WELEAD Trust trains 40 Acturus young people on constitution literacy

Zimbabwe: WELEAD Trust trained 40 young people in Goromonzi North on constitution literacy with the support of OSISA, with the goal of minimizing the youth constitution illiteracy gap in Zimbabwe.

50% of those polled said they had no understanding of the constitution (on a scale of 1-10). They rated themselves as 0 out of 10, while 18% rated their knowledge as 4-6 out of 10, leaving only 32% with a score of 5-9 on the scale.

Young people testified that they do not have access to fundamental rights guaranteed by the constitution and that the venue is so politicised that they chose to speak anonymously.

Acturus residents lack access to basic services such as health care, and they must travel approximately 30 kilometres to reach a clinic in Harare, Mabvuku, or Pagejo raRubi, which is located along Mutoko Road (Acturus to Mutoko is approximately 103 km).

The lack of primary healthcare facilities has resulted in an increase in stillbirths, newborn baby deaths, and pregnant women’s deaths (who are mostly young women).

The situation is in violation of Zimbabwe's constitution.

Section 29 requires the state to take all reasonable steps to ensure the provision of basic, accessible, and adequate health services throughout Zimbabwe.

Young participants emphasised that the services were available prior to the change in ownership of the mine until it was purchased by a prominent figure who owns a bakery in Zimbabwe and is privatising everything, including the school (they said rumours are spreading that the school is going to be closed and reopened as a privately owned one).

One of the young people said that that was yet another violation of Zimbabwe's constitution.

Section 67 of the Zimbabwean Constitution, on the other hand, guarantees all citizens the right to vote in all elections.

However, young people in Acturus are concerned that they will be unable to vote in the upcoming election.

They complained to the WELEAD Trust team that they were unable to register to vote due to two main reasons: the lack of national IDs and the long distance to the ZEC offices.