African youths, students honour President
AFRICAN youths and students attending the 19th festival for youths and students here have set aside a day to celebrate President Mugabe for his determined stand against imperialism.
The event will run under the theme “President Robert Mugabe: The champion of land redistribution and total restoration of natural resources from imperialists to the African masses”.
In an interview yesterday, ZANU-PF Secretary for Youth Affairs Cde Kudzanai Chipanga, who is here for the International Festival of Youths and Students, described President Mugabe as a revolutionary leader who has been leading from the front in pushing for the economic emancipation of both Zimbabweans and Africans.
This, he said, has been manifested through
the country’s land reform programme, which has made Zimbabwe one of the only countries on the continent to restore land to its rightful owners, the indigenes.
He also noted that President Mugabe’s academic excellence should encourage African youths to pursue education, so that they become exemplary leaders capable of formulating sound policies that help improve livelihoods.
The wing’s secretary for external affairs, Cde Anastacia Ndhlovu, who is also the Tourism and Hospitality Industry Deputy Minister, said President Mugabe has succeeded in building support structures for the Land Reform Programme.
“He has ensured that the country is food self-sufficient; he has come up with a number of initiatives to consolidate the work done in redistributing the land through support schemes through the banks; Zimbabwe has an agricultural bank to support the land reform programme,” she said.
Speaking at the same forum, South Africa’s ANC Youth League secretary-general Cde Njabulo Nzuza said President Mugabe was a living example of the leadership that Africa needs for it to move forward.
“Our land is our wealth. Without our land, we have nothing. There are no European settler, who came with parcels of land, they found land in Africa. They cannot today say they want to uproot poverty from Africa because they brought poverty to Africa,” Cde Nzuza said.
He also challenged youths at the festival to be proactive and take the initiative rather than waiting for conferences and festivals in foreign capitals in order to discuss the continent’s politics and economics.
Responding to the proposed idea of convening one such meeting on the continent, Cde Chipanga suggested that the ZANU-PF Youth League would be happy to oblige.