The Sunday News
I write this article gazing at the mountains that divide our Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
Mutare is a resort and harmonious town with cheerful Manyika people whose dialect fascinates me because it exclusively depicts my geo-locative distinction.
Mind you, I am not here for the obvious reasons that people come to Mutare for — Amabhele! NO! I am actually listening to a Polytechnic student delivering a sterling speech on why parents should be criminally liable if their child impregnates or is pregnant before the age of 18.
This is the inaugural intercollegiate debate tournament that has attracted more than 250 of the smartest college students to verbally contest on ideas. It’s a festival of ideas.
However, my interests are not on the current motion, or the cool weather or the mountains — I am thinking about where Chiadzwa is. I have just been told that it’s a four- hour drive from where we are and I am despaired, I really wanted to see for myself if we truly mine such precious minerals in our country and how I may benefit as such as a young person, a voter ka! I want to be a bit strict and serious this week. I want to speak about voter apathy. The party still lacks “that thing” and I shall continue bickering about it — we need it.
When it comes to political affairs, everyone seems to have an opinion. No matter the religion, cultural background, level of education, or age, most individuals have their own unique take on the relationship between people and politics. Within most areas of the western world, politics has been viewed as the realm in which we attempt to make real some of our highest aspirations: our desire for political freedom, our longing for justice, our hope for peace and security.
However, when it comes down to the youths of the nation, there simply is a shortage of them occupied in the political realm.
Undoubtedly, young people’s relationship with contemporary politics is complex in nature; however, the percentage of those involved is quite minor to those of their parents’ age-range. Ill-advisedly, the majority of Zimbabwean youths do not participate in formal politics due to pre-conceived attitudes concerning the difference their vote will make. Not only that, but some may choose not to become engaged due to feelings of indifference or unintended ignorance regarding the subject matter. Lastly, specific key life factors are able to sway one’s choice of choosing to exercise one’s political right to cast their ballot. And this is my thrust this week.
As mentioned above, young adults’ relationship with contemporary politics is not a simple one. Just as any other social trend, there are multiple factors as to why youths not only have low turnout rates at the polls, but little participation in formal politics as well. With that said, there is still one primary cause as to why it occurs; believe it or not, many believe their vote to be insignificant of making a difference. They often share the mentality that no matter who they vote for, their lives will remain the same. Why?
Many youths do not regard electoral politics as a potential arena for safeguarding national interests, but as a corrupt swamp where change is unlikely to occur. Furthermore, they typically feel a form of disconnection from the swirl of politics pertaining to the world around them, and believe it to be trivial for them to get involved on the grounds of “change”.
Correspondingly, this polluted outlook on formal politics has been the main cause to prevalent stereotype of disengaged and apolitical young people.
Gloomily, I predict that if ways are not found to spark the youth’s interest and involvement, implications will occur; more will simply be turning away. Trends have shown that the general rate of those who vote from ages 18-24, drop as the years go by you can check with ZEC, I’m sure they have that data now.
Consequences of a low turnout rate of a certain group (the youths) has previously caused social concerns, calling for urgent interventions to ensure the sustainability of democratic politics. Undoubtedly, this trend has displayed that an increasing amount of Zimbabwean youths have taken up the unhealthy social trend of not actively participating in politics. Believing their vote not to hold any sort of tangible significance, contributes heavily to the accumulation of young adults that hold a cynical view of the political system, and that is dangerous in our political scheme.
As mentioned above, while low political contribution may stem from one’s mentality, it is also originating from feelings of intimidation, or lack of education of the political system. One simple reason as to why this may be, is the fact that conventional politicians do not attempt to win the votes of young people, simply because there are less of them relative to other population groups. There have been various periods in both Africa and Zimbabwean history where education has taken the back seat to other issues. When this occurs, education no longer remains a priority, and the youth suffers. Most commonly, candidates of political election announce they desire the support of young adults; yet, for the most part, political campaigns are more interested in persuading the people who are already voters than in encouraging the youth to cast their first ballot.
