Border Gezi youth service return imminent

THE Zanu-PF government may soon revive the infamous Border Gezi youth training service, which was despised by many for alleged sexual and physical abuse of trainees; following resolutions by both the Zanu-PF youths and women's leagues that called for the resumption of the programme at their conferences recently.

The programme was introduced at the turn of the millennium with the aim of drilling revolutionary and patriotic ideologies into the country's young citizens. But Zanu-PF was later accused of turning the graduates into a paramilitary youth militia used to harass political foes. The youth service programme was named after its founder, Border Gezi, who was Zimbabwe's minister for gender, youth and employment creation from 2000 until his death in a car accident in April 2001.

Delegates at the just-ended Zanu-PF youths and women's league conferences clamoured for the return of the youth service and called for the enactment of an Act of Parliament which would make it compulsory for all young Zimbabweans to attend. Both conferences resolved to petition government to urgently re-introduce the national youth service training which is likely to ignite sharp criticism given that many feel that it does not serve the interests of the country but those of the ruling party.

"To recommend that government re-introduces the national youth service under an enabling Act of Parliament as provided for in the Constitution: which must be compulsory and designed to expose youths to work experience, inculcate the right ideological values, instill discipline and empower and equip them to embark on the programmes of value addition and beneficiation," reads the resolution in the youth league conference communiqué, whose copy is in the Financial Gazette's possession.

The Women's League conference which ended on Saturday last week also resolved that "government revives and fully implements the national youth service program, with curricula that includes liberation history, cultural values and norms and sport to promote social cohesion, cultural identity, national unity and patriotism".

The resolutions were adopted for action after re-elected political commissar of the Women's League, Olivia Muchena's motion was seconded by secretary for transport Thokozile Mathuthu. Youth, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Deputy Minister, Mathias Tongofa, confirmed to the Financial Gazette this week that government was mulling plans to re-introduce the compulsory youth training service saying they were only being delayed by lack of resources.

"We are looking at the resources at our disposal currently, whether or not they permit us to roll the programme out. There is a shortage of resources which is a national problem and this is the only reason why we may not be able to start it as soon as we would want," said Tongofa, a former army major.

"We are also studying the current Act to see how it can be aligned to the new Constitution because it is the law which gives the programme its legal basis. We also wish to have it transferred from the Ministry of Defence which currently administers it to our ministry. The President has that prerogative," he added.

Tongofa also said it was wrong to close the training camps which closed shop after starved youths deserted them following the government's failure to sustain their operations. Widespread reports of sexual abuse of female trainees and other forms of physical abuse were reported, leading to the closure.

"We know bad things happen in all institutions as even in schools but you do not close a school because of some people misbehaving. People take it as a bad programme only because there were bad elements but we have to look at its objectives," he said.

The programme never had an easy existence as it came under a barrage of attacks with some questioning why children of top government people never enrolled at the institutions while others condemned it as a government iinitiative to brainwash youths and use them for political expediency.