adminthe official opening of the 21st session of the Junior Parliament next weekend.
Mpala won by 19 votes, second placed was Rutendo Mandere of Seke 1 High School with 15 votes in an election contested by six candidates.
Contestants were drawn from Queen Elizabeth, Seke 1 High, Highfield High 2, Domboramwari High, Lord Malvern and Gateway High School.
The elections were organised by the Zimbabwe Youth Council in partnership with Ministry of Youth and Justice for Children’s Trust under this year’s United Nation’s theme “Pan- Africanism and Africa Renaissance with Children in Mind”.
The new governor-elect promised fellow children that he would be a good leader with the interests of the young people in Harare at heart.
“It is my humble honour to be elected as the new governor of Harare province. I want to affirm that I will strive to work to my fullest potential to uphold the objectives and reflect the choice of every young Zimbabwean in Harare,” said the junior governor.
Speaking at the election ceremony, Zimbabwe Youth Council national director Livingstone Dzikira said this year’s elections of the junior governor were the last as they were now adopting the newly national constitution’s provisions which replaced the governor’s seat with that of the provincial council.
“This year’s governor elections are the last. We have dissolved this seat in line with the country’s supreme law which is the newly adopted national constitution. We are bracing ourselves as we are a replica of the national Parliament, to match the constitutional provisions which replaced the seat of the governor with the provincial council and chairperson,” he said.
Meanwhile, the selection of the junior parliamentarians began with primary elections in secondary schools within every constituency across the country. Students who contested for the posts were invited to make presentations before being voted for by their schoolmates.
Inter-schools competitions were then held pitting candidates forwarded by various schools against each other with the candidate who had the highest votes becoming the Junior Governor and the second highest becoming the Junior MP for the constituency.
The competition was based on public speaking especially those who were able to articulate issues on a given theme, the appreciation of child rights and demonstrating leadership capacity.
“This year’s students were debating under the theme “Eliminating Harmful Social and Cultural Practices Affecting Children”.
The Zimbabwe Junior Parliament was established in 1991 as a way of commemorating the Day of the African Child on June 16 each year. The programme allows children to participate in the national agenda, while addressing concerns affecting children in Zimbabwe.
It (the Junior Parliament) operates as a mirror or image of Parliament which entails that each and every constituency in the country has a child parliamentarian representative.
Since its inception, it has been able to bring to the fore challenges that are being faced by children in Zimbabwe to the attention of the Government and other stakeholders.
At present, the Junior Parliament has well-established projects, clubs and has participated in other interventions to tackle children’s issues. The programme has also helped to provide a platform to harness and develop leadership qualities in the youths.
Each year, children from across the country’s constituencies are elected by their peers as representatives in the Junior Parliament.
The 10 governors from each province will then compete for the presidency in an election that only junior parliamentarians participate.
Online Reporter