According to section 26 of the new act (Chapter 25:19), all youth organisations will be required to register with the council and each affiliate organisation will be required to pay the council an annual levy of $3 for every member.
Representatives of youth organisations who spoke to The Zimbabwean described the statutory instrument as oppressive and retrogressive.
“It is clear that this instrument was crafted in order to stifle the operations of youth organisations. Youths should have freedom of association as well as freedom to choose what group they want to belong to, rather than being coerced to join the Zimbabwe Youth Council,” said Godwin Phiri, the director of Instcha.com, a Bulawayo-based youth organisation.
Phiri described the instrument as ludicrous and a ploy by the minister to raise money for the Zimbabwe Youth Council. He described the council as a political monster meant to serve the interests of a certain political party. Albert Moyo from the Zimbabwe Youth Forum said Kasukuwere was supposed to have consulted youth organisations before crafting the regulations.
“We were never consulted on this instrument. If we had been consulted, we would have rejected the instrument. This is a clear attempt to ambush our projects such as youth voter education campaigns,” said Moyo.
A National Youth Development Trust representative said youth organisations and the council were supposed to be on good terms.
Post published in: News