Mash West hails President

THE ZANU-PF Mashonaland West provincial leadership has commended President Mnangagwa for supporting youths.

In an interview, ZANU-PF Mashonaland West vice chairperson Cde Dexter Nduna said the youths appreciated President Mnangagwa’s efforts to give them an opportunity to participate in this year’s elections.

He said five members of the ZANU-PF Youth League would represent the party in the House of Assembly elections, while several others will contest in council polls.

“If we divide 22 constituencies by five, that is quite remarkable because we are coming from a zero to an almost quarter.

“For the council elections, we do not have figures, yet but still the number of youths contesting is impressive. Even without a constitutional provision in place, you would find that if it works like that in all other constituencies, we will surpass the 34 percent that has been held by women in Parliament,” he said.

Cde Nduna said the Constitution used to concentrate on women participation, while side lining youths who constitute a larger number of the electorate as well as party membership.

“There has been proportional representation since 2013 according to the Constitution. It speaks to women empowerment, but it was quite void in terms of youth composition,” he said.

“Women constitute about 34 percent according to the proportional representation in Parliament, which is above the 20 percent benchmark set by the continent of Africa.

“The youths have said they want to take the bull by its horn and you will see that the composition of the National Assembly this time around is largely going to be composed of the youths.’’