BY KWANELE TSABEDZE
MANZINI – As the registration deadlines for Municipal elections come closer, one youth organisation is determined to have a record participation rate from the youth.
The I’m an African (IAA) organisation has embarked on a campaign to ensure that the youth participates in this year’s municipal elections. According to the IAA founding President Allan Lloyd Hamusokwe, the organisation realised from reading the 2013 Youth and Public Policy in Eswatini that the non-participation of youth in municipal elections is something that can be remedied with the right targeted communication and outreach.
Hamusokwe revealed that according to the report, most policymakers interviewed for the study agreed to a certain extent that the views of young people are not always sought. Hence, the participation of youth in policy formulation is minimal, and there is a great need to open up the space so that more youth can actively participate.
The IAA organisation is hosting youth in the municipalities in the Mbabane-Manzini corridor to encourage youth to register to vote in the municipal elections. The next meet-up is going to be during the Mbabane Youth Chamber of Council (YCC) information session on February 17 from noon.
“Policy formulation and implementation in Eswatini frequently adopts a top down approach. Youth that is dissatisfied with their lack of inclusion in policy formulation and implementation demand to be included through participation in protest actions and boycotts,” said Hamusokwe when speaking about why the IAA is engaged in this exercise.
“Too frequently, young people lack the capacity, activism and coordination required to bring about change and have not presented a united voice in demanding that their views should be integrated into policies that affect them. Youth participation in policy formulation and decision making processes is under-prioritized,” added Hamusokwe.
The IAA has also dedicated a page on their website https://africanmovement.org.za/?p=4836 to educate the youth on why they should register to vote as well as how they should do it. In addition to their election engagements with the municipalities, the IAA organisation is also engaging them on their mission to help establish 40 enterprises across the four municipalities in the Mbabane-Manzini corridor.
