Youths did not benefit from land reform: Moyo

The committee, which called up JOWOG and the National Association of Youth Organisations to give evidence regarding the situation of youth in relation to the government’s black empowerment policy, was told that young people failed to get land.

The few who did get access to farmland were said to be struggling to till and produce because of lack of resources.

As a result, Moyo said, young people were finding life unbearable and didn’t have the means to secure even basics like food and shelter.

“The situation prevailing with the empowerment programme is bizarre, as those few allocated land lack relevant skills, while those equipped with agricultural expertise have no access to land,” Moyo told the committee, chaired by Gokwe North MP Justice Wadyejena.

Moyo told the legislators that young people failed to benefit from cash loans from government for projects since they didn’t have the required collateral. Parliament was urged to help revisit the loans conditions and make it easier for struggling youths to start their own self-sustaining projects.

Moyo took a swipe at Zimbabwe’s school and college curricula, which, he said, continued to churn out people with skills not relevant to the country’s indigenisation policy.

“The country continues to produce thousands of graduates who cannot find relevant jobs due to the agricultural slanted nature of our economy,” said Moyo.

Government was called on to revive vocational centres with courses tailored to meet the needs of the economy.

The need for mature leadership and professionals to mentor young people was highlighted “since some old people are not inclined to impart knowledge to youths and prefer to die with it”.

Crimes, such as the recent poisoning of elephants, was partly attributed to idle young people who were denied a chance to participate in economic activities.

The parliamentarians quizzed the young people about how they dealt with the challenge of representing groups from across the political divide.

“How are you harmonizing the interests of youth from some political groupings opposed to the indigenisation policy?” probed Wadyejena, amid criticism from some legislators who said the question would confuse the youths.

In response, Moyo said, at youth level, they had not experienced conflicting economic interests among their membership.

Analysts blame the self-centred older generation of politicians for grabbing every economic opportunity at the expense of the young.

Some observers have accused the older generation of denying youths economic space, as they regard young people as tools for political purposes.

Those few benefiting from Zimbabwe’s economic activities were said to be either connected to influential people or were using corruption and other unscrupulous practices.