HARARE – Two national youth service graduates, derogatorily referred to as Green Bombers here, were on Monday jailed for assaulting a woman who wore a mini skirt.

 

A Harare Magistrate jailed the two youths - Timothy Gurupira, 20, and Reuben Moyo, 21 - for seven months each, but suspended three months of each youth's sentence for five years on condition of good behaviour.

 

 

The unemployed youths, both graduates of the Border Gezi National Youth Service Training Centre, approached 26-year-old Mary Mutsvangwa at the Ruwa shopping center in the run-up to the June 27 run off vote and, in the style of the notorious Taliban police, interrogated her charging that she was degrading Zimbabwe's culture by wearing mini skirts.

When the frightened Mutsvangwa responded that she did not see anything wrong with her clothing, they manhandled her, ordering her to take off the miniskirt if she did not want to dress at all.

When she refused, the youths, said to be high on a potent Chateau spirit, commonly known as "chapomba" here, assaulted the woman, ordering her to sing liberation war songs. 

In their joint defence, Gurupira and Moyo said they assaulted Mutsvangwa because "we have been trained to instill discipline among Zimbabweans for their national pride".

 

The government is accused of conscripting desperate and unemployed youths into its controversial national youth service and brainwashing them to become blind and violent zealots of the ruling Zanu (PF) party.

The government denies the charge, saying national youth service is vital to instill discipline and patriotism among youths.

It says it will soon enact legislation making it mandatory for all school-leavers to undergo the programme before being enrolled in colleges and universities or being employed by state institutions.

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