Chronicle Editor
The country marked National Youth Day yesterday, a day set aside to recognise the role played by young Zimbabweans in national development. Below, we publish a statement issued by the Zanu-PF Youth League yesterday to commemorate the day;
21 February is the National Youth Day, marking the nation’s recognition and celebration of the efforts of young people in carrying forward the legacy of sacrifice, innovation and dedication in pursuit of national development unto posterity.
The Zanu-PF Youth League celebrates this year’s National Youth Day in solidarity with all progressive forces who believe in the value and power of youth in shaping the desired future of the nation by performing prudently and responsibly for it in the present. To this end, we join His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, and all who are willing to support and march forward with us towards this goal, in celebration.
We will forever cherish the sacrifices of our fore-bearers and wish to take this opportunity to urge today’s youth to emulate the youth of yesteryear in being patriotic. We remember as well that the 21st of February is the same day that the late former President, Cde Robert Gabriel Mugabe was born.
We appreciate in full measure, the enduring milestones achieved by the Second Republic in pursuit of wholesome and inclusive youth empowerment, whose major highlight is the establishment and operationalisation of the Youth Empowerment Bank, dubbed “Empower Bank”.
We note with great appreciation the fact that a significant portion of the youth population has already begun to benefit under this scheme, which is a special purpose vehicle to give young people the much-needed impetus and momentum to meaningfully contribute towards national development, especially as we gear towards the attainment of upper middle-income status, as espoused in His Excellency President ED Mnangagwa’s Vision 2030.
We are, however, still perturbed that the Empower Bank continues to operate in an under-capitalised state, which forces it to undercut its intended mandate by offering prohibitive lending conditions, chief among which is the micro-finance institution-oriented 5% per month interest rate, which effectively renders the fund inaccessible to poorer entrepreneurs. In this regard, expedited upgrading of the Empower Bank to a more user-friendly adequately capitalized Development and Commercial Bank with enhanced capacity to reach out to youths even in the remotest parts of the country is called for.
We applaud Government for having in place provision for an apex youth council, the Zimbabwe Youth Council, in an effort to ensure the interests of young people are attended to in a holistic manner. However, the continued existence of this entity without a representative body comprising youths from all sectors of the social and political economy is both anachronistic and self-defeating. The Zimbabwe Youth Council Board needs to be instituted as a matter of urgency. Our appeal to the ministry responsible for youth affairs is that the appointment of the Board is long overdue.
Over the past two decades, young people have consistently lobbied for inclusion in the economic affairs of the country, culminating in the welcome institution of a quota system in the tendering system under general procurement processes. Nonetheless, activation of this noble initiative still remains a pipe dream because there is no national database to ensure deserving young entrepreneurs have a fair entry point into the system.
In view of the foregoing, we further note with growing trepidation that only a handful of enterprising young people have benefited from land, in spite of the long-held promise that the now completed land audit would give 60% of utilisable land to the youth. We welcome in this regard pronouncements made yesterday (on Saturday) at the National Heroes Acre by His Excellency Cde Mnangagwa that youth would be prioritised in land redistribution. We remain firm in our belief that the youth are a demographic dividend that should give our nation the critical mass required in terms of energy and economic activity to spearhead production.
Today’s youth, who are not growing any younger, could not benefit from the land reform programme at its height two decades ago, for obvious reasons. Some were too young and some were not yet born. Yet today, they undoubtedly carry the weight of the nation’s future on their shoulders.
Devolution is one of the national priority areas under the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1-2021-2025). We applaud His Excellency President ED Mnangagwa’s inexorable resolve to ensure that development at the grassroots level is self-driven, self-accounting and that no one and no place is left behind, through the accelerated provision of funds to the provinces.
We, however, continue to implore policy drivers and implementers to respect the spirit of posterity under the youth-geared quota system by ensuring that projects undertaken in pursuit of the devolution agenda have the youth segment as a definite beneficiary. This includes streamlining procurement and tendering processes to significantly accommodate deserving young entrepreneurs.
On a similar note, as devolution takes effective root, we invite the nation to introspect and consider the state of education in our country, where our much-vaunted high literacy rate which is the envy of many, has over the years, successfully masked alarming neglect of the poor youths in our society. In spite of concerted efforts by Government to eliminate structural inequalities and contradictions inherent in the colonial education system, we continue to experience glaring qualitative disparities between mostly rural public schools, which are noticeably under-resourced, and mostly urban, private schools on the opposite end.
Zanu-PF Youth League strongly calls for radical strategic policy considerations which should place more emphasis on enhancing inclusivity in our education system, in order to promote undivided access to quality education in Zimbabwe. We are emboldened in this stance by our profound awareness and belief in sound education for young people as the hypodermic concoction that will put their generation on course to prosperity and stability.
As we commemorate this year’s National Youth Day, we continue to draw inspiration from the gallantry exhibited by our forebears as they played their part in dedicating their lives to forging a sovereign nation in which all can enjoy our God-given endowments. Their exertions, which belied their tender ages, spawned a principled brand of servant leadership which we should all follow.
As such, we should feel challenged as young people to connect, find each other and fulfil the overarching mandate history has bequeathed us; to push forward the agenda of securing our future and that of our offspring through selfless contribution to national development, participation in governance processes, and most critically, steer the economic ship towards the kind of future we seek. For this, we need mutual conscious resonance with the sustainable development goals, AU Agenda 2063, and immediately, our own Vision 2030.
“We acknowledge with profound thankfulness and pride, the daring steps the Second Republic government has taken in elevating a number of young persons to Cabinet positions and Board appointments. We urge His Excellency President ED Mnangagwa’s administration to continue unabated in this revolutionary trajectory. We anticipate that the sluggishness still being noted in some areas will be soon overshadowed by the excellent results being posted thus far.
To those youths so honoured in the new dispensation, we enjoin them to perform and surpass expectations; quickening the pulse of the nation through clear-cut policy articulation and diligent implementation, not to betray the immense trust thrust upon their shoulders.
We extend our most heartfelt felicitations and indebtedness to the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, His Excellency Cde ED Mnangagwa, on his successful acquisition of Covid-19 vaccines, and the subsequent successful roll-out of the free national inoculation programme.
We complement our father by reiterating his clarion call for all to remember that our grim war against Covid-19 is far from over. We shall continue to fight to the bitter end. Let us, therefore, assure our victory by remaining a committed collective in adhering to all the relevant strictures put in place to curtail its spread. Let us all mask up. Life is precious. Our future as a nation depends on our conduct today.
Online Reporter