Residents of Unit O in Chitungwiza have been urged to register as voters in the upcoming 2018 general elections if they want to promote and protect their enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms.
This was said by Wellington Zindove, the Coordinator of Youth Forum when he facilitated at a human rights outreach meeting organized by Zimbabwe Democracy Institute (ZDI) and Chitungwiza Residents Trust (CHITREST) on Wednesday 08 February.
The residents were urged not to be cry-babies but to actively participate in addressing the socio-eco-political challenges confronting them today.
“You need to ask yourselves this question. What have we done for ourselves as a community,” asked Zindove.
He urged residents to carefully consider the candidates at stake and interrogate them about their plans if elected into office and shun patronage politics of being bought by beer and ‘bogus’ donations.
“Our politics is content free and not based on issues,” said Zindove.
He also urged the young people to offer themselves as candidates as the major demographic group so as to address their socio-eco-political challenges.
“You are stockholders in the democratic governance of your communities and in addressing the prevailing socio-eco-political challenges therefore you must address your issues yourselves by occupying positions of leadership and authority than to be cry-babies,” continued Zindove.
He told the participants of the not-too-young-to-be-voted-for which is being spearheaded by the United Nations which seeks to urge young people to occupy positions of leadership and authorities in their countries.
Residents complained of poor sanitation facilities like public toilets which are non-functioning at Unit O shopping centre which is commonly known as “KwaTaita”.
“The public toilets at the shops has been non-functioning since 2011 thereby posing a serious health hazard to the community,” said a man who is around 60 years old.
“Go there for yourselves, you seen human waste all over the toilet and the municipality has not been doing anything,” continued the man.
The allocation of commercial stands like churches and beer night clubs was raised as an issue of concern as residents no longer sleep because of noise emanating from these places which were constructed in the middle of residential houses.
Zimbabwe Democracy Institute Director, Mr Pedzisai Ruhanya urged residents to work together with residents and community based organizations like Chitungwiza Residents Trust (CHITREST), Chitungwiza Residents and Ratepayers Association (CHRRA) and Chitungwiza Community Development Network (CCDN) among others in addressing their challenges at the local level before moving to address them at the national level.
He urged residents to utilize citizen journalism skills in documenting and sharing their challenges with their peers and the global digital village.
“You must actively utilize citizen journalism which relies on modern digital technological tools and that are breaking boundaries in promoting the right to information, freedom of expression and communication by individuals,” said Ruhanya.
