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ZANU PF is accused of politicising the controversial National Youth Service (NYS) programme, which is set to be relaunched soon, by running a parallel programme to lure youths amid low interest in the project.
The national youth service training is set to restart in June this year at Dadaya and Vumba training centres, with the Government expecting 1,000 youths to register for the programme ahead of its re-launch.
According to <a href="https://www.newsday.co.zw/local-news/article/200026249/zanu-pf-hijacks-national-youth-service">NewsDay</a>, officials are not satisfied with the rate at which the youth are registering, which has resulted in ZANU PF running a parallel registration programme.
ZANU PF is said to be promising funds for projects for youth on condition that they register for the programme and government jobs upon completion of the six-month training.
A message circulating on social media for the campaign and seen by NewsDay suggests that ZANU PF is mobilising its structures to ensure the programme is fully subscribed. Reads the message:
<blockquote>
Please be informed that the Youth Service Zimbabwe will start training in June/July 2024 with 250 trainees at Vumba and 750 at Dadaya training centres with three months in camp and three months as community service.
Training this time includes skills training for all trainees. Inform and encourage youths in your wards to register so that they will be eligible for the training because only those in the ministry’s database will qualify.
</blockquote>
However, ZANU PF director of information, Farai Marapira, told NewsDay that the youth service was oversubscribed. Said Marapira:
<blockquote>
Our duty as a party is to support any patriotic programme which benefits Zimbabweans today and tomorrow.
We support this in any way we see fit and whether this will please our detractors or not it’s neither here nor there, but what I can say is our National Youth Service is oversubscribed just like our Chitepo School of Ideology which is overwhelmed.
Propaganda can no longer win. Zanu PF is the party of the moment.
</blockquote>
The NYS programme was initially launched in 2001 by the former ZANU PF political commissar and Minister of Youth, Border Gezi, who died in a car crash.
The programme churned out hundreds of youths who allegedly became the ZANU PF youth militia accused of unleashing violence on MDC supporters during the 2002 presidential election.
According to human rights reports, the “green bombers”, as the youths were referred to because of the colour of their paramilitary uniform, were responsible for electoral violence, including rape and murder of their victims.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Pindula News

ZANU PF Accused Of Politicising National Youth Service

The Youth Service in Zimbabwe, formerly known as the National Youth Service (NYS), is scheduled to begin in June 2024. It will enrol 750 youths from across the country.
Jenfan Muswere, the Minister of Information, Publicity, and Broadcasting Services, made this announcement during a post-Cabinet briefing in Harare on Tuesday, April 2nd.
Tino Machakaire, the Minister of Youth Empowerment, Development, and Vocational Training, briefed the Cabinet on the re-establishment of the National Youth Service Programme.
Muswere said since the Cabinet’s decision in 2021 to revive the National Youth Service program, the Ministry of Youth has achieved several milestones, including:
<ul>
<li>The National Youth Service Bill is being drafted following the approval of the Principles in August 2023;</li>
<li>Establishment of an Inter-Ministerial Implementation Committee to oversee the implementation of the programme;</li>
<li>The development of a 6-month training programme that will target youths between the ages of 18 and 35. The programme, which covers 3 months of institutionalised training and 3 months of community attachment, will commence in June 2024 with an enrolment of 750 youths nationwide. Those who undergo the training will be issued with certificates on completion of the programme;</li>
<li>The new curriculum will infuse national orientation with life skills training and entrepreneurial development;</li>
<li>New uniforms, signage and logo have been designed and will be registered;</li>
<li>All production units are expected to fully utilise available land and engage in commercial production units for self-sustenance; and</li>
<li>A total of 10 000 youths are earmarked to undergo training in 2024. The youths will be drawn equally from all the country’s ten provinces. The recruitment will be cascaded to incorporate youths in all wards and districts;</li>
<li>The National Youth Service Programme has been renamed Youth Service in Zimbabwe.</li>
</ul>
Muswere said in the future, young people who complete their training will be given priority in employment and enrollment in the public sector, higher education institutions, and tertiary education. Additionally, they will receive prioritization for financial support to establish new projects and businesses.
The Youth Service in Zimbabwe has faced severe criticism both within Zimbabwe and internationally. Graduates of the service were derogatorily referred to as “Green Bombers” due to their fatigue uniforms and the violence they perpetrated.
It was associated with gross human rights violations on behalf of the ruling ZANU PF party. Participants received some form of military training and were indoctrinated with absolute loyalty to ZANU PF.
They were allegedly involved in torture, harassment, and intimidation of political opponents, especially in rural areas.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

