By ESTHER NG’ANDU –
THE Anti-Voter Apathy Project (AVAP) says it is impressed with the move by Patriotic Front (PF) and United Party for National Development (UPND) youths on the Copperbelt to work together to fight violence and sensitise their peers against being used as tools of violence.
During the week, PF Copperbelt youth chairperson Nathan Chanda and his UPND counterpart Kelly Jibinga pledged in a joint statement in Kitwe to work together in sensitising their members to curb political violence.
AVAP president Poster Jumbe said the decision by the two major political parties was a step in the right direction.
“I am happy that our youths can come up with such an impressive move. This shows that they are really serious in developing the country and want to desist from engaging in political violence which is a good spirit,” Mr Jumbe said.
He said in an interview yesterday that he was overwhelmed that the decision came from the youth themselves.
Mr Jumbe was certain that with such a move by both parties, there would be peaceful elections in August.
He said it was good to note that the Copperbelt UPND and PF were the ones that understood this year’s Youth Day theme, which was ‘Youth champions of dialogue, peace, unity and economic emancipation’, and that they had shown how committed they were to creating peace and unity in the nation.
“Young people get advice from elders and, therefore, through this move they have shown elders that they should not engage in violence again because this is a serious move they have made and they are not joking,” he said.