Enthusiasm in Tuesday’s District Assembly Elections appears to have seen some significant improvement
compared to previous elections. The Youth Bridge Foundation commends the effort of the Electoral
Commission and candidates who heeded to the call to join the local governance system.
The Youth Bridge Foundation would like to encourage voters to give young candidates a chance to take part in
decision making at the local level either as Assembly Members or Unit Committee Members. We strongly
believe the Local Government Elections offers an excellent preparatory grounds for youth representation in
Governance given the countless barriers, primarily the high cost of politics, that hinder them from participating
in parliamentary elections.
While we are not advocating for young people to be voted for en masse, it is also true that a significant number
of young people standing this year have shown that when given the opportunity, they can lead.
The Youth Bridge Foundation believes that representation at the local level must be strengthened to achieve
youth parity and inclusiveness and that can happen when fertile young minds are activated.
To this end, as an organization that believes in the right to vote as enshrined in Article 42 of the Constitution;
Youth Bridge Foundation staff interested in voting in the district-level elections will report to work
after they have voted on the 19th of December.
Commit ourselves to train young aspirants in public speaking, and fundraising, provide town hall
meeting platforms to outline their vision, and teach other campaign techniques.
Youth Bridge Foundation therefore makes the following calls;
- Voters to look out for young voters and give them the opportunity
- Appeal to employers throughout the country to give flexible reporting time to work for all staff on
election day. - Unit Committee candidates should refrain from promising capital projects like aspiring members of
parliament since their core role is to collate views and complaints from community members and
present them to the Assembly for redress. - Aspirants should desist from aligning themselves with any political party
- EC to push toward finding a specific date for district-level elections