National Youth Service Set To Begin In June 2024

The Government plans to reintroduce the controversial National Youth Service (NYS) commonly known as the Border Gezi Youth Militia.
The ZANU PF-linked group, infamously referred to as Green Bombers because of their green training uniform, has been accused of forcing rural people to vote for the ruling party in previous general elections.
Speaking recently, the Deputy Minister of Sport, Arts, Recreation and Culture, Kudakwashe Mupamhanga revealed that there are plans to revive the programme. <a href="https://www.newzimbabwe.com/notorious-border-gezi-militia-training-re-introduction-on-the-cards/">NewZimbabwe.com</a> quoted Mupamhanga as saying:
<blockquote>
At the moment I can’t pre-empty that. Deliberations are still ongoing. So I can’t give you breaking news on my own.
However, I inform you that we intend to bring back the National Youth Service and are still at the consultation stage.
The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee travelled countrywide in the last session of Parliament and got feedback from that. There was also feedback to the Youth Minister in Cabinet.
… we want to have a volunteer component to enable these young people to receive training and empowerment as well as lessons about our culture and identity as well as volunteering for the betterment of the country.
</blockquote>
The youth service was established in 2001 and closed after six years due to funding shortages.
A decade later, the Minister of Youth and nephew of Robert Mugabe, Patrick Zhuwao, reintroduced the programme.
However, within a few months, Zhuwao fled into exile following the military coup that ended his uncle’s presidency in November 2017.
In 2021, the cabinet approved a proposal to introduce a National Youth Training Programme.
Critics say <a href="https://solidaritypeacetrust.org/download/report-files/youth_militia.pdf">as early as 2003</a>, NYS trainees were exposed to murder, torture and rape as both victims and perpetrators.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Govt Mulls Border Gezi Youth Militia Revival

ZANU PF reportedly offered to transport its youths to the ongoing Zimbabwe Agricultural Show (ZAS) and reward them handsomely in return for them making rehearsed contributions at a public hearing by parliamentarians.
The Parliamentary Committee on Youth, Sports, Arts and Culture on Friday held a public hearing in Epworth, a largely informal settlement outside Harare, to discuss the reintroduction of the National Youth Service (NYS).
<a href="https://www.newzimbabwe.com/zanu-pf-offers-youths-freebies-to-attend-parly-public-hearings-on-green-bombers/">NewZimbabwe.com</a> reported a source as saying ZANU PF youths were promised food and free transport to the show if they submitted coached contributions during the meeting. Said a youth:
<blockquote>
First, we were asked to regurgitate coached submissions at the public hearing, and thereafter go to the showgrounds.
A ZUPCO bus has been organised specifically for us, but if they do not give us transport to the show and the food they promised us, we will boycott the next ZANU PF event. They cannot take us for fools.
</blockquote>
After the public hearings had adjourned, a ZUPCO bus was spotted ferrying the ZANU PF youths to the ZAS official opening ceremony.
Meanwhile, the majority of the youths that attended the public hearings in Epworth intermittently disrupted the proceedings.
The National Youth Service was an initiative of the late ZANU PF stalwart, Border Gezi, at the turn of the millennium.
The youths were accused of unleashing an orgy of violence against MDC members in rural areas.
The government plans to revive the programme next year with 5 000 recruits expected to enrol.
The Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation, Kirsty Coventry, said the reconfigured NYS will be apolitical and the recruits will be given first preference for jobs in government.

