Youth Sport Arts and Recreation deputy Minister Tinoda Machakaire has urged young people to shun the planned 31 July demonstrations saying they would rather contribute to the development of the nation than destroying it.
Machakaire said youths should be patriotic and play a role in national economic development while dismissing protests as retrogressive.
“The Youths are the future of country and therefore they should not destroy what we have now. I am calling upon Youth to be patriotic and support the country’s leadership going forward,” he said.
Machakaire said the leadership was doing its best to make sure the country moves forward.
“If it is about corruption President Emmerson Mnangagwa has from day one condemned it and we have seen several official prosecuted and some jailed because he is serious on that. We have seen him firing Ministers because of corruption allegations, a move that shows his commitment to fight it,” he added.
The Wedza South MP said some of the issues raised by the demonstration organisers were baseless.
“Some of the things are baseless though for instance the issue of busses. The prices of those buses were justified because if a standard double cab vehicle costs at least $60 000 how then do you expect to get a bus with the same prize? That is ridiculous,” he said.
He said Youth, instead of participating in the said demonstrations they should be leading the fight against Covid-19 pandemic that has hit the country.
“Cases of Covid-19 are increasing by each day and we need the youth to lead the fight against the deadly disease. They should be educating people on practicing physical distancing, washing hands regularly and minimize movements because we value lives,” he said.
Machakaire called on Youth to unite and turn down calls to demonstrate as it destroys the future of the country.’
“As the youth we cannot allow situations where we have some of us being used by foreigners to desterblise the country. Zimbabwe is for Zimbabweans and there is need to build a culture of peace, tolerance as they are key in nation building,” he added.
