold of the party’s patronage system. It has been condemned for churning out brainwashed militants loyal to Zanu(PF) who are blamed for the gross human rights violations especially in times of elections. The hardliner graduates, nicknamed Greenbombers, are known for employing excessive violence against dissenting voices, including a spate of politically-motivated murders and cases of arson. Reports of sexual abuse of female recruits have also surfaced on several occasions.
According to sources, youth service recruits are indoctrinated from Zanu(PF) campaign materials and speeches that glorify the party whilst fanning extreme hatred for its opponents. While the service’s declared purpose is “to transform and empower youths for nation building through life skills training and leadership development”, the youth campaigners feel that the pioneers of the establishment are not living up to its letter and spirit.
The general belief is that the consequence of pursuing reactionary youth programs is a breed of backward teenagers who lack direction, who neither have knowledge of what is happening in the world around them nor what they are entitled to as human beings. Those who have attended its bases countrywide are said to have come out with nothing more than shoddy vocational skills that do not hold any appeal in the job market, boredom and a wrecked future. They are therefore calling for the National Service to be completely disbanded and replaced with modern independent think-tanks of young women and men.
“The youth in Zimbabwe need to first of all open themselves up to the world in a positive way. By positive way I mean they should learn to be connected to the world and actively analyse and learn from it,” said 21-year- old Bongani.
Thamsanqa Mahlangu, the Deputy Minister of Youth Development, Indegenisation and Empowerment of the Movement for Democratic Change party wing in the new coalition government, said in May that a committee to depoliticize and reform the National Youth Service had been put in place. Mahlangu added that the reforms will be taken to Cabinet and be tabled as a Bill in Parliament where an Act would be born stop the service being an appendage of Zanu (PF), not to be run in a partisan manner and it should not include partisan political material or advance the cause of any political party. Enrollment into the service, he assured, shall be voluntary and not confined to ZANU-PF youths.
But youths say since Mahlangu made the promises there are still no signs of progress on the ground, as there is evidence of Greenbombers regrouping again.
At this period of what is hoped to be a turning point in the political history of Zimbabwe due to the process of writing of a new constitution that has just kicked off, Algeria-based Bongani lamented the lack of information resources and awareness by youths about the importance of participating in a new constitution. The Bulawayo-born former & StColumba's & Christian Brothers' College scholar said: “Too few Zimbabweans are aware of current affairs or understand that other government structures exist besides their own or even what the role of a constitution is.”
In poor rural communities and high density suburbs through-out the country, girls are prone to the most prejudice. Forced marriages, unwanted pregnancies, HIV, physical and sexual abuses and above all poverty, are just a few among the numerous challenges young women have to grapple with. Yet girls still have a tough time getting their plight heard in the corridors of power.
Zillah Muponda, an 18-year-old student at Arundel High School who is also a Harare Junior Town Clerk took part at the summit and, in particular stayed behind after to attend the World Economic Forum as one of the select panelists where she addressed global leaders on behalf of Zimbabwean youths. The teenage activist is working to champion the cause of the girl child. She is battling to improve the quality of poor girls from rural areas and has established an organization through which she raises funds to meet the costs of their school fees.
Addressing the forum Zillah told leaders that there was no point sending children to school in Zimbabwe if nothing was taught because teachers protesting poor salaries were not showing up, so she also provides teachers with food and cooking oil through sponsors to ensure that they show up for lessons. She also said: “The problem in rural areas is that there is an issue that people cling to culture a lot, so you find that girls have no place within families and their voice is never heard”
Young people in Zimbabwe are still battling for recognition even after a new dispensation was ushered in. There is no doubt the young minds may provide a rich market of thoughts if embraced into the policy making spectrum. The fresh ideas, new visions and methods are a primary requirement in the intricate modern world. What the government of Zimbabwe is doing by denying youths a chance in the policy playing field impacts negatively on progress because the solution to the many problems youths face lies with youngsters themselves.
The other participants were Munyaradzi Gova, a youth worker with a local non-governmental organisation trying to motivate youths in Bulawayo; Ngoni Chihombori; Jermain Ndhlovu, a former participant of the British Council InterAction programme, who is now with Radio Dialogue; Emmanuel Ndhlela, a student at Mount Pleasant High School and a Harare Junior Councillor
A group of seven Zimbabwean youth activists who attended the Global Changemakers' African Youth Summit in Cape Town last month have added their voices to sharp-rising concerns by young people in the country that the government is constantly overlooking them in public policy issues, calling for urgency in addressing their grievances.
The youth seminar which culminated in the World Economic Forum Africa Summit from June 10 to 12 is a British Council initiative that drew 80 participants from the world over who spent five days, sharing best practices in the areas of human rights, climate change, poverty reduction, education, HIV/Aids, and social entrepreneurship. They work independently or in teams on projects to improve the quality of lives of fellow teenagers in their local communities.