ZANU PF Youths Offered Freebies To Attend Parliament Public Hearings On National Youth Service | Report

A Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Youth, Sport and Recreation held a public hearing in Bulawayo on the revival of the National Youth Service (NYS), commonly known as ‘<a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Green_Bomber">Green Bombers</a>.’ 
The Omega Sibanda-chaired committee was consulting the public on the NYS Bill, which government intends to introduce.
Conveners of the Bulawayo meeting were forced to summon anti-riot police when violence broke out following a contribution by one participant, Grace Mutanda, who expressed her reservation over the programme.
During her presentation, Mutanda claimed ZANU PF had set a torture base in the Entumbane high-density suburb ahead of the 2023 elections under the guise of NYS.
This assertion did not go down well with some ZANU PF activists who bayed for Mutanda’s blood.
<a href="https://www.newzimbabwe.com/rowdy-zanu-pf-youths-disrupt-parly-hearing-on-reviving-green-bombers-committee-forced-to-cancel-meeting/">NewZimbabwe.com</a> reports that some activists who were outside the meeting’s venue flocked inside and started causing more mayhem by threatening to beat “sellouts” in the meeting. The publication says one drunk youth said:
<blockquote>
Whether you like it or not, we are going to introduce the NYS. We cannot have youths who denigrate their leaders and the country. That will not happen under our watch.
</blockquote>
The youths dispersed in two ZANU PF branded vehicles after the arrival of anti-riot police.
The committee’s chairperson was forced to cancel the meeting and announced that the committee would return for another hearing, on a date to be advised.
<h2>Some context:</h2>
President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration says it is rebranding the NYS and will introduce the programme next year, starting at the Early Childhood Development (ECD) stage.
The NYS was introduced in 2000 by the then Minister for Gender, Youth and Employment, the late <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Border_Gezi">Border Gezi,</a> with the first training camp being established in Mount Darwin in 2001.
The “<a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Green_Bomber">Green Bombers</a>’, as they are derisively called because of their green uniforms, were mostly used to perpetrate violence on opposition supporters ahead of the crucial 2002 Presidential election.
Government critics are questioning the timing of the re-introduction of the programme saying the ruling party intends to use participants to intimidate opposition members ahead of the 2023 elections.
<h2><a href="https://news.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a></h2>

Parliament Holds Public Hearing On Possibility Of Reintroducing Green Bombers

ZANU PF spokesperson, Ambassador Simon Khaya Moyo has said no one should worry over the revival of the national youth programme whose graduates are derivatively called the Green Bombers saying the ruling party was over the politics of violence.
This comes after Information minister Monica Mutsvangwa Tuesday said Cabinet had approved the resumption of the programme after wide consultations between the ministries of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation, and Defence and War Veterans Affairs.
The Green Bombers were previously used by the Robert Mugabe regime during their reign of terror between 2001 and 2009 when the late veteran leader unleashed them in his bid to cling to power.
Ambassador Moyo claims ZANU PF has since departed from using violence to gain political mileage adding that the “New Dispensation was promoting unity and tolerance of diversity, therefore, no one should worry. Speaking to the Daily News, SK said:
<blockquote>Nobody should be scared of the revival of this project. Why should people be scared of this good programme?
This is a new dispensation. We are not living in the past and we cannot continue to live in the past.
We need our youths to benefit from all types of training in terms of various skills. This will help them in future. They can be employers of tomorrow.
Our youths must have something to do and they can’t sit at home doing nothing. The youth service programme will give them skills to do a lot of things, which will help them in future.</blockquote>
SK Moyo speaks after MDC Alliance has opposed the re-introduction of Green Bombers with the party’s deputy youth assembly spokesperson, Womberai Nhende, saying the return of the programme <a href="https://news.pindula.co.zw/2021/04/14/revival-of-green-bombers-sparks-fears-of-violent-2023-polls/">reminds the masses of yester-year’s horrors when the military-trained brigade meted out terror to citizens.</a>
He is convinced the move is meant to “counter the MDC Alliance’s citizens’ convergence for change” agenda as it is revived ahead of the 2023 elections, therefore, it should be resisted.
The previous youth training programme was formed at the turn of the millennium and was the brainchild of the late <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Border_Gezi">Border Gezi,</a> who was then Zanu-PF national political commissar and also Youth minister.
Green Bombers earned notoriety for both violence and the looting of shops under the guise of enforcing the government’s price controls – while imposing unofficial curfews in areas perceived to be opposition strongholds.
They were also accused of working with the police, army and the secret service to perpetrate human rights abuses in the country and were also accused of being the vehicle which some bigwigs used to place tens of thousands of ghost workers on the government’s wage bill.
More: <a href="https://news.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News;</a> Daily News

