Mawabeni youths have cited lack of representation in political spaces as a hindrance to their empowerment.
Abigail Ndlovu said there are few opportunities availed to young people to participate in politics.
“As youths, we want to be given platforms in political spaces so that we freely speak out on issues affecting us but every time we try to speak up the elderly people bring us down. Old people in positions look down upon us and this has led to some youths to boycott some meetings because they know their views won’t be taken seriously,” said Ndlovu, during the round table discussion on voter registration among women in rural areas conducted by the Centre for Innovation and Technology (CITE) on Wednesday.
Ndlovu added that the lack of documentation among youths has also affected their participation in electoral processes.
“My question is when are we supposed to register to vote because I last heard of the process years back, I only know that we are supposed to vote next year. Information dissemination in rural areas is limited, we wish that important information can be shared through social media for us the youths to receive the information because we cannot afford to buy newspapers or even have access to radios.”
She added, “We are not seeing any development in the wards that we stay in, we wish there can be follow-ups to the people that were elected because they are not doing much for us once elected.
Another participant said political leaders only attend to their issues when they want to be voted into office.
“We want leaders who will respect us when they get into office, we don’t want them to look down on us because we are in rural areas, the Government should be able to do what we the community wants,” she said.
