Youths launch 'ED has my vote'

President Emmerson Mnangagwa will soon engage Zanu-PF youths to map out how they can fully participate in economic activities as the President reaffirms commitment to make the young generation the cornerstone of Zimbabwe's development.

This was said by the ruling party's National Secretary for Youth Affairs Pupurai Togarepi at the launch of the Zanu-PF Youth League's 2018 election campaign under the #EDhasMYVOTE banner.

The campaign is an aggressive

online movement to drum up support for the party's 2018 Presidential election candidate.

Zimbabwe is due to hold harmonised elections in the first half of this year.

At yesterday's swanky campaign launch in Harare, Togarepi told youths to abandon hateful slogans including the "down with/pasi na" chant.

Said Togarepi; "President Mnangagwa is somebody you can talk to. We are going to have interactions with our President very soon. And these interactions are not going to be like those interface rallies.

"The President is ready to hear you; what do you want and what you think will develop Zimbabwe. We will not have rallies when we interact with the President.

"We will be seated in one room like we are doing now; exchanging ideas and you will be telling him what you think will develop the country, giving him proposals on how we can transform the Zimbabwean economy. That is what we plan to do. He is our President, so he must be among us interacting with us."

Togarepi said the online campaign will give the Youth League wide, instantaneous reach to millions of people.

He said the main campaign message will centre on economic development, while insults and name-calling will be shunned.

"The reason why we have launched the hashtag is to defend our revolution," he said. "As the Youth League leadership, we decided that we should communicate what Zanu-PF is, what ED Mnangagwa is through those online platforms.

"Our opponents are also on those platforms. We then agreed that we should engage them, we are not going to use social media as a tool of hate, enmity and insults but we want to use these platforms to communicate our message as Zanu-PF – the beauty of our party and ideology and the principles of our revolution.

"We want to communicate that and I beg you to take this challenge. I know there will be those who will wage war to insult you; don't insult them back but tell them the truth.

"Tell them the truth and defend the revolution. There is no reason whatsoever to hate or insult a member of the opposition for example, engage them.

"Fortunately they have nothing to sell and we have everything to prove that we are the true representatives of our people. So we engage them and liberate their minds and Zimbabwe will prosper."

On slogans he said the party leaders had decided to break from the past.

"(Godfrey) Tsenengamu has said there is no reason now to enjoy saying down with this person or down with that.

"That position has already been adopted by the party leadership. They have said no to that, those words must go. We need to unite our people, to inspire them to contribute to development of Zimbabwe."

Togarepi encouraged young people to be business-minded.

"We don't want to just chant slogans; we want to go into the business sector – we already have land, we will be entering the mining sector as well and we will be processing gold too.

"We are in the process of acquiring a very big number of hammer mills, stamp mills to go and process gold as youths. There is no industry where youths can't operate in as well."

He added that the Youth League would soon launch a competitive public transport company.

Present at yesterday's launch were all national and provincial ruling party youth leaders.