Don't Worry Over Green Bombers - SK Moyo

Statement by MDC Alliance Youth Assembly National Spokesperson Stephen Sarkozy Chuma on the revival of the National Youth Service (NYS).
<blockquote>The MDC Alliance Youth Assembly is deeply concerned about the news that MR Mnangagwa’s Cabinet has approved the re-establishment of the controversial, notorious “National Youth Service Programme.”
In the past, the National Youth Service became a reproduction machine for violent thugs for ZANU PF with neither skills nor a sense of genuine patriotism.
It is a matter of historical record that the green bombers’ as products of the National Youth Service program were trained as party militia who were unleashed on their very own parents ahead and post 2008 harmonised elections.
While the idea of a bona fide National Youth Service program is a noble one (as is the case in other parts of the world), it is the manner in which it has been done and abused in Zimbabwe in the past that makes it problematic.
We take particular with the way in which “national service” youths were used as instruments of terror in previous elections.
We cannot forget that life and limb were lost at hands of thugs churned out from a ZANU PF-controlled National Youth Service program.
Sadly, the people who were at the forefront of this kind of a National Youth Service that caused our people untold suffering during Robert Mugabe’s time, are the very same criminals who are now pushing for its reestablishment now.
The people know that Mr Mnangagwa is afraid of a peaceful, free and fair electoral contest against a popular and youthful Nelson Chamisa ahead of the 2023 showdown.
This is the reason for these desperate attempts to resuscitate a “National Youth Service” program to spread violence and intimidation as we head towards the polls.
It is also important to note that the idea of a re-establishment of the National Youth Service is being mooted at the same time the regime is pushing for the introduction of a Patriotie Bill to insulate Mnangagwa from scrutiny by citizens.
This is the latest strategy by Mr Mnangagwa to entrench his one-party stage agenda which he has relentlessly pursued using both lawfare and coercion.
As the MDC Alliance Youth Assembly, and indeed on behalf of the party, we place it on record that we are totally against the re-establishment of the National Youth Service program designed by a political party to pursue their parochial interests.
Under the People’s Agenda, we have said time and again that the best interests of the citizens and their freedom must lie at the centre of all proposed policies.
Violence and coercion are manifestly anti-people. There is no room for it in a democratic society.</blockquote>

MDC-A Youths: Return Of "Green Bombers" Lays Ground For Violence In 2023 Election {Full Statement}

Harare lawyer and MDC Alliance national spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere says Zimbabwe’s youths do not need to be sent to military indoctrination camps but an economy that allows them to thrive.
Mahere’s remarks come after the government announced that it was reviving the infamous National Youth Service (NYS) training programme after its suspension in 2018. <a href="https://twitter.com/advocatemahere/status/1382606851313917953" rel="noopener" target="_blank">She posted on Twitter:</a>
<blockquote>Young people don’t need a military indoctrination camp. Young people need an economy that allows them to thrive, an education system that fosters creativity, tech hubs, art centres, modern sporting facilities, recreational facilities &amp; Govt that doesn’t declare war on aspiration.</blockquote>
Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister, Monica Mutsvangwa told a post Cabinet press briefing in Harare on Tuesday that the NYS initiative was important in nurturing young people into becoming responsible and resilient citizens.
NYS was first introduced in 2000 as a brainchild of the late former Youth Development, Gender and Employment Creation Minister, Border Gezi.
The youths allegedly unleashed a reign of terror in rural areas, targeting opposition activists in the run-up to elections in the early 2000s.
The “Green Bombers,” as they are derisively called due to their all-green uniforms, were accused of committing some of the most heinous of crimes against MDC members during the later part of the late Robert Mugabe’s reign.

