{"id":71311,"date":"2025-06-25T12:07:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-25T12:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/no-more-tokenism-finance-minister-says-youth-must-now-lead-malawi"},"modified":"2025-06-25T12:07:00","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T12:07:00","slug":"no-more-tokenism-finance-minister-says-youth-must-now-lead-malawi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/no-more-tokenism-finance-minister-says-youth-must-now-lead-malawi","title":{"rendered":"\u201cNo More Tokenism\u201d \u2014 Finance Minister Says Youth Must Now Lead Malawi"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Malawi. <\/strong><\/span>Minister of Finance Simplex Chithyola Banda has declared that the era of symbolic youth inclusion is over \u2014 and the time for youth-led governance is now.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking boldly at a Youth Summit underway in Lilongwe, Chithyola Banda said the executive branch is not just talking about youth empowerment \u2014 it is living it. He pointed to the presence of several young leaders in key cabinet positions as proof that government is walking the talk.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Minister of Finance is young. The Minister of Sports is young. The Minister of Agriculture is young. The Minister and Deputy Minister of Transport are both young. This is not a coincidence \u2014 it is deliberate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Chithyola Banda stressed that young people are no longer spectators in Malawi\u2019s development story: \u201cWe are showing that youth leadership is at the core of this government. This is not about empty promises \u2014 it\u2019s about real participation and real power.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He acknowledged, however, that more needs to be done: \u201cWe know the current initiatives aren\u2019t enough. That\u2019s why we\u2019re here \u2014 to listen to you, to grow with you, and to act on what you say.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But youth voices at the summit say the struggle is far from over.<\/p>\n<p>Youth Decide Campaign Coordinator Mwandida Theu delivered a powerful and emotional message, criticizing the failure of Malawi\u2019s democracy to deliver for young people. She said that despite making up 60 percent of the population and the majority of registered voters, youth remain locked out of political power, economic spaces, and high-level decision-making.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis summit is not about begging for inclusion. It is not about being tolerated,\u201d she said. \u201cWe are here to assert our rightful place. Because a democracy without young people is incomplete. And development without youth voices is unsustainable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The summit is being held under the bold theme:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cReimagining the Power of Young People in Shaping Malawi\u2019s Economy, Democratic Governance, and State Accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The message from Lilongwe is clear: Malawi\u2019s youth are no longer knocking on the door \u2014 they are stepping in to lead.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <a href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\">Malawi<\/a> Follow <a href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/\">Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Malawi. Minister of Finance Simplex Chithyola Banda has declared that the era of symbolic youth inclusion is over \u2014 and the time for youth-led governance is now. Speaking boldly at a Youth Summit underway in Lilongwe, Chithyola Banda said the executive branch is not just talking about youth empowerment \u2014 it is living [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":71310,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,8,12,410],"tags":[233,371,234],"class_list":["post-71311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-homepage-english","category-policy","category-to-homepage","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-malawi","tag-malawi"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>\u201cNo More Tokenism\u201d \u2014 Finance Minister Says Youth Must Now Lead Malawi - Malawi<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/no-more-tokenism-finance-minister-says-youth-must-now-lead-malawi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u201cNo More Tokenism\u201d \u2014 Finance Minister Says Youth Must Now Lead Malawi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Africa-Press &#8211; Malawi. Minister of Finance Simplex Chithyola Banda has declared that the era of symbolic youth inclusion is over \u2014 and the time for youth-led governance is now. 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