Malawi paper backs CSO’s on sustainable youth empowerment: Query DPP’s ‘short term’ job creation plan
Malawi’s leading daily newspaper, The Nation, has backed civil society organisations (CSO) for querying the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)- led government for targeting the youth on an appeasement drive belatedly, just to win votes of in next year’s elections.
In outlining the 2018/19 National Budget framework in Parliament on Friday, Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe said 10 000 youth, among others, will be recruited for national tree planting and care programme projected at K5 billion.
The country’s fiscal chief said the youth will be working in groups within their areas and get support along the model of the public works programme.
But Youth and Society (YAS) executive director Charles Kajoloweka wondered why DPP is engaging the youth now by dangling employment to them, fearing efforts will not be sustainable after the polls.
And Gift Trapence the executive director of the Centre for the Development of People (CEDEP), also said the youth focused financial plan for 2018/19 is a campaign tool seeking the youth’s votes and that it is “a short-lived mechanism aimed only at increasing political mileage before the elections.”
In its editorial comment on Monday, The Nation newspaper said the reactions from some CSOs were not surprising, saying youth empowerment should be sustainable.
The paper noted that being an election budget with barely a year to 2019 Tripartite Elections, the proposed youth empowerment scheme “smells political”, saying no wonder CSOs see the gesture as cosmetic and not sustainable after the elections.
The said youth recruitment plan is also coming against a background of several qualified youth, including medical doctors, teachers and others, struggling to get employed with the Minister of Finance at one time telling Parliament that government was not an automatic employer for teachers or medical personnel trained in its institutions, the paper observed
“For a long time, practical initiatives to meaningfully empower the youth have lacked in the country. Worse still, most of the initiatives have been political and not sustainable. These include Youth Development Fund which was initially meant to provide capital to youth regardless of political affiliation but was later abused when it was restricted to those belonging to political party in power at the time,” reads the editorial in part.
It said youth need to be empowered through quality education and creation of opportunities for them to exploit their full potential.
The paper said the youth should not only be used as “political pawns.”
The should be part of the decision -making process.
In conclusion the paper’s editorial said the timing of the youth job creation is “suspects” and that the Malawian youth have all the reasons to be suspicious.
Minister of Information and Communications Technology Nicholas Dausi has since dismissed that the youth employment initiatives are cosmetic, saying there is a five-year- master plan for the job creation.
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Our youth needs sustainable long-term plan enganged with an intense effort from the government side, they can’t tell us our youth will have jobs by planting trees, it’s a total galaxy and a pure indication this money is for campaign purposes, kale kale we used to plant trees starting from primary schools to secondary schools. Even big time companies and organizations had a day/days just for tree planting, climate has affected everyone, it’s therefore a national prerogative to engange each and every one in the country to plant at least 1 tree per year, furthermore, revamp all government places that… Read more »
Campaign materials for DPP ,dinning with streetkids and giving them chibuku plus 15grand each plus targeted vendors from Blantyre market getting away with envelopes from statehouse with undisclosed amount doesn’t mean good to them. Teach them how to fend for themselves not pitty handouts Mr president those advisors are misleading you Sir.we need true representative from the young and restless. Viva Chilima
OUR YOUTHS HAVE EXCHANGED THEIR BIRTHRIGHTS WITH SILVER COINS AND SOME PINTS OF JANG’ALA FROM PETER AT SANJIKA PALACE –LET’S TALK OF OTHER
PEOPLE WHO ARE REALLY SERIOUS ABOUT THEIR LIVES —OUR YOUTHS WERE BORN IN
POVERTY ; EDUCATED IN POVERTY; ;
GROWN IN POVERTY —THEY WOULD RATHER DIE IN POVERTY
THAN ANY CHANGE– TO THEM POVERTY IS IN THEIR DNA– THEY
ARE NOT READY FOR CHANGES —
Community colleges are one way of long term job creation among others. You never speak of this you CSOs. You seem short sighted yourselves.
You are right fhge, that’s what Malawians are. Government is also busy building stadiums where youth shall sharpen their talents that offer some of them jobs besides improving their health but what did we hear from these gullible people, “wastage of resources, they should have bought medicine bla bla bla”. Negativity always, that’s what they feel makes them look brilliant and outstanding in society. If he didn’t provide such for the youth, they would gang up and accuse gov for not being considerate on the youth. Now that gov has done it, they say its fooling them and not sustainable,… Read more »
Malawi CSOs are useless organisations. They never appreciate good things that government is doing. For example, this year’s budget is excellent. They are quiet about this.