President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa has challenged the Youth League to desist from being mere “talkers” and be productive.

He said this during the first 2026 ZANU Youth League National Assembly held at the Party headquarters. 

The First Secretary took time to tell the youths that they have a huge role to play in driving the economy of the country.

“The Youth Vocational Training Centres are vehicles through which the Youth Service in Zimbabwe is being spearheaded. The launch of the E. D. Mnangagwa Youth Service and Vocational Training Centre was pivotal in relation to the model we are now deploying to institutionalise skills training, discipline and national consciousness. The key aim, is to ensure that you, the young people are accelerators of industrialization, modernization, sustainable development and prosperity in our country,” President Mnangagwa said.

“Our country, is fast achieving aspirations projected under the Vision 2030. The future we are building under the Second Republic, requires foresighted thinkers, meticulous planners and focused implementers. Fortunately, this has always been part of the DNA of our revolutionary mass Party, since its formation.

“As First Secretary, I will not allow the Youth League to be a club of mere “talkers”. All your members have a duty to be productive and implementers of the Party’s economic and social policies. Lasting development and prosperity is a result of hard-honest work, brick upon brick, step by step.

“As the young people of this great country, yours now is a generation which must be defined by contribution and impactful results. The communities demand results that are visible.”

President Mnangagwa called upon the youth to reject the temptation of fence sitting, empty applause and grand standing, urging them to steer the country and Party towards productivity and a higher quality of life.