National youth service training - Solidarity Peace Trust

misinterpreted by those who anticipate that the national service will be “partisan or ZANU-PF”. Prof.
Moyo is quoted as drawing a parallel between the 2001 national service and the youth brigades of the
‘80s. This is an interesting comparison, considering that the then ZANU-PF youth brigades were
responsible for torture, murder and destruction of property particularly around the 1985 election. 31
Further commentary on the intentions behind the training is given in The Chronicle in December 2001.
Dan Moyo, Regional Director of Education for Matabeleland North, greets 200 Matabeleland youth
returning from Mount Darwin where training has “equipped them with the knowledge of the country’s
history, war of liberation, the significance of the national anthem, survival skills and the land
question.” 32
He mentions a major challenge the youth militia must deal with: “defending the country against neocolonial
and imperialist forces which are threatening our independence”. This last comment is a loaded
one: the MDC is commonly referred to by ZANU-PF as neo-colonial in outlook. So are the youth
militia to defend the nation against a legitimate opposition? It is interesting to note that Moyo is not
quoted referring to self-employment skills, once touted as a major benefit of youth training.
Throughout the last few years, the articulated policy of government with regard to the youth militia
has, in the state run media at least, altered somewhat in emphasis. While early press reports gave most
space to the importance of skills training, more recent press reports have emphasised the programme as
a “mainstay of the struggle for national sovereignty” and as a “tool for restoring dignity to black
Zimbabweans”. An article in The Chronicle in February 2003 is typical of recent policy articles on the
militia. The article summarises a speech made by Vice President Simon Muzenda at the graduation of
over 2,000 youth at Dadaya training centre in the Midlands. 33
“The national youth service training programme is a Government nation-building programme that has
been designed to correctly inform our youths of their history and more importantly to equip them with
skills that enable them to survive the socio-economic challenges facing Zimbabwe as a previously
colonised developing nation. It is Government’s commitment to ensure that the programme is morally
and financially supported since its benefit to the nation far outweighs any cost one would think of.
“The modules delivered to youths during the training demystify what many of our youths have been
misled to believe, that Africans and their culture are inferior to other inhabitants of this earth, more so
to Europeans.
“The programme impresses in the minds of our young Zimbabwean citizens the basic human and
democratic principles of equality, equity and individual freedom.
“It is geared towards boosting the self-worth image of the youth as an independent and self-reliant
generation that is knowledgeable of its own roots, patriotic, and ready to defend its right to existence
on planet earth….”
31 Breaking the Silence, Building True Peace; a Report on the Disturbances in Matabeleland and the Midlands 1980 –
1988, LRF and CCJP, 1997, Harare. See pp. 62-66 for details on ZANU-PF youth brigades. Border Gezi himself allegedly
made good use of youth gangs in his own parliamentary election campaign during early 2000: ZHRNGO Forum, July 2001:
“Who was responsible?” lists perpetrators of violence during the 2000 election campaign. Gezi is implicated as perpetrator
in 5 violent incidents. One detailed incident on page 17 refers to 1000 youths hired in his constituency to attack MDC
supporters and prevent their rallies.
32 The Chronicle, Bulawayo, 7 December 2001: “Youths complete national service”.
33 The Chronicle, Bulawayo, 23 February, 2003: “Government committed to national youth service”.
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