Women’s Institute for Leadership Development (WILD) is engaging young people in a bid to encourage and educate them on the importance of voting ahead of the upcoming elections.
On Wednesday they held a tea talk at Tech Village in Bulawayo’s CBD where they discussed the importance of young people’s vote this election season. The event was lively as young people there present participated in discussions on issues that affect them as far as the elections are concerned. Bridgette Ndlovu, Public Relations Officer for WILD, told CITE they were happy with the progress emanating from such platforms as young people showed enthusiasm in partaking in the voting process.
“Young people are ready and eager to vote. Although they have a few questions emanating from issues of privacy concerning the voter’s roll, they have shown such great interests. There is a need to encourage some of them as they are still blinded by a few misconceptions. In that regard, Wild has introduced #WhatAmIVotingFor social media campaign in a bid to enable young people to make informed decisions when choosing political candidates.
“They need to understand that when you vote you don’t vote for an individual but for what the individual represents. So far we have a radio program every Wednesday on Skyz Metro at 10:30-11: 30 AM where electorates get to meet their candidates,” said Ndlovu.
Some of the participants attending the tea talk said they see no point in voting as they are not yet certain that the new dispensation will bring about the much-needed change in the economic situation. Most of the young people were optimistic that the new dispensation will vary from the previous one, heeding their concerns and availing successful opportunities for them to start their own businesses and create job opportunities through the introduction of youth bank and women’s bank.
