Itayi Tawona Muchemwa

Any political movement keen on maintaining voter influence must master the art of countering disinformation and fake news. As one wise man once said “a lie travels around the globe while the truth is still putting on its shoes. To achieve superiority, three fundamental functions must be established in a political campaign . First, there must be a structured information management system. Second, a willingness to stare at the truth, evidence and numbe rs without flinching. And third, leaders must embrace proposals for improvement and provide resources. However, in a political culture where the end justifies the means and key campaign functions are allocated to goons and ethnic chiefs, the space for a fully-fledged, professionally-run campaign is limited. What tends to happen is that after elections, political parties cease to exist. Then, two years to the next elections, they re-emerge, delegate meetings are sponsored and candidates declared as the party flag bearers.

Young people need to be given a chance to express themselves in ways that they are passionate about. Policies effecting youth can be framed by young people themselves rather than old politicians, who most probably cannot feel the contemporary problems young people are facing. Youth should be given the opportunity to prove themselves by making politics accessible to the them. The right balance of young talent and experienced politicians can lead to the cleaning of politics and can restore the public faith in the political system.   The role of the youth of Zimbabwe   is to educate itself and engage in activities and debates that will shape their future. This role though, is one that can only be taken up with sufficient motivation and support from individuals who see the youth beyond the labels that have been placed on them such as “lazy”, “ignorant”, “irresponsible” and plenty other terms. We want our youths to be economically and psychologically emancipated so that they can live to