Tuesday 25 September 2012

MESSAGE FROM CHIKURUBI : 10 SEPTEMBER 2012

Winston Churchill once said, “One thing we have learned from history is that we don't learn from  history.”  That is also very true of all dictators.

The handiende syndrome threatens to reverse the gains Zimbabwe had since independence. That is selfishness of the highest magnitude.
Oppression of man by man is the order of the day in Zimbabwe today.  Wise people have maintained that a society is judged by how it treats its weakest and powerless citizens. I guess, these are the orphans, the elderly, the homeless, those living with disabilities and prisoners. In Zimbabwe today, these people are treated like nonentities and peripheries of our society, while some few people under the guise of having fought in the war of liberation enjoy the fruits of “their entitlements” to power and riches. They use such false “entitlements” to create a culture of impunity and disdain for the rule of law. These people even want to deify themselves, when they take to the podium, they even  have the audacity to claim that we are all equal and yet we clearly know that these Zimbabweans are more equal than others.
My message today is to you fellow youth of Zimbabwe.
Today the majority of the youth suffer from abject poverty and depend on handouts yet at the very same time, the children of Zanu PF top hierarchy are suffocating with wealth, both locally and abroad. The majority of us youth struggle to put food on the table but our nation is hyped to possess a huge industrial base of minerals. The youth still suffer due to HIV/AIDS, Malaria, TB, hunger, extreme poverty, poor or no housing at all, lack of access to education and poor health and unemployment among other ills.
I am still to regain my liberty, the unlawful Zanu PF detention continues unabated. Mugabe and Zanu PF do not comprehend the sacredness of freedom. They continue to live in perpetual fear, the fear of the unknown and the fear of the very people they helped to liberate.
Dan Brown in his book, The Da Vinci Code, noted that “Men go to far greater lengths to avoid  what they fear than to obtain what they desire”. That is true of Zanu PF. This monster is so afraid of the people of Zimbabwe that they have chosen to digress in every facet of life and brutality and intimidation is their default ideology. Whenever they look at the youth, they see loss of their power instead of seeing progress and rejuvenation. They have proven beyond any reasonable doubt that like a mule, they are not able to reproduce themselves, locking away political opponents does not help their cause in any way.
Interestingly, my being in prison has helped me to witness the pathetic and sorry state and conditions under which Zimbabwean prisoners live, most of them being youth offenders. Their crimes include robbery, stock theft, fraud, aggravated assault and murder, burglary, motor vehicle theft, and rape among others. They majority of these crimes are economic crimes caused by economic  meltdown of the past 12 years.
The criminal justice system in this country is a complete mess and a disservice to the citizens, exacerbated by an overzealous, corrupt, partisan, arrogant and ignorant police leaders and an equally evil and vampire-like attorney general’s office. These institutions of terror have been used by Zanu PF to hand very stiff sentences ranging from 10 to 250 years. Zanu PF uses the police, the courts and prison services to continue their hold on power. Overcrowding is the order of the day in all Zimbabwean prisons, punctuated by poor diet, poor clothing and poor health delivery to inmates. There is no rehabilitation going on, and whatever little facilities that were left by the colonial regime in 1980 for that purpose is now obsolete.

Zimbabwe has the largest number of prisoners outside war zones. People are imprisoned without parole or amnesty, they serve long prison sentences for petty crimes and live under harsh conditions. Homosexuality is practiced almost openly by some desperate inmates. Remember there are no conjugal rights , there is no psychological counselling or systematic skills training to empower and rehabilitate offenders. The justice system is not swift and one can spend many years before the state is ready to prosecute. Quite a number of offenders do not complete their sentences because they die in prison. It is a sad story in Zimbabwe today that the police, the courts, and Zimbabwe Prison  Service’s represent Zanu PF’s illegitimate and unorthodox means of social control. Their role includes protecting Zanu PF loyalists from prosecution.

