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President Mugabe

This is the full text of President’s Mugabe’s address as he officially opened the Zanu-PF National Youth Conference in Harare yesterday where he rapped factionalism in the party that saw those tasked with organising the conference fail to provide requisite logistics and even food for delegates. I GREET you in the name of our party Zanu-Pf. I greet you all in the name of all our people, the nation of Zimbabwe whom we represent now, whom we shall represent in the future. I greet you all the name of all the organs of our party. I greet in the name  of all the veterans of our struggles of the First Chimurenga,  Second Chimurenga and Third Chimurenga and I greet you in the  name of all those who gave us a dignified home, country and nation. Indeed which gave us an unshakeable sense of Africanness.

Those founding fathers of Africa.

We are not whites. Not Americans. Not Europeans. Not Asians. We are Africans, black Africans. We wish to aspire to nothing more than being ourselves. An independent, sovereign and owners of our resources.

I greet you especially in the name of our ancestors. Those who conceived us in their wombs, our mothers of yesterday, grandmothers.  And those of them who when faced with strangers in their country decided that the strangers who come should never be allowed to be owners of our country. They were the founders of our nation. They fought the First Chimurenga and that Chimurenga was not fought by all people, fathers and mothers, yes they might have played their part but it was the young men they put forward.

In Matabeleland they called them Amajayas under King Lobengula. And they are the ones who were led here in Mashonaland by Masvikiro vana Mbuya Nehanda nana Kaguvi to come out with their spears and their own fashioned guns and deal with this stranger who had decided to occupy our land. They called them munhu asina mabvi, because they were all in trousers, and people did not see the knees. They were the founders, here of what we are. We will always look back as nationalist movements were formed one after another. The Youth League, ANC, National Democratic Party, Zapu, Zanu, Zanu-PF.

The organisations were not led by fathers and mothers, grown-ups, young people came forward in the name, yes mature men were with them; vana, Mdala wethu was still young, Joshua, vana Chikerema, Vana Nyandoro, vana Msipa, vana Ziyaphapha, J Z Moyo they were all still young. And those  who even came much later vana Muzenda nana Chitepo, they were still  young in their thirties, yes twenties and those of them who have survived like I have. Are only torch-bearers,  torch-bearers so the torch can be passed on to the younger ones and passed on to the younger ones provided the younger ones are conscientised. Provided the younger ones have national consciousness.

Provided the younger ones have the history of the struggle, of the other Chimurengas. Provided the younger ones believe in themselves that they are truly African. Believe in themselves that they are the owners of this country, distorted in name once upon a time when it was called Rhodesia and worse than that Zimbabwe-Rhodesia, chisukukuviri which we later Christened properly and is now called Zimbabwe. You who are here are representatives of the many others back in their homes across the country now called Zimbabwe. Properly so called because young men before you gave their lives. Sacrificed their lives in order for you to be born free. For you to be born free and carry on. The struggle now no longer mandatory but socio economic.

And so when you come to a meeting of the youths at any level, you should always remember that sacrifices were made. They were earlier struggles, very bitter ones fought. Deaths, massive deaths happened. So today could come. So today could come with new light. New light that shines all over the country. New light that enables all our youths now to live freely, but for them to have full life, for them to have the opportunities that is and should be theirs in a free country. And be able to seize that opportunity, they should be skilled sufficiently the skills are those which have to do with raising the level of our knowledge, education, enlightenment, experiences. Those who have given us the physical ability and capability to manage our lives and provide for ourselves and our nation. And in which our nation saw, children must go to school, children must be educated in intellectual terms, in terms of having knowledge but also in terms of preparing them to manage the country, the economy.

Have skills, hence the need to go beyond the mastering of geography, mathematics, history, the humanities I have spoken about, language and know how our various socio-economic sectors can be made a source of our wealth, a source of our better lives. We need agronomists in agriculture, agricultural engineers, farmers with technical skills.

We need miners, engineers, metallurgists, geologists and technicians in that area. We need also not only to produce raw materials but to add value to them, benefaction, hence we must have mastery of the functioning of equipment, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering. With greater sophistication there is nowadays, computer engineering, computer knowledge, the whole area of ICT.

We need also to ensure that we live well in better houses and move along better roads. Civil engineers, architects we need them all. And the youths, the youths, the young men must go through that process preparatory for life, that preparation for life and the environment must provide it all. And this is why those of us in Government, those of us who (not clear) the country through our representative organisations should have the capacity to plan that all this provision of skill, education. All the  performance we require, the operations that  are necessary to get wealth from, these sectors, the soil, agriculture, mining and add value. Industries are operated effectively. Must have plans and plan properly so the people can benefit. And the youths must play a part. Yes they must be educated, yes they must be experienced, yes they must be skilled but they must be given the opportunity to play their part.

