Assessing state of youth key in understanding their needs

The questions asked at the town hall were basic and routine, some of them with answers already in the public domain; President Mnangagwa did not break a sweat. He was asked about his ascension to office, he joked about his border jumping.

IN 2013, former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan wrote an opinion piece on International Youth Day titled “Let the Young Lead”. In it, he stated the following: “I am convinced more than ever that any society that does not succeed in tapping into the energy and creativity of its youth will be left behind.”

According to the former Secretary-General, in his experience, political apathy exhibited in the youth was a result of young people being disillusioned by the political institutions that govern their existence. He mentioned that the world was developing at incredible rate and young people had the dynamism, energy and an inherent understanding of this changing global experience that they needed to be included by decision makers.

Last Thursday, President Emmerson Mnangagwa took part in the first ever youth town hall meeting.

This event was different to the Presidential Youth Interface rallies held last year, a point President Mnangagwa noted early on in the discussion.

The town hall was a much more intimate engagement. There was a selected invite-only crowd, much different to the thousands who attended the interfaces and there was dialogue between the President and the audience. It was hosted by the Global Shapers, a young persons’ initiative of the World Economic Forum (WEF) and so the theme of the town hall was “The Road to Davos”, where the President and his team currently find themselves.

The event was meant to be a platform for young people to engage their President, ask him questions and raise whatever issues they had in order for him and his Government to better understand the position of the youth. Or at least this is how it had been marketed on social media. As the first event of its kind, where the youth were able to sit and talk to their President, those that organised the town hall should be commended for their efforts. The youth are often spoken to or spoken at rather than spoken with and so such a platform, where dialogue and discourse take centre stage, are extremely important.

A town hall of such a nature changes the kind of interaction the political elites have with young people and are the first steps in bringing about a cultural and social change as well as inclusion of young people and their ideas into mainstream political spaces.

Unfortunately, this particular town hall did not quite live up to the billing, despite the fact that President Mnangagwa looked prepared for a frank and challenging discussion.

His team comprised both Vice Presidents, a handful of Cabinet ministers and the Reserve Bank Governor.

There were a number of issues that one can nit-pick at in the whole event.

The first was that there were a good 30 minutes at the beginning wasted on lengthy protocol and unnecessary speeches. This resultantly cut down the time that the President had to then take questions from the floor and limited the amount and level of engagement.

The moderator was Vimbayi Kajese, a former news anchor on China’s CCTV, now tech entrepreneur.

She took a casual approach to the situation, where a thoughtful and deliberate approach would have been better.

She kicked off by taking a selfie with the President, which itself is not a bad thing, but this set the tone for the rest of the engagement.

The questions asked were basic and routine, some of them with answers already in the public domain; President Mnangagwa did not break a sweat. He was asked about his ascension to office, he joked about his border jumping.

Kajese asked him about his relationship with former President Mugabe, he responded that Cde Mugabe was his mentor.

She then painted a scenario for the President of a young unemployed 27-year-old living at home with no social life and asked, somewhat mildly, what the administration was doing for such individuals. The President replied there were safety nets to cater for the underprivileged while Zimbabwe was working its way back from its unfavourable economic position.

There were other questions that really did not address clearly any of the issues that would have struck a chord with the wider youth of Zimbabwe.

When the questions were open to the floor, of which they could only take four, the pattern continued.

Those who asked questions seemed to be promoting themselves and their youth organisations rather than interrogating the mind and office of the President. One individual spoke about how his organisation worked to support the grassroots in Zimbabwe and travelled around the world to promote Zimbabwe. He asked the President for Government support in their endeavours. Read full article on www. herald.co.zw