Reacting to President Robert Mugabe’s revelations on Saturday, youths said they had no problem with the training if it was run professionally.
“We note with sadness that such otherwise noble schemes in the past were turned into grooming places for violence,” said Francis Rwodzi, the media relations officer of Youth Agenda Trust. He said the service should not only target youths from poor backgrounds, but include government ministers’ children, and called for government to be transparent about the curriculum before the training started.
Wellington Zindove, programmes officer for Youth Forum Zimbabwe, said Zanu (PF) could nt be trusted to implement the programme ‘given their failed past in this regard’.
“Ministries like those for Youths and Indigenisation are clearly not the right custodians of national youth service training as they are heavily politicised. The training should have a national and non-partisan character acceptable by all. The graduates should be true and exemplary citizens envied by people from across the political divide,” Zindove said.
Post published in: News