THE YOUTH WE NEED FOR THE AFRICA WE WANT: BeRelevant Africa

In commemoration of Kenneth Kaunda Day, which falls on 28th April, BeRelevant Africa hosted their very first Kenneth Kaunda Youth Congress under the theme "The Youth We Need for the Africa We Want." The Kenneth Kaunda Youth Congress seeks to harness the resilience of the African youth by awakening their service to humanity, rekindling their patriotism, empowering them for civic responsibility and positioning them for global relevance, as citizens that are ready and knowledgeable to defend the supremacy of the African continent.

Due to the impact of western civilization on the African youth, many young people do not have the same level of patriotism for their continent as did our forefathers, such as Kenneth Kaunda. Young people have become less concerned with engaging in national affairs and participating in matters of public interest, values that are key if we have to build a generation of young leaders that take the development of Africa as an embedded personal agenda.

During the congress, it was established by Daniel Kabani the CEO of DNK Consultancy that before we think about Africa we want we should first ask ourselves what is the Africa we have? "We should first understand where we are as Africans in order to have a clear picture of Africa we want. Africa has a lot of work to do with regard to its politics, health, economics, religion, industrial revolution and debt management." Daniel Kabani stated.

It was also established during the congress by Dr Christine Mushibwe the Vice-Chancellor of UNICAF that there is a need to advance the change in mindset, vision and strategy; if we really want to advance our cause as a continent. "In order for the African youth to be at the centre of championing the hope and destiny of the African continent, they have to be deliberate about driving change, be focused on being the change they envision and be advocates that do not advocate in a vacuum but have the right solutions to the challenges they see" Dr Musibwe established during her keynote address.

In the first plenary session of the congress, the young leaders laboured to address some of the key issues that are leading to a decay in patriotism in our generation. The focus of this session was to see how best we build a generation of patriotic young leaders. Speaking during the session was Gift Ostallos, who in his remarks established that, "young people should have the ability to question because the liberation of Africa depends on young people. They need to be able to be economically and technologically competitive at a global level. Lastly, Africa must do away with dictatorship it must produce and reproduce leaders," Gift Ostallos the deputy national spokesperson of the Citizen Coalition for Change political party of Zimbabwe stated. Cementing on what Mr. Ostallos established, Steve Kabani, a developmental expert stated, "Our time is now as young people, we may not face the hurdles that our leaders such as Kenneth Kaunda faced, but we have an opportunity to advance our cause if only we are committed to our mission and to our cause, identifying a challenge and committing ourselves to solve such a challenge should be our greatest drive as young people."

 Sheila Apiny, a renowned youth activist from Uganda during her submission established that "we have to continue to address issues of unemployment, sexual abuse, illiteracy, child labour violence and against women. We need to create an enabling environment in which young people are able to actively take part in the development agenda."

Young people should realize that in order to move forward we must have a cause and the cause should be bigger than us. Cementing this affirmation was Walter Kasempa, the founder of Youth Unite Zambia, who stated that "as young people, we must have an ideological framework that will ensure that we're united even in the midst of adversity."

The second plenary session of the congress focused on How Young People Can Champion impact that is sustainable and transcends Generations. During this session, the speakers challenged African young people to take charge of their lives, and be deliberate in their cause. Young people should not be in every space that is accorded to them, young people should define which line of advocacy they shall drive, and not only for the sake of engaging, but meaningfully engaging.

To drive the discussion home, Apostle Frederick Kaluluma in his remarks established that "young people should be bold and courageous enough to chase after their dreams and stand for what they believe, they should not allow the system to define their focus and place in society." Cementing on the discussion at hand, Ruth Kangwa Ndlovu stated that, "we need to engage in intergenerational dialogues because we cannot be recipients of decisions in which our input is absent. Secondly, there is a need for a political framework that gives young people a platform to deliberate issues because they are the ones that incur the consequences of the decision-makers."

To add up to what Ruth brought to the table Daniel Sichilongo reminded the congress that "a youthless revolution is a useless revolution," indicating that if young people are not at the centre of driving meaningful change, such change is shortlived. In closing the plenary session, Wilkister Aduma reminded the youth in the congress of the need to see themselves as leaders of today, tomorrow and the future that lies ahead of them. "In our quest to champion the Africa we want, young Africans should avail themselves and be counted, they should not wait for the system to accommodate them, because chances of not being accommodated are high, hence the need to organize and define our mission in shaping the future of the African continent" Wilkister inspirational stated.

The youth that attended the congress established that the next congress should be physical, and as BeRelevant Africa, we shall mobilize resources to ensure that the Kenneth Kaunda Youth Congress is an annual event that attracts young minds from across the African region to engage and deliberate on the need to shape the Africa we want.

You can follow the link below to follow the proceedings of the Congress.