Young People Castigate Move To Arrest Youth Fund Defaulters

Young people have described as unfair the threats by CABS and CBZ to take legal action against youths who have failed to pay back loans received under the youth development fund. Some of them argue that merely allocating the youths money based on their project proposals without assessing their capacity to run a viable business was a trap for young people.       

“The young people were not capacitated, making the implementation of these projects very difficult. They ended up misusing the funds,” said Jacqueline Ndlovu a young woman residing in Mpopoma.

She added that the Zimbabwean education system was teaching people to be employees and not employers and that indigenisation and empowerment was being treated as an event not a process, a point that the Government is missing.

Adding to that, Ndaba Mloyi, a corporate banker and National Youth Development Trust (NYDT) board treasurer said; “Unless and until we recognise that the problem facing SMEs and start-ups is not just money, and then we will always throw money at them and throw them in jail when they fail to pay back.

He added that the starting point was to realise that not all young Zimbabweans are entrepreneurs, and that people without business skills require a lot of capacitation and hand holding for them to develop the capacity to run businesses profitably and sustainably.

“Therefore any program that seeks to empower youths through enterprise development must start with identifying real entrepreneurs not just unemployed youths with some project. Once they have been identified, a holistic approach to arm them with technical and business management skills, in addition to giving them seed capital, has to be adopted, “ said Mloyi.

He proposed business incubation as the ideal model for such youth empowerment projects in Zimbabwe.

Other young people argued that the amounts given to young people as loans were barely enough to set up a viable income generation project.

“Honestly how did you expect youths to start and run a project with $2000? The economy itself was not conducive for new businesses. It was an unfair political gimmick to lure the youth to a certain political party so as to use them,” said Lindiwe Maphosa from Gwanda.  However other youths argued that vendors were making a living from capital which is far less than $2 000 and other viable businesses were probably started with less than that.

Some young people also felt that the failure to pay back the loans had nothing to do with failed income generation projects but was a reflection of the culture of impunity that has been embraced in Zimbabwe.

“The cancer of impunity is now raising its ugly head. The practise has been that individuals take loans from banks and they never repay. So some youths thought the practice was still the same. I do not think it’s all about capacity, maybe to a lesser extent but mostly its patronage and impunity, “said Michael Mdladla Ndiweni from Bulawayo.    

“I feel sorry for the poor youths who are now victims of a system that nurtured them. But I doubt anything will happen to them. The government will probably encourage them to pay then the issue will die a natural death,” he added.

Egodini Refurbishment Project: Youths Fear Marginalisation

Following reports on the progress made with regards to the looming $56 million shopping complex project at Egodini bus terminus, the National Youth Development Trust (NYDT) took time to seek opinions of young people on the potential benefits of the project.

Some of the youths expressed doubt that the project will be of direct benefit to them unless they strategically position themselves with immediate effect.

“It is very difficult for me to conclude that the project will benefit young people, because certainly residents have no control on employment criteria, maybe those that have joined strategic associations will be benefit by acquiring some stalls and shops in the shopping complex,” said Michael Ndiweni.

He added that it would be of paramount importance that different associations engage the company contracted to do the construction to ensure that local young people access jobs at the construction site.

“We have seen some companies importing labour from other regions to do menial jobs in Bulawayo that do not even require particular skills. So it’s important that action be taken now to guard against that. I would propose that an employment bureau be set up for residents to pool CV’s together and when the malls opens they just forward files with CVs from young people who are locals for consideration to whoever will be operating a shop in the shopping complex or  international bus terminus,” added Ndiweni.

Other young people also emphasised that there is need for them to collectively approach the Bulawayo City Council to make an arrangement for local youths to be awarded employment opportunities from the project.

“I think there is need for young people to work with youth focused organisations like NYDT to engage council and demand a stake and quota on the allocation of space and jobs in the new complex,” said Alfred Ncube.

