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Joseph Madzimure
Senior Reporter
THE Zanu PF Youth conference set to be held this week will help to consolidate intra party unity and democracy, while also serving as a building block to party rejuvenation, modernisation and growth.
The last elective conference was held in 2014 which was won by Cde Kudzanai Chipanga as the deputy Secretary for Youth Affairs with the current executive co-opted following the 2017 events most of the current executive above age limit. President Mnangagwa who is the First Secretary of the party, insisted that the youth league should be composed of youth under the age 35 to ensure the interest of the youth are represented Our Senior Reporter Joseph Madzimure (JM) caught up with Zanu PF acting Deputy Secretary for Youth Affairs Cde Tendai Chirau (TC) to give an insight of the 7th Youth League Congress.
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JM: What are your expectations from the newly elected Youth League executive nominees?
TC: The most important thing is to stay committed and abide by the values and ethos of the party, which have a history from the liberation struggle. Remember that most of us were born after independence. This party which we are talking of is a revolutionary party which was founded on the premises of Unity, Peace and Development. It is meant to ensure that the voice of the indigenous people is heard and the control of our God given resources is in the hands of the black majority. I expect them to hold sacrosanct values and embrace the ideological framework which have been set by His Excellence President Mnangagwa who is the First Secretary of the party. There are three critical issues which the youth league need to look at, access to resources, the issues of skill development, embracing the skills taking advantage of the skills provided at our tertiary institutions, special role in mobilising the 5 million votes for 2023 harmonised elections.
JM: How is this going to be achieved?
TC: The Youth League should ensure that they promote young people who have got skills, they impart the required skills that are needed in the country. They also make sure they fight any vagrants that are against the dictates of this country.
JM: some youths are now abusing drugs? What do you think should be done to stop this practice?
TC: The issue of drugs is a national problem which requires urgent attention from all stakeholders. The new executive needs to play a central role in terms of making sure that there is drastic policy formulation. We are happy with the drug policy which have been put in place to ensure the pandemic is dealt with.
There is need to line up a number of programmes to educate the youth on the dangers associated with drugs. One of the policy intervention has to do with including the issues of drug abuse subjects in the education curriculum from primary education to tertiary education. There is need to look at policy intervention and increasing recreation facilities for young people so that they have sporting activities which will occupy them during spare time.
It’s unfortunate in most urban areas where the opposition led councils have turned recreational centres to housing stands.
The recreational centres belong to the community. These are areas where young people spent most of their time playing. The urban and rural councils must ensure that they avail land for recreational facilities.
JM: Corporal punishment has generally been used as a disciplinary measure for ill behaviour in Zimbabwe before it was outlawed in 2017 through a High Court ruling that declared article 60(2) (c) of the Educational Act unconstitutional. Do you think corporal punishment is necessary as a way of enforcing discipline among the youth?
TC: It is up to the legislators to weigh the pros and cons, it’s a two-way scenario. There are some people who were abusing corporal punishment, thereby abusing children both at home and in schools. During our days it was working because it was meant to enforce discipline. There is need to re-look at the Act. Discipline starts within the family set up.
JM: In terms of gender, are you satisfied with the number of women who were elected to the Youth League, if not how can female representation be improved?
TC: The party constitution requires equal representation from both men and women in any position. Out of the 40 nominees, we have 12 young women. It means that women were included.
We are happy with that and wish that we can have more women. Women also need to compete for positions with their male counterparts though we gave a special waiver where we say some of the seats should be reserved for women. Out of the four in each and every province, one should be a girl. In Masvingo, you can see there are two women. Mashonaland East also has two women. Positions are obtained on merit not only on gender.
JM: Do we have any prospects of having a girl child as a Deputy Secretary for Youth Affairs.
TC: I am not sure yet. They are going to express their willingness to contest for the position through applications but they also need to contest.
TC: Its clear, one of the roles of the youth is to defend the ethos of the revolution.
Number two is to make sure that we represent the youth in each and every social political sphere and also open up opportunities for young people, in other words we are saying we are the advocates of youth empowerment. We are the advocacy to ensure that we sustain and defend the independence. Those are some of the key roles that we do as a revolutionary youth league. We also bring policy formulation ideas, but as guided by our principals who guide us.
JM: Do youths have access to land ?
TC: This is a policy intervention, where the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development was saying that 20 percent of the land is going to be given to the youth. That’s now a policy issue. We also requested that each and every land allocation committee there must be a youth. This is slowly being implemented. The youth need land. We are happy we managed to push this drive to capacitate our youth.
Thank You to the youth. That’s now a policy issue.
We also requested that each and every land allocation committee there must be a youth. This is slowly being implemented. The youth need land. We are happy we managed to push this drive to capacitate our youth.
JM: Thank You
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