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Nyore Madzianike Manicaland Bureau
The Zanu-PF Youth League has challenged leaders to be consistent with the party’s principles and not abandon voters soon after assuming office. Updating youths on Monday at Redwing Mine hall in Mutasa South constituency about the state of the party, Politburo member and deputy secretary for youth affairs Cde Lewis Matutu said it was high time youths got empowered through various income-generating projects and job creation initiatives.

“Let us all forget about the past and think of our future. We no longer want a party where people will only raise their fists while suffering. When we talk of politics, let us also talk about the economy and development,” said Cde Matutu.

“As youths, we want tangible things. Youths have been for long sidelined in developmental initiatives. When it is election time, the politicians call the youths to do the toyi-toyi and once they are voted into power, they disappear,” he said.

He urged youths in Mutasa South constituency to form groups so that they would be allocated claims for artisanal mining.

Cde Matutu indicated that MDC-T led councils need to allocate vendors space to selltheir wares before removing them from where they are currently operating.

“The MDC-led councils are creating chaos so that people would say the new dispensation is bad. What kind of a nation will it be when it chases away vendors from the trading sites before allocating them places to sell from? There are no jobs and how do they expect people to survive?” he said.

Cde Matutu said youths would soon be accessing loans from banks with which to start income-generating projects.

“We agreed with Minister Kazembe Kazembe, who is now the Minister of Youths, Sports, Arts and Recreation, that in two weeks we will go back and check on progress regarding those loans,” he said.

Zanu-PF’s Manicaland youth leader Cde Tawanda Mukodza said they were looking forward to regularising gold panning in the province. He said they were also looking forward to assisting youths secure land.

“We want to empower our youths so that they have self-sustainable projects. We want youths to be employed and get farms,” he said.

Zanu-PF national youth secretary for finance Getrude Mutandi also echoed the same sentiments, saying there was need to complement President Mnangagwa’s efforts to revive the economy by participating in various developmental initiatives.

“Our President is working tirelessly to turnaround the economy and we should not sit and watch him do it all alone. We should complement his efforts. We need to support him and work towards the development of our country,” she said.