ZANU (PF) to launch ED Youth Cup

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By Elvis Dumba

Banket – A ten-team national sports tournament is set to be launched soon by the ZANU PF youth league.

The Sports tournament which will be known as the Emmerson Mnangagwa Youth Cup Tournament will see the ruling party’s youths battle out in both male and female soccer, netball and volleyball disciplines.

ZANU PF Mashonaland West Provincial Youth League Chairperson, Tapiwa Masenda revealed about the tournament whilst addressing the party’s youth inter-district meeting at Banket Sports Club on Sunday.

“Our President (Emerson Mnangagwa) has donated sporting kits to us as we are going to launch a sports tournament which will be called ED Youth Cup. We got uniforms from the President for netball, volleyball, and both men’s and women’s soccer. The President has urged our party to embark on talent identification and development. The tournament will start from the district level up to the provincial tournament where we will pick the best teams that will participate in the national Ed Youth Cup tournament. This is meant to bring all young people together to foster unity as we peacefully campaign for our President so that he wins the 2023 elections resoundingly,” he said.

Masenda said all provinces have already received the sports kits.

He admitted that the current voter registration exercise has seen few young people being registered as voters as most of them don’t have national identity documents. The politician said plans are underway for mobile national identity documents rollout programme so that young people contribute to the 5 million votes for the ruling party.

“A lot of young people I know you don’t have national identity documents. We cannot win the election by our set target if we as young people don’t get registered. We have been assured that plans have been made that you get IDs through the mobile identity documents exercise just similar to the mobile voter registration blitz.”

H revealed that the ruling party’s provincial youth league is reprimanding the youths to desist from social media abuse by posting party internal squabbles on various social media platforms

“Desist from the habit of using social media for personal scores. The opposition will take this up against us. If you have any grievances, don’t take them to social media but use the proper channels, I will deal with anyone posting sensitive party issues on social media,” he said.

Masenda said the youth league will demand to know how the economy is doing by putting various government leaders to account including demanding knowledge of how funds distributed from the government through various channels such as community development fund (CDF) and devolution funds are being used.

He also called for the youth league involvement in the selection and monitoring of the Presidential Scholarship program.

“The scholarship is from our President. It is ours so we need to know who is benefitting from our youth league. The youths are the first preferences for the scholarship. We want to monitor the exercise so that those going out to study abroad don’t become sell-outs,” he added.