One day not enough: Analysts

Sunday Mail Reporter

The Zanu-PF Youth League should set up an ideological college tailored to impart President Mugabe’s nationalist principles to youths and perpetuate his legacy, analysts have said.

It is also imperative to go beyond hosting the one-day 21st February Movement celebrations and instead formulate sustained programmes that enable the Movement to achieve its key objectives.

University of Zimbabwe Sociologist Professor Claude Mararike said: “The celebration is commendable, but the 21st February Movement should have tangible projects.

“For example, say, each district can have community projects and youths will then be at the forefront of sourcing funds that will help rehabilitate schools and/or clinics in the name of the Movement.

“These practical projects are the best way to honour our President. He is a practical man who has achieved results. Such projects can be worked on all-year round. And then when the single day of celebration comes, people can point at what they will have done in the name of the President.

“This will give more meaning to the celebration and help promote the President’s legacy in a practical way that benefits the people.”

Zanu-PF Mashonaland East acting chair and former Cabinet minister Cde Aneas Chigwedere weighed in, saying: “If we do not preserve the legacy of the President, the youth, who are tomorrow’s leaders, will not be able to advance what he stands for.

“This is why we need to establish the Robert Mugabe Ideological College that orientates future generations of the country into a particular direction that is not guided by Western foundations.”

The 21st February Movement was established in 1986 as a conduit through which youths could derive President Mugabe’s revered ideals.

Yearly, the Movement hosts President Mugabe’s birthday celebrations rotationally across Zimbabwe’s 10 provinces.