Open letter to the President

Mr President, I hope you are doing fine today and thank you for taking your time to read my letter.

I understand you have policies that contain reasonable projects aimed at eradicating escalating unemployment levels among the youth. As a country, we need to be thankful and grateful for the 50 years of independence.

I recall that after your Independence Day speech, some people gave you tough time by claiming that there was no need to celebrate 50 years of independence, claiming nothing had changed on the ground. But I want to agree with you, as a country, Malawi has made tremendous strides. Probably the question to these critics is what have they as individuals done to Malawi besides complaining that Malawi is not progressing in terms of development?

Mr President, I write this letter with a broken heart and deep frustrations. The moment young people graduate from the various colleges they have nothing to do and become part of the statistics that contribute to unemployment figures.

Worse off are those that dropped out of school at various levels, as they struggle to break the cycle of poverty. These groups of people are languishing in the streets, sipping cheap alcohol dubbed masacheti or ‘blackberries’. And the cost of living is too high; I must say things are becoming unbearable.

Mr President, all these problems among the youth in Malawi can only end if they have access to some sort of employment. Unemployment among the youth is a big challenge, which over the past 50 years has presented a lost opportunity for national economic development.

Persistent youth unemployment has been embedded in our system over the decades and it has been escalating with the growing population figures.

I am pleased you know the extent of our challenges based on your statement during the Independence Day celebrations in Lilongwe.

Your Excellency, we now live in a Malawi where people sell jobs and this is unacceptable as it discriminates against some deserving individuals and it has to be addressed. We live in a society where nepotism is taking its root.

The youth are human capital, and this is the greatest asset any country can have. The youth have more potential than the tobacco industry. With that huge potential, we cannot sit down anymore and watch ourselves waste away.

I know that governance is largely a series of perception games. It is my hope that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government won’t play these games badly like the other governments before it.

My little advice though; please, ensure that you do not surround yourself with people who will only be feeding you with information that is sweet to your ear. The truth is that out here, there are both good and bad things. Of course, the bad outweigh the good things.

And for the youth, nobody should cheat you because their biggest problem is unemployment. Most youths are tired of seeking jobs across the borders where they are subjected to ill-treatment at the workplace and xenophobia by the host country’s citizens.

Unemployment has been there for a long time and there are a lot of challenges in reducing it. But if you asked me, I believe it can be addressed. What is needed is political will, an ingredient that has been lacking among our previous political leaders.

It is easy in Malawi to dismiss as a political puppet anybody who speak their mind to a President as I am doing. But Mr President, be assured I am not speaking for any political party, and so don’t you even think that I am writing this because I have been sent. I am only telling you what I have seen and what I have gone through. I’m just an ordinary Malawian youth, aged 24, who is simply overwhelmed with problems unemployment poses to us.

While some of the youthful jobseekers have the required academic and professional qualifications, it is unfortunate that most companies hide behind lack of work experience when refusing to employ the youth. Now if all companies want experienced hands, where will those just coming out of colleges get the experience if no one wants to employ them?

As if that was not a problem enough, there is a tendency by most companies and government institutions to cling on to people who have reached retirement age. If these people were allowed to retire, it would create room for these organisations to accommodate the youth who have the required qualifications.

Mr President, I have come up with some ideas for your consideration when addressing problems facing the youth in Malawi today.

Firstly, increase employers support to open up job opportunities and review employment legislation that works against young people when it comes to getting employment in government institutions.

You may also wish to ensure that the current education system is aligned with the needs of our economy, local market labour information and make it motivating and inspirational.

Another thing is to urge young people to value work at all entry levels. I am saying this because there are some youths who overlook some jobs.

Creation of a welfare system that supports the youth to find training and employment opportunities is also very important.

There is also need to integrate entrepreneurship education into our schools’ core curriculum. This is paramount to combat youth unemployment.

It would do you no harm to mobilise entrepreneurs and business professionals to become role models for the youth and make them active participants in entrepreneurial programmes.

It is also imperative to support young entrepreneurs who have viable ideas and skills to create innovative initiatives with soft loans and other necessities.

Mr President, investment in youth employment will support the needs of a competitive and successful economy for many years to come. It will provide knowledge transfer from the aging workforce. I need not say that young people bring creativity, flexibility, high energy and an understanding of new and emerging technologies.

Mr President, I value your judgement, but ignoring the ideas I have raised here will see Malawi rooted in underdevelopment.

It is said that an idle mind is a devil’s workshop, as such keeping the youth in unemployment will tempt them to channel their knowledge and energies into negativities that will frustrate your development agenda in the long term. You need to act now.

God bless you, Mr President, as I wait for your action on youth unemployment. God bless Malawi.

Concerned youth,

Ctanli Gomane