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Leroy Dzenga Herald Reporter
Newly-appointed Zimbabwe Youth Council (ZYC) director Cephas Nyoni has pledged to increase efforts to ensure youth involvement in different sectors of the economy.

In an interview with The Herald, Mr Nyoni — who replaced Mr Livingstone Dzikira — admitted to the need for more youth faces in mainstream leadership as they constituted a significant percentage of the Zimbabwean population.

“Thirty-six percent of the Zimbabwean population constitutes of people between 18 and 35, we were expecting that reflection to be visible in the forthcoming election, but that has not been the case,” he said.

“We acknowledge that there are processes that candidates have to go through at a political level, but we look forward to a scenario where we have a reflection of the composition of our population in all leadership structures including politics.”

Mr Nyoni proposed the inclusion of youths in the leadership of critical areas as a way of preparing them for the future.

“More needs to be done, this may not necessarily be in politics only but even in economic spaces,” he said.

“We need to create leadership opportunities for youths so that they are well groomed for the future.

“There will come a time where the older generation will pass the button to the younger generation so that there is continuity in our processes as already articulated by President Mnangagwa recently.”

Mr Nyoni, who joined the ZYC from the Ministry of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation, is a seasoned civil servant.

He served in the Ministry of Home Affairs for many years before he was moved to the Ministry of Youth, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment as deputy director in the Department of Youth Development, a position he held until his appointment as ZYC director in May this year.