Participation of Youth in Governance and Democratisation Processes in Mutasa District, Zimbabwe. Rethinking Youth Political Leadership

Abstract

The youth have been overrepresented as a nuisance, outgoing, violent, pleasure seekers, energetic and agents of change. Many narratives of the youth have painted them as a category that has no direction and in some literature they are depicted as harbingers of social disruption and anarchy. Where the youth feature, they are analyzed in relation to HIV/AIDS and political violence and all forms of negativity. The literature is rather silent on youth in leadership and yet youth participation is the buzzword in contemporary governance discourse. Globally initiatives are taken to empower the youth but no qualitative change has been realized to date in many African nations. Furthermore, the proliferation of participatory approaches to democracy and governance have forced many nation states to harmonize the African Youth Charter and synchronize the human rights instruments onto their constitutions and carried out grasshopper reforms which are intended to foster youth participation. Participation of youth in governance and democratization processes in Zimbabwe since colonial era has gone through serious transitions and challenges that had direct implications on youth political leadership. The study explores the extent to which the youth are democratically and meaningfully engaged in governance and democratization processes in Zimbabwe using the Human Rights Approach and the political power theory of Bachrach and Baratz. The phenomenological research design was adopted to investigate deeper into the lived experiences of the youth in relation to governance and democratization processes in Mutasa District. The findings revealed that the youth have limited participation in governance and democratization processes hence affecting their uptake of political leadership. The current form of participation is just but veil. Thus, this study recommended the rethinking of structures, processes and mechanics of engagement by rejecting orthodox means of participation that support the elite and negate a significant constituency to the detriment of youth development.