“I don’t think much is being done on the part of government particularly to empower youths and embrace their ideas towards development”, said 21-year-old Novuyo Tshuma, a youth activist and first year Bachelor of Commerce student at the University of Witswatersrand in South Africa who was part of the Zimbabwean team at the Cape Town summit. Tshuma, a published author, who won third prize in the prestigious annual Intwasa Short Story Writing Competition in 2008, added that unless politicians devolve the responsibility of charting the course towards youth development to youngsters themselves, their future and dreams remain in a perpetual risk.
Be it political, economic, business, or other spheres, youths say they have suffered incremental marginalization by traditional policy makers, to the detriment of their lives. And in this era where “conceptualization” is the buzzword in matters to do with harnessing the thinking abilities and creativity of adolescents, politicians are being slammed for doing society a huge disservice when inhibiting youths from being active members in decisions around shaping the country’s future.
Whereas the progressive world has duly embraced the irreversible phenomenon of active youth participation in social developmental affairs, it is felt that the Zimbabwean government should do the same and not be the maverick out, reverting to its customary hampering stance towards young voices. The creation of an enabling and freer climate in which young people cloister around a table to brainstorm for their interests and goals is thought to be the way to go.
“Nothing much is being done by government to address the problems faced by youths especially women. I will be interested to see at least an open platform provided on which youths could debate their challenges and also showcase their talents and abilities so as to help improve their lives,” said Novuyo who is currently working on a magazine to cater for Zimbabwean youths. As a youth campaigner she strives to create opportunities and to turnaround the lives of fellow youngsters from poor communities in the City of Bulawayo by harnessing their talents through the Youth Action program which she is currently involved with.
There is however an extremist standpoint in some political circles that where it concerns allegiance, one must have actively partaken in the war that delivered Zimbabwe ’s freedom from colonial rule. As such, those who were born on the eve of independence in 1980 or after, are branded by some politicians as “born free”, an adjective meant to deride young people as thus lacking the conditional requirements of what it takes to play a role on matters pertaining to governance.
The crisis of nearly ten years spawned abnormal price rises and record unemployment levels of 90 percent, and has seen youths being the hardest hit. The harsh economic environment has negatively affected students, opting out of school as they could no longer afford the fees. Owing to financial constraints, some female students have resorted to selling themselves for sex to raise funds, desperate to finish their studies thereby exposing themselves to HIV and unwanted pregnancies. Others have indulged in criminal activity ending up in the horrible jails and alcohol abuse with loss of hope.
In what has been described as a “Tsunami” and “the largest exodus of migrating people since the fall of the Berlin Wall” by some sections of the world media, young people escaping hardship in recent years into nearby countries account for the largest chunk of the estimated 3 million Zimbabwean refugees. Some have perished on the way to wild animals, river drowning, thugs and the likes. The rest have experienced the harsh realities of living in foreign lands. With the formation of a national unity government, many ponder returning to their country of birth. But with little signs of economic recovery being noticed, they remain stuck and destitute abroad.
Nonetheless, in a society where pluralism and freedom of expression are anathema, where even staging a peaceful protest amounts to plotting “regime change”, could youths in Zimbabwe exorcise the ghost of perpetual exclusion?
“I envision a Zimbabwe which has proper plans laid out for its economy, and not a mash of a dozen incompatible "projects & visions", a Zimbabwe in which people participate in government at both local and national level and are aware of their rights as citizens,” another activist Bongani Ncube, a Computer Science student at the University of Tlemcen in Algeria who is there on a government scholarship.
As a writer, Bongani has been published in the NAMA nominated "Echoes of Young Voices I: Identities and Diversity: Beyond Scribbled Words" and its successor "Echoes of Young Voices II: Silent Cry" .He is currently working on a magazine that caters for Zimbabwean youths with fellow author Novuyo Tshuma.
Although the regime of Robert Mugabe has been pinpointed as the principal chauvinist, resistant to the idea of co-opting youths into the policy cycle in its longest existence in power, the activists say even with the recent formation of an inclusive government teenagers are still subject to the political bigotry of yesteryear
In fact, the GNU concept to a certain extent provides a window of opportunity for transformation and youths may in turn seize this unfolding dynamic with great optimism. On the other hand, a pessimistic view that little could change in terms of encompassing youths as a valuable resource may not be ruled out as well, as there is evidence of the Zanu (PF) modus operandi still keeping its foothold. For instance, students protesting high fees at institutions of higher learning are at crossroads to find that the same brutal security services policing culture of the past is creeping in again with innocent scholars being truncheoned, tear-gased and arbitrarily jailed to be convicted with flimsy terrorism charges. Some Zimbabwe National Student Union (ZINASU) leaders are worried that they are still being hauled before courts at a time when they should be concentrating on their schoolwork.
