The Importance of Youth in Politics #4 – Check out our latest video!
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Proscovia Oromait, who turned 20 a couple of weeks ago, is Africa’s youngest and is suspected to be the world’s youngest legislator. Just months earlier she had been still at school in Uganda studying for her A-levels, but now she has much larger fish to fry. Her original plan was to finish her education first, but she was thrust into the spotlight in July last year by the sudden death of her father, the MP Michael Oromait. Ms Oromait threw herself into campaigning, and in September she won the by-election for his seat in Usuk County, with the backing of President Yoweri Museveni’s National Resistance Movement (NRM) party. She stated earlier this month that she is “so proud of what [she] is”.
However, behind what may seem like an innovative move in politics, feelings are mixed. Ms Oromait’s age has caused a stir in a country where President Museveni, 68, has five septuagenarians in his Cabinet and the average age of ministers is 62. Already the critics are lining up decry her lack of experience, no matter that she more accurately represents a nation where 78 per cent of the population is under 30. Many would argue that a politician should be relatively old as they are likely to have greater knowledge, expertise and experience thus being a positive force on politics. But, the debate lies in whether a young politician, like Oromait, could do the job just as well as an older politician or are they doomed for failure?!
We hand the debate to you…
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Unfortunately, the youth of today have been given such a bad name when it is only a minority of people who are creating social disruption. Most youthful people are motivated and long to do well in everything they do, which means they could be a very important aspect in politics.
Firstly, young people have different perspectives and a host of different ideas. By allowing them to voice their opinion we could be opening and moving the political world forward. This is not only good for society, but necessary for society. If the young did not engage with politics, even if it is through pressure groups, there would be many issues with our political establishments in trying to keep policy fair and sustainable for future generations. For example, equal rights for women required many young women to engage with the issue at hand. Why? Because they had strong feelings for the issue at hand, and that is something that countries should work to increase – interest and opinion on political matters.
How do we do this? Other than the obvious, reading the paper and consulting with your MP, there are a plenty of exciting opportunities for the young to get involved. Partaking in social organisations, such as Youth Parliament, is a prime opportunity for a young person to get involved. In the UK, for example, youth parliament is open to 11-18 year olds who wish to use their voice in creative ways in order to bring about social change. This is both exciting and informative, as well as being open to everyone. Getting involved in these sorts of schemes are necessary if you wish to engage further with politics and get a deeper understanding.
However, many people may take this as too heavy and wish for a lighter relief of politics. Hence, the coining of the term e-democracy. Just by reading this post right now you are engaging and informing yourself with politics – e-democracy. And, double congratulations if you are young because you are doing what we want you to, and engaging with the most confusing yet important subject in the world
We strongly believe that not enough is done for the young of today to get involved with politics and, as a large portion of our society, they should be allowed more access to politics to shape the world they live in.
Thanks for reading and please do tell me how YOU get involved with politics!
Digestible Politics
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Digestible Politics 