Opinion / Columnist
Excuse us Mr Old Man Sir, Our time is Now!
30 Jun 2015 at 19:41hrs | Views
WE the youths of ZAPU (Youth Front), are utterly disgusted at the continued unfolding drama within the ruling ZANU party and government at the expense of imperative governance issues that brings bread and butter at the tables of the hunger stricken ordinary Zimbabweans.
It is so disheartening that it is the ordinary people who are the ultimate losers. One cannot dispute that the major preoccupation of those supposed to be administering national issues for the betterment of our society- regardless of political affiliation, race, religion or colour -is that of retaining positions in the faction riddled ZANU party.
All of this is happening while the President Robert Mugabe is literally sleeping on duty.
This monumental robbery on Zimbabweans by power greedy and self centered ZANU government goes unabated as the youths, who are the majority of the population feel the hard pinch of poverty, uncertainty and misery due to acute joblessness.
Where are the 2 million jobs promised in the run-up to the controversial July 2013 general election, that's the million dollar question?
And can we have a feedback on the tangible results yield so-far from the high sounding-nothing ZIMASSET rhetoric policy, in terms of turning around the fortunes of an economy mercilessly torn apart by corruption and misgovernance?
As law abiding citizens of Zimbabwe who aspire to the founding vision of a prosperous, peaceful and human rights conscious nation, the very values inherited from our late founding leader and Father Zimbabwe, Dr Joshua Nkomo, we demand our fair share of the national cake now.
It bleeds our hearts to note that this greedy and self-centered government that is overzealously preoccupied with self-enrichment has not only destroyed the economy, but the moral, political and social fabric as well, with lasting ruinous effects for decades to come.
Corruption that started with the untamed ZANU elites who have unparalleled immunity to the rule of law has eaten hard on all critical state and public institutions and regrettably has even cascaded down to the grassroots and the private sector.
The Auditor General's recent revelations of violation of state tender procedures, awarding of dubious salaries and allowances by senior public officials (salary- gate), was spot on.
Although this was long overdue since the poverty weary citizens had long raised these fears, we anxiously wait for the sweet news that those found dipping their filthy fingers in state coffers are dully brought to book without fear or favour.
But we really know that will never be. Our youthful and alert minds are awake to the fact that exposing and acting on corruption for the elite has never been a state priority but a calculative means to silence those officials perceived to be growing big-headed.
The case of former vice president Joyce Mujuru alongside other ousted former ZANU stalwarts such as Didymus Mutasa who are being said to be under police investigations are just testament to that.
Why now, where was the police when they were still in ZANU and oiling Bob's back (master of deception) with- their patronage?
Needless to say, our mother and our sisters have been affected most with young girls being forced to commercialize their bodies in search of the ever evasive American dollar, while exposing themselves to the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
No wonder why the unashamed in the top echelons of authority are crying loudest to make it legal for fewer than 12 girls to consent to sex.
That the current economic and political mishap has taken a ruthless toll on the psyche of the young and energetic young population goes without saying.
Alarming statistics of youth's drug abuse have been recorded to that effect. Harare Hospital alone recorded 135 drug-induced psychosis admissions in 2013, while 865 outpatients' cases were also recorded in the same year, according to statistics from the Ministry of Health and Child Care's Department of Mental Health.
The reason behind this sad scenario is clear. By losing out on utilizing on its abundant natural resource-its youthful population- the arrogant ZANU government has forced these to try everything in order to avoid the grueling reality about their circumstances.
The sad reality of the matter is that while some high officials from the comfort of their five star hotels, tell the world that ZIMASSET is the magic remedy to all our troubles, this will only remain a dream.
Someone out there is cashing in on our misery. We know what happened with the supposedly Youth Fund where companies were fleeced through the name of youth empowerment?
Someone is cashing in on the plight of vendors, many of them youths and jobless graduates who were forced into the streets by poverty.
Someone is cashing in on the landless and in the name of availing homes to these needy people and it's true that the nation has exhausted any hopes in a ZANU establishment.
A ZAPU government will make sure that its citizens do not become prisoners in their own motherland through ensuring devolution of power, investor friendly policies, zero tolerance on corruption, rule of law, de-politicization of state institutions, freedom of speech ,dialogue and government accountability.
