Chipungu urges youth in Western Province to reject violence

Sport, Youth and Child Development Minister Kenneth Chipungu has called on all youths to reject violence and only use dialogue and mutual understanding to resolve differences as the country heads towards the 2011 tripartite elections.

Mr. Chipungu advised the youths to reject politicians who are proponents of violence at all cost as they are capable of wrecking chaos and disharmony in the country.

ZANIS reports that the Minister said this in a speech read for him by his deputy Brian Sikazwe during the Western Province Youth indaba held under the theme ‘Let the Youth be Heard, Dialogue and Mutual Understanding.

He said the country needs to guard jealously the peace it has enjoyed since its independence in 1964.

Mr. Chipungu stated that the Western Province Indaba underscores the need to create room for cooperation and to strengthen mutual understanding and respect among all stakeholders in order to promote peace and tranquility in the country.

The Minister stated that dialogue and mutual understanding is important as it diffuses tension and prevents unpleasant situations from escalating besides promoting reconciliation in the aftermath of conflict.

“Dialogue and Mutual understanding is surely a force for conflict prevention, management and resolution which can contribute to peace building. It can move us to towards peaceful co-existence, which is the fundamental human principle”, he said.

Mr. Chipungu said it was imperative therefore that the nation continued to promote cultural, political and religious diversity as this was a basic human right enshrined in many legally binding instruments.

And Mr. Chipungu assured the country that government will continue to promote foreign direct investment in order to develop the nation and to create employment for the youth.

He said government has performed extremely well in the past two years through hard work and a lot of sacrifice.

The Minister also said government will not relent in its efforts to reduce poverty levels among its citizenry especially the youth despite having made tremendous strides in this respect.

He urged the youths to play their role and help government implement the development agenda for the country.

Speaking at the same occasion, Western Province Minister Richard Mwapela said the importance of youth indabas cannot be overemphasized as they help strengthen youth participation in national development through a constructive process of guided dialogue.

Mr. Mwapela said the indabas provide Zambian youths an opportunity to express their views on issues that affect them and propose workable solutions for possible implementation by government and other relevant stakeholders.

He said the Western Province Indaba attests to government’s commitment to make youth development and empowerment a part of the country’s development agenda by prioritizing youth programmes in an effort to mitigate the challenges young people face.

And Western Province Youth Dialogue Forum Coordinator Muhari Muhari appealed to government to quickly look into the lack of tertiary education facilities in Western Province.

Mr. Muhari said there are only two tertiary education facilities in the entire Western Province for Youths to acquire skills needed for them to secure employment.

The Western Province Youth Indaba drew participation of over 270 youths from six of the seven districts of the province that included Kaoma, Lukulu, Shangombo, Mongu, Senanga and Kalabo.

ZANIS