One thing is true though, prison life comes to an end one day. This life matrix can also be applied to dictatorships of all kinds, they come to an end one way or another. I am certainly not the first to suffer under Zanu PF’s oppressive and coercive machinery. My consolation is that victory against this oppression, repression and suppression is nigh. If my unlawful detention and that of my fellow accused men and women is part of the price we have to pay for a better Zimbabwe, then, so be it! We will always be together in spirit . I am alive to the fact that you aspire to live productive and meaningful lives, free from harassment and all forms of state sponsored violence. I know you want education but you cannot access it . Education has been reduced to a privilege by the ruling elite, health delivery is very poor due to an acute shortage of health workers , medication and poor health facilities. Unemployment hovers above 90%. However there is hope after all this shadow of hopelessness , there is a meaning to our lives beyond this political crisis created by a tired, hopeless, archaic, myopic , clueless and brutal Mugabe and his Zanu PF.

We are sick and tired of lack of progress in our lives. The ball is in our court. We must make sure that eligible young person is registered to vote, both in the referendum and in the general elections. I have no doubt whatsoever that at the end of it all, Morgan Tsvangirai shall lead Zimbabwe to a better future. They can demonize him left, right and centre but we will vote for him and the winning team. I have no doubt that Mugabe will go after elections. Forget the empty threats by the so called Generals. We do not eat threats. The youths are already aroused to mobilize and organize a historical and unprecedented youth voter turn- out that has never been seen in this country. We want change and indeed change is what we will get. We refuse to drink from the poisoned chalice of the Kasukuweres of this era , we refuse and reject the Mahosorisation of our thinking and intelligence. We refuse to be brainwashed by political prostitutes like Jonathan Moyo. The youth of Zimbabwe are too smart for such cheap and devious talk on both state sponsored TV and radios.
Democracy entails the minimum bundle of rights, freedom of choice and also the right to change leaders regularly. Politicians must come and go and should not wait to be forced out like Mali’s Toumani Toure, Muammar Gaddafi of Libya , Ivory Coast’s Laurent Gbagbo, DRC’s Mobuto Sese Seko or die in office like Bingu waMutharika and many others. All had a choice to retire peacefully and with dignity but chose to cling to power against their people’s will. Their ends were disgraceful. Even the bible says it in Judges 4 and Isaiah 14.
We must prepare ourselves to sacrifice in a way that we have not done before by ensuring that our votes are registered , cast, counted and protected. Voting is our right. Let me urge you the youth of Zimbabwe to go in your multitudes and register to vote. We want to ensure 80 to 100 % youth voter turn-out. I encourage all you who have just turned 18 and above , meaning those doing their, A Levels, college and university students, young single mothers and fathers , employed, those living with disabilities and all legible voters to go and register to vote and be ready to make a difference.
As for some of us who are in prison , the Zanu PF machinery can only imprison our bodies and never our spirits. We are free inside ourselves. They are the ones shackled in perpetual prison of fear, guilt and shame.
SIZAFIKA NOMAKHANJANI!!

S. Madzore
MDC Youth Assembly President



Youth President- Solomon "Mandela" Madzore


Monday 24 September 2012

Youth Assembly 101% behind the YES VOTE


My Voice is in, My Vote is Yes!!!

The final draft of the Constitution is a commendable step towards the achievement of the free and democratic Zimbabwe that we have been fighting for in the last decade. A Supreme Constitution promoting fundamental human rights which include social, cultural and economic rights is responsive to our call for a culture of constitutionalism and a free society. 

We cannot resist applauding our COPAC leaders for articulating the people’s views in coming up with a reform-oriented draft that has captured most of all the outstanding key areas of reform including media freedom, security sector reform, gender equity, judicial independence, an independent prosecuting authority and other independent commissions and institutions that support our democracy. 

MDC Vote Yes Campaign Launch
We are content that this draft will go a long way in creating a constitution that fulfils the wishes and aspirations of our people’s quest for a free Zimbabwe for all that live in it. 

The MDC Youth Assembly strongly believes that the draft represents the voice of the people who participated in the outreach programme that was held throughout the country.