We have capable, qualified and experienced young people in various fields throughout the 29 wards in Bulawayo. All these people can provide labour for the project. We even have people that have been operating as vendors at the terminus since ages ago; they must be given first preference when it comes to allocation of vending stalls. I think we need to seriously guard against corruption in the project,” said Mpumelelo Ncube, a former youth councillor.

Nqobile Malikongwa said that for young people to simply wait to be left out before they take action will not benefit them in any way.

“We cannot wait until the damage has been done and we cannot just sit and complain. We need to be proactive and make sure that the potential for marginalisation is completely dealt with before the project even begins, that is the only way we can guarantee our benefit from the project,” he said.

The Bulawayo City Council recently announced the identified temporary sites that would be used as commuter omnibus termini and vending sites for those currently operating at Basch Street Terminus popularly known as Egodini. 

10 of 16 Stories on Gender based Violence

The first five years of my marriage were like heaven for me and my high school sweetheart. He would pamper me with gifts and really adored our three year old daughter. However, this was soon to come to an end.  

My husband suddenly fell in love with a younger woman. He did not hide the affection he had for her. The two love birds would spend hours talking to each other while l listened in silence. Their love took over our marriage when he would bring his girlfriend home for a sleep over. They would literally displace me from the bed that we bought together and spend the night in our matrimonial bed while I cried myself to sleep in the spare bedroom.  

Suddenly, he started throwing tantrums when l confronted him about the issue. He started clapping and punching me. At one point l remember he shoved my head inside the toilet chamber and said l did not need to drink any water since l had already taken water from the chamber. He started shoving his whole hand inside my private parts as punishment for questioning his authority.

As the situation worsened, l decided to seek legal help from a local women’s organisation who legally represented me in court. I finally managed to get a divorce from my husband. I have since adjusted and I am taking care of my daughter who is now six years old. He also has regular access to see our child but when l look at him, l reminisce on the horrible way he treated me. Never in my life did l think l would survive such a situation. I am a liberated young woman who after going through such a traumatic experience managed to pull herself up. I therefore encourage young women to face their different situations with bravery as there is always a way out.  

9 of 16 Stories on Gender Based Violence

I got married at the tender age of 19 and have known no peace in my marriage. Three children down the line abuse is still very much prevalent in my marriage but like every other woman ‘ngihlalele abantwabami’.  

One night whilst we were sleeping, my husband came home at around 2 am in the morning as drunk as a skunk. He smelt like the inside of an Ingwebu tank. He started hailing insults from the moment he entered the gate waking up our neighbours who live just a handshake away from our house. I woke up and opened the door for him fearing he would wake up the whole of Gwabalanda.

Before I could fully open the door he had shoved it aside and greeted me with insults. He told me about how Sheila would have made a better wife to him than I ever could be, he said that I should leave him and open up space for others who would warm his bed better than I could. I was not in a position to respond to him in this state. I retreated back to my bedroom where my youngest was fast asleep oblivious to the noise her father was making.

An hour seemed to pass, his soliloquy was never ending. Little did I know I was going to pay for my silence.

My husband got into our bedroom, which was supposed to be our love nest but had fast turned into a boxing ring after the birth of our first born. In the depth of my sleep I heard shuffling behind the wardrobe. The wardrobe was the place where he stored his tools for beating me up. He had a knobkerrie, a djembe and an axe. I was jolted by a slap on my face. He was looking at me with blood red eyes questioning me about why I was not responding to him. He slapped me the second time. I could not wait to see what else he had in store for me because history had taught me that once he starts he would go on and the nature of assault would increase as he would move from slap to knobkerrie and eventually to axe.

8 of 16 Stories on Gender Based Violence

Woes of a student Intern 

I was in my third year at university when I had my first real encounter on Gender based violence, during industrial attachment. I had always heard the stories about how student on attachment are viewed as nobodies in the workplace and was psychologically prepared for it. What I was not prepared for was that they were viewed as nobodies when it comes to work, but somebodies when it comes to satisfying some people’s personal desires.

