Young people from different political parties have met today for the formation of the Youth Dialogue Forum (YoDiF) with the agenda to advance peace, unity, cohesion, social and economic transformation.
In a press statement read by a representative from the MDC T youths Caroline Matengu, the youths said they are concerned about the deteriorating political and socio-economic situation in the country.
“We are inviting all youths to be part and parcel of this indigenous initiative for an all-inclusive and broad-based national dialogue,” Matengu said.
The youths are calling for “… all sanctions imposed on our country by foreign countries must immediately be removed in order to allow Zimbabwe to focus on social and economic transformation for the betterment of people’s lives.”
YoDiF says that in the next week and beyond, the youths shall be rolling out a national, regional and international campaign that seeks to bring back Zimbabwe to its rightful place.
“We want to make Zimbabwe great and Zimbabwe must be the breadbasket of Southern Africa,” they said. “We want Zimbabwe to create equal opportunities for all,” said Matengu.
“As young people, we are calling for peace and tranquility.”
“We are saying, please come and be part of this historic journey which is devoid of race, sex political affiliation or creed,” Matengu went on.
Although various political Party Youths Leagues/ Assemblies came together, MDC A, the second largest political group in the country according to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) 2018 results had no representative.
A ZANU-PF youth at the meeting Mr Chirau in a sideline interview in response to why MDC A could not attend said that letters of invitation were sent to everyone.
The YoDiF meeting, however, takes place at the same time when MDC A is celebrating the life of their former leader who died in February last year.
MDC A garnered 44.8% of the votes trailing ZANU-PF which had 50.8% in the past disputed elections.
Besides the removal of sanctions, youths are also calling for an end to violence and hate speech and that Zimbabweans put all efforts on promoting peace, unity, cohesion, social and economic transformation.
The young people said that “all political players must now put their differences aside, collectively dialogue and seek sustainable solutions to the haemorrhaging economy in order to serve lives.”