President to open Junior parliament

Harare Bureau

President Mnangagwa will officiate at the opening of the 31st Junior Parliament of Zimbabwe and the International Day of the African Child during a ceremony at the City