AT least 5 000 youth, mostly belonging to Zanu PF, are expected to be bussed to Harare to witness the launch of the controversial presidential youth empowerment fund by President Emmerson Mnangagwa tomorrow.
The youth fund is under the spotlight after a similar programme targeting veterans of Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle was launched across the country this year.
While war veterans are receiving US$1,5 million for the 10 provinces through an initiative spearheaded by Mnangagwa’s investment adviser Paul Tungwarara, the youth will get US$2 million to be shared among the country’s 10 provinces.
Tungwarara and Youth Empowerment and VTC minister Tino Machakaire are expected to address delegates at the launch under the theme, Positioning Youth Empowerment towards Vision 2030.
According to organisers, the fund will target job creation, entrepreneurship support, skills development drive and industrialisation including youth-led digital transformation.
The fund also seeks to increase youth participation in agriculture to enhance productivity and exports while ensuring leadership and governance for national stability.
In an interview with NewsDay yesterday, Zanu PF deputy secretary for youth affairs John Paradza said they were ready to host the event.
“We are going to see several youth from various provinces coming to witness the youth empowerment fund where President Emmerson Mnangagwa will be the guest of honour,” he said.
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“The initiative aligns with President Mnangagwa's vision to empower young people and promote economic development in Zimbabwe. President Mnangagwa is leaving no one behind and no place behind and true to his word he is launching the Presidential Youth Empowerment Fund tomorrow.”
Zanu PF Manicaland provincial youth leader Stanley Sakupwanya said 500 youths from his province would be bussed to the venue.
“We are already working on the logistics to transport our youth to this historic event and we are expecting to bus 500 youths in Harare for the launch,” he said.
However, critics dismissed the initiative linking it to Zanu PF succession politics disguised as a national programme. Political analyst Ruben Mbofana yesterday noted the increase in presidential schemes since Mnangagwa assumed power in 2017.
“On paper, they may appear good, they do appear like empowerment, empowering the youth, empowering war veterans, empowering people with various projects and so forth, but we need to be very careful,” he said.
“Are they empowering? Does it mean that beneficiaries of those schemes, the so-called schemes, are now self-sufficient and independent? Or is the government merely taking advantage of the poverty that it has created upon the people of Zimbabwe?”
He challenged the government to provide evidence on the beneficiaries of the schemes.
“Can we say that once you become a beneficiary of a fishery project under the presidential fisheries scheme or something like that, you are now an independent individual? Or are you now effectively beholden to the ruling party?
“Are they giving people self-sufficiency and independence and sovereignty as individuals? Or is the government creating little people who are beholden to it, who are now voiceless, who are no longer independent, who do whatever they are told by the government in fear of losing these schemes and benefits?
“What a government that is responsible should be doing is to empower everyone through a strong economy. Let us have a strong economy, just like we had in the 1980s and when we were growing up in the 1990s.”
Political commentator Rejoice Ngwenya also dismissed the fund as cheap propaganda, adding that government should empower youths with skills.
“The challenge for youth is not money, but how to make money. Populist rhetoric and public exhibitionism of donations create an aura of benevolence but kill innovation. The future lies in knowledge and skills,” he said.
