WHO ARE THE REAL YOUTHS?

Over the years the Zimbabwe has witnessed many socio-political and economic changes. These changes have a direct effect on every age group. However, the most vulnerable group is the youth who remain at the mercy of circumstances. With the scourge of unemployment running rampant, many fall unsuspectingly into the trap of being used for other selfish means by politicians.
The youth constitute the majority of the population, this entails that whenever there is any economic haemorrhage and meltdown, and they are affected the most. Despite this, over the years, the youth have played servitude and prostration at the hands of politicians who have continued to use them as barricades against leadership change and renewal.
The problem we have in Zimbabwe today is that those in positions of leadership are not prepared to relinquish their privileges so as to accommodate the plight of the suffering masses ( youths included)such as dealing with the high rate of unemployment, either because of ideological deficiency and selfishness. Such elements turn to the youth for political survival. Zimbabwe has a wanton record of political led violence. Every time the country goes for elections, violence characterizes the process and it is a morass to a peaceful political transition. All this stifles the democratic process.

Despite having many organizations that purport to advance the concerns of the youth, the majority of youth remain vulnerable to manipulation by politicians. I am not sure if I should conclude that these organizations are not doing enough to advance and raise awareness among the relevant stakeholders. The youth remain unemployed and destitute and this means that as long as the youth remain unemployed, political violence can never be eradicated.
A telling example is the OLD mutual Youth Fund that was politicized from the beginning. To date many youths still live under false hope that their projects are still being considered. Despite the Ministry of Youth and empowerment stating that the agricultural sector received the largest allocation of funds under the Old Mutual Youth Development Fund that was being administered by CABS since 2009, it remains to be seen what the so-called agricultural projects will yield.Acccording to the ministry the agricultural sector received 34% of the grant, distribution took 315%,manufacturing 23%,service 11% and mining1%.The ordinary youth still questions the opaque manner in which the fund was disbursed. The mystery of why their project proposals were turned down continues to haunt many today.
The youth ministry also allege that the fund also benefitted youths from Nyanga, Mutare, Macheke,Bulawayo,Masvingo,Hwange and Gweru. If what the ministry is saying is anything to go by, then an audit of how the youth fund was disbursed is needed to find out if the process was not done in a partisan manner. The audit should be done by an independent commission made of members from civic society, youth leaders from communities and political parties. A cursory cross checking of facts reveals that the fund was abused or diverted for other “projects”.

Recent media reports suggest that The Zimbabwe Youth council that three quarters of the youth who benefitted from the fund diverted the money meant for projects. "Some of you are now asking the reason why we are have resorted to paying for what one would have applied to get for his or her project because the money is being diverted," Livingston Dzikira Zimbabwe Youth Council Director told reporters in Nyanga at the UNICEF workshop,

"So far from the people who have benefited, 70% of them have diverted the funds. Some have taken the loans to pay lobola and those are the same people you seem at public forums denouncing the program”. This reveals serious levels of corruption and graft. In the first place why was the process done secretly? Why did the ministry of youth not do a wide consultation across the country to assess the projects? If the youth council knows as Dzikira clearly states the names of people who abused the fund, what has his office done to deal with such gross abuse of funds?
The youth fund was politicized from from the beginning when Vice president Joice Mujuru officiated the programme under the watchful eye of Kasukuwere.This they saw an opportunity to drum up support for ZANU PF and revive its waning popularity. It’s a pity that most youths not aligned to ZANU actually wasted their time and resources coming with project proposals with the hope of having their proposals approved. It’s not given that half of the youth in the country are politically affiliated to any party, there are some who are just concerned about leading normal lives.

Livingston Dzikira admitted that as far as the disbursing of funds was concerned, he had no oversight and control whatsoever. Asked by reporters at the same occasion of his affiliation to Zanu-PF which has raised concerns by the public over how deserving youths benefit from youth empowerment programme Dzikira said he follows orders given to him by Saviour Kasukuwere, the minister of Youth Empowerment Minister who is Zanu-PF.

"I am an employee, who reports to the board and when the body is not present I give reports directly to the responsible Minister and it is impossible for you to separate me from that otherwise I get fired, "he said. In other words what he was saying is that the youth fund was meant for ZANU PF youths, all he does in his capacity as director is to process finalized suggestions of names from Kasukuwere.Why then did Old mutual and the ministry of youth bother the ordinary youth to apply for the fund when they knew that the fund was meant for ZANU PF youths? The youths had to scavenge for money to prepare and photocopy the project documents when in actual fact they were not qualified for the fund before they even applied.
One startling fact is that Kasukuwere is deputized by Tongai Matutu from MDC-T, the peoples’ part and party of excellence”. What is excellent about the MDC when it cannot question such an injustice as far as the disbursing of the youth fund is concerned.Matutu and his other comrades from the MDC are still obsessed with the luxuries of being in government that come with luxurious cars and bogus allowances while neglecting their role in government? The MDC ministers should not be anyone’s tool in government; they should at least denounce such injustices from within government. The reality within the Ministry of Youth is depressing; no backbone, no drives towards empowering youth save for those affiliated to ZANU PF.
Most youth organizations that claim to stand for the plight of the youth are just lily-livered opportunists united by money and the anti-Mugabe mantra but who remain mentally and materially beholden to other people who in most cases are politicians. The real youth that they claim to represent are just imaginary and non-existent. Many of them just play “a watch and see attitude” even whenever they should advocate.
Despite Zimbabwe being a signatory of many international conventions that respect the role of the youth in economic and political issues, Zimbabwean youths remain on the sidelines in as far as issues of governance and their welfare are concerned. The Zimbabwe Peoples Charter section on youth clearly states that;
“Believing that at all given times the youth, both female and male, represent the present and the future of our country and that all those in positions of leadership nationally and locally must remain true to the fact that our country shall be passed on from one generation to the next,
The People state that, in order for each generation to bequeath to the next a country that remains the epitome of hope, democracy and sustainable livelihoods, the following principles for the youth must be adhered to and respected:
The youth shall be guaranteed the right to education at all levels until they acquire their first tertiary qualification.
The youth shall be guaranteed an equal voice in decision-making processes that not only affect them but the country as a whole in all spheres of politics, the national economy and social welfare. •
The youth shall be guaranteed access to the right to health.
The youth shall not be subject to political abuse through training regimes that connote political violence or any semblance of propaganda that will compromise their right to determine their future as both individuals and as a collective.
The youth have the right to associate and assemble and express themselves freely of their own prerogative.”
The inclusive government has fallen short in addressing any of the tenets of the people’s charter. The principles in the peoples’ charter on youth are social welfaristic that harness together all the socio-economic ills that affect youths daily. The inclusive government continues to sideline the youth in issues such constitution reform, tertiary education, social welfare and health.
I am yet to understand what it means to be a youth in Zimbabwe. Does it mean that you must be a member of a political party youth wing that is used to unleash violence against an innocent, exposed and vulnerable electorate and be given trinkets as a form of reward or be a member of a youth organization where you are allowed certain priviledges?I don’t know. May the real youth stand up!!
Rawlings Magede writes in his personal capacity and can be contacted on rawedge699@gmail.com