Godfrey Mtimba • 24 January 2014 11:10AM • 6 comments
MASVINGO - Zanu PF youths yesterday disrupted a United States Embassy-organised youth meeting at the Civic Centre here protesting against sanctions imposed by Washington on Harare.
President Barack Obama’s Washington Fellowship Young African Leaders Initiative meeting was called off just after an official from the Harare Embassy started explaining to local youths how they could join the programme.
Corra-Leigh Magiya, an official from the US embassy in Harare, was forced to cancel the meeting after the youths heckled the resource person.
“Why do you want to help few young leaders in this country to go to America when hundreds of thousands are suffering from sanctions your country imposed on Zimbabwe?” charged a Zanu PF youth. “We do not need your fellowship, remove the sanctions.”
The fellowship empowers young African leaders through coursework, leadership training and networking.
It also provides some youths the opportunity to hone their skills at US universities and gives about 500 youths from different African countries the opportunity to go to Washington for a four-week exchange programme.
The Zanu PF youths, led by national youth deputy political commissar, Talent Majoni, heckled Magiya and demanded to know why President Robert Mugabe was left out of the forthcoming US-Africa summit in August.
Magiya, however, attempted to explain that she was not qualified to answer such questions as she was only an employee but they could have none of it.
The youths continued to hurl insults before they burst into song and dance, leading to the calling off of the meeting prematurely.
They attacked youths who pleaded with them to let the meeting continue, and also manhandled this reporter who was covering the meeting.