ZANU PF on the other hand is unrepentantly trying to smuggle their party agendas to protect what’s left of their grip on power. Lest they forget, they were causing chaos and pandemonium during the outreach forgetting that a Constitution is a document made up of the people’s views on how they want to be governed rather than a tool for consolidating power.
Hon D Mwonzora- COPAC Chairperson

They have gone on, behind closed doors, to make a total of 266 changes to the official draft.  That is unacceptable and it has to stop now. We cannot continue to entertain Zanu PF’s petty partisan politics, the people must speak.

Faced with this predicament as a nation, also noting the endorsement of the Draft by the three parties in the GPA, the Assembly has resolved:

·         To endorse the draft in its entirety and rally behind the party`s position on the same

·         To reject in totality attempts to re-open and/or re-negotiate the draft by any of three political parties in the GPA

·         To embrace SADC recommendations for the parties in the GPA to adhere to the election road map encapsulated in the GPA

·         To go out in full force to mobilize our supporters and allies to support the YES vote in the referendum

This is the constitution of the people, by the people and no political party is bigger than the people it represents. If ZANU PF wants to write a constitution, they are free to write one for their party and not for the country. No negotiations on the draft, the people’s views must be respected at all costs!!!
“Our Era is Now: Let’s Do it Now to shape our own destiny”

Together to end,building a youth with a difference.

Sunday 16 September 2012

Congratulations Dad, welcome Mummy…



MDC Youth Assembly would like to congratulate Dad and Mummy for successfully tying the note yesterday against all odds. Mama Elizabeth comes in the MDC family in our party’s month of celebrations, MDC’s birth month, and the wedding bells also rang on the anniversary of the global political agreement that ushered in a new era for Zimbabwe. Welcome Mummy we love you. 

The Assembly greatly respects the party’s number one and the nation’s Prime Minister, Rt Hon Dr Morgan Richard Tsvangirai for the bold decision to bring home our mother, Mama Elizabeth Tsvangirai. 

The MDC is made up of three major wings which are complimentary to each other i.e. Mummy (the Women Assembly), Dad (the Main Wing) and Children (the Youth Assembly). As the children of MDC, we are proud to have you as our Mummy-the nation’s future first lady, welcome home.

After the death of Mai Susan Nyaradzo Tsvangirai in 2009 in an unforgettable fatal car accident, as children of this movement we were left with a void, motherless. Since the inception of our party in 1999, during the era of the interim Youth Chairperson Learnmore Judah Jongwe, to that of Nelson “Wamba” Chamisa, to the era of Tamsanqa Mahlangu; Mama Susan has been a mother to those generations. 

Mama Elizabeth will carry on with the motherly role to the Assembly as it is being led by Solomon “Mandela” Madzore. Mama has come at a time when 29 of her children are in detention on allegations of trumped up murder charges, whose trial has grossly exposed the fallacy that Zimbabwe’s justice system has become.
We would like to urge Mum and Dad to be strong hearted in the face of the adversities of the world, as has been showcased by the incessant efforts by forces of darkness to derail the God-blessed union. We would like to wish our mother well as she provides the much needed support and strength to our father, President Morgan as he heads the party in this final lap of the marathon to a new democratic Zimbabwe. 

As the children, we will remain obedient, disciplined and unwaveringly committed to the fight under the leadership of the visionary president Morgan Richard Tsvangirai. We promise to play our critical role to finish the struggle and deliver the Real transformation that the Zimbabwean family is longing for. 
Congratulations once again for the Real Choice.
Real Choice for Real Change.

Our era is NOW: Let’s Do it Now to shape our own destiny!!!

For and on behalf of the young people of Zimbabwe

Clifford Hlatywayo- National Youth Spokesperson

Together to end,building a youth with a difference.

Friday 14 September 2012

Wedding Bells!!!!! Against all odds, the knot is being tied tomorrow.

Together to end,building a youth with a difference.

Who killed Inspector Mutedza?



