By Rick Dzida
It still remains mindboggling to note that President Chakwera chose to correct falsehood in his state of nation (Sona) address by engaging with the youth in an interface held recently in Lilongwe.
Other schools of thought surmised that the conversation between the President and the youth might have been staged to distract the innocent citizens from holding President Chakwera accountable for his lies in the sona.
Following the issue closely, let me agree with my fellow bonafide Malawians that the fact that Chakwera presented a sona in parliament, he is hereby obligated to answer outstanding questions in the very same venue.
It is further argued that members of parliament are the best custodians of citizen’s representation rather than the youth who are just prematurely desperate for economic opportunities including job availability.
It has transpired that Chakwera will also be holding a series of youth interfaces in Blantyre and Mzuzu on 27th February and 4th March this year.
One question that lingers is, why is President Chakwera interested in the youth all of a sudden after a recently failed sona?
The truth of the matter is that young people make up the largest and fastest growing proportion of the general population in our country. This may sound promising if the youth are targeted in view of the impending general elections.
However, according to the 2018 Population and Housing census, 51% of the Malawi’s population is below 18 years, the minimum voting age.
In retrospection, what did President Chakwera promise the youth in 2020? What promises to the youth has Chakwera failed to accomplish by this time?
Frankly speaking, president Chakwera made many significant promises to the youth in 2020. One of his notable commitments was to provide 1 million youth and women with capital to start their own businesses.
Chakwera also promised to create 1 million jobs by June 2021, which was a key part of his campaign during the 2020 Fresh Presidential Election.
It is now clear that the promise of providing capital to 1 million youth and women has been fully realized.
Similarly, the promise of creating 1 million jobs by June 2021 has obviously fallen apart given the ongoing concerns about high unemployment rate among the youth in Malawi.
Much as President Chakwera was eloquent at answering questions from the youth, it therefore remains a waste of time, resources and effort considering his unfilled promises.