Zim Youths Need Working Economy, Not Military Indoctrination - Mahere

Teachers’ unions have criticised the government for reviving the controversial National Youth Service (NYS) training programme at a time it has turned a deaf ear on their demands for a living wage.
Speaking in separate interviews with NewZimbabwe.com on Wednesday, both the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) and the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) slammed the government for its misplaced priorities.
ARTUZ president Obert Masaraure said the reintroduction of the training programme best suited Zanu PF’s power retentions ambitions. He said:
<blockquote>This is a clear sign that we have enough fiscal space to fund our social services. Unfortunately, the incumbent government is preoccupied with power retention and doesn’t care much for the other pressing needs.
The indoctrination agenda set to be pursued at National Youth Service should not be prioritised ahead of the health and education needs of our nation.</blockquote>
PTUZ president Takavafira Zhou concurred with Masaraure and lambasted Zanu PF for focusing on consolidating its stranglehold on power instead of serving the people. Said Zhou:
<blockquote>We certainly don’t see its (training) efficacy to a nation that is failing to pay its teachers in particular and other workers in general and prioritise teachers and pupils’ health and safety.
It is clearly an indicator of how leaders prioritise the retention of political power at the expense of service delivery and self-sacrifice.
It will drain the coffers of the state and has no traction in national development.</blockquote>
The government announced on Tuesday that the NYS has been re-established with the goal being to instil discipline and patriotism among Zimbabwean youths.
<a href="https://news.pindula.co.zw/2021/04/14/revival-of-green-bombers-sparks-fears-of-violent-2023-polls/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">The “Green Bombers,” as they are derisively known, are accused of committing egregious human rights violations</a> during the last 20 years or so years of the late Robert Mugabe’s reign.
The youths allegedly committed murders, rape, torture, and burnt down homes of mainly MDC members and ordinary people for not possessing a Zanu PF membership card.
<h4>More: <a href="https://www.newzimbabwe.com/teachers-slam-govt-reintroduction-of-youth-militia/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">NewZimbabwe.com</a></h4>

Teachers Slam Govt For Reviving 'Green Bombers' Programme

Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa on Tuesday announced that Cabinet has approved the re-establishment of the National Youth Training (NYS) Programme, a controversial initiative that had been suspended in 2018.
The “Green Bombers,” as they are derisively known, are accused of committing egregious human rights violations during the last 20 years or so years of the late Robert Mugabe’s reign.
The youths allegedly committed murders, rape, torture, and burnt down homes of mainly MDC members and ordinary people for not possessing a Zanu PF membership card.
Mutsvangwa told a press briefing that the programme was “crucial in nurturing young people into becoming responsible and resilient citizens with a clear sense of national identity and respect for national values.”
She said the proposal, adopted by the Cabinet, came as a result of consultations between the youth ministry and the defence and war veterans affairs department.
MDC Alliance vice president Tendai Biti accused President Emmerson Mnangagwa of plotting a violent election. He tweeted:
<blockquote>The desperate regime presses yet another disparate note of discontent. They want violence in 2023. They want another genocide in Zimbabwe. They have an itch that needs scratching. Shame on them and their false gods.</blockquote>
A Twitter user by the handle @mputailic reminisced:
<blockquote>End of December 2001, these militants beat me to a pulp, left me for dead for not possessing a Zanu PF card. My mom had bought one for me but I had left it in another car.
It was towards the March 2002 presidential election. I fell unconscious and had to be taken to town by ambulance.</blockquote>
However, former MDC spokesperson, Obert Gutu, who recently joined Zanu PF lauded the NYS Programme as a noble initiative. He tweeted:
<blockquote>I salute &amp; celebrate the return of the National Youth Service (NYS). Our youths should be taught the values &amp; ethos of patriotism, self-pride, selfless service to one’s country, nationalism &amp; Pan-Africanism.</blockquote>
<h4>More: <a href="https://www.zimlive.com/2021/04/14/fears-of-violent-2023-polls-as-zanu-pf-revives-notorious-green-bombers/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">ZimLive.com</a></h4>

