WHEN Zanu PF youths in Chinhoyi booed politburo member and Justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi, they were not just expressing anger — they were tearing the mask off Zimbabwe’s politics of deceit.
At the weekend, young people openly booed Ziyambi — a rare act of defiance in a country where silence is often the safer option.
Their frustration? Unfulfilled promises that have become a political trademark.
They demanded a fair share of land and cattle under the much-publicised Presidential Heifer Scheme.
“We are tired of promises without implementation,” one said.
Another added bitterly: “Some of us were given offer letters for land that does not exist.”
These voices cut to the core of Zimbabwe’s politics: pledges dangled like carrots at rallies, only to be forgotten once the crowds disperse.
The youth can no longer be fooled.
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Being the majority of the population, the youth have for years been treated as disposable campaign tools.
They are mobilised for rallies, used as foot soldiers during elections and discarded once the ballot boxes are packed away.
But Sunday’s event showed us that they are not fools. They see through the lies.
They see clearly that they are being used as pawns — mobilised for slogans, campaigns and votes, then abandoned.
“Give us land as promised. You just want to use us. Now you are talking about 2030 without honouring the 2028 promises,” one young person vented.
That statement alone is a damning indictment on a leadership that thinks it can mortgage the future while failing to deliver the present.
The youth are the backbone of the economy, the future of the country, yet they are treated as expendables.
Empty promises cannot feed their families, create jobs or provide livelihoods.
Offer letters for ghost land are not empowerment. It is fraud.
For far too long, politicians have thrived on lies dressed up as promises.
They promise land, livestock, jobs, empowerment — only for those pledges to vanish once the rallies end.
Chinhoyi’s youth finally called it out: enough is enough.
The weekend protest should be a wake-up call.
It’s sad that the leaders are already talking about Vision 2030 while they still owe citizens the promises of 2028.
How can they sell the future when they have failed to deliver the present?
Politicians must understand: you cannot build a nation on deception.
You cannot empower people with ghost land, phantom cattle and empty rhetoric.
And you cannot silence a generation forever with slogans.
A restless, disillusioned youth is a ticking time bomb.
Politicians must stop lying, stop dangling schemes that never materialise and start delivering tangible, inclusive development.
Because one day, the booing will turn into something far louder.
Zimbabwe’s young people deserve better — not political fraud. They deserve honesty, dignity and delivery.
Now is the time to turn frustration into organisation.
To move from anger to action. To demand accountability, not slogans. To refuse to be used and discarded. To insist that promises made must be kept.
Because change does not come from above — it comes from below, from the restless majority that has had enough of betrayal.
If politicians choose to cling to their lies, the youth must cling to their power.
And that power lies in unity, mobilisation and an unyielding demand for truth and delivery.
Zimbabwe’s youth must rise. Not tomorrow. Not in 2030. Now.
The booing in Chinhoyi at the weekend was not just noise. It was a warning.
If leaders continue to cheat the youth, the day will come when betrayal will no longer be tolerable.
