Sacrifices by the youth are enduring

“ZIMBABWE will not die; young people will save it.”

Dr Obert Moses Mpofu

I cannot think of a more powerful statement than these words by the late Father Zimbabwe, our former Vice President, Dr Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo.

Indeed, the task is always for the youth to save their motherland and defend the gains of the liberation struggle, which some of us fought for in our youth.

His Excellency President Mnangagwa, myself and other comrades realised that we could no longer accept the status quo that existed at the time and thus made the decision to fight for our freedom at an early age.

We sacrificed our youthfulness to rescue the country from the jaws of colonialism, an act we do not regret to this day.

As a matter of fact, we in leadership have spent our entire lives in sacrifice and service to the cause.

Zimbabwe was fought for and liberated by the youth.

For those of us in leadership today, ours has been a life of sacrifice.

This country was mostly fought for by young people, who are old people today.

It was because of their discipline and resolve to liberate the country that made them sacrifice for the cause.

President Mnangagwa was incarcerated when he was a young man.

He went to prison because he had made the bold decision to fight for the independence of his motherland at an early age.

It is amazing that at that young age, he had realised that life would be meaningless if he did not fight for the motherland.

Thus, our youthfulness was spent serving a noble cause.

Indeed, each generation is often confronted by its own struggles.

Ours was to free our motherland and take back our land.

The youth of today must defend the gains of the liberation struggle against relentless attacks from our detractors.

Youthfulness is indeed the greatest resource and ultimate weapon against those who seek to keep us under subjugation.

Our youths must be torchbearers and carry forth the light until we are fully emancipated.

Dear youth born in a free Zimbabwe, yours is a simple task — one of defending your motherland against our detractors.

Discipline, patriotism and loyalty are the tenets we espoused during our time, and these are the tools that our dear youth should rely on in defence of our motherland.

The comrades who died in Mozambique, Zambia and here in Zimbabwe during the liberation struggle were not old people, but youths.

This country’s foundation was built by the sweat and blood of these youths.

In order to attain a future we can all be proud of, the Second Republic, under the able leadership of President Mnangagwa, proclaimed February 21 the Robert Gabriel Mugabe National Youth Day.

The purpose of the National Youth Day — formally known as the 21st February Movement — is to instil the right ideology in the youth.

To celebrate this important day, more than 30 000 young people from across the country converged on Mushagashe Vocational Training Centre in Masvingo on Wednesday for the main celebrations.

This year’s theme was “Positioning youth empowerment and development towards achieving Vision 2030”.

To demonstrate the importance of this day, the celebrations were graced by President Mnangagwa, who was the guest of honour.

The President has a firm belief in the country’s youths and their drive, as well as leadership capabilities.

He has thus initiated deliberate policies that seek to ensure that the youth excel in all sectors of the economy.

The National Youth Day serves as a stark reminder of what a patriotic youth should do to play a part in the development of their country.

This is more so now that the independence we have and the deliberate policies introduced by successive ZANU PF Governments since 1980 have allowed them to acquire the necessary skills for driving our country forward.

We have one of the best education systems and our people are among the most educated on the continent.

Indeed, the youth of yesterday made the ultimate sacrifice so that the youth of today can prosper and flourish.

Our youths of today are quite fortunate to be living in a time when most of the work has been done by the youths of yesterday.

The schools, universities and colleges that were established have afforded them the opportunity to acquire skills, which they are to use responsibly.

Evidently, had it not been for youths of yesterday, they would not have had these opportunities they are enjoying today.

Young people have a critical role to play in economic development and they are an important resource that should be tapped into.

Our youths will determine our nation’s future.

Dr Obert Moses Mpofu is an academic and the Secretary-General of ZANU PF. He writes in his own capacity.