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By BARNABAS ZULU
THE United Party for National Development (UPND) has failed youths and must step aside to allow new leadership that would prioritise young people and empower them so they should contribute to the country’s economic emancipation, Willah Mudolo has said.
Mr Mudolo, the presidential aspirant for the August general elections says the challenges facing the youth were not a reflection of their ability or ambition but of government failure.
“Zambia’s youth are not failing. The UPND government is,” Mr Mudolo said. “No young nation can advance under the weight of outdated thinking and broken systems.
Our task is clear: to reform institutions, modernise governance, and lead with clarity of purpose so that national progress becomes inevitable, not aspirational.”
Mr Mudolo, the South Africa-based Zambian business mogul and philanthropist said many young Zambians were educated and skilled but remained excluded from economic opportunities.
“Many young people are educated but unemployed, skilled but locked out from access to needed funding, ready to work but denied opportunity. This government has had time. It has had power. And it has achieved nothing for the youth. It has failed them,” Mr Mudolo said.
Mudolo’s presidential campaign raves
Mr Mudolo said the August 13 general elections would mark a decisive change in leadership and direction, promising that he would introduce a modern and coordinated national youth policy that would place young people at the centre of the economy.
“Under my leadership, Zambia will have a modern, coordinated national youth policy that moves young people from the margins to the centre of the economy – linking education to jobs, skills to industry, innovation to funding, and talent to real opportunity,” Mr Mudolo said.
He stressed that young people would be active participants in governance rather than passive observers.
“Youth, you are not spectators. You are decision-makers,” he said. “You will have access to training, capital, markets, and the tables where decisions are made. And with that access comes real responsibility in building this nation.”
Mr Mudolo also criticised what he described as the tokenisation of young people during election campaigns.
“Young people are not a box to tick during campaigns. You are the workforce. You are the innovators. You are God’s blessing and Zambia’s future,” he said.
