Online Reporter
Wallace Ruzvidzo – Herald Reporter
THE Youth Empowerment Fund is designed to ensure that financing, equipment and facilities for young people are not misused as such actions are deemed unacceptable under the Second Republic, President Mnangagwa has said.
He made the remarks yesterday while handing over tipper trucks to youths under the US$2 million revolving fund aimed at supporting youth-led income-generating projects countrywide.
Addressing the media after the handover, President Mnangagwa encouraged the youth to cultivate a spirit of honest hard work as that was the hallmark of the Second Republic.
“I have told them that whoever has the word abuse in his mind has to get rid of that thinking. There is no question of abuse, they know that kuna Mnangagwa hakuna nyaya yeabuse so I will reprimand them, it is not allowed. There must be honest work throughout because this is not for individuals, but for the youth, it is for the public good,” he said.
The President reaffirmed the Second Republic’s commitment to empowering the country’s youth demographic, saying his administration will always capacitate young people.
“As you can see the trucks behind me, a country is as strong as its youth demographics so as leaders we always find it important to capacitate our youth,” he said.
The President also expressed his increasing confidence in the youth’s ability to drive the country’s economic growth. “We must empower our youth in order for them to drive and develop the economy because they have the energy and wisdom.
“They can only do that when we empower them and this is the process of empowering them and I am very happy that they are doing precisely what we expect them to do,” he said.
On his part, Youth Empowerment, Development and Vocational Training Minister, Tino Machakaire, who is also the Zanu PF Secretary for Youth Affairs, charged the youth to take heed of President Mnangagwa’s zero tolerance to corruption and abuse of availed facilities.
“This equipment is supposed to benefit those who are in our districts so let us hope that they are going to utilise this opportunity because we also have a system in place that we have created to monitor and evaluate these businesses.
“In terms of corruption, we need to start moving in line with our President’s vision that no one must be caught on the wrong side of the law, no one must be handling cash in terms of these donations and even I am not going to accept or receive any monetary donation,” he said.
Minister Machakaire said President Mnangagwa was the brains behind the Youth Fund’s model of not giving provinces and individuals cash, but empowering them via the provision of equipment and the availing of other facilities to curb corruption.
“We want to thank him for his ideas and guidance. You know if it was going to be distributed in cash, there was going to be chaos within our provinces and our youth but now this model of empowerment is different. I also want to emphasise to the leaders that have received this machinery that it is not for them, it is not for us as the top leadership,” he said.
Also present at the handover were Zanu PF Youth League provincial chairs who expressed gratitude to President Mnangagwa for his action-oriented leadership.
“This project has been funded by His Excellency through the Youth Empowerment Fund, so we are very thankful to His Excellency because he walks his talk, if he says something he fulfils it. Our President promised us, he has already delivered the trucks, so we are very thankful as Bulawayo Province,” said Zanu PF Bulawayo Province Youth League Chairman Cde Freedom Murechu.