The testimony by Inspector Mutedza’s young brother, Tichaona Mutedza, has exposed the gross political manipulation and raping of the justice system.
Any doubts that this is a clear case of political persecution of innocent change advocates has been wiped off.
Insp Mutedza
The police informed the Mutedza family that Petros Mutedza had been struck once on the left side of the head and died as a result.
29 activists are being arraigned before the courts on murder charges, all of them remanded in custody. The courts have it that Mutedza was hit by a blunt object on the head, once, and died as a result of this attack.
Tichaona Mutedza testified that his late brother’s chest had blood flowing down to his Private parts. His private parts were missing. His uniform was torn with buttons missing. He had injuries on his head which included an opening on the forehead covered with cotton wool. He had an opening on the right cheek.
…. And all this, someone want us to believe was caused by the single strike on the head.
Tichaona further put it that he had been informed before his brother’s death, that his life was in danger. Petros Mutedza was one of the key witnesses lined up by the State to give evidence against Themba Mliswa who is facing a charge of extortion (article published in the Newsday on 31 May 2012).
This naturally triggers a series of questions in any sane and sober man’s mind. 29 people could have lifted a single stone and hailed it at the deceased? The stone hit the head, tore open the forehead, reared open the cheek, tore the uniform, mutilated the private parts!!!??
Several state witnesses have been laying across diverse and conflicting statements. One Inspector Joshua Daka told the courts that Mutedza fell from a speeding-off truck and hit his head hard on the tarmac. Another witness put it that Mutedza was seen running from a bar after an altercation with patrons.
Is Solo responsible for the missing private parts?
Are the 29 responsible for the tattered shirt with missing buttons?
The majority of the incarcerated never set their feet on the scene of the alleged crime on that particular.
The bravery of Tichaona Mutedza is greatly applausible. He has painstakingly stated that the 29 are innocent, should be released and the police hunt for the real murderers of his brother.
 This is a clear evidence of absence of justice, law, freedom and the respect of our own constitution and agreements. Their arrest and detention is both political and illegal hence unconstitutional. It’s a well calculated ploy to destabilise the MDC, mainly the youth assembly as the nation heads towards a plebiscite.
Innocent and Inside...Chikurubi Maximum Prison
 29 members holding various portfolios are locked up. Innocent youth, youth leaders, party members, national executive members and human rights activists are languishing in custody over such hogwash of trumped up charges. The families and friends of the incarcerated live in perpetual agony and toil up and down daily to comfort their locked up loved ones. Families have been destabilized, breadwinners are locked up on false charges and dependents’ lives are in quandary.
The uncertainty over the fate of the incarcerated just sends chills down the spines of party members and fellow youths.
Then the question remains unanswered; who killed inspector Mutedza.


Together to end,building a youth with a difference.

Wednesday 12 September 2012

Resolutions of the MDC Youth Assembly (The Assembly) National Council, of September 2012, Harvest House, Harare

Following the Youth National Executive and National Council Meetings Held on the 30th and 31st of September 2012 respectively, the Assembly Resolved:

1.       The continued incarceration of Madzore and 28 others
Disturbed by the continued detention, the slow pace of the justice delivery system and the incessant denial of bail to the same, the Assembly resolved:

·         To intensify the free Solomon Madzore and others campaign
·         To engage and pile more pressure on strategic institutions such as SADC, JOMIC, Organ for National Healing, Cabinet, Parliament and other relevant government institutions

2.       Constitution Making Process
Noting the endorsement of the COPAC draft (The Draft) by the three parties in the GPA, the Assembly resolved:

·         To endorse the draft in its entirety and rally behind the party`s position on the same
·         To reject in totality attempts to re-open and/or re-negotiate the draft by any of three political parties in the GPA
·         To embrace SADC recommendations for the parties in the GPA to adhere to the election roadmap encapsulated in the GPA
·         To go out in full force to mobilize our supporters and allies to support the YES vote in the referendum

3.                   Voter Registration and Election Preparedness
Cognizant that the coming election will be a watershed election, the assembly resolved:

·         To redouble efforts in the voter education and registration exercise, with a particular focus on first time voters