This is what produces ground for misguidance, disinterest, or intimidation for politics as those 18-24 are just activating their sense of political identity. In order to address this problem, the revolutionary party, policy makers, and parents must work together in order to entice them into involvement of the political realm, in hopes of broadening their political knowledge.
Many nations have taken to tactics of making politics to appear “cool” in order to seduce the youth of their nation.
Unquestionably, politics should be entrenched as a basis, for the sake of the democratic integrity of one’s nation. Feelings of intimidation, or ignorance should not be a reason as to why an increasing amount of Zimbabwean youths have yet to caste their first vote.
In conjunction with education, socio-economic status is the third prime factor in low voter turnout among youths. A survey I conducted indicated that young people who come from families with higher levels of socioeconomic status tend to talk about politics more regularly, vote more frequently, and become more generally engaged, they are more progressive.
Young people from less privileged backgrounds participate less, and therefore are generally less engaged and I stand to be engaged on that finding. It is these types of personal characteristics that function to alter one’s chance of turning up; not to mention changes in mobility, and family life. These personal features of one’s life, has the potential to influence who gets involved, and who does not. Thus displaying that certain personal characteristics contribute to whether or not one is likely to vote. As a result, one can see that once certain key factors came into play, it can easily affect one’s participation (or lack thereof) among young adults, contributing overall to their low involvement rate.
While it has been established that Zimbabwean youth generally do not get as involved in the political realms as those senior to them in years, some argue that there may be exceptions to the rule. During times of crisis such as the Vietnam War, and the economic crash of 2008, fresh ideas have been seized in order to bring about change. Throughout the 1980 electoral election in the Zimbabwe, youth played a significant role in the campaign to elect the nationalist government. Through activism, electoral campaigns, and other relevant means, the youths of Zimbabwe seemed to ban together in order to make a difference in their country. Hence, while this may have been the highest response young voters have ever had, the fact still remains that only half of those eligible to vote got up to do so.
This demonstrates that even when politically stirred, youth participation did rise, but still did not reach up to those senior to them. Therefore, although some youths of Zimbabwe may seek to get actively involved in the dynamics of politics when politically motivated, a significant amount of them generally do not; even when their attention has been caught. The reason for this is, indisputably, voting is habit-formed. When young people learn the voting process; they are more likely to do so, if individuals have been motivated to get to the polls once, they are more likely to return.
Within this paradigm, many argue that young people create and reshape new forms of politics that they simply have not recognised yet. However the question remains, what percentage of young people actually use the various forms of web 2.0 in order to get their political voice across to friends and family? While politicians and policy makers are using these resources in order to reach a younger audience, the young people themselves generally do not use such means of technology in order to put forth their political opinion, it’s a new and teething culture in Zimbabwe, and it’s contributing to a progressive discourse which is healthy for national development. As a result, young people have not contributed to the political sphere through new technologies, but have instead introduced new ideas, and innovations to promote various forms of engagement. With that said, politicians are the intellects that have used the web as a source that traditional politics has never seen the likes of before.
In truth, young adults have made some promising contributions to the political world; however, compared to those senior to them, they simply have not participated as heavily or frequently. Voting is the pillar of democracy, yet far too little people vote in relation to the population. Whether it be for reason such as personal attitudes held toward politics, lack of education over the subject matter, or personal features of one life, the youth of Zimbabwe are simply not as engaged as their parents were at their age. Clearly, politics deals with messy and complicated situations, it therefore require for all of its members to participate in order for it to run smoother, through the voice of the people. Justifiably, new voters need assistance discovering their voting options, and understanding the impact of elections concerning the issues they care most about. Voting is the cornerstone of democracy, and should therefore be regarded in such esteem. Politicians, policy makers, and parents must work together to fathom just how to work the young minds of the nation, in order for them to see the importance it holds in Western society.
Micheal Mhlanga is a research and strategic communication specialist and is currently serving Leaders for Africa Network (LAN) as the Programmes and Public Liaison Officer. He also administrates multiple youth public dialogue forums in Zimbabwe including the annual Reading Pan Africanism Symposium (REPS) and Back to Pan Africanism Conference.
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