Unity of purpose key to youth development

Youths in various political parties have been urged to promote tolerance and unity of purpose in addressing issues that they believe are a hindrance to national and youth development. 

As a way of achieving such unity of purpose, political parties’ youth wings have agreed that there is need to build a spirit of coexistence, tolerance and diversity within the political contours in the country. Speaking at a political parties’ forum organized by National Youth Development Trust (NYDT), a representative of the MDC-T said that there is need for young people to have a clear understanding of their respective political party ideologies so that the level of political debate among young people is enriched. 

“People usually become violent when they run out of ideas during a debate. As such it is important for young people to fully understand the issues they say they believe in so that they are able to defend it in a peaceful manner,” said Kunashe Muchemwa from MDC-T.  

ZANU PF representative, Fundisani Dewa urged the youths to desist from merely taking a partisan stance to critical issues. "We need to remove political jackets and critique issues that we feel are affecting our development as Zimbabwean youths. First of all we all have a part to play in building lasting peace in Zimbabwe and finger pointing will not assist us in any way,” he said. 

Speaking at the same forum, the ZAPU youth representative Mqondisi Moyo called on the NYDT to facilitate more political party forums as platforms for promoting constructive interaction between youth political actors and enhancing appreciation of diversity amongst young people.  

“Just because people differ in ideology does not mean they cannot coexist and I think this is one lesson we need to learn as young Zimbabweans. After all without diversity what kind of a country would we be?” he asked. 

Adding on, Khumbulani Malinga from the Professor Welshman Ncube led MDC emphasised the need to retrace the history of violence in Zimbabwe, understand it within the current context, then come up with a way forward. He also called for proper administration of initiatives such as the National Youth Services which has been in the past used to train youth militia that have been at the cetre of perpetrating violence in the country.

The political parties’ forum brought together youth representatives from different political parties to deliberate on ways in which they can contribute to peace building initiatives in Zimbabwe. The four political parties present, ZANU PF, MDC – T, MDC and ZAPU had an opportunity to interrogate at length the best means of complimenting each other’s efforts towards building sustainable peace.