Cabinet endorses 30 percent women’s quota in council declaration

Vusumuzi Dube, Senior Reporter

CABINET has endorsed President Mnangagwa recent proclamation of a 30 percent women quota in councils in line with the constitutional provisions on gender balance.

The President recently acceded to a call from female councilors to increase their representation within local authorities during the inaugural Zimbabwe Local Government Association of Zimbabwe (Zilga) women councillors’ indaba which was held under the banner of the Women in Local Government Forum (WILGF) in Victoria Falls recently.

Presenting a post Cabinet briefing on Tuesday, Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Monica Mutsvangwa said  Cabinet had endorsed the decision and Government would now start working on the Amendment of the Constitution on Proportional Representation in Local Authorities.

“Cabinet considered and approved Principles for the Amendment of the Constitution on Proportional Representation in Local Authorities, which was presented by the Minister of Local Government and Public Works.

“The proposal is in response to submissions by Women Councillors at Victoria Falls, which His Excellency the President undertook to bring to Cabinet. The Principles seek to extend the progressive Constitutional provisions on gender equality to local Government structures. In particular, the systems of proportional representation for the election of candidates to Parliamentary seats will be extended to local authorities,” said Minister Mutsvangwa.

She said the principles will facilitate increased women and minority parties representation in lower tiers of governance, thereby bringing stability and balance in decision-making as power-sharing becomes more visible at the grassroots level.

In endorsing the 30 percent women’s quota in local authorities, President Mnangagwa noted that local government is the bedrock of national governance.

He said it was thus necessary to consider extending the women’s quota to councils, urging women councillors to equally develop and implement concrete strategies to realise their objectives.