Govt Offers Jobs To Over 1,000 National Youth Service Graduates

The government has offered jobs to more than 1,000 young people who graduated from the controversial National Youth Service programme, a Cabinet Minister has said.

Speaking at a post-Cabinet press briefing in Harare on Tuesday, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Jenfan Muswere announced that 1,077 graduates from the programme will be absorbed into various government departments and the security sector. Said Muswere:

The first two cohorts of students numbering 1,077 who graduated from the six months’ training programme are already earmarked for employment at State-funded higher and tertiary education institutions, the Public Service, uniformed forces, state-owned enterprises, including special programmes, such as the Presidential Solarisation Programme, the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme and the Presidential Borehole Drilling Scheme.

Other graduates are already enrolling for further skills upgrading at various Vocational Training Centres around the country.

The controversial National Youth Service programme was introduced by former President Robert Mugabe’s government but was temporarily suspended due to a lack of resources.

The programme was relaunched by President Emmerson Mnangagwa in May 2024, with the goal of training 100,000 youths over five years.

Under the ZANU PF government, vocational certificates from the programme are now a key requirement for accessing empowerment loans and entrepreneurial support from the Empower Bank.

Critics argue that the youths trained through this programme have been used as ZANU PF foot soldiers, tasked with intimidating citizens to further the party’s political agenda.

However, the government denies these claims, saying the programme is intended to instil values of patriotism, national identity, and volunteerism among the youth.

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