Soccer helps bury political hatchet

The “Campaign for Peace Match” was a brainchild of the Centre for Community Development Zimbabwe, introduced to foster mutual understanding and political tolerance among youths in the volatile province.

The first ever tournament to bring together youths from the two political parties in the area saw seven football teams and one netball team battle it out for the $1,200 prize money.

CCDZ Programmes Officer, George Makoni said the involvement of youths in peace building initiatives was critical if Zimbabwe was to hold free and peaceful elections. Because the area is a political hotspot due to the high incidence of violence, the peace campaign is aimed at “cooling down the tempers of youths from both parties in preparation for elections.

“We realised that the gospel of peace preached by political leaders is not cascading to the grassroots level, where there is rampant political violence during and after elections. Because of this we mobilised youths from both partiesto come for this tournament after attending a peace building workshop the previous day at Zhombwe in Ward 8.”

Youths turned out in large numbers, which he said was an indication that they were willing to refrain from violence. “We targeted youths because they are in most cases victims and perpetrators of political violence, yet they are the key stakeholders in a peaceful Zimbabwe,” said Makoni.

He expressed concern at the low turnout of young women, saying: “Young women should be actively involved in such initiatives because violence affects them more than men. They are in most cases raped and they are the caregivers for victims of violence.”

Ward 5 Councillor Marshal Mahachi said politicians should engage the youths and continue to encourage political tolerance. “Politicians mislead the people as they encourage peace and tolerance at public forums, yet when they are behind closed doors they incite violence,” he said.

Mahachi commended CCDZ for organising the tournament and said it had shown that co- existence and political tolerance was possible. Ward 6 football team scooped the first prize while Shambahweta were the runners up. Zaranyika netball team won the first prize because they were the only team that turned up for the tournament.