Africa is a continent that belongs to the young, with two thirds of its population being below the age of 35 years.
BY PATIENCE MUTAKAYA
With natural resources and a majority of like-minded vibrant young population African has developed slowly because of poor governance that has failed to incorporate the younger generation into development strategies and have turned this generation into weapons of distractions and violence vehicles.
This has made Africa an educational hub and a training ground for the young generations to seek employment in the west and developed foreign grounds.
Zimbabwe has a population of over 14 million, with a youth population of 66.7 percent.
The Zimbabwe’s constitution of 2013, chapter 2 section 20 (1) defines a youth as a person between the age of fifteen to thirty-five. showing that more than half of the population in Zimbabwe are youth. Currently unemployment rate in Zimbabwe is at 80 percent and the majority of the unemployed fall in the youth category.
Zimbabwe has witnessed a sharp rise in drug abuse and alcohol consumption among the youth caused by unemployment to curb stress of dreams of a better life that have turned to be unrealistic as evidenced by the moribund economy of Zimbabwe. The economy has been characterised by rapid high inflation, retrenching of workers with no hope of re-employing them later.
All hopes of making something in life is shattered, exposing the young generation to all kinds of abuses and criminal activities to sustain a living.
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Drugs such as bronc-leer, histalix, Cocaine, marijuana, mbanje, solider and zed have flourished in all parts of Zimbabwe affecting both the mind and the body.
50% of admissions at mental institutions in Zimbabwe are attributed to substance induced disorders of these admissions, over 80% fall in the age group 16-40. Statistics from the ministry of higher and tertiary education shows that approximately over 35 000 students graduate annually form recognised institutions continuously adding to the unemployment discourse of the country.
A generation that is roaming around the streets like headless chickens, living each day as it comes with no future. The future of tomorrow is being destroyed today.