Revival of 'Green Bombers' Sparks Fears Of Violent 2023 Polls

The government is reintroducing its controversial National Youth Service (NYS) programme after it was suspended in 2018.
It was first introduced in 2000 as a brainchild of the late former Youth Development, Gender and Employment Creation Minister, Border Gezi.
The youths allegedly unleashed a reign of terror in rural areas, targeting opposition activists in the run-up to elections in the early 2000s.
The “Green Bombers,” as they are called due to their all-green uniforms, were accused of committing some of the most heinous of crimes against MDC members during the late Robert Mugabe’s reign.
Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister, Monica Mutsvangwa told a post Cabinet press briefing in Harare on Tuesday that the NYS initiative was important in nurturing young people into becoming responsible and resilient citizens. She said:
<blockquote>The programme is designed to equip youths, who comprise persons between the ages of 18 and 35 years with patriotism, discipline, volunteerism, survival skills, hard work, loyalty, tolerance, resilience, determination and honesty.
During training, the youths will be encouraged to participate in development projects and disaster response activities and thereby assist in enhancing national capacity to manage disasters.</blockquote>
Mutsvangwa added that the youths will be attached to various Government departments and local authorities. She said:
<blockquote>The roll-out of the National Youth Service Programme will involve community attachment of youths for work experience and service to various Government departments and local authorities.
Graduates of the programme will qualify for further training, assistance in starting businesses, and enrolment for careers in the police, the army, the airforce, nursing and teaching, among others.
The programme will also take on board the disabled and maintain gender balance and fair regional representation, with recruitment taking place through District Offices.</blockquote>
<h4>More: <a href="https://www.zimlive.com/2021/04/14/fears-of-violent-2023-polls-as-zanu-pf-revives-notorious-green-bombers/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">ZimLive</a>, <a href="https://www.herald.co.zw/youth-service-programme-re-established/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">The Herald</a></h4>

Govt Re-establishes Controversial National Youth Service Programme

A man believed to be from the <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Border_Gezi" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Border Gezi</a> Housing Co-operative was found dead close to skyline toll gate along the Harare-<a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Masvingo" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Masvingo</a> Highway on Sunday morning.
The deceased’s corpse was tied on a tree at a Masowe Shrine. Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) Spokesperson, Assistant Commissioner <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Paul_Nyathi" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Paul Nyathi</a> confirmed the incident. He said:
<blockquote>I can confirm that a man was found dead at a Masowe Shrine close to the skyline toll gate. Police are still making investigations on the matter.</blockquote>
Residents from Border Gezi suspect that the man was murdered by sand poachers who operate close to their residences.
The residents appealed to authorities to assist them as they are now living in fear of the sand poachers.
<h4>More: <a href="https://www.zbc.co.zw/man-found-dead-tied-to-tree-in-harare/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">ZBC News Online</a></h4>

Suspected Sand Poachers Murder Man At Masowe Shrine

The government is mulling plans to introduce a national service orientation programme for those who would have completed Ordinary Level by the end of next year.
This was revealed by the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Paul Mavima during a Midlands Provincial prize giving day in Kwekwe last Friday.
Mavima asserted that upon completion of an Ordinary Level or Advanced Level, pupils will undergo a year of national service as in countries such as China. He said:
<blockquote>I am going to introduce a very controversial programme for those who are coming out of Ordinary Level as the terminal primary and career are going to be in a national service orientation programme for one year.
In countries such as China. They go for two years undertaking such programmes. In Zimbabwe, we don’t have the adaptive capacity to take learners for two years.</blockquote>
Countries such as China, South Korea, Egypt and Israel have policies which oblige youths at a certain age to undergo national service/military service. The duration varies from country to country.
Zimbabwe introduced the National Youth Service several years ago which reportedly produced stormtroopers for the ruling party who were then unleashed during election periods.
<h4>More: <a href="https://www.newzimbabwe.com/govt-to-introduce-national-service-for-school-leavers/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">NewZimbabwe.com</a></h4>

