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Young people should stop being lazy - Mwape

Young people should stop being lazy - Mwape
By Fridah Nkonde
Thu 14 Mar. 2013, 17:20 CAT

YOUNG people in Zambia should stop being lazy and begin to take keen interest in the country's development programmes, says Restless Development programme coordinator Benjamin Mwape.

Commenting on Zambia Army director of chaplaincy Colonel Vincent Mwenya's observation during Youth Day celebrations in Lusaka on Tuesday that laziness had become endemic among the youth, Mwape said young people needed to wake up to the fact that they are leaders and not beneficiaries of development programmes.

"All the young people in Zambia should stand up and become innovative so as to productively contribute to the development of the country. My emphasis is that young people should stop looking at themselves as beneficiaries of government programmes targeted at them. They should become more engaged and participate in the issues of development in the country," he said.

Mwape said there was need for the youth to wake up to the new challenge and become innovative by initiating their own developmental programmes.

He said it was unfortunate that most young people were not active in their communities, adding that they always waited for their area members of parliament to promise them development.

"Most youth in Zambia just wait for the MP to visit the area and promise them things. I don't even know why they do not initiate their own developmental
programmes because most of the time, they don't even have an opportunity to see their MP. The youth in Zambia should realise that they have the right to engage with their leaders," Mwape said.

He said Restless Development believed that young people were the solution to development.

Mwape said the youth needed guidance and support for them to fully participate in the development of the nation.

He said Zambia had a great opportunity to invest in young people and make them become the main contributors of development because they were the majority.
Mwape said the government needed to utilise young people so as to realise more productivity through them.

In his sermon shortly before laying of wreaths during Youth Day celebrations, Col Mwenya implored the youth to maximise available opportunities to better their lives.

"The key therefore is that every opportunity that comes your way, maximise it to the full; do not allow laziness which is now endemic in the youth in Zambia," said Col Mwenya.

Labels: BENJAMIN MWAPE, WORK ETHIC, YOUTHS

posted by MrK @ 10:17 AM