By A Correspondent- The Zanu PF national secretary for security and deputy labour minister Lovemore Matuke has taken a defensive position protecting his boss President Emmerson Mnangagwa saying he is not to blame for the current economic crisis but threw the blame on Zimbabweans whom he said are lazy and wait on the President to do everything for them.
Matuke said President Mnangagwa also needs help and support from Zimbabweans rather than for people to just wait to be hand fed when they should take the initiative to move the country forward.
Matuke made the remarks during an interface meeting with tertiary education graduates and students at Mutare Polytechnic College last week.
“This country cannot move forward with the efforts of one person. We all need to play our part. If you say you are waiting for President Mnangagwa to deliver alone then you need to wake up and smell the coffee.
“President Mnangagwa is only there to give us direction but he needs our help and support. We do not want people who just cry and yet they are doing nothing to better their situation,” said Matuke.
Matuke said that the power to economic prosperity of Zimbabwe lies within the hands of Zimbabweans.
“Instead of putting the blame on government, we should blame ourselves for not taking part in the development of our economy because President Mnangagwa cannot develop this economy alone.
“There is no one who was specifically meant to open up a business that creates employment. All of us have potential to establish our own businesses so that our economy improves,” said Matuke.
The meeting sought to create a database of graduates in Manicaland as Zanu PF is working on a programme to address the issue of unemployment in the country.
“The idea is that we want to classify graduates with regard to their area of specialties and government will chip in with funding for them to start up their own businesses.
“The government is going to create a special fund through budget. Through joint ventures or as individuals, you can start your own businesses that can contribute to the development of our economy,” said Matuke.
He said said that there are some youths with initiatives to do projects but they lack capacity.
“We want to create capacity by disbursing adequate funds to ensure that graduates start up their own projects. Each province is going to have a budget that will cater for youths.
“We had problems in the past where funds meant for the youths did not work. We want to make sure that if funds are disbursed, they reach the intended people not relatives of administrators,” said Matuke.
Zanu PF secretary for finance Patrick Chinamasa said they are going to negotiate for policies which gives tax incentives to corporates to facilitate the ease of doing business.
“We want corporates to be given tax incentives and subsidies from government so that they are encouraged to employ graduates from tertiary institutions.
“We also urge the government to put up a law which provides that any tender must require the tenderer to employ a certain number of graduates so as to increase their skills levels,” said Chinamasa.
-TellZim