They must be listened to in terms of their own desires, their own thinking, their own plans, their own wishes. Guidance, sure must be given but when they have gone through the mill of preparation I have made reference to, they have developed their minds. Surely they would have capacity, mental, intellectual capacity of certain contributions, in progressive stages as they move up from being young, very young, to be adults until they become mature old people. They grow up like everybody else. But grow up performing these opportunities.

The Party as it stands is meant to be the main organ of bringing us together. So we are united for the purpose of one, naturally of sharing that sense of belonging. Of having the opportunity providing, the ideas together.

The ideas that build the country, that build our nation. And hence the opportunity the youths have, must be opportunities that are complete that are without any hindrance.

How much freedom do we the leaders, the elders allow our youths to have in giving their own views. Performing in accordance with what they believe is good for them, is progressive, is constructive and naturally is right to them.

Our Party, Zanu-PF has the two wings, the Youth League and the Women’s League.  And the Party has rules that naturally must be obeyed because we must all be guided and regulated by the party. But we must have freedom to express ideas. And we must not be inhibited or obstructed in expressing our ideas. Now our organs are set up. They are given leaders. It is not right for we at the top to want to run the organs that we have given leaders, or to try to regiment them and move them in a direction of our own liking especially when it comes now to the fulfilment of ambition, ambition to get to top posts. Senior leaders in the province would have wanted the Central Committee, they start organising the youths, you, you, you do this, do that.

No, pasi nemi! Central committee the leaders now will want to get into the Politburo and to get into leadership positions, leadership positions of the Party. This one wants to get into this position. And why start recruiting so and so and so and so of the youths and say aah ndava nevangu, aaah ava ndevedu . Ahh, they belong to the party, they don’t belong to individuals. The clandestine organisations. The activities going on in the party just now are filthy, dirty. They destroy the party. And people pretend, they think we don’t know whats happening.

Zvipfukuto ehee. Ndakanzwa kuti umwe akati tozvitsvagira gamatox. Now, now, now.

Ndoda kutenda nekuuya kwamaita. I don’t want to take long because we started, tichange tichikurukura. We would be talking about a number of things, Zim-Asset. Agriculture et cetera, et cetera. We have started late. We have started late. Why? MaBus anga asina ku organiser. Vanhu vanga vasina kunotorwa kunedzimwe nzvimbo, even now, why? why? why? I will not accept kuti kunonzi tanga tisina mari. Muripo wemari yemabhazi? Ko masubscription evanhu arikuenda kupi? Yes we must be frank. I just am not happy. The whole of Central Committee has been sitting to plan these conferences on the basis that the financial side of the party, those who are responsible of raising funds are doing so. Only to be told we do not even have a cent.

What is happening in the Party?  I have also been informed kuti kwakaiswa vanhu, apart from the delay yetransport, havana kudya. Ahh, havana kudya, ah? Havana kudya, tirikushaya kana kugadzirira vanhu? Hapana zvekudya? We cannot provide food to the people? The Central Committee, what are we doing. We members  vepamusorosoro? And that’s a situation yandanga ndichiudzwa tisati tapinda muno. Kuti hakuna zvekudya iyezvino. So ndati kuna Mai Mugabe takarima chibage, 1000 tonnes. Ngavanotora uko. Okay, pane kuti tinzi hakuna, there is nothing at all. Kune vanhu. Okay, hungava upfu hunodaka kubikwa nenyama. Okay tati tinotora mombe dziriko. PaNorton pano apa.

Hapana izvizvi. Party, within the party, isu members tobva tatadza kana kuita ma contributions. So it does not matter how many cattle whether they are 20 or 30, tati ngadzinotorwa, dzenyama. It’s very painful. Mukaka ngaumboregwa kutengeswa kuDairy ikoko ngaumbouya uzopiwa vanhu vamwe tea inemukaka.

It’s very bad. We can never allow a party, Zanu-PF we will organise ourselves after this in a better way and I am looking forward. I am seeing all that is happening. But when it comes to Congress don’t cry, when people  . . . . (cheers, applause). I cannot have a Central Committee or even a Politburo which is that inept. Aiwa, some of us have come from far. We know what we were doing all the time.

Our people are so generous; you can’t tell me our people could not donate even a cent towards this Congress. Anyway, that is the talk. We shall look at the matter.

Tozvivheneka isu vatungamiri. Nokuti vanhu… concentrating on power, zvimusangano zvisina neku… (cheers, applause)  But where does the power come from? It comes from these people.

So I would like to apologise for the inconveniences. Regerai, mozvibata. Tichagadzira zvakanaka kuti muve ne a better stay.

I just don’t want what is happening. Saka tichange tichigadzira navaSikhosana and some members of the Central Committee vatichasarudza kuti tiite committee yekubata zvinhu, tiite manage the Conference and the welfare of the Conference.

Alright pamberi nekubatana! Pamberi neZanu-PF yakabatana, neZanu-PF inegwara!

Pambili ngekupambana, ukubambana, okubambana okugcweleyo. Pasi ne MDC!