The Youth Coalition in Zimbabwe has condemned the recent violence skirmishes that rocked some sections of the country saying the unruly acts were meant to inflict terror among the youths thereby discouraging them from participating in the 2023 elections.
This came out from a press conference held Tuesday at Media Center in Harare.
The media conference also addressed highlighted the issue of youths being used to perpetuate political violence citing an example where the MDC Alliance leader, Nelson Chamisa’s team was recently attacked by suspected ruling party youths in Masvingo.
“In Manicaland and Mashonaland Central, intraparty violence has also been reported within the ruling party of ZANU PF. It’s sad that we see this kind of behavior each election season, so as the Youths Coalition we urge our leaders especially those from the ruling party to stop forthwith issuing inflammatory statements that seemingly encourage political violence. Statements attributed to the ruling party acting political Commissary, Patrick Chinamasa that Chamisa team were was attacked because he had provoked ruling party supporters are regrettable and unfortunate,” said Masiyambiri
Masiyambire emphasized the need for peace to prevail among the political parties and implored SADC and AU to intervene in stopping political violence.
“We call upon political leaders to exercise restraint and caution on what they say in public. Political violence is retrogressive and creates an environment that is not free to participate in electoral processes especially by our constituency, which is the youths.”
“Political leaders must understand that beyond political affiliations, we are all Zimbabweans and we need each other to build a prosperous, democratic, and progressive nation.
We also urge SADC, the AU to call Harare to order and nip the scourge of political violence which is seemingly becoming systematic and a strategy employed by some political actors,” he said.
He further urged the President to act and call some of his officials to order against issuing inflammatory statements.
The Youth Coalition in Zimbabwe is a collective grouping of organizations that represent the interests and aspirations of the young people as well as promote their participation in electoral and leadership processes in the country.