5.                   Youth Upliftment
Aware that abject poverty remains youth`s number one enemy, the Assembly resolved:

·         To declare that the youth fund is a national fund to which all youths are entitled regardless of their political affiliation
·         To intensify efforts to ensure that more youths access the loan
·         To support youths to take up leadership positions in business and politics
·         To endorse the MDC`s drive for economic growth, investment promotion and job creation as the only viable and sustainable strategy for poverty eradication
6.            Determined to achieve change, the assembly reaffirms its commitment to work with other progressive youth formations fighting for the democratization of Zimbabwe and the dignity of all Zimbabweans.

Together to end,building a youth with a difference.

Tuesday 11 September 2012

MDC Youth Assembly hails move to fire corrupt councilors

Youth Assembly Deputy President-Costa Machingauta
 The MDC Youth Assembly would like to welcome the move by the party to fire corrupt officials in MDC- run councils.

 By definition, Corruption is any abuse of a position of trust to gain an unfair advantage.
 MDC has a zero-tolerance policy on corruption and violence. We are a people-centered organisation and the only party in the land that has tackled corruption head on as evidenced by the bold move to eliminate corrupt officials from councils. The MDC is a people’s movement whose core values are solidarity; freedom; justice; equality; liberty; transparency; accountability and humble and obedient leadership. These are deeply rooted in its strong ideology of social democracy.

Since time immemorial, ZANU PF has nurtured a culture of corruption among its public officials. Ordinary Zimbabweans can be forgiven for thinking that corruption is one of the qualities required for being a political leader in ZANU PF and that it can be done with impunity. Common examples of such are former Minister Kumbirai Kangai who embezzled huge sums of money from GMB and got away with it, Cde Enos Chikowore who guzzled from the NOCZIM coffers and went scot free, and more recently Minister Obert Mpofu who is plundering diamond proceeds to mention but a few.

The whole gravy train of ZANU PF is full of corrupt officials. In fact, corruption is a ticket to gain political office in Zanu PF; the more corrupt you are, the more powerful you will be. The MDC does not condone corruption hence the bold step we have taken to lead by example: suspending and firing all corrupt officials found guilty of graft.

 In his 2012 National Budget statement, Minister of Finance, Hon. Tendai Biti expressed great concern at the level of corruption and its negative impact hence vehemently criticized it because of its cancerous nature.

We are very happy to borrow a leaf from democratic countries whose officials are forced to resign if they are involved in any kind of misconduct. Corruption is a disease that is highly contagious if left uncontrolled. It has and continues to devour this country. MDC will always strive for a corruption free generation who eat only what they have killed. It is in this vein that the MDC has taken a courageous step to investigate and discipline its members who are found wanting in this regard.

For a long time, ordinary citizens of this country have been suffering from economic decline with corruption as the chief culprit while the perpetrators enjoy impunity. It is MDC’s mission to eliminate all forms of corruption. The suspension and expulsion of offenders will serve as a stern warning to all who hold public offices to steer clear of any corrupt activity. This is a clear message to the people that MDC is a social democratic party that would and will protect the people at all costs. The party is very much aware that Minister Ignatius Chombo will disregard the decision taken by the party as he always does, but that will not stop or slow down the train of change. We have had some councilors in Chitungwiza disrespecting the party’s decision and continued serving as councilors despite them being suspended. The MDC Youth Assembly is urging the affected councilors to respect the party’s decision and stop serving immediately.

The Assembly salutes those councilors who are serving the people transparently and in good faith, they must keep up the good work. Let’s build the country on solid foundation. A corruption free Zimbabwe is possible and this can only begin with you and me.

“Our Era is Now: Let’s Do it Now to shape our own destiny”

For more information contact:
MDC Youth Assembly Secretary for Information and Publicity
Clifford Hlatywayo
On +263 773 011 599
Or visit www.mdc-youthassembly.blogspot.com
Or follow on twitter MDC Youth Assembly ‏ @MDCYouthAssembl


Together to end,building a youth with a difference.