Declare unemployment national disaster – OYV

Operation Young Vote has called on President Edgar Lungu to declare unemployment in the country a national disaster in view of the revelations at NAPSA were over 2,500 people applied for 20 jobs.

OYV Executive Director Guess Nyirenda in a statement says the fact that more than 2,500 young people applied and are jostling for the 20 jobs advertised by the National Pensions Scheme Authority (NAPSA) is not only painful to the Zambians that yearn for a better Zambia, but also shameful to those in government who continue to deceive citizens that they are creating thousands of jobs.

Mr Nyirenda says it is also a fact that the trend noted at NAPSA is what is obtaining everywhere were job openings are advertised, sometimes even worse.

He says while his organisation appreciates that government cannot create jobs for all, they expect those in leadership and government to be innovative enough to create an environment that is enabling for the private sector including the small and medium enterprise to flourish and create jobs for citizens.

Mr Nyirenda adds that those that are not or cannot add value to the innovation of growing the economy and create employment deserve no place in government, as one of the major mandates of government is to look after citizens, reduce poverty and have the citizens live dignified lives.

He states that one of the clearest and surest ways of doing so is to create employment for the citizens.

Mr Nyirenda says OYV is of the considered opinion that government institutions and agencies such as the Ministry of Youth including other ministries, the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA), Citizens Empowerment Commission (CEEC), among others, with the facilitation of the Head of State, come up with both immediate and long term measures to abate the unemployment scourge.