Muchanga retires from the presidency of Youth Parliament

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Muchanga retires from the presidency of Youth Parliament

11:03 CAT | 19 Dec 2017

Salomão Muchanga, president of the Youth Parliament (PJ), announced yesterday he would resign from the leadership of the organization to give room for other members to carry forward its “serious and effectual struggle”.

He would, however, continue to agitate for civil rights, he said, scotching rumours that he intended to found a political party.

Speaking to reporters during the annual national session of adoption of the “Youth Political Manifesto for the 2018 and 2019 Elections” and the “Position of Young People in the Political, Economic and Social Context of the Country”, Muchanga enumerated some of his achievements during his nine years at the helm of the Youth Parliament, among them the consolidation of the organization at a national level, establishment of offices in all the provincial capitals and opening of representations in all the districts of the country.

“I leave the presidency of an organization with about 300,000 members throughout the country, assets valued at more than one million dollars, with offices in all provincial capitals, representation in all districts of Mozambique and with stable alliances and partnerships,” he said.

He explained that he always felt he had a mission to establish a platform for youth, a space where young people could express themselves freely. For Muchanga, after nine years, it was time to give way to other members of the organization to carry forward its “serious and effectual struggle”.

“I have made a humble contribution, constituting an organization that is a resounding civic movement, an organizational platform of change, a common ground for Mozambican youth. I feel that, with all this representation and prestige, there are conditions for me to advance on other fronts. I would say that I am finishing my first march here,” he said, adding that he would however continue to lead the struggle for civil rights in the country as a citizen within the framework of the freedoms that the constitution provides.

Muchanga said that young people were more daring today, and had a space where they could express themselves, free of any kind of ideological control. On the relationship with the democratically-established institutions and civil society of which the Youth Parliament is a member, he admitted that he had sometimes been confronted with situations that challenged the objectives that guided the creation of the Youth Parliament.

“We have always had good relations with the government, the Assembly of the Republic and other civil society organizations. We are friends with everybody,” he said.

Francisca Noronha, spokeswoman for the session, explained that the main objective of the meeting, which ends today, was to listen at a national level to young people about their priorities, actions and demands within the country’s political, economic and social context , focusing on the electoral challenges ahead.

The political manifesto to be adopted at the session should reflect the priorities and needs of youth, she said.

“For example, young people are not being consulted on the decentralization process, which is fundamental from the point of view of decision-making. We young people want to participate in the processes, but we feel that there is monopolization of spaces. In this session, young people will talk about how they will participate in the 2018 and 2019 elections.”