Zanu-PF youths rise against Mnangagwa

Zanu-PF youths have demanded that old people who make up most of president Emerson Mnangagwa's government should pave way for younger people with fresh ideas.

Firebrand Zanu-PF political commissar Godfrey Tsenengamu is reportedly leading a chorus of discontent by the youth structures in the party.

Recently Tsenengamu took to social media demanding that the old gaurd- mostly senior citizens above 65 years- should give youths with new ideas a chance to run the country.

"Am 36 and ready to move on from youth into the main wing. After six days of work creating earth, our God took time to rest, even some of our Madalas (old guard) must rest and pave way for the young. Makarwa kurwa kwakanaka chizororaiwo tiwanewo pekupinda (you have fought a good fight) open up the space. It's time to blend youth with experience," wrote Tsenengamu recently.

Party youths who spoke to Bulawayo24.com said they stood behind Tsenengamu as the old guard were clueless about running the country and only wanted to line their pockets while the masses suffered. "Tsenengamu is the voice of the youth and he has the courage to say the old people should move over because he knows he has our backing.

"The old guard has messed up if the truth be told and they clearly have no idea how to put things right. It has come to a stage where it is now embarrassing for the youth to tell people that we are Zanu-PF. We have run out of explanations and excuses about the failure of our leaders. Real change must come if Zanu-PF is to succeed beyond this election term up to 2023," said a youth from Mashonaland Central on condition of anonymity.

A senior party member from Matabeleland North said the party leadership was tired and needed renewal.

"It is clear that a youth revolution that will either destroy or rejuvenate the party is coming and the outcome will be decided by how the leadership handles this inevitable process. Zanu-PF has become more like a community gathering with limited ideas and absolutely no thoughts outside the box. The same outdated principles have been used since Independence to run the country and party. The time has come for a renewal of ideas and leaders," said the leader.

Youths said they viewed Tsenengamu as their champion because he had the guts to tell the party and the world the truth about the state of Zanu-PF.

"Other youth leaders may pretend to toe the party line and behave like they are blinkered to the glaring shortcomings of the leadership but the truth is that most of us are in agreement with Tsenengamu," said one of the youths.

Zanu Pf Youth League Deputy Secretary for Youth Affairs Lewis Matutu on Friday threatened unspecified action against Tsenengamu for the social media outburst.

"The party has been following with interest the series of social posts challenging party policies, for example on land redistribution, compensation of white farmers and most recently his call for elderly party members and leaders to ‘open up space' for young people.

"This on its own shows that Cde Tsenengamu has no respect for party leadership and its policies." In a press statement on Tuesday the Zanu-PF Youth league suggested Tsenengamu might have turned mole as part of a plan by a faction that was aligned to former President Robert Mugabe known as G40.

"We are aware that we have the likes of G40 in our midst but even so because of our vigilance we will not lose the fight but rather the axe will descend mercilessly on counter-revolutionaries and their foreign handlers," the statement added.

"We are the vanguard of the party and it is therefore our duty to make sure that the party is safe from infiltrators and informers, those who have ears to hear take heed."

The Youth League called for members to respect the leadership and use proper channels of communication to air their views.