School Leavers To Undergo National Service Orientation

Minister of Finance and Economic Development Mthuli Ncube made the announcement that the government would retire all youth officers. The officers were considered a strain on the already stretched national budget for several years.
Most of the youth officers are graduates from the infamous National Youth Training Service, started at the turn of the Millenium. The late former Mashonaland Governor Border Gezi was the godfather of the programme and it has since been christened with his name.
Numbering in the thousands, the youth officers are considered ZANU PF’s foot soldiers during election campaigns. Ncube’s decision to fire them has not gone down well with senior ZANU PF leaders. Party spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo said
<blockquote>Of course, we are aware that the programme will require financing. If there is no money, then it would not be implemented. It is up to the minister (Ncube) to come back and explain to the party that he does not have the resources or he should find a way of raising the required money.</blockquote>
Simon Khaya Moyo acknowledged that the youth officers were in the past used to unleash violence against the opposition. He had this to say
<blockquote>That was in the old dispensation and we are not talking about the past. If they did that [violence, torture and murder] in the old dispensation, we will not allow that. 
This is a programme to give young people skills that will help them stand on their own or help in the economic development of our country.</blockquote>
MDC spokesperson Jacob Mafume castigated ZANU PF’s desire to retain the youth officers. In an interview with Newsday, he said
<blockquote>It would look like the regime has the nostalgia of its murderous past. Graduates from the youth service have been convicted by the courts of murder, maiming and rape of opposition activists as well as female recruits. It’s the same as trying to bring back the Fifth Brigade. The question that remains now is how much of (former President Robert) Mugabe’s murderous infrastructure is Mnangagwa going to retain. It scares us.</blockquote>
<h2>Related:</h2>
<ul>
<li class="entry-title">
<h3><a href="https://news.pindula.co.zw/2018/12/16/govt-starts-retrenching-green-bombers/">Govt Starts Retrenching “Green Bombers”</a></h3>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>More: <a href="https://www.newsday.co.zw/2018/12/green-bombers-poser-for-mthuli-ncube/">Newsday</a></h3>

'Green Bombers' Issue Sets Mthuli Ncube And ZANU PF On Collision Course

Government paid US$22,9 million to 3 188 Youth Officers whose contracts were terminated.
Announcing the 2019 national budget, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said Government mobilised US$5.2 million in December 2017 towards three months’ Cash In-Lieu of Retirement Notices and in the second instance, US$17.7 million on 16 February 2018 towards the officers’ Pension benefits. He said the remaining 2 917 Youth Officers will be retired by end of December 2018. Said Ncube:
<blockquote>At its 38th Meeting of 5 December 2017, Cabinet re-affirmed its decision to terminate employment contracts of 3 188 Youth Officers as previously resolved. Drawing from the above Cabinet Resolutions and guidance of the Public Service Commission, Treasury proceeded to mobilise in the first instance, US$5.2 million in December 2017 towards three months’ Cash In-Lieu of Retirement Notices and in the second instance, US$17.7 million on 16 February 2018 towards the officers’ Pension benefits. Mr Speaker Sir, the 2 917 Youth Officers who still remain on the payroll, are being retired and the posts removed from the establishment, by end of December 2018</blockquote>
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Govt Paid US$22,9 Million To Fired Green Bombers, Remaining Officers To Be Retired By Year End

