BY JAIROS SAUNYAMA
The much-hyped Zanu PF youth business expo held at Marondera Showgrounds on Tuesday was a flop with just a few ruling party supporters mainly from central Marondera turning up.
NewsDay Weekender established that the expo failed to gather momentum due to poor planning.
At the venue, the exhibitors mainly Zanu PF youths, were milling around as they waited for organisers to show them the way forward.
Youth deputy minister Tinoda Machakaire, who was expected to grace the event, was in no-show, forcing exhibitors to disperse early in the afternoon.
“The flop is a result of poor planning. There is nothing transparent about this expo. We were told yesterday to come since the deputy minister was coming,” one of the Zanu PF youth leaders said.
“However, we are hearing that the leadership is no longer coming because they are preparing for a clean-up campaign to be held in Mahusekwa on Friday (yesterday). We were dismissed after being told that the expo was postponed until further notice.”
It was chaotic at the venue with the participants not aware of what they were supposed to do. At around midday, some exhibitors were already leaving the event while those who were hungry were fed by the owner of a local bakery.
The expo was running under the theme Youths in Mechanising, Modernising and Growing the Economy Towards Vision 2030.
Efforts to get a comment from the organisers and Youth ministry officials from the province were fruitless.
