Chinamasa's budget grotesque and incomprehensible to the youth of Zimbabwe

You would be forgiven to think you are in Coocooland by reading the budget statement from the Finance Minister. Zimbabwe is experiencing a structural regression, with the acceleration of deindustrialisation and informalisation of the economy. Against this backdrop, the economy ONLY grew by 3.1% in 2014. Lo and behold, this is against Zambia's 7.1%, Malawi's 6.1%, Mozambique's 8.5% and Botswana's 5.1%.

Education

The Minister has proposed to give a paltry $4.3Million to develop our Secondary and Primary schools; the figure also includes the procurement of learning materials. Ridiculous as it sounds, this is less than the $5 Million given to the Presidential scholarship fund which only benefits a few individuals linked to ZANU Pf. Surely this government is taking us for a ride. To make it even WORSE, the government ONLY allocated $1Million to the National Student Grant and Loan Scheme which is supposed to cater for the whole country. Surely something is not right with this Zanu government.

Youth Unemployment

According to the Minister youth unemployment stands at around 83.5%, whilst we welcome the creation of the youth employment fund ($500 000), it is just a drop in the ocean and will serve no purpose. Instead it will be chewed by merciless, corrupt Zanu Pf thugs in the various Districts that it is being injected into. According to the figures every District will receive $2,400; surely this is a big joke.

We call upon the government to abolish the Presidential scholarship scheme which not only benefits the chosen Zanu Pf youths but also is being exported outside the country whilst our institutions are bleeding.

Overall this Budget is regressive and while it affects everyone society – will disproportional affect many low income vulnerable sections of society more than the middle to higher income groups. The measures employed will leave many young people with little option but to leave the country in search of better opportunities.

To my fellow youths, this government has failed time and again; they are only concerned about power and enriching themselves. Our State media will never critically analyse the state of the economy, instead you have the Herald's editor who only gets excited when there is Politburo meeting than when the cabinet is meeting. You often see him write on his Facebook that "wouldn't you like to be a fly in that room"; this clearly shows their priorities.

This is a catastrophic failure by those who are supposed to represent the masses. The only thing left is removing this government by any means necessary