Police were on Wednesday called in to quell clashes between Zanu PF
and MDC youths during a poll to elect the leadership of the Bulawayo chapter
of the Zimbabwe Youth Council (ZYC) in the spirit of the inclusive
government formed in February.

The fighting took place at Mhlahlandlela Government Complex after Zanu
PF youths allegedly declined to share top executive positions they were
holding before the unity government was formed.

About 200 youths from Zanu PF and MDC were in attendance. The ZYC
falls under the Youth ministry and its role is to facilitate, among other
issues, national youth training, employment, access to resources and
entrepreneurship. The youth council gets its funding from the fiscus.

Thamsanqa Mahlangu, the deputy Youth minister, confirmed the clashes
between the MDC and Zanu PF youth.

“There were clashes in Bulawayo because Zanu PF has been abusing the
ZYC and had turned it into a party property,” Mahlangu said. “We are going
to dissolve the current youth council because it is not inclusive, it is
Zanu-nised.”

He said the council was appearing like an extension of Zanu PF.

“We have agreed to put a new inclusive structure and to decentralise
the ZYC so that it represents all Zimbabwean youth across the political
divide,” the deputy minister said.

Witnesses to the clashes said the Zanu PF youths were adamant that the
top positions they were holding were not for contest as the MDC were
“newcomers” and did not know how the youth council operates.
“Zanu PF youth were arguing that they were supposed to be given all
the top positions without any contest,” one of the witnesses said.

Running battles, the witnesses said, started after the Zanu PF youths
dug in their heels insisting that they should be allowed to hang on to the
top positions. Mahlangu said after the Wednesday clashes, fresh elections
have been slated for today at Mhlahlandlela Government Complex.

He added that his ministry last week “removed the ZYC offices from
Zanu PF headquarters” to Mkwati Building in Harare.

“It is clear that the youth council had been Zanu-nised. How can you
have an office which is supposed to represent all Zimbabwean youths being
based at the Zanu PF offices? A large chunk of taxpayer’s money was being
used to fund Zanu PF programmes,” Mahlangu said.

The ZYC’s objectives include ensuring that development strategies and
programmes incorporate youths, developing specific youth-oriented programmes
that improve the skills of young people through a range of institutions and
encouraging equal youth employment opportunities with particular attention
to reducing gender inequalities.

Source:  The Zimbabwe Independant