Some youth groups yesterday said today’s town hall meeting to which President Lazarus Chakwera has invited youths to discuss his State of the Nation Address (Sona) should have started in 2020, but nonetheless hoped it leads to tangible outputs, not mere rhetoric.
The Nation talked to Youth and Society (YAS), Mzuzu Youth Caucus, Young Politicians Union and other youth leaders on what they thought of the President’s meeting with youths under 30 years of age exactly a week after he delivered a controversial Sona that some said embellished the progress of development projects.
In an interview, Youth and Society (YAS) executive director Charles Kajoloweka, while commending Chakwera for the initiative, said he wished the youth engagements started in 2020.
He said YAS’ expectation is that President Chakwera would use the meeting to tackle real issues affecting the youth such as unemployment and poverty.
Said Kajoloweka: “We hope that what he will be addressing on the Sona will be evidence- based and not a speech infiltrated by false information. The youth should also interrogate the President’s commitment to the National Youth Manifesto he signed in 2019.”
On his part, Gomezgani Nkhoma, who chairs Mzuzu Youth Caucus, an advocacy platform for young people, said in a statement the initiative was ill-timed, considering that the President has been in office for over four years, but never openly solicited youths’ views.
He also urged Chakwera to use the interaction to address issues such as economic empowerment, unemployment, education, infrastructure development and health care.
On his part, Young Politicians Union national director Clement Makuwa said the President should have left the Sona debate with parliamentarians instead of taking it to a town hall.
“The Sona has its own space, that is the National Assembly, where it has to be questioned, clarified and complemented to and not any other platforms,” he said.
In a video posted on his Facebook page on Wednesday, the President courted the youth to a hybrid town hall-style interaction through physical and virtual platforms set for today to discuss the youth’s stake in about 500 national projects highlighted in his Sona.
The event will be a live-streamed from 2.20pm and Chakwera said he would take questions from 100 youths who will gather in Lilongwe and interact with others through social media platforms Facebook and X.
