Youth League disowns document

The Interfaces are the product and property of the Youth League and we will guard them jealously . . . It is therefore not in the DNA of the party or the nation to disrespect our leadership . . .

THE Zanu-PF Youth League has dismissed a document fraught with errors circulating on social media and the Internet as the official statement delivered by national secretary Cde Kudzanai Chipanga on Monday.

Cde Chipanga delivered a statement condemning the rowdy behaviour of some misfits who disrupted Dr Grace Mugabe’s address during the penultimate Presidential Youth Interface Rally in Bulawayo last Saturday.

The Youth League said the document circulating was a draft version that was not edited and it was not clear who was behind its publication and their motives.

In his address, Cde Chipanga said: “We, the youths of Zimbabwe wish to apologise unconditionally to the Head of State and Government, President of the Republic and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces and First Secretary of ZANU-PF, His Excellency the President Cde Robert Gabriel Mugabe and mother of the nation, Secretary for Women’s Affairs, Her Excellency the First Lady Amai Dr Grace Mugabe for the disruptions during the Youth Interface rally in Bulawayo.

“We wish to distance ourselves from such conduct and condemn it in the strongest possible terms. Whilst this conduct was perpetrated by a tiny minority bussed by enemies of our struggle to disrupt and distract the main agenda, we wish to sincerely and humbly apologise as this was done at our event as the Youth League.

“Disruption of our Mother, the First Lady, at the Bulawayo rally over the weekend therefore, merits the strongest censure and condemnation by the Zimbabwean youths.

“Whilst this is a free country where this cabal of irrelevant, filthy and birdbrained sorry lot can have the temerity of exposing their emptiness and crass stupidity, we the youths will no longer sit back whilst our agenda is hijacked and the tenets that pin our revolutionary party are being torn to shreds.”

ZANU-PF Youth League position on the disturbances at the 9th leg of the Presidential Youth Interface Rally on the 4th of November 2017, White City Stadium, Bulawayo The trendsetting and pioneering Presidential Youth Interface Rallies were set in response to a clarion call by the youth of Zimbabwe as concerned stakeholders seeking the ear of the venerable leader of Zimbabwe, President Robert Gabriel Mugabe, the Head of State and Government and Commander in Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces.

There has been a magnificent response by the youths and it has awakened the youths’ interest in nation building and participation in the national discourse. The aim of the Interfaces is to offer the youths of every province a chance of hearing the President of the party address their concerns and they would in turn raise their issues and receive appropriate responses as a way of placing the hands of the youths on the national pulse.

However, events of last Saturday in Bulawayo have exposed a group of malcontents, reckless, uncouth and spineless minority seeking relevance and a platform for their rent-seeking nature. These narrow-minded rebels with myopic interests have sought to hijack and disturb these interfaces that are central to the national agenda.

As the youths, we will not sit idly and let these rebels hijack such a vital national project which is the lifeblood of national debate and prevent our concerns from being heard and addressed just to please the narrow and shallow agenda of an increasingly irrelevant, criminally unethical and morally decadent minority.

We, the youth of Zimbabwe wish to apologise unconditionally to the Head of State and Government, President of the Republic of Zimbabwe and Commander in Chief of the Defence Forces and First Secretary of ZANU-PF, His Excellency President Robert Gabriel Mugabe and the mother of the nation, Secretary of ZANU-PF Women’s League, First Lady, Amai Dr Grace Mugabe for the disruptions during the Youth Interface Rally in Bulawayo.

We wish to distance ourselves from such conduct and condemn it in the strongest terms. While this conduct was perpetrated by a tiny minority bussed by enemies of our struggle to disrupt and distract us from the main agenda, we wish to sincerely and humbly apologise as this was done at our event as the Youth League.

Disruption of our Mother, The First Lady at the Bulawayo Interface Rally over the weekend therefore, merits the strongest censure and condemnation from the Zimbabwean youths.

While this is a free country where this cabal of irrelevant, filthy and birdbrained sorry lot can have the temerity of exposing their emptiness and crass stupidity, we the youths will no longer sit back while out agenda is hijacked and the tenets that underpin our Revolutionary party are being torn to shreds. The Interfaces are the product and property of the Youth League and we will guard them jealously. ZANU-PF as a revolutionary party and Zimbabwe as a democratic country, are built on principles of mutual respect, common national interest and respect for protocol. It is therefore not in the DNA of the party or the nation to disrespect our leadership or to launder dirty linen in the public eye.

Unfortunately, it is the malice and selfish nature of those behind the bussing of disruptive thugs that have motivated this response. We as the youths are not blind to the identity of the parties behind this unpalatable behaviour and we are alive to their machinations and devices. We are therefore, sending a message to these people and their handlers that this country was built on the ultimate sacrifice of our people whose blood watered the revolution.

The person of the Head of State and Government is sacred and more so the integrity and reputation of the First Lady is untouchable. As the President clearly spelt out on Saturday, these clowns masquerading as genuine party members, while promoting the hostile agenda of the party’s (then) co-VP Cde E.D Mnangagwa are free to take their circus to the political zoo by forming their own party.

For the avoidance, the Youth League is fully behind the secretary for Women’s Affairs in calling for the urgent removal of Cde Mnangagwa from the position of Vice President both in Government and the party.

That position is a straitjacket and must be handed back to the Women’s League. The Women’s League will guide us on the way forward regarding their preferred candidate.

However, keeping in mind that the woman Vice President shall be Vice President for the whole nation, Youth League included, it has ignited us to take interest and position on the selection of the woman candidate. It has to be one acceptable and loyal to the party and its Principal, the President, one without ambition to work against the President. The only person possessing such qualities is the leader of the Women’s League, none other than Her Excellency, Amai Dr Grace Mugabe. I thank you. Pasi neLacoste!