Ilala Municipal Mayor, Jerry Slaa

Ilala Municipal Mayor, Jerry Slaa has advised youths in the country to go for self employment instead of relying on government to give them employment.

Slaa made the statement over the weekend in Dar es Salaam, when he opened a workshop on strategies for dealing with the problem of unemployment, organised by the Tanzania Association of Professional BDS providers (TAPBDS).

The mayor told the participants, mainly graduates from different colleges, that over 800,000 youths graduate from school and colleges every year and start looking for jobs, while the government can only employ 40,000 people per year.

"Now if we don’t think of creating self-employment where will the 760,000 graduate go? Even the private sector still employs very few people and their jobs are not sustainable," he said.

He pointed out that an existing misconception among many youths in the country is that they think that being employed in government offices and large corporations brings respect, forgetting that some private jobs are more lucrative than being employed.

"Take an example of one machinga being arrested by city police three times a week and being always fined 50,000/= per offence. This means he pays 600,000/= per month and still keeps his business going. Now how much does he make per month?'' he asked.

However Slaa advised the government to pay attention to the issue of youth unemployment rather than leaving the matter to stakeholders.

"Many examples exist, especially for investors in the plantations and mines where many people work for low wages and without getting their proper dues," he said.

For his part, TAPBDS executive director, Joseph Migunda said despite his organisation’s workshops in various parts of the country, were attended by few youths, saying most stayed away because they were not paid allowances.