Zimbabwe sitting on a time bomb, minister warns

Youth Empowerment Minister Tinoda Machakaire expressed frustration on Friday over Treasury's failure to settle approved allocations for his ministry as outlined in the 2024 national budget. Machakaire warned that this failure was severely hindering the ministry's ability to carry out crucial youth development and empowerment programmes.

Speaking at a pre-budget seminar in Bulawayo, where concerns about the settlement of approved budgets were raised by several legislators, Machakaire took aim at Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube's ministry for the anomaly. The Youth Empowerment Ministry had been allocated $392 million in the 2024 budget, but it had only received $157 million, a shortfall that Machakaire said was crippling their operations.

"We are as a country sitting on a time bomb if we don't treat the issue of youth empowerment as a priority, considering that the youth are the pulse of our nation," Machakaire stated. "It is important to prioritise the youth since they constitute over 60% of the total population. We cannot keep quiet when the Treasury is suffocating the Youth Ministry by failing to disburse funds for youth empowerment."

Machakaire revealed that the ministry had requested ZiG2.7 billion for the 2025 budget but was only allocated ZiG362 million, a mere 14% of what was needed. He said this amount was insufficient for the ministry to fulfill its mandate, including plans to revive vocational training centres across the country and address other youth-related issues.

"We have a problem of drug and substance abuse in the country, and reviving vocational training centres is one such intervention to fight this scourge of drug abuse," Machakaire added. "However, we cannot do this without adequate funding from the Treasury. We require infrastructure development and funding to upgrade vocational training centres to upskill youth and take them away from drugs."

Zimbabwe currently has 45 vocational training centres and 25 satellite stations, which Machakaire said were essential in providing skills and combating rising drug abuse among the youth.

It was also revealed that the Ministry of Youth Empowerment did not receive any funding from Treasury this year, further aggravating the challenges facing the ministry.

Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube is expected to announce the 2025 budget later this month, with reports indicating that it will prioritize economic recovery and strengthening the local currency. However, Machakaire's comments suggest that, without proper funding for youth empowerment, the government's efforts to tackle youth unemployment and substance abuse may be undermined.