Each time I would write an article it would be discarded as rubbish to the extent that I became convinced I had applied for the wrong program at varsity, until one of the sisters in the newsroom told me to be patient because it had nothing to do with my performance. It had also happened to her when she was new, and she had discovered that the ‘boss’ was simply trying to get her attention. Her sentiments proved to be true when he finally made his intentions known. He pulled the ‘I can make life very comfortable for you’ card on me and even promised to give me a distinction for my attachment year.

For a long time I was caught between a rock and a hard surface because repeating attachment was not an option for me, and neither was indulging with this old, sick man who was trying to use my vulnerability to his advantage, so I confided in my ‘sister’ in the newsroom, who fought the battle on my behalf, of course at the expense of her job because after that the boss made sure to give her hell. She even threatened to report him if he made me fail attachment. Well needless to say I did not fail but I did not pass with a distinction either. I am grateful for her because I honestly cannot imagine how I would have dealt with this issue on my own. Which is why I would really want to encourage other young women facing similar challenges to talk about them with other people. Believe me a problem shared is a problem solved. 

7 of 16 Stories on Gender Based Violence

Violence begets violence

I was tired of being the punching bag all the time, so one day I decided to return the favour. On that fateful day my husband came home at 2 am, drunk as usual, demanding food and making noise about how I didn’t deserve to be in his house and how much of a favour he had done by marrying me. I had heard those words everyday for the past 2 years and had decided I had heard enough of it.

Unlike the other days, there was no food waiting for him, so he started his usual boxing game, but unfortunately he did not receive the response he had expected. I picked up a pot that I had strategically placed on the kitchen table and returned the favour. Because he was too drunk to balance his own body, I was at an advantage. I beat him up so hard and even picked up the bottle of beer he had in his hand to help me finish the job. Our neighbours interrupted as usual, only to find him bleeding profusely from his head. The man next door took him to the hospital while his wife remained home with me trying to calm me down.

She told me she understood why I was so angry but beating him was not the way to solve issues as it would only bring more violence to our home. Honestly at that point I was already regretting my actions, but I had kept so much rage bottled up and it was obviously bound to explode one day.

For two years I had lived with a man who hurt me physically and emotionally as he continuously belittled me. He never left any money to buy food at home but expected to find food on the table everyday he came home from work, knowing very well he had made me stop working.

When he came back the next morning, he had changed his attitude and was starting to preach about how fighting is not good and how we are meant to live peacefully together. Whether the incidence helped him see the light and reform, I don’t know. I didn’t stick around long enough to find out. Each time I looked at him I got filled with so much anger, so I decided to leave.     

6 of 16 Stories on Gender Based Violence

By Sara Ndlovu (Not her real name)

Being a student on attachment is one of the hardest things in life because there is always that one person that will try to take advantage of you. Usually that person is the immediate boss, who knows that you need him to give you a good mark and will make sure they ask even the impossible of you.

I did a few months of my attachment at a local authority in a small town in Matabeleland North. Like I said it turned out to be a few months instead of a year because of the ‘boss’ syndrome I mentioned earlier. My boss and I had a good working relationship and he always commended my efficiency in getting this done. However all this changed when we went for a work related trip out of town and he became a little too friendly for comfort. Being the outspoken, independent mind that I was, I did not hesitate to tell him I did not like where he was going and I was not going to roll over and let him do as he pleased because he was my boss.  

Upon returning to the office, his attitude completely changed and he stopped being the super boss that he had been before the trip. Then I discovered he had actually had a sexual relationship with all the interns that had been attached to his office and was well known for taking in beautiful, female interns only. I then realised that sticking around might actually cost me a whole year of my school and decided to phone my academic supervisor and request to be shifted to a different company. After a great deal of explaining why I wanted to change, I was finally allowed and the department got an alternative place for me.   

Sometimes some things can be solved easily if acted on in time. So to all the students, you need to stand your ground and refuse to let people take advantage of you because you are young and a student. I am sure if i had stayed the entire year he would have failed me and when trying to explain everything after a mark has been given would have been futile. So sometimes we need timeously act on our situations.