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State agents disrupt human rights day public meeting
Youth Agenda Trust
December 10, 2008

CIO operatives and ZANU PF youth militias disrupted a public meeting convened by the Youth Agenda Trust yesterday night, 10 December 2008 at New Ambassador Hotel. The public meeting under the theme "2008 in retrospect: Opportunities and challenges for 2009. A view of the young people", is an annual event hosted by the Youth Agenda at the end of each year where youth from diverse political backgrounds gather and reflect on the major political, social and economic developments that transpired during the course of the year and also deliberate on the possible interventions by young people in the impending year.

The meeting attracted about two hundred youth participants and presenters were from Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU), Student Christian Movement of Zimbabwe (SCMZ), National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), Youth Agenda Trust and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) as well as Jeremiah Bamu a young human rights lawyer.

The youth militias who were reportedly staying in the capital city awaiting the burial of the late ZANU PF stalwart Elliot Manyika who is to be buried at the Heroes Acre today, started shouting insults at the presenters and threatening to deal severely with the presenters who they believed had insulted their leader Robert Mugabe. Lawrence Mashungu of SCMZ had in his speech compared the ruthlessness unleashed by Mugabe in the post March 29 elections as worse than that of the biblical pharaoh.

Courage Ngwarai of ZINASU had also compared Robert Mugabe as the worst form of sanctions that has ever been imposed on Zimbabwe. The question and answer segment of the meeting is the most important aspect of the meeting as it allows youth to then agree on the possible and practical youth interventions which they can employ in the forthcoming year so as to mitigate the hardships and challenges they are facing. The Youth Agenda is shocked and saddened by this lack of political tolerance that is still being exhibited by youth from ZANU PF.

These disruptions also come in the background of formal invitations having been sent by the Youth Agenda to the ZANU PF youth league and the MDC youth Assembly to forward their youth leaders to present at the annual youth meeting. It is also worrying that last year at the same meeting under the same theme ZANU PF youth militias who were attending the annual ZANU PF youth conference also caused chaos and disorder at the meeting. The Youth Agenda would want to condone such violent and intolerant behaviors by the CIO and ZANU PF youth militias in these latest developments and other acts of violence and terror around the country.

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