Online Reporter
Samuel Kadungure
News Editor
ZANU PF National Deputy Secretary for Youth Affairs, Cde John Paradza said all provincial business ventures run by the youth league must comply with business statutes.
Addressing the first Manicaland Provincial Inter-District Youth Meeting in Mutare, Cde Paradza declared that the league leadership will exercise rigorous oversight to ensure profits and empowerment resources are distributed equitably across provincial districts.
He said President Emmerson Mnangagwa provided clear policy direction on how the companies formed under the Presidential Youth Empowerment initiative should operate, a stance now codified in a national circular send to provinces by the national secretary for finance, Cde Garikai Zonde.
Under the new framework, all provincial ventures and empowerment programmes must be formalised in line with business law, with monthly financial statements submitted to the national youth office for consolidation and checks, while all funds generated must be banked.
He said no funds will be disbursed, committed or transferred without explicit authorisation, making compliance non-negotiable.
Cde Paradza also stressed that every entity must also meet Zimbabwe Revenue Authority requirements, among other operational obligations, signalling that financial discipline and transparency are now central to the league’s economic agenda.
The move, he said, will transform youth enterprises from patronage vehicles into engines of genuine empowerment, ensuring resources benefit the broader membership rather than being concentrated in the hands of a connected few.
The new directive follows mounting complaints from grassroots members over mismanagement and opaque profit-sharing, with concerns that proceeds were being siphoned off and concentrated among a few in leadership.
“The President is for all, and youth empowerment should reach all youths, not the same few individuals. A good father lets the children eat first before he eats—that is what makes a good leader. Whatever is generated from the business ventures is for all the youths in the province. Any abuse will lead to disciplinary action,” he said, adding that the national leadership’s role was to ensure compliance and transparency, not to control or use the money personally, and urged unity and discipline.
“We are the last line of defence for ZANU PF. We are the vanguard. You may be given money, but that should not sway you from the party ideology,” he said.
Cde Paradza said youths in Manicaland are fully behind Constitutional Amendment Bill Number 3, which has its genesis in Resolution Number 1 following nationwide consultations.
“President Mnangagwa should remain in office until 2030 to allow continuity and the completion of tangible development. As the Youth League we stand by President Mnangagwa and Vision 2030,” he said, reminding delegates that ZANU PF is bigger than individuals, and urging them to build a strong track record for when they assume leadership. Differences, he said, are normal in politics, but must be resolved internally, not aired on social media.
ZANU PF provincial youth chairman, Cde Stanley Sakupwanya said youths in Manicaland have benefited from a raft of empowerment initiatives spearheaded by President Mnangagwa, including the Presidential Livestock Pass-on Scheme, residential stands in Chipinge, the Munhumutapa Empowerment Programme, a mechanisation drive that delivered nine tractors, land reform that allocated 500 hectares at ARDA Transau in 2022, and village youth empowerment through the Mega Market project.
He added that the youth league received US$200 000 from President Mnangagwa, which was invested in two buses now operating on the Harare–Mutare route under the Manica Go banner. “We have seen immense progress under President Mnangagwa. Be rest assured, youths in Manicaland are solidly behind CAB3, and our expectation is that our legislators in Parliament will finish the business and approve the Bill,” he said.
Minister of State for Manicaland Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Advocate Misheck Mugadza hailed the youth league for investing wisely in the buses and said the 500 hectares at ARDA will be subdivided into small plots and allocated to youths.
He said MPs from Manicaland will endorse CAB3.
