Open letter to the President
Dear, 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 59 years of independence.
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 who 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 kachasu. And the cost of living is too high; I must say things are becoming unbearable.
Mr President, all these problems among the youth in Zambia can only end if they have access to some sort of employment.
Unemployment among the youth is a big challenge, which over the past 59 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 commitment to increase the number of the recruits in our country
Your Excellency, we love the efforts you show with your government; the 30,000 teachers recruitments, 11, 000 health workers, 5,000 defence personnel, ZAWA, the Police, ZRA, and many other employment opportunities.
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.
While some of the youthful job-seekers have the required academic and professional qualifications, it is unfortunate that most companies hide behind lack of work experience when refusing to employ us.
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?
There is also a need to integrate entrepreneurship education into our schools’ core curriculum. This is paramount to combat youth unemployment.
It would be ideal for you 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.
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.
I’m just an ordinary Zambian youth, aged 25, who is simply overwhelmed with problems which unemployment poses to us.
God bless you, Mr President and God bless Zambia.
Concerned youth
Malambo Michelo
Unemployed environmental health technologist