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Delegates to the 6th Zanu-PF National Youth League conference resolved to endorse President Mugabe and the First Lady to be the party’s First Secretary and Women’s League bosses, respectively ahead of an elective congress in December. They also resolved to recommend strengthening the fight against corruption and bringing about compulsory national youth service.
The conference, held under the theme “Zim-Asset: Growing the Economy for Youth Employment and Empowerment”, began in Harare last Thursday and ended yesterday.
Most of the resolutions made by the 3 592 delegates who graced the conference centred on Zim-Asset clusters, the Government’s economic blueprint.
The four clusters are Food Security and Nutrition, Social Services and Poverty Eradication, Infrastructure and Utilities, and Value Addition and Beneficiation.
The delegates noted that value addition and beneficiation was key in growing the economy and resolved that Government should ensure that priority cluster programmes and projects in Zim-Asset were provided with requisite financing.
They also want Government to audit the performance of mining claims.
“Government should strictly monitor the purchasing of gold and provide adequate funding to Fidelity Printers and Refiners to forestall black market activities,” read the resolutions.
“The National Youth Programme be implemented to equip youths with capacity and skills for value addition. Government must review tariff measures to increase capacity utilisation and encourage value addition of primary products.”
Delegates expressed concern over the dilapidated state of the country’s physical infrastructure and recommended that public facilities and institutions be upgraded and installed with state of the art equipment.
They called for the acceleration of the dualisation of national highways and institutionalisation of measures to expand growth points. The delegates expressed concern about the “high levels” of poverty and unemployment and called for access to basic education to deserving youths through fair and transparent systems of selection of beneficiaries to BEAM, scholarships and cadetship programmes.
The document reads: “Government must provide affordable access to critical health services to orphans and vulnerable children.
“Government should progressively improve the conditions of service for social service providers with focus on those stationed in marginal areas. Government should institute innovative strategies to sustain youth empowerment initiatives and rationalise the administration of the Youth Development Fund by ensuring transparency, accessibility and oversight.”
The youths want Government to fast track the land audit and facilitate access to underutilised land by youths for agricultural and residential purposes.
On the state of the party, the youths affirmed that the party should provide direction to Government and monitor implementation of resolutions adopted, adding that there was need for greater co-ordination and synergy between the party and Government in the implementation of programmes at grassroots level. Corruption, the conference resolved, should be culled in the party, Government and parastatals.
“Senior party leadership should be compelled to resolve differences amicably and discouraged from using the media,” read the resolutions.
“The party should reserve party technical positions at ward, district and provincial levels for suitable residents of the respective areas. Party branches should be established in tertiary institutions and industrial areas with party activists in those areas being protected against discrimination, victimisation and intimidation.”
Online Reporter