14 It can be asserted, at the risk of over-simplifying the current crisis, that two bi-polar constructs characterise the political problem in Zimbabwe, and implicate the important position of the youth for the two major political parties in Zimbabwe. The first construct is that of rural versus urban, and here the politics of land and the unfinished Liberation War are crucial. We shall not devote much detail to examining this construct since it is a construct that has inordinate coverage in the past 4 years23. For ZanuPF, the rural pole of this construct is critical, and the party defines its roots in the rural support given during the Liberation War and maintained during two decades of independence. It is further developed through the harnessing of the “land reform” process to the “needs” of the rural people for land, which, incidentally, is not disputed by any other political or civic group within Zimbabwe. However, it is disputed that any significant land reform has taken place, with strong assertions, supported even by Robert Mugabe, that much of the “acquired” land has been possessed by a new elite. The adherence to this pole of the construct – rural - is also exemplified by the strong electoral support given to ZanuPF by rural voters. This too is disputed, and much has been written on the manner in which this support has been obtained24. For the MDC, the urban pole is crucial, deriving from its strong trade union roots and an economically disaffected working class. To a large extent, the MDC derives support from a more educated group, and one in which the urge is to move beyond the politics of liberation into what might be called a “secondgeneration” political process. The MDC has demonstrably drawn its support from the urban electorate, but there is considerable dispute over whether its support from the rural areas has been suborned by illegitimate elections, blatant organised violence, and the politics of partisan resource allocation. The second construct is that of African versus Western, and again many of the above issues are relevant here. This again revolves around a re-invigoration of the Liberation War agenda, and a crucial part of the propaganda of the Mugabe regime is the refusal of the West, and Britain in particular, to honour their commitments at Independence, especially in respect of land reform. Zimbabwean opposition is cast as a stooge of Western neo-imperialism, deriving their local support from White Zimbabweans and other nonpatriotic Blacks. Both constructs apply to the youth, and there seems to be a polarisation in the youth between the educated, urban, supporters of the MDC and the less educated, rural supporters of ZanuPF. This is a trifle over-simplified, but this simple model is helpful in trying to understand the attitudes of the youth in Zimbabwe. Dealing with the youth Perhaps one of the most contentious aspects of the current crisis in Zimbabwe involves the youth in particular. This revolves around the National Youth Service programme launched by the Zanu PF government in 2001. This was the brain child of the former Governor of Mashonaland Central, Border Gezi, who first mooted the scheme in late 2000. The first training camps were established in 2001, with the first graduates emerging in October 2001. The advocates of this scheme see it as a way in which marginalized youth can be given vocational training that will equip them for future employment. The critics see the scheme as a method of providing 23 See A. Hammar, & B. Raftopoulos (2004), Zimbabwe’s Unfinished Business: Rethinking Land, State and Nation in the Context of Crisis, HARARE: WEAVER PRESS. Also see B. Raftopoulos (2004), Nation, race and history in Zimbabwean politics, (unpublished paper). 24 There are an enormous number of human rights reports on Zimbabwe, and many reports dealing with elections. Se an explicit analysis of the relations between elections, political violence and human rights violations see Redress Trust (2004), ZIMBABWE. TORTUOUS PATTERNS DESTINED TO REPEAT THEMSELVES IN UPCOMING ELECTION CAMPAIGN. Preliminary Study of Trends and Associations in the Pattern of Torture and Organised Violence in Zimbabwe, July 2001 - December 2003, LONDON: REDRESS TRUST. IDASA: Zimbabwe at the Cross-Roads: Views of Zimbabwean citizens on democracy and transitional justice.