Zimpapers Logo

SOLIDARITY . . . The President’s youth interface rallies have shown that the party and the youth are indeed on the same page

President Mugabe’s interface rallies with youths countrywide will leave a colossal political footprint on Zimbabwe’s body politic that will direct the future and history of the revolutionary party.

The rallies being addressed by the Head of State and Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces will leave the party rejuvenated and equipped to crush the opposition come the 2018 harmonised polls.

After the rallies, indeed, the umbilical cord connecting the youths and Zanu-PF and its leadership will be stronger and ready to sustain a symbiotic relationship between the two parties in perpetuity.

Detractors who have been spreading noxious messages, trying to poison relations between the youths and the revolutionary party, claiming that it has forsaken young people have been put to shame.

The meetings have proved unshaken unity among the party’s wings. The main wing and the Women’s League have shown unity by attending all the rallies in their numbers in solidarity with the youths.

The revolutionary party is indeed with the youths and the youths are with the party. In all the rallies held so far in Marondera, Mutare and Masvingo, the resonating memorandum is unity, youths’ economic empowerment and a spirited call to end corruption in the country.

After all has been said and done, the fundamental issues become deliverables. Out of a plethora of promises made to the youths, how many should they say have been delivered?

The President, as the chief executive officer of the country, has set targets and objectives and it is up to his lieutenants in the party and Government to ensure the youths’ aspirations are delivered.

During the interface meetings held so far, the youths are yearning for economic empowerment so that they claim their stake in contributing towards national economic development.

The thrust of the youths dovetails into President Mugabe’s agenda of creating college graduates who do not jostle to seek employment in white-owned companies, but create jobs and employ their colleagues.

Youth empowerment through land is achievable. The Land Commission should quickly be operationalised and ensure that multiple farm owners with vast swathes of underutilised productive land are dispossessed of it and the “freed” land given to the young people.

The policy of maximum farm size province by province should be adhered to and this has potential to release more land to be given to the youths. There is no need for one person to own over 3 000 hectares of State land while the youths, who have energy and requisite skills, remain landless.

The agriculture sector is the fastest growing industry in the country that has potential to employ millions of youths who should engage in various value addition and beneficiation projects in support of Zim-Asset.

The era of seeking employment is gone and the youths should acquire entrepreneurial skills that help them see opportunities, grab and fully utilise them.

The youths should demand a stake in the mining sector and with a proper co-ordinated approach, most who have studied metallurgy and engineering cannot disappoint the President.

We have highly educated youths with amazing skills who can run private technical colleges and companies. If the truth is to be told, Zimbabweans should not expect the country’s former colonisers to mellow and start pouring millions into the country’s economy as they are protesting the takeover of their land.

Zimbabweans should understand that the myriad of challenges the country is currently facing need homegrown solutions and no foreigner will come to address them.

For that reason, the youths and national leadership should work out means in which the young generation can lead the way in harnessing solutions to problems bedevilling the country. Funding remains central to achieving these ambitious dreams and our youths cannot do much to help themselves in this area.

Banks demand collateral and inasmuch as some of the youths might be academically gifted, they hail from poor families that cannot support them financially to set up businesses. Besides the number of financial institutions that are being formed, it is important for Government to establish an entrepreneurship bank.

This can act as a special funding vehicle that supports young Zimbabwean entrepreneurs with unique business or research ideas that have potential to turn around the country’s economy.

The sad reality is that young Zimbabweans with unique ideas acquired from the country’s colleges are failing to expand their academic horizons due to lack of money to carry out research.

There is a greater need to carry out research to ensure our successful land reform programme propels economic turnaround. For that to happen, serious research and development in the sector becomes vital. There is also need for affordable mechanised farming equipment that suits the demands of our smallholder farmers.

Technology should be developed in Zimbabwe by locals who understand the requirements of our people. It is sad that the Government of Zimbabwe continues to educate people who in turn migrate to develop economies of other countries.

It is a fact that Zimbabweans are currently becoming champions of industries in other countries yet millions of taxpayer’s money was used to educate them.

It is time that we wake up from our slumber and use our entrepreneurial skills in the youth to scale up our country’s economic development using our own resources that are in abundance.

The time to establish an entrepreneurial fund that helps empower young innovators who might come up with solutions to the country’s challenges is now.

But before the money is doled out, there is a greater need to train benefactors in prudent financial management to avoid mismanagement and promote good corporate governance.

Authorities should also consider criminalising mismanagement of businesses by executives because firms are sources of livelihoods for workers and their dependants. Poor management of companies has serious financial repercussions on the overall performance of national economy.

This will ensure that as the youths decide to enter into the business world, only those who are serious and with the right attitude and capabilities will be considered for financing after thorough vetting.

Our youths should be reminded that it is a disgrace to the business sector and the nation at large that after getting a tender to provide key national infrastructure, one then blows up the money on activities not related to the project. It’s criminal.

The President has laid the vision the country should take to overcome the challenges and it is now up to his lieutenants in Government and the party to come up with innovative ways to help the youths achieve their aspirations.

By the time President Mugabe winds up his interface rallies, key ministries in Government should have come up with concrete programmes to answer to dreams of the Zimbabwean youths.

By so doing, surely even some youths that were hoodwinked to join the rank and file of the opposition parties will troop back to Zanu-PF to also enjoy the deliverables.

These Presidential interface rallies have opened a new chapter in terms of youths’ empowerment and come the 2018 harmonised polls, President Mugabe will be comfortably walking again to State House riding on mainly the youths’ votes.

Surely, the young people are talking and someone in Government must join the President in helping them realise their dreams and prepare them for leadership tomorrow.

• [email protected]