Blame ED on Zim woes: MDC Alliance
THE opposition MDC Alliance youths yesterday blamed President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government for the untold suffering of young people in Zimbabwe because of its poor economic policies and closure of the democratic space.
“The youths are living under the poverty datum line. Those who have tried to go to school have suffered due to the privatisation of the education system and are also failing to get jobs when they finish their education,” MDC Alliance youth assembly secretary-general Ostallos Siziba said yesterday at a party e-rally.
“The majority of the youths between the age of 18 and 35 are without employment. The fundamental problem we are facing in the country is living on less than 25 cents per day. The majority don’t know or have never had a payslip in their lives,” he said, adding that youths from across the political divide should have equal access to land so that they improve their livelihoods.
“The majority of the youths don’t own land. If we are to call young people to show us keys to prove that they own a house, there is none that can do that. We must ask ourselves to what extent this regime should trample upon us. The youths have no savings. We don’t know what saving is because we are living from hand-tomouth,” he said.
Siziba urged youths to defy government repression and open up democratic space.
“If you protest, you will be arrested. They are criminalising non-governmental organisations, and they want to ban the MDC Alliance, they are arresting journalists, persecuting lawyers and closing all the democratic space,” Siziba said.
“What should be done? We have automatically slid into the defiance zone. We have naturally slid into that because of the circumstances around us. We are going to organise resistance. No one is going to stop us from mobilising communities. We are going to demand freedom or fight the dictator. There is no struggle without bruises, a struggle is not a stroll in the park,” he said.
Siziba accused Mnangagwa of resurrecting oppressive Rhodesian-style repressive measures in an effort to establish a one-party State.