MDC-T Youth Assembly has urged youths in Zimbabwe to refuse to be used as agents of violence and shields to protect loot accumulated by greedy politicians.
Information and Publicity secretary Clifford Hlatwayo said this in a statement yesterday to coincide with International Youth Day (IYD).
The sentiments came hard on the heels of media reports that top officials from Zanu PF in Bulawayo were using party youths to invade buildings owned by businesspeople of Indian origin, in the name of indigenisation.
“The youth of our country have long been used as political appendages by the previous administration,” said Hlatwayo. “Brother has been turned against brother.
Our fellow young men and women in the security sector have been used to harass their own parents. Instead of empowering the youth through decent education programmes and employment, the administration created a Border Gezi youth programme for patronage and marginalisation.
The product of this youth service is being used today as gatekeepers for the wealth that has been looted by greedy elite.”
In a separate statement to mark the same occasion, the Platform for Youth Development Trust (yesterday took a swipe at the inclusive government for what it termed “taking for granted the concerns of youth in remote areas” .
“The young people located in the rural areas, farms and mining compounds are the most affected in all spheres, marginalised, uninformed and taken for granted,” said the youth organisation’s director Claris Madhuku.
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The IYD has been celebrated worldwide since 1991 to recognise efforts of the world’s youth in enhancing a global society.
“The inclusive government has failed to protect young women in marginalised communities where even civil society organisations have been unsuccessful in penetrating in order to provide a platform for engagement,” added Madhuku.
