News / National
Zanu-PF youth divert Old Mutual Youth empowerment fund
23 Sep 2012 at 12:04hrs | Views
Three quarters of the youths who benefited from the Old Mutual Youth empowerment fund diverted the loans, Zimbabwe Youth Council has revealed.
"Some of you are now asking the reason why we are have resorted to paying for what one would have applied to get for his or her project because the money is being diverted," Livingston Dzikira Zimbabwe Youth Council Director told reporters Friday here in Nyanga at the UNICEF organised workshop,
"So far from the people who have benefited, 70% of them have diverted the funds. Some have taken the loans to pay lobola and those are the same people you seem at public forums denouncing the program".
Old Mutual late last year issued US$11 million for youth empowerment programmes.
The fund is being administered by CABS.
Asked by reporters his affiliation to Zanu-PF which has raised concerns by the public over how deserving youths benefit from youth empowerment programme Dzikira said he follows orders given to him by Seviour Kasukuwere, the minister of Youth Empowerment Minister who is Zanu-PF.
"I am an employee, who reports to the board and when the body is not present I give reports directly to the responsible Minister and it is impossible for you to separate me from that otherwise I get fired, "he said.
"This same applies to you guys you have your employers and if you tow the opposite line you will not survive, that is the same situation which I am in," he said.
Journalists asked the actual number of youths who have so far benefited from the Old Mutual Youth Empowerment fund, but Dzikira said he did not have the number off head.
"What I can say is that we are targeting 2 000 youths, and as you can see the number is very small compared to the number of the youths we have nationwide. What is worrying from all those applying for the funds is that they are all submitting chicken rearing project proposals. We have since stopped accepting such proposals.
The Zimbabwe Youth Council since the blaming CABS for denying project proposals.
CABS said they were receiving non bankable project proposals and vowed not to process them.
"Some of you are now asking the reason why we are have resorted to paying for what one would have applied to get for his or her project because the money is being diverted," Livingston Dzikira Zimbabwe Youth Council Director told reporters Friday here in Nyanga at the UNICEF organised workshop,
"So far from the people who have benefited, 70% of them have diverted the funds. Some have taken the loans to pay lobola and those are the same people you seem at public forums denouncing the program".
Old Mutual late last year issued US$11 million for youth empowerment programmes.
The fund is being administered by CABS.
Asked by reporters his affiliation to Zanu-PF which has raised concerns by the public over how deserving youths benefit from youth empowerment programme Dzikira said he follows orders given to him by Seviour Kasukuwere, the minister of Youth Empowerment Minister who is Zanu-PF.
"This same applies to you guys you have your employers and if you tow the opposite line you will not survive, that is the same situation which I am in," he said.
Journalists asked the actual number of youths who have so far benefited from the Old Mutual Youth Empowerment fund, but Dzikira said he did not have the number off head.
"What I can say is that we are targeting 2 000 youths, and as you can see the number is very small compared to the number of the youths we have nationwide. What is worrying from all those applying for the funds is that they are all submitting chicken rearing project proposals. We have since stopped accepting such proposals.
The Zimbabwe Youth Council since the blaming CABS for denying project proposals.
CABS said they were receiving non bankable project proposals and vowed not to process them.
Source - radiovop
