Different people from different walks of life have questioned the $17 Million youth relief fund that was announced by the youth minister Kirsty Coventry last week, CITE reports.
According to the publication, some sections of the society are not convinced that the process of disbursing the funds will be as transparent as possible, and they voiced their opinions to CITE and said:
The government always says it is giving youth money but no one has ever seen the cash; it’s a PR (public relations) stunt used by government. It’s almost impossible to fairly distribute funds in Zimbabwe, as history has shown; the only way is order financing; youths always squander the money – Nqobani Nkomo
All businesses and all citizens are affected by the pandemic and as such, rescue funds should be universally disbursedIt is difficult to achieve transparency with government under ZANU-PF, which has all institutions under its capture. It is like expecting to meet virgins in a maternity ward, – ZAPU spokesperson, Iphithule Maphosa
The Mnangagwa regime has already failed the patriotic and impartiality test. It parcels out land, donor aid and food on a partisan basis. ZANU-PF has restricted the distribution of maize and mealie-meal to the Army`s Joint Operations Command. It will be a miracle if the Mnangagwa regime distributes the money to genuinely needy youths – Swithern Chirowodza, Bulawayo provincial spokesperson for the MDC
Firstly I would like to say there is always something sinister about government funds, whether it is relief aid or funds to cushion the populace from the effects of COVID-19. Most of these funds merely exist on paper and there is never a proper detailed audit of how government disburses the funds. If it so happens that the funds really and truly do exist, they are more likely to be disbursed to those who are politically affiliated to the government and one wonders if they will even reach the youth who are supposed to be the primary beneficiaries in this case for instance – Sipho Nyoni, Political Analyst
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