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Independence Day statement
Youth Agenda Trust
April 17, 2013

Tomorrow marks 33 years after the gallant sons and daughters of this great republic dislodged the settler regime and brought independence to a people who had endured a century of oppression.

Since the settler occupation in 1980, the black people began a fight, a very long battle that bore heroes and heroines such as Sekuru Kaguvi, Mbuya Nehanda, Herbert Chitepo, Josiah Tongogara among a host of other brave citizens of Zimbabwe. They fought for equality, they fought for their human rights, their identity, their freedom and they preached peace.

The dawn of independence drew wild celebrations across the country as people looked into the future with hope. However, 33 years after Independence all hope has all been but a pipe dream. The group of revolutionaries that assumed power at Independence did not take time to continue from where the settlers had left and instituted a forgettable genocide that saw over 20 000 people being murdered in Matabeleland. Before the dust had barely settled, the revolutionaries were busy looting state resources and engaging in corrupt activities that embarrassingly exposed the regime when the Willowgate scandal exposed the evil work of the politicians.

What followed were disastrous economic policies that led to famine in the early 90s and peeked with the war veterans madness of 1999 were revolutionary chefs looted the country under the guise of compensation with some even feigning disability.

The chaotic and violent land reform of the early 2000s summed up a reign of terror that flattered to deceive at take off. The land reform has since been an easy avenue to make money with some politicians grabbing more than 5 farms all in the name of land reform while the majority of the poor fight for small pieces of land. Now it is indigenization, a policy that is clearly crafted to shield daylight looting of companies and industries and has led to the unpopular NIEEBGATE.

Since 2000 to date, the government has made sure that elections to elect a new government have been as violent as possible which has seen hundreds of people perishing while others have been left without limbs by a regime desperate to cling on to power. This has been the record of the regime since Independence.

Youth Agenda Trust looks back at the achievement of this government with despair and agony. It has failed to honour its Independence promises. The people of Zimbabwe today remain one of the poorest under the sun, living on less than $2 a day despite the fact that the country is sitting on vast mineral resources which are being monopolized by a clique of few greedy politicians.

The tragedy of our country is that those who were our liberators have turned into our oppressors. It is unfortunate that when everyone expected to be freed from shackles of colonialism, it has however turned out that what happened in 1980 was merely the changing of hands but nothing has changed. In fact, we continue to see our own black government trampling upon fellow poor black people.

The people of Zimbabwe want the fair distribution of resources and not concentrate them of a few individuals. The young people of Zimbabwe want jobs and the elderly want decent pension for all the years that they have worked for this country. The women of this country have for long been yearning for bread to give to their children but it has not been forthcoming.

The people of Zimbabwe want freedom, they want to be given an opportunity to choose a government of their own choice and not to be beaten or killed for simply exercising their democratic right to vote. Youth Agenda want to remind the government that one of the reasons why our heroes and heroines went to war was “One Man One Vote”.

As we celebrate Independence tomorrow, we must not forget that we have unfinished business that those who perished during the liberation struggle were determined to deliver but the ideals were dumped at independence but those who took over power and have never bothered to revisit them. We make a clarion call to the youth of Zimbabwe to demand their independence today! We cannot be oppressed anymore. Our Time is Now! Long live Zimbabwe!

As Zimbabwe prepares to celebrate Independence Day, The New Age Voices went around the streets of Harare to get the sentiments of young people on the meaning of this important day to them. Here are some of the views that were expressed by the youth.

Born at Independence 33 years ago, Sirira Andreya says she has lost hope of getting employment after seeing most of her relatives and friends being retrenched from work before she could not get one herself. She says that she has not seen any change since 1980. “We are tired of this government, we are suffering because there are no jobs. As the youth, we want a free and fair election that will usher in a new government that will bring food on our table, “said Andreya. She says she expects a new government that does not oppress its people.

Gladys Kureva was born in 1980 and says she vividly remembers the excitement that engulfed Zimbabwe in the 80s and the hope people had in the new black government. She however recalls how all hope began to fade away as the economy went on a slide. Kureva says it is not fair that the same people continue to cling to government positions where they have under performed for the past 3 decades. “Our leaders do not want to give others a chance. They are benefiting at the top while the rest are suffering. The solution therefore is to change the under performing leadership and replace it with honourable leaders who are people centred.”

Having been born 2 years before Independence, Obey Mwariwangu is a bitter youth who tells everyone who cares to listen that the government led by President Robert Mugabe has nothing to show for its 3 decades stranglehold on power. He casts a gloomy picture of the future of the country if the people of Zimbabwe fail to vote them out of power. He says the people of this country have not enjoyed an inch of the hard won Independence and that Independence day has lost its meaning. “The reason why these people have failed to deliver is because we gave the too much power and too much power corrupts. They have failed to improve the economy and that is why the youth are suffering. We now want a leader who listens and responds to the needs of young people,” Mwariwangu said.

Born in Harare in 1979, Phylis Chitovhoro has all but lost hope. She says that Zimbabweans remain tangled in the shackles of oppression despite having celebrated Uhuru 33 years ago. She narrates how they have looked to the promises of the government since then but it has just been a pie in the sky. There is no health and education sectors to talk about and people remain jobless, Phylis quips. “We need to change the actors and the whole script, we have been cheated for long and this year’s elections must usher in a new era,” said Philis with despair written all over her face.

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