In the forefront of the myriad of impediments to the youths’ quest for a democratic social space in which they could occupy a more meaningful position and interact freely with government and with their counterparts, is perhaps the controversial National Youth Service
The youth institution which was launched in 2001 by Mugabe’s dictatorship, is widely slated by critics as one bizarre establishment the Zanu(PF) leadership has abused to instrumentalise unemployed youngsters and preserve the stranglehold of the party’s patronage system. It has been condemned for churning out brainwashed militants loyal to Zanu(PF) who are blamed for the gross human rights violations especially in times of elections. The hardliner graduates, nicknamed Greenbombers, are known for employing excessive violence against dissenting voices, including a spate of politically-motivated murders and cases of arson. Reports of sexual abuse of female recruits have also surfaced on several occasions.
According to sources, youth service recruits are indoctrinated from Zanu(PF) campaign materials and speeches that glorify the party whilst fanning extreme hatred for its opponents. While the service’s declared purpose is “to transform and empower youths for nation building through life skills training and leadership development”, the youth campaigners feel that the pioneers of the establishment are not living up to its letter and spirit.
The general belief is that the consequence of pursuing reactionary youth programs is a breed of backward teenagers who lack direction, who neither have knowledge of what is happening in the world around them nor what they are entitled to as human beings. Those who have attended its bases countrywide are said to have come out with nothing more than shoddy vocational skills that do not hold any appeal in the job market, boredom and a wrecked future. They are therefore calling for the National Service to be completely disbanded and replaced with modern independent think-tanks of young women and men.
“The youth in Zimbabwe need to first of all open themselves up to the world in a positive way. By positive way I mean they should learn to be connected to the world and actively analyse and learn from it,” said 21-year- old Bongani.
Thamsanqa Mahlangu, the Deputy Minister of Youth Development, Indegenisation and Empowerment of the Movement for Democratic Change party wing in the new coalition government, said in May that a committee to depoliticize and reform the National Youth Service had been put in place. Mahlangu added that the reforms will be taken to Cabinet and be tabled as a Bill in Parliament where an Act would be born stop the service being an appendage of Zanu (PF), not to be run in a partisan manner and it should not include partisan political material or advance the cause of any political party. Enrollment into the service, he assured, shall be voluntary and not confined to ZANU-PF youths.
But youths say since Mahlangu made the promises there are still no signs of progress on the ground, as there is evidence of Greenbombers regrouping again.
At this period of what is hoped to be a turning point in the political history of Zimbabwe due to the process of writing of a new constitution that has just kicked off, Algeria-based Bongani lamented the lack of information resources and awareness by youths about the importance of participating in a new constitution. The Bulawayo-born former & StColumba's & Christian Brothers' College scholar said: “Too few Zimbabweans are aware of current affairs or understand that other government structures exist besides their own or even what the role of a constitution is.”
In poor rural communities and high density suburbs through-out the country, girls are prone to the most prejudice. Forced marriages, unwanted pregnancies, HIV, physical and sexual abuses and above all poverty, are just a few among the numerous challenges young women have to grapple with. Yet girls still have a tough time getting their plight heard in the corridors of power.
Zillah Muponda, an 18-year-old student at Arundel High School who is also a Harare Junior Town Clerk took part at the summit and, in particular stayed behind after to attend the World Economic Forum as one of the select panelists where she addressed global leaders on behalf of Zimbabwean youths. The teenage activist is working to champion the cause of the girl child. She is battling to improve the quality of poor girls from rural areas and has established an organization through which she raises funds to meet the costs of their school fees.
Addressing the forum Zillah told leaders that there was no point sending children to school in Zimbabwe if nothing was taught because teachers protesting poor salaries were not showing up, so she also provides teachers with food and cooking oil through sponsors to ensure that they show up for lessons. She also said: “The problem in rural areas is that there is an issue that people cling to culture a lot, so you find that girls have no place within families and their voice is never heard”
Young people in Zimbabwe are still battling for recognition even after a new dispensation was ushered in. There is no doubt the young minds may provide a rich market of thoughts if embraced into the policy making spectrum. The fresh ideas, new visions and methods are a primary requirement in the intricate modern world. What the government of Zimbabwe is doing by denying youths a chance in the policy playing field impacts negatively on progress because the solution to the many problems youths face lies with youngsters themselves.
The other participants were Munyaradzi Gova, a youth worker with a local non-governmental organisation trying to motivate youths in Bulawayo; Ngoni Chihombori; Jermain Ndhlovu, a former participant of the British Council InterAction programme, who is now with Radio Dialogue; Emmanuel Ndhlela, a student at Mount Pleasant High School and a Harare Junior Councillor
