The Sunday Mail
Minister of Truth with Cde Jason Zhuwao
I don’t believe in charity. I believe in solidarity.
Charity is vertical, so it’s humiliating. It goes from the top to the bottom. Solidarity is horizontal. It respects the other and learns from others.
The youth have a lot to learn in solidarity with President Mugabe.
Reverend Dr Martin Luther King Jr once upon a time said, “One of the great liabilities of history is that all too many people fail to remain awake through great periods of social change.”
Every society has its protectors of the status quo and its fraternities of the indifferent who are notorious for sleeping through revolutions.
Today, our very survival depends on our ability to stay awake, to adjust to new ideas, to remain vigilant and to face the challenge of advancement with boldness.
The Zanu-PF Youth League’s leadership in particular and membership in general has the huge responsibility of not only mobilising young people to vote for the ruling party come 2018, but also of promoting and above all implementing programmes that carry forward our national aspirations of socio-economic transformation.
It is with that in mind that the Minister of Truth congratulates the Zanu-PF youth League for successfully hosting a well-attended Million Man March, and most importantly for flexing their muscles as a key component of the party at a time the opposition is dreaming of victory in the 2018 elections.
But now that the Million Man March is over, the question is: “Where do we march to from here?”
In his own words at the historic occasion, Cde Kudzi Chipanga said, “We now want what we have requested from the party to be implemented”.
What we have is a Youth League that is driving the political, social and economic aspirations of the country without fear or favour.
Indeed, we have a Youth League that gives President Mugabe and the rest of the party leadership peace of mind whenever they think of the future of this country in general and of Zanu-PF in particular.
Furthermore, Zanu-PF has a long-standing resolution known as the Youth Quota which has to be implemented.
This calls upon parastatals to include young people in their boards of directors as a way insuring youths fully participate in the country’s socio-economic turnaround.
The Ministry of Youth, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment has commissioned the Zimbabwe Youth Empowerment Strategy to engage young people on how best Government can invest in their innovation and resilience to have us unlock develop our economy and improve the lives of our people going forward.
The Zanu-PF Youth League is fully committed to ensuring that the National Youth Policy is implemented for youth participation in the mainstream economy.
This calls for greater youth participation in agriculture, mining, the commercial sector, tourism and in industrial economic activity.
Experience has shown that the sustainable growth of our economy will need to be driven by youth empowerment and the Zanu-PF youth leadership has taken a leading role in implementing programmes towards this end.
Zanu-PF has a long-standing Annual National People’s Conference resolution stating that a substantial amount of land earmarked for resettlement, but which remains unallocated, should be distributed to the young people of Zimbabwe.
In addition to this, housing allocation — which the ruling party’s Youth League is currently structuring to ensure that more young people benefit — should bear in mind the needs of the youth.
The Ministry of Truth would also like to express satisfaction with the Youth League’s efforts to promote the National Youth Agenda under the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation.
So now that the Million Man March is over, the walk continues in the direction of implementation of agreed positions.
The challenge to develop our country is a challenge that all of us — young and old — must accept.
