Factors that hinder participation of the youth in National leadership of political parties in Zambia

Zambia is a multi-party democracy with many political parties in existence with a population that
is predominantly young, but the youth are generally hindered from holding leadership positions
at national level of these political parties. Opportunities for the youth to take up national
leadership positions in the political parties are very few or non-existent.
This dissertation focuses on establishing and analyzing the factors that hinder participation of the
youth in national leadership of political parties in Zambia. This subject area is worth
investigating because since the attainment of political independence, the notion has been that the
youth are the future leaders of Zambia but they keep being sidelined in the political arena. The
specific objectives were; to establish the extent of participation of the youth in the leadership of
political parties; to establish how leadership and candidate selection impact participation of the
youth in leadership of political parties and to identify the constraints that hinder the youth from
being national leaders of political parties.
The research is both qualitative and quantitative in approach and used descriptive research
design. Data collection was done using questionnaires and semi-structured interviews.
Furthermore, data was analyzed by the use of thematic analysis.
The findings were that among other hindrances, there is lack of mentorship of the youth to take
up leadership positions. Secondly, lack of capacity in decision making and expertise due to lack
of knowledge and low education levels compounding the lack of confidence to aspire for
leadership among the youth. Thirdly, there is lack of financial resources to mount campaigns for
leadership positions. The other major challenge is that many older politicians and society assume
that the younger the person is, the less prepared he or she is to deal with the mechanics of policy
formulation and governance issues.
Further research can be conducted on whether participation of the youth in leadership of political
parties can lead to the institutionalization of political parties or consolidation of democratic
tenets within political parties.
Keywords
Youth participation, national leadership, political party, Zambia