The ZANU PF youth league has made a series of controversial demands to President Emmerson Mnangagwa, including requiring teachers, nurses, and other civil servants to undergo “ideological re-orientation” at the Chitepo School of Ideology.
According to NewsDay, the ZANU PF youth leaders also called for 20% of all government tenders to be reserved exclusively for young people, and for local authorities to set aside residential stands specifically for the youth.
Mnangagwa met with the ZANU PF youth league members at an interactive meeting held at the party’s national headquarters in Harare on Thursday, where these demands were presented.
Manicaland ZANU PF provincial youth chairperson Stanley Sakupwanya insisted that all civil servants should be compelled to attend the Chitepo ideological training, claiming this is necessary to prevent them from “selling out.” Said Sakupwanya:
Your Excellency, you said that we should attract youths as young as 15 years to join ZANU PF. These youths are in schools and our effort to woo them is hitting a brick wall because of the teachers.
As Manicaland, we proposed that every teacher should undergo training at Chitepo School. From now onwards, we also resolved that those who want to be civil servants, including nurses, should also be taken from those who graduated from Chitepo School.
Mashonaland West ZANU PF provincial youth chairperson Tapiwa Masenda said 20% of all government tenders should be reserved for youths. He said:
We have seen that many companies are getting tenders and we have resolved that there should be a quota system, where youths get 20% of all the tenders.
Masenda also said there should be a resolution that all local authorities should reserve stands for the youths.
In response, Mnangagwa encouraged the youth league members to leverage their positions in government, parliament, local authorities, and various organizations to drive economic empowerment initiatives. He said:
The strategic positions the youth hold in Cabinet, Parliament, local authorities or as board members of various organisations are not designed so that you have clout in your social circles.
Kuti muremere mastreets, Kwete! (so that you become bigwigs in the streets, no!) You have a duty to leverage on those portfolios to wholeheartedly serve the young people of Zimbabwe,” he said.
So far, I commend the majority of those appointed for showing zeal to learn and serve. To sustain the current growth trajectory and further accelerate our country’s modernisation and industrialisation, it is critically important that the youth league promotes and inculcates a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship, driven by science and technology.
ZANU PF’s National Secretary for Youth Affairs, Tino Machakaire, stated that the party’s youth wing will not be silenced when it comes to discussing ZANU PF’s succession politics.
However, President Mnangagwa reaffirmed his commitment to upholding the Constitution and not seeking a third term.
More: Pindula News