PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa and his peers in Africa have failed to read the mood of young people on the continent and risk being swept aside by the rising tide of demand for change.
Chamisa told mourners at a church service in honour of the late Glen View South MP, Vimbai Tsvangirai-Java last week that it was time young people took the lead.
“In Africa, there is a problem of failing to understand the generational transition. Our old generation is failing to understand the times. They looked after us when we were children but now it is our turn to take charge.
“(Former President Robert) Mugabe, Mnangagwa you have done your part in serving this country during the liberation struggle but now pass the button to today’s generation. Then we will show you how a country is run,” said Chamisa to deafening applause.
Chamisa said the call for generational renewal is not only a Zimbabwean phenomenon but a campaign which has spread its wings across the African continent.
“Young people of Africa this is your time. This is not just a Zimbabwean phenomenon. This is the case in South Africa, Rwanda, Uganda and in Kenya. Young people must stand to rescue our continent,” he said.
Tsvangirai-Java the eldest daughter to former Prime Minister and late MDC founding leader Morgan Tsvangirai succumbed to injuries sustained in a car accident last month. The horror crash also claimed the lives of two party activists including her maternal uncle.
Said Chamisa: “Vimbai came to join politics as a young person. Young people must answer to the call. She answered to the call. What Mugabe and Mnangagwa did at their young age in fighting colonialism, we also want to do the same.
“They went to Mozambique fighting against minority rule, we will not go to Mozambique, Zimbabwe is our Mozambique and the mistakes they committed we also want to make them.”
Chamisa took over as MDC leader days after turning 40 last year and hours after Tsvangirai died of colon cancer in South Africa.
Critics accused the young politician of “being in a rush” after railroading party structures to endorse his candidature as heir to Tsvangirai claiming the late veteran trade unionist had anointed him just before he breathed his last.
Source: Newzimbabwe
