Young people long for change; all they do is hope because they see themselves as victims of political exclusion. Although there are a lot of echoes on youth participation, youth voter registration and youth inclusion, there has not been much change, especially when looking at the current electoral and political situation in Zimbabwe.
To begin with, the constitutional referendum was an opportunity for the young people of Zimbabwe to voice their thoughts and take part in the electoral process. However, the number of young people who went to vote was very small. Although a lot has been done to encourage youth involvement, there are a lot of factors that stand in the way.
Due to a myriad of challenges, the youth of Zimbabwe have not been able to voice their thoughts and engage in political processes. For example, there was not much public awareness of the mobile voter registration.
Other measures put in place by the authorities act as stumbling blocks for youth participation. The call for proof of residence as a requirement has seen many young people being left out of the voter registration process. Most young people are willing to participate in the electoral processes but they find themselves withdrawing because of the frustrating processes. In a recent case in Matebeleland, a group of young people was turned away by officials because they did not have the correct documents. Most young people had to go home without registering, which sends a message to other youth who might get frustrated and give up.
Young people constitute more than 60% of Zimbabwe’s population so their participation is crucial. Therefore, a youth-friendly political environment should be created to encourage youth participation.
The registrar’s authorities should revise some of the requirements for voter registration to avoid frustration and reduce costs. Young people with alien identity cards never used to vote and this has been revised but they have to pay $40 to get new IDs. This also has to be reviewed because most young people are poor.
Young people have been presented with yet another opportunity to go exercise their rights and speak their minds. The Registrar General of Voters is conducting a mobile registration and voters’ roll inspection from June 7- July 9. The youth forum wants all Zimbabwean youth to register so that they can fully engage in political processes and decision making. The youth forum will be providing the youth of Zimbabwe with all the information they need on the voter registration processes and the voter registration centers available. – www.youthforumzim.org
Post published in: Opinions & Analysis
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