Treasury has proposed to allocate about 3% of the ZW$340 billion budget request made by the Ministry of Youth, Sport, Arts, and Recreation for the 2023 financial year, it has been revealed.
The revelation came during the 2023 pre-budget seminar that was held in Harare running under the theme: Leveraging on Domestic Resource Mobilisation to Accelerate Economic Transformation.
During the seminar which is held once a year as part of budget formulation, sees lawmakers discuss budget presentations made by line ministers that are in conformity with the projected funding required and share findings from the pre-budget consultation meeting.
Through-out the pre-budget consultation meetings youths bemoaned barriers to access to funding for projects in the light of the high unemployment rates.
In a presentation, the Ministry of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation Kirsty Coventry decried the allocation insisting it was inadequate to meet the needs of the ministry which caters for 62 percent of the population.
“From 2022 we had an estimated budget of 6.8 billon excluding salaries.
“For 2023 we were allocated ZW$11.7 billion and the bid we had submitted was ZW$340 billion.
“To ensure that these platforms for our young people, sports and arts can be able to have a safe environment and with the best infrastructure we will need an adequate funding.
“I plead with those members of parliament and the minister of finance to help us to get a little bit closer to the variance.
Although Coventry has been accused for doing nothing to alleviate the plight of the youths in various sectors such as sports and arts but she has been requesting more funding for some time now.
Again, during the 2022 pre-budget seminar held last year in Victoria Falls, Coventry was requesting for more funding to her ministry.
Coventry’s request seem to be falling on deaf ears.