At least 20 youths from the controversial National Youth Service programme, commonly referred to as Green Bombers, will be going for a 3-week training programme in Taekwondo in South Korea. The youths are expected to leave next month. This has raised fears that Zanu-PF is preparing for a violent campaign leading to the 2018 elections.
Local human rights organisation, the Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP), has warned of possible violence in 2018 saying:
<blockquote>From January to August 2017, ZPP monitors have reported with concern an increase in the rise of ethnicity, hate speech, intra-party conflict, violence and desperation of masses with the economic situation in the country.</blockquote>
The National Youth Service Programme was started by the late Border Gezi in 2000 when he was the youth affairs minister.  President Robert Mugabe’s nephew Patrick Zhuwao is the current minister of youths.
More: <a href="http://www.newzimbabwe.com/news-39174-Zanu+PF+goons+off+to+Korea+for+Kung+Fu/news.aspx">New Zimbabwe</a>

"Green Bombers" to go for martial arts training in South Korea

Government run youth vocational training centre Mount View College is reported to have lost sponsorship from key donors after it introduced the National Youth Service which is also known as the Border Gezi programme. College principal, Patrick Karambwe confirmed that the institution had lost sponsorship although he denied that they running the Border Gezi Programme. He blamed the media for the withdrawal of the funds saying that it was peddling lies about his institution.
<blockquote>Recently, we encountered published lies from the private media that our vocational training institute has closed technical training for militia training.
These are lies peddled by the private media with a hidden agenda to tarnish the vocational training centre’s image.
Sponsors have even withdrawn their sponsorship as result of the adverse media reports.
However, sources at the centre disputed the principal’s assertions.</blockquote>
More: <a href="http://www.newzimbabwe.com/news-37724-Donors+abandon+centre+over+Green+Bombers/news.aspx">New Zimbabwe</a>

Donors withdraw funding for vocational school over Border Gezi training

Youths from the opposition party, the MDC-T, have questioned the government’s resource allocation and prioritisation followin the government’s decision to reintroduce the National Youth Service, commonly called the Border Gezi training. The youths questioned where the government was going to get the resources to support the program seeing as it is struggling to pay civil servants their monthly salaries. The government has also committed to pay the 2016 Bonuses to civil servants, but the $180 million for this was not budgeted.
The party’s youth assembly spokesperson, Brian Dube, said:
<blockquote>We have doctors and nurses on strike while other civil servants are disgruntled for poor and erratic remuneration yet one wonders where the same government gets resources to feed thousands of youths at training camps and over 200 people employed to train them,
There is no justification for this programme as there is no baseline survey to assess the needs and acceptability of the curriculum for any legitimate youth service in the country.</blockquote>
More:<a href="http://www.newzimbabwe.com/news-35100-MDC-T+Create+jobs+not+killer+Green+Bombers/news.aspx" target="_blank"> New Zimbabwe</a>

MDC-T youth question government priorities as it seeks to reintroduce Border Gezi training service

Mountview Vocational Training Centre in Marondera which used to offer technical courses has been reportedly closed down to make way for the National Youth Service.  The youth service used to be called Border Gezi training but was stopped in 2009  after the formation of the inclusive government.   Graduates of the school were famous for their green military-like apparel which resulted in them being informally known as “Green Bombers.”
The National Youth Service is set to make a comeback this year, and Mountview is reportedly one of the centres where the youths will be trained.  The training centre is said not to have enrolled any students except for those wishing to study agriculture.  Mountview reportedly now offering 3-month training programmes to youths between 18 and 30 years.
A trainer at the centre who spoke to New Zimbabwe said:
<blockquote>Instead, we are now offering three months training programmes to youths between the ages of 18 and 30 years. We have a current enrolment of about 100 students and training started three weeks ago and they are expected to complete in March
We are mainly concentrating on the youth militia training exercise while the other courses, excluding agriculture have been stopped. We are now preparing our selection for the next batch of students for the next intake to start in April. We hope to have four intakes every year,</blockquote>
The youth militia was often accused of being used by ZanuPF to terrorise opposition party supporters during election periods.
More: <a href="http://www.newzimbabwe.com/news-34464-College+closes+to+make+way+for+militia/news.aspx">New Zimbabwe</a>

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