NOW that the push by the Zanu PF youth wing has yielded
results after government declared President Robert Mugabe’s February 21 date of
birth a national holiday, multitudes of them may be asking themselves the
question, then what?
When Home Affairs minister and Zanu PF secretary for
administration Ignatius Chombo made the announcement on Friday, Zimbabweans may
not have wondered because the country has entered a season of madness.
Madness because every top government appointee now realises
that one has to appease Mugabe and his family to remain in the gravy train,
while the rest of the population continues to wallow in abject poverty. To be
precise, every minister wants to be politically correct.
Indeed, the idea of a youth day is not alien to Zimbabwe,
given that each year, we celebrate the Day of the African Child and
International Youth Day.
But what this day must accomplish is what is missing in the
Zanu PF-run regime’s agenda.
It is our contention that the national youth day should
never be owned by any political outfit like what Zanu PF has done with
Independence Day, Heroes Day and others.
We have no doubt that Mugabe has run his marathon, but
certainly, there is no need for the man to be immortalised as if he is the
country’s sole saviour.
If anything, the youths have suffered the most under
Mugabe’s Zanu PF regime, which uses them as merchants of violence against the
opposition for his selfish means.
Where some countries have come up with youth days, indeed
they have collectively been celebrated. It is, therefore, important for
government to ensure the youth day has a defining goal — that of creating a
better world, driven by peace and the understanding of others.
The day should encourage young people to take charge of
their lives and use opportunities available to them. The concept should also
create opportunities for young people to learn, gain vital skills and to have
the confidence necessary to become productive and successful adults.
The youths should be encouraged to desist from being used
as “dogs of war” in the Zanu PF politics, where they are forced to engage in
violence on behalf of party bigwigs.
But again, we believe that for the youth day to gain
momentum, the economy must start improving. The youth day must be celebrated by
all youths regardless of which political formations they belong.
Given the current state of the economy, we have no doubt
that youths will never really realise the importance of their day, except after
being used by the Zanu PF machinery.
The timing of the declaration of the day also raises
suspicion that Zanu PF would want to take advantage of the country’s youths by
unleashing them on the countryside to coerce people to vote for the ruling
party on the promise that they will be rewarded handsomely afterwards.
This is what must be discouraged by right-thinking Zimbabweans.
A national youth day is for all Zimbabwean youths, and it should benefit all of
them. Newsday Editorial
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