The Masvingo Youth Assembly was supposed to hold a clean-up in the Central Business District just a day before the city joins the nation in celebrating Christmas.
"In fulfilling our party’s theme; “The Courage to be Different” we simply wanted to show the nation that citizens can make a difference by taking time to create a clean environment," Provincial Youth Chairperson Oliver Chirume said.
He said the festive season is more of a polluting time in which people buy fast foods and dumb the litter everywhere in the city and therefore cleaning the city would change the people’s behaviour and attitudes. Chirume said the unclean environment is further exacerbated by a municipal authority that cannot deliver services including cleaning the streets at such a time.
“The city of Masvingo just like any other city in Zimbabwe does not have the capacity to deliver basic services, rates were slashed just like in any other city, there is central government interference and officials are corrupt as reflected in any other city hence the city cannot even install bins on the streets to reduce littering,” he said. This is the third time in less than a month that the police have barred a Renewal Team activity with a clean-up exercise scheduled for Bond Shops in Mt Pleasant also being blocked by the police while an Orange Day rally in Chitungwiza was barred as well.
Hundreds of Masvingo Youth Assembly youths clad in orange T-Shirts scripted the “The Courage to be Different”, had gathered in the city centre armed with brooms and other cleaning tools to carry out the clean-up campaign. The MDC Renewal Team Youth Assembly, therefore, urges the police to respect the country’s Constitution which guarantees political participation and the right to assemble for every citizen
Post published in: News