By Elias Mhegera and Pamela Mtena
IT is now becoming fashionable that in almost all big cities in this country there are groups of youths who remain idle for the whole day.
Events in Tunisia and Egypt, the countries which are not yet at rest due to social unrest indicates that without tangible solution to resolve unemployment then you should be prepared for turmoil and youth unrest.
Happiness Moshiro from Kilimanjaro who have worked from hotels to supermarkets appreciated the fact that she is earning an income which can allow her to manage her minor demands but it is difficult to save in her bank accounts as her budget is always in deficit.
She was surprised that some of the supermarkets that she has worked are owned by prominent businessmen including South Africans, but the investors just pay as low as $7 per hour which was good enough but she has learnt there is a pressure from some circles that this amount should be reduced.
A statement from the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Labour and Employment through one Sauli Kinemela, says the government has never discouraged any employer from paying high salaries, in fact it has just set the minimum scales while encouraging good payments in the effort to eradicate poverty in this country.
Quick surveys by The Express this week revealed at times one could wonder if it is proper to call this a poor country. This is due to the fact that idleness could lead to mental malnutrition.
From Mwenge, Morrocco, Karume, Dar es Salaam city centre and Askari Monument one just finds groups of youths who are completely idle and it is difficult to know exactly their sources of income.
Thanks God to the advertising companies and various private business companies that engage the youths in part tome jobs. For those who tried their lucky at the Ubungo bus terminal it is unfortunate that the city authorities have been evacuating them from every now and then.
Through advertisements there are groups of youths who move around the city streets in big lorries with full blast music, while others stands a whole day holding banners of different companies advertising their products and tariffs.
These poor banished children of Eve are supposed to hold those banners from 7am in the morning until 6pm in the evening at a payment of 5,000/= only! The sun is theirs, the wind is theirs, the rain is theirs and the heavy fumes from different vehicles that pass along the high way.
However this is a point of departure if one was to compare them with who earn nothing at all due to unemployment. Groups of youths are here and there to try their luck which is a difficult task indeed.
Although this has happened; but still many people are queuing for jobs at such offices and markets. It seems there is a hidden agenda may be the government is aware that good payment will fuel even more rural-urban migration.
This then indicates that the government needs either to shift or balance development and business opportunities from the big cities to rural areas and the peri-urban. This probably will reduce the migration which has devastated production in the rural areas but also has created more population pressure in the cities and town centres.
Thomas Noni from Tabora says he has moved to Dar es Salaam after realizing that the circulation of money is good to an extent that whoever is committed in entrepreneurship is likely to earn from their efforts.
He says that it is not proper for the government to neglect the rural sector which is lacking all the attractions which have been bringing the youths to the major cities of this country.
It is under such circumstances that the desperate youths have been taking risks by trafficking illicit drugs, while others have suggested that their only way is to stow away.
During one of my visits in Mbeya last year I found that although a good number of the youths were engaged in commercial activities but they were not satisfied at how the government was taking their case.
No wonder the General Election last year saw almost all major towns and cities of this country electing legislators and councillors from the opposition on the pretext that the government has betrayed them.
It is at this juncture that one would suggest for the gradual transformation of the youths lifestyles, by supporting them with working amenities for those who have ventured for self employment.
It is imperative here to say that sometimes it is a sin to lament that this country is poor while God has endowed it with many precious natural resources which could employ a good number of the youths. Due to hardships the urban youths at times become hostile to those with financial means.
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