YOUTHFUL ATTORNEY GENERAL CHEERS OYV

9^th April, 2015

 MEDIA STATEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 APPOINTMENT OF YOUNG PEOPLE TO POSITIONS OF DECISION MAKING AND RESPONSIBILITY BY PRESIDENT EDGAR LUNGU

 The appointment of young people to positions of decision making and responsibility in Zambia’s governance structures is long overdue. OYV would therefore like to commend President Edgar Chagwa Lungu for the step he has taken to appoint Mr. Likando Kalaluka as Attorney General and State Counsel (SC).

We at OYV would like to express our gratitude and delight at President Edgar Lungu’s listening ear as we appealed to him consider appointing young people to positions of decision making when he appointed Madam Justice Ireen Mambilima as Chief Justice. We contended that President Lungu was a youthful leader/President and that his rein was the appropriate and best entry point for the young people that constitute above 68% of the national population into high level governance positions and that he had no excuse to fail in this endeavor.

It is very encouraging to the young people to see one of their own in the position of Attorney General, a position that is pivotal to the legal engagement of Government. Further, the young people feel motivated at this move knowing that the efforts of those that work hard and sacrifice get rewarded. OYV would like to take advantage of this moment and appeal to the young people in the country (whether in the ruling party, opposition political parties, government, private sector or indeed the civil society) to examine their conscious and begin to work extra hard.

However, good as the appointment of Mr. Likando Kalaluka may be, it remains a drop in an ocean as the proportion of the young people in relation to the national population is huge. This entails that the President should do a lot more to with regards to increasing the number of young people in decision making. President Edgar Lungu must stick to his pronouncements of appointing more young people to positions of responsibility and this must be done now as doing it later may be misconstrued as appeasement and may not go down well with the majority of the young people which will no doubt cost his continued stay in office.

Guess Nyirenda (Mr.)

Executive Director

OYV COMMENDS ECZ FOR COMMENCING VOTER REGISTRATION

27^th March, 2015

THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION OF ZAMBIA (ECZ) AND THE VOTER REGISTRATION

The inevitability of the ECZ to commence the Voter Registration exercise to register the many young people that have come off age and other Zambians that could not register as voters in the past due to different factors cannot be overemphasized. A lot of young people in Zambia have attained the voting eligibility age of 18 years and they must be given their deserved right to participate in the electoral process through at least, casting their ballot. As an organization, we are alive to the fact that there is a prerequisite document if one is to be entered on the Voters’ Roll.

With the foregoing, Operation Young Vote is of the considered position that the Department of National Registration Births and Deaths must immediately embark on the mobile issuance of the National Registration Cards (NRCs) to the thousands of young people to facilitate their smooth registration as voters. There mustn’t be any excuse to leaving out any Zambian, on the Voters’ Roll, thereby disenfranchising them and infringing on their basic right to cast their vote, hence our well-timed call for the responsible institutions to begin moving on the ground.

OYV would also like to appeal to all political parties to desist from interfering and politicizing the voter registration exercise.

The institutions charged with the responsibility to deliver this very significant right of Zambians accessing documentation to vote and subsequently exercise their right to vote and elect leadership or offer themselves for leadership at any level, must be as objective and balanced as possible as they embark on this exercise especially when dealing with the provinces and other geographic demarcations. This for us is very important as it significantly impacts on the freeness and fairness and outcome of the election at the end of the day. OYV has a conviction that the 2016 Tripartite Elections are very important to the young people as they will give the young people a life time opportunity to determine and shape the destiny.   

 

Guess Nyirenda (Mr.)

Executive Director