admin
Beatrice Tonhodzayi-Ngondo Make a Difference
One of my Facebook friends posted on her wall recently that she had been to some huge mansion in Borrowdale sitting upon hectares and hectares of land. She says what she saw there literally dried up her mouth. She says all our imaginations of the world opulence could not match what she saw.
However, what made her a bit upset was that the owners of all this beauty are not Zimbabwean.
While non-Zimbabweans are welcome to live in opulence in Zimbabwe, just as we have many Zimbabweans also living in opulence in other countries, my friend, who is a woman, said what she saw made her wonder just when the people of this country, especially youths like myself and her, and females at that, can also claim a share of the pie and one day have properties that are just a fraction of what she saw that day.
She went even further by saying by the age of 30, one ought to have accumulated quite a bit but today it is not unusual that by 40, one is still trying to find their feet. Just what is it and what needs to happen to change things? When I saw her post up on her wall, I was taken back to the indigenisation dinner hosted by outgoing Minister of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment, Saviour Kasukuwere, and his wife a few days before the elections.
The dinner, an initiative of Team Zanu-PF 2013, was attended by youths who had won the opportunity to have dinner with the outgoing minister by virtue of posting questions directed at him through Team Zanu-PF 2013’s Facebook page.
As would be expected, many young people (According to the Youth Policy of this country, this refers to people under 35) including myself saw this as an opportunity to ask the minister questions about not only indigenisation but empowerment, and our empowerment before anyone else.
I remember that I asked about this mining industry that I have read about and even written about, because I am still to meet a friend or colleague who is reaping some rewards from it. I wanted to know how I and others like me can also tap into.
This was the chance to ask and be answered and I had to take advantage of it. I also asked about Zanu-PF’s policies towards empowering young people with housing and commercial stands, being of the firm belief that for one to be fully empowered they need to first of all, have their own home.
As long as someone does not have a home, I do not see how they can claim to be empowered. Giving all of one’s earnings month in and month out as most young people do, disempowers one actually. I remember adding a line about how young woman especially are disempowered because they own no property or assets.
As a result they find themselves having to rely on a man (one they may not even like) just to have somewhere to live and meals to survive.
If one is going to need a man to rent a flat for them to live in, then surely that person is disempowered? So true empowerment must first deal with such issues, surely, I asked.
It really was with a lot of excitement that I joined the more than 100 young people from across the country, who were like me, all fired up to check how they too could be empowered and to understand the indigenisation policy and how it is meant to benefit them.
Sitting in that room at Cresta Lodge, I woke up to a truth that will not be denied any longer. The young people of this country are ready to take up their roles on the national level and do what they can to give themselves and the country some dignity.
In that room, I saw graduates, engineers, geologists, pilots, businessmen and women, journalists, lawyers, you name it. The minister was kept busy on that night — having to answer the questions as they came at him, from left, right and centre.
He explained quite at length what this whole creature of indigenisation and empowerment that Zanu-PF is pushing is all about. Yes, for young people that is what it seems like until it is brought to their level and explained. And he said that the party, when re-elected, would ensure that the policy yields fruit.
Now that the party has won and resoundingly so, it is time to collect on our part. Those questions and issues raised still need to be followed up by actions.
Youths spoke about how difficult it is to get loans from these banks that have partnered Government and this should be addressed.
Some said the US$5 000 loans are not sufficient for the kind of projects they have in mind and this too should be looked into. Some said they want farms too and this should be addressed. Others want their chance at owning homes. This too should be addressed.
I am happy to note that through Facebook, which is where most young people spend their time, Team Zanu-PF 2013 is still engaging with the youths. Yes, that needs to continue well into the future because today it is all about engagement.
I love a scenario where policy makers are not some strange beings from another planet that are just seen on television and never in reality. When policy makers become available, as many of them now are, across the political divide, to the people who put them in office, it becomes easier to deal with issues.
As a young person and as a female, I would like to know that I can approach the relevant policy maker and tell them what my issues are.
Policy makers who are too far removed from the people are so old school and become alienated from the people, especially youths.
The challenge for the Government is to ensure that it does not make itself an unapproachable and untouchable entity. It is always about relations.
The challenge is also to deal with hungry youths like me who dream of a fine day where they can be who they dream to be, who just want to be able to sustain their livelihoods of choice, youths who do not want favours but opportunities, youths who need capital to start big projects that will employ many people and youths who will take the country forward.
The difference lies therein.
Online Reporter