Under normal circumstances, you cannot fault the head of government for making such an announcement. Generally speaking, national youth service programmes are noble programmes. They promote discipline among youths and impart valuable national identity. Many countries have adopted national youth service in one form or another and the results are mostly good. In southern Africa, we have seen this happening in countries like Botswana, Zambia, Malawi, Namibia and Lesotho.
Even western countries like the US have similar programmes that help citizens appreciate the value of belonging to and identifying with their motherland.
However, Zimbabwe has bad memories of national youth service – remember the Green Bombers? – and its mooted resumption naturally arouses many concerns.
This programme has in the past been conducted on a brazenly partisan basis. Those recruited for training were chosen, groomed and used as Zanu (PF) thugs. The content of the curricula taught to them was clearly biased and recruits were brainwashed to become party foot-soldiers. In fact, they were turned into violent militias who earned notoriety for terrorising, raping, maiming and killing opposition supporters.
That is not what national service is about. Those who participate must be trained to put their country ahead of narrow partisan interests. They must not be used to advance party or political interests.
In that regard, we are also worried about its timing. In three years’ time, we will be holding crucial general elections. Products of the previous national youth service initiative were used to terrorise people in past elections.
There is no reason so far to believe that things will change this time around, considering Zanu (PF)’s history of using terror as an election tool to cow opponents. In any case, why is Mugabe’s government rushing to resume the programme when it is clear that there is no money to fund critical programmes in health and education?
The government is struggling to pay civil servants and many public projects have been put on hold because of the prevailing financial squeeze. The state economic blueprint, ZimAsset, is currently in limbo because there is no money to finance it. The police, prison services and army have scaled down on recruitment simply due to financial problems. Where, then, will the government get the money for youth training? What is so urgent about a programme that, in the past, has proved to be such a big disaster?
Post published in: Editor: Wilf Mbanga