Harnessing the Youth Bulge for Transformative Leadership, Transparency and Accountability in Africa: The Case of Mozambique and Zimbabwe

In every part of the globe, the 21st century has seen an increase in the youth bulge accompanied by a surge in youths\u27 involvement in various issues. Youth alone now constitute more than 65% (both male and female) of Africa\u27s population becoming impossible to leave youths behind in any processes. Perhaps in the new millennium, the Arab Springs in North Africa and the #feesmustfall South African protests changed the course of history and discourse around leadership issues in Africa. Historically, challenges and opportunities confronting youths in Africa are traditional. Hierarchy (both political and social) always defines the leadership criteria. Historically, youths have been at the receiving end and decisions made on their behalf. This article is also developed in the context of the re-emergence of the #feesmustfall protests in South Africa and also incarceration of young political and human rights activists in Zimbabwe, immensely changing the face of politics in both countries and Africa at large. For Southern Africa, the mass youth protests raises pertinent questions around leadership, unemployment, poverty, education and involvement of the youth in national processes. Through the lenses of the qualitative research paradigm, the author answered the how, why and what questions by identifying patterns in the issues under discussion. This paper seeks to discuss how African countries can or should harness the youth population by grooming transformative leaders who hold governments to account solely on the basis that it is the continent\u27s leadership and actions which affect the full enjoyment of human rights, good governance and democracy in Africa