Inserted by ZAPU YOUTH FRONT
It is so disheartening that it is the ordinary people who are the ultimate losers. One cannot dispute that the major preoccupation of those supposed to be administering national issues for the betterment of our society- regardless of political affiliation, race, religion or colour -is that of retaining positions in the faction riddled ZANU party.
All of this is happening while the President Robert Mugabe is literally sleeping on duty.
This monumental robbery on Zimbabweans by power greedy and self centered ZANU government goes unabated as the youths, who are the majority of the population feel the hard pinch of poverty, uncertainty and misery due to acute joblessness.
Where are the 2 million jobs promised in the run-up to the controversial July 2013 general election, that's the million dollar question?
And can we have a feedback on the tangible results yield so-far from the high sounding-nothing ZIMASSET rhetoric policy, in terms of turning around the fortunes of an economy mercilessly torn apart by corruption and misgovernance?
As law abiding citizens of Zimbabwe who aspire to the founding vision of a prosperous, peaceful and human rights conscious nation, the very values inherited from our late founding leader and Father Zimbabwe, Dr Joshua Nkomo, we demand our fair share of the national cake now.
It bleeds our hearts to note that this greedy and self-centered government that is overzealously preoccupied with self-enrichment has not only destroyed the economy, but the moral, political and social fabric as well, with lasting ruinous effects for decades to come.
Corruption that started with the untamed ZANU elites who have unparalleled immunity to the rule of law has eaten hard on all critical state and public institutions and regrettably has even cascaded down to the grassroots and the private sector.
The Auditor General's recent revelations of violation of state tender procedures, awarding of dubious salaries and allowances by senior public officials (salary- gate), was spot on.
Although this was long overdue since the poverty weary citizens had long raised these fears, we anxiously wait for the sweet news that those found dipping their filthy fingers in state coffers are dully brought to book without fear or favour.
But we really know that will never be. Our youthful and alert minds are awake to the fact that exposing and acting on corruption for the elite has never been a state priority but a calculative means to silence those officials perceived to be growing big-headed.
The case of former vice president Joyce Mujuru alongside other ousted former ZANU stalwarts such as Didymus Mutasa who are being said to be under police investigations are just testament to that.
Why now, where was the police when they were still in ZANU and oiling Bob's back (master of deception) with- their patronage?
Needless to say, our mother and our sisters have been affected most with young girls being forced to commercialize their bodies in search of the ever evasive American dollar, while exposing themselves to the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
No wonder why the unashamed in the top echelons of authority are crying loudest to make it legal for fewer than 12 girls to consent to sex.
That the current economic and political mishap has taken a ruthless toll on the psyche of the young and energetic young population goes without saying.
Alarming statistics of youth's drug abuse have been recorded to that effect. Harare Hospital alone recorded 135 drug-induced psychosis admissions in 2013, while 865 outpatients' cases were also recorded in the same year, according to statistics from the Ministry of Health and Child Care's Department of Mental Health.
The reason behind this sad scenario is clear. By losing out on utilizing on its abundant natural resource-its youthful population- the arrogant ZANU government has forced these to try everything in order to avoid the grueling reality about their circumstances.
The sad reality of the matter is that while some high officials from the comfort of their five star hotels, tell the world that ZIMASSET is the magic remedy to all our troubles, this will only remain a dream.
Someone out there is cashing in on our misery. We know what happened with the supposedly Youth Fund where companies were fleeced through the name of youth empowerment?
Someone is cashing in on the plight of vendors, many of them youths and jobless graduates who were forced into the streets by poverty.
Someone is cashing in on the landless and in the name of availing homes to these needy people and it's true that the nation has exhausted any hopes in a ZANU establishment.
A ZAPU government will make sure that its citizens do not become prisoners in their own motherland through ensuring devolution of power, investor friendly policies, zero tolerance on corruption, rule of law, de-politicization of state institutions, freedom of speech ,dialogue and government accountability.
Inserted by ZAPU YOUTH FRONT
Source - ZAPU YOUTH FRONT
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