By Chileshe Kafeshi

The dust has settled. The elation has died down. There is no more crowd at the venue where scores of vibrant and joyous young people of Zambezi district had gathered on March 12 to commemorate youth day under the theme, ‘Arise and Soar’. The venue is quiet as though there were no throngs of imisepela (youths) on that day. Singularity is now the status quo of each youth that attended the celebration.

To some young people that attended the festivities, the call for them to ‘arise and soar’ is still reverberating in their minds. They are pondering how they will arise, those that have arisen already are ruminating on what they should do and how they will do it for them to soar. Those that are soaring already are conscripting manpower and new innovative ideas for them to sustain their achievements.

This year’s festivities were more than just a display of cultural pride and sporting prowess in Zambezi district; they marked a definitive turning point in the relationship between the youth of North-Western Province and the national development agenda.

From the energetic march-pasts to the passionate speeches delivered at the district grounds, the message was clear that the era of the youth being passive observers in Zambia’s economy is over.

With the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) increasing to an unprecedented K40 million per constituency in 2026, the stakes for the younger generation have never been higher and more rewarding than now.

A local youth advocate, Hendrix Khonga, tells his peers, whom he affectionately addresses as Vakweze, a local term for youths, that youth day messages were a mirror that reflects the immense potential of Zambezi district

Mr Khonga says messages which they heard on March 12, were a reminder of the immense potential young people hold as the future leaders of Zambia. He encourages young people to be innovative for them to solve local challenges in health, education, and other sectors of the economy.

Mr Khonga wants a shift from individual ambition to collective elevation, stating that together, young people can create an environment where they empower each other to allow every person to thrive and nurture their potential.

He further calls for a shared vision for a brighter future within the community.

Acting Zambezi District Commissioner, Anos Luvuwa, says the government expects a lot from the younger citizens, especially that it has expanded the CDF allocation K40 million per constituency this year.

Mr Luvuwa, who also serves as District Agriculture Coordinator (DACO), explains that this financial milestone is a testament to the government’s commitment to decentralisation and is specifically designed to eliminate the barriers that have historically kept rural youths in poverty.

By providing a direct link between national resources and local aspirations, the government is essentially co-signing the dreams of every enterprising young person in Zambezi.

He urges the youth to form organised groups, stressing that the power of CDF lies in the strength of cooperatives rather than individual efforts.

Mr Luvuwa advises the youth to move from the sidelines and actively apply for empowerment programmes, adding that the young people should now recognise that the doors to success have been flung wide open through deliberate government interventions.

He however sternly warns the youth against being used as instruments of political violence, encouraging them to instead embrace integrity and hard work within the enabling environment provided by the government.

Supporting the government’s stance, Youth Organising Committee Chairperson, Kizito Katulwanda, commended President Hakainde Hichilema’s administration for fostering an inclusive environment that allows for meaningful youth participation.

Mr Katulwanda, who also serves as the Youth Resource Centre Manager, has been a pivotal figure in coordinating skills training and providing mentorship to the local youth.

Under his management, the Resource Centre has become a hub for digital literacy, carpentry and tailoring, serving as the first point of contact for many young people seeking to better their lives in Zambezi.

He observes that by intentionally including young people in the national developmental agenda, the government is fostering a newfound method of instilling a sense of responsibility in the youth. This inclusion has encouraged positive contributions to the country’s economic growth.

Mr Katulwanda adds that the 2026 theme, ‘Arise and Soar,’ serves as a call to action for the youth to work diligently while maintaining high levels of discipline.

“Our mission at the Resource Centre is to ensure that no youth is left without a skill. With the K40 million CDF now available, our role has shifted from just training to ensuring that these graduates are ‘market-ready.’ We want to see a Zambezi where a youth who learns bricklaying today becomes a contractor for a CDF clinic tomorrow. Discipline and technical excellence are the only currencies that will matter in this competitive era,” he explains.

To understand the likelihood of any organised youth group succeeding in their activities if empowered financially, one must look at the tangible accomplishments that are already sprouting across Zambezi district.

Last year, the Kudinung’a Youth Cooperative became a beacon of hope when it successfully applied for a CDF grant, and actually got the funding to establish a poultry project. Today, the Kudinung’a Youth Cooperative supplies broiler chickens to local boarding schools and to Zambezi residents.

This success story demonstrates that when the youth move from hoping to be employed and to have a white-collar job, the entire community benefits.

Similarly, some young people in Zambezi West, but operating within Zambezi Town, have turned their vocational skills into viable enterprises through the Youth Skills Development and Empowerment Programme. This strategic initiative, which saw over 30 youths empowered last year alone, has its roots in successful past interventions.

A notable example is Reagan Ndumba, who was empowered with start-up tools in 2022 after completing a rigorous training course at the Zambezi Youth Resource Centre. Mr Ndumba established a carpentry workshop that has since become a model of local entrepreneurship. He has already employed three of his fellow youth, providing them with stable livelihoods.

Having been provided with professional start-up empowerment tools, his workshop has become a hub of activity, manufacturing high-quality furniture for the local market.

This transition from a dependent student to a dependable employer highlights the transformative power of providing young people with the physical means to practice their trade and ensuring that the skills acquired at the Resource Centre are immediately put to work for the benefit of the district.

Furthermore, a group of young welders who were once operating under trees, are now managing a modern workshop after receiving equipment through the 2025 empowerment fund. They are currently the primary providers of metal window frames and doors for various ongoing infrastructure projects under construction in the district.

These examples serve as a living testament to Mr Luvuwa’s assertion that the ‘doors to success have been flung wide open’ for the youth of Zambezi.

The successful stories demonstrate that CDF is not just a government fund; it is a seed that, when planted in the fertile ground of youth discipline, yield a harvest of district-wide prosperity.

These stories are proof that some youth have already arisen and are soaring, indicative of the fact that their peers who will hearken unto the call to access empowerment initiatives offered to them by government and other stakeholders, will succeed if they have self-motivation, the financial literacy and discipline, and the prudence to judiciously and patiently undertake entrepreneurial activities.

However, the road to ‘soaring’ is not without its hurdles.

Youth representative Kuken’a Mulenga provides a practical appeal on behalf of young entrepreneurs in the district.

Ms Mulenga notes the gap between vocational training and active business participation, arguing that while training is essential, market-linkage remains the greatest hurdle for Zambezi’s youth.

She urges the government to provide more direct start-up capital, noting that many young people graduate from skills training centres with certificates but lack the financial support to purchase equipment or secure business premises. She further pleads with the government to prioritise youth-led cooperatives when awarding local contracts for the construction of classroom blocks and health facilities under the CDF.

She emphasises that directly involving the youth in local infrastructure projects would ensure that the wealth generated through the CDF remains within the community to benefit the local economy.

For the ‘arise and soar’ theme to be fully appreciated and actualised, the government must move beyond grants and into sustainable preferential procurement. This means ensuring that whenever a new classroom block is commissioned in a ward, the local youth cooperative is given the first right for the supply of bricks, timber, and labour.

Such a move would create a circular economy where government funds circulate multiple times within Zambezi before exiting the district.

As Zambezi District moves forward from this historic celebration, the challenge remains on how many youth-led cooperatives will successfully bid for local contracts or utilise CDF grants to modernise their businesses.

The unwavering spirit of Zambezi’s youth is currently met with an unprecedented level of political will and financial backing.