By Nyasha Tatenda Manuwere| As the election season looms in Zimbabwe, young people in Zimbabwe, myself included, will have an opportunity to vote out a government that we feel has robbed us of our future.
It is an open secret that youths in Zimbabwe face challenges such as unemployment (about 70% of Zimbabwe’s youths are unemployed), unaffordable education, human rights violations and lack of access to health care due to excessive poverty, forced mobility (migration) due to limited opportunities, child marriages and sexual abuse of young women among others.
We have a demographic superiority, which means we can skew next year’s election.
According to official figures, Zimbabwe’s youths constitute about 68 per cent of the country’s population and about 75 per cent of the voters.
If we participate in huge numbers, we have the power to decide who wins the elections.
Failing to participate in this election will have a negative effect and also gives room for rigging or vote manipulation by the ruling party.
For how long are we going to mourn over the shoulders of our oppressors?
It is time to vote for someone who ensures that there is medication in hospitals, road rehabilitation and someone who stabilizes prices of commodities.
Change in leadership is the only way forward. It is high time we vote for a young person who can well represent us and change our lives through employment creation.
However, this can only be possible if we go out in our numbers register to vote and vote on election day which are due sometime later next year.
Youth in Zimbabwe have a paramount role to play in the upcoming general election and should utilize the elections as an opportunity to take up space on governance decision-making tables.
Young people’s participation in governance processes particularly in the electoral process is one of the means through which democracy in the country can be entrenched and transparency and accountability achieved.
The upcoming elections in Zimbabwe present a unique opportunity for the young generation to break away from historical associations with pre- and post-election violence. This time, they have the chance to shatter this stereotype and resist attempts by certain leaders to manipulate them into becoming agents of political violence.
Despite significant challenges such as youth unemployment, limited access to quality education meeting market demands, child marriages, sexual abuse, drug abuse, mental health issues, and a rising cost of living, we must register to vote and vote in next year’s election.
As young Zimbabweans we must use next year’s election to vote on social issues and elect like-minded young leaders. This should serve as a warning to the older generation, who have held on to power by all means possible.
I would like to express my gratitude to those that have already taken action to register to vote. The action my generation is taking gives me hope that we can establish a democracy in Zimbabwe we can be proud of.
The future is in our hands. We must decided our own destiny by voting out bad leaders and vote for leaders that have people, in particular, the youths at heart. It’s now or never! Let’s SHOW UP on election day!