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International Youth Day theme befitting the Zimbabwean situation
Youth Forum
August 04, 2011

The world celebrates the International Youth Day on Friday the 12th of August 2011 under the theme "Dialogue and Mutual Understanding". Whoever came up with this theme probably had Zimbabwe in mind as dialogue and mutual understanding are two ingredients that are missing in Zimbabwe's broad spectrum.

Cases of both political and domestic violence are on the increase in the country at an alarming and disappointing rate. In Harare's high density suburb of Mbare, clashes between youths of different political parties have become the order of the day with country's law enforcement agent turning a blind eye to the events. Violence again resulted in the unfortunate death of a police officer, Inspector Petros Mutedza, in Glen View towards the end of May after a misunderstanding with beer drinkers at a local bar. The Youth Forum research and Advocacy Department has also established that army personnel are also found in certain rural areas and are terrorizing villagers in these areas to an extent that some villagers have moved away from their homes in fear of victimization.

Last month also saw a group of hired thugs attacking parliamentarians and journalists at the August House, a building that deserves serious respect as it is the venue for deliberations on the laws that govern us as well as policies that affect us on a daily basis. When we find hooligans taking their actions to such a place, it only serves to show and confirm the levels of anarchy in the beloved country. The fact that the police have so far, to a larger extent, done nothing to these hoodlums shows that violence has become an acceptable culture in our country.

Also on the increase are cases of domestic violence. These are now so rampant that one women's group saw it fit to take to the streets protesting the abuses their colleagues were facing. Many women have been murdered, dismembered and disfigured in the past few months as a result of such callous acts. It is not only women that have found themselves on the receiving end in cases of domestic violence, many men have also been victims of domestic violence and the number of such men is also adiabatically increasing.

At the top level, negotiators to the Global Political Agreement are failing to agree on a number of issues pertaining to the electoral roadmap. Recently, members of the Joint Monitoring Committee were at each other's throat in Manicaland ironically after failing to solve issues of violence. Such acts from top politicians will only result in serious violence from their supporters.

All these cases are as a result of lack of dialogue and mutual understanding which is what the theme for this year's youth day celebrations is urging us as youths to engage in. if youths engage other youths and different members of the society in dialogue, we would see a marked decrease in cases of both political and domestic violence. There is serious need to teach Zimbabwe's citizenry to use peaceful methods to solve the various disputes' that arise in day-to-day living if we want to see Zimbabwe progressing and developing. The youths of today must shun old-age cultures like violence and engage in dialogue and understanding of each other to show that we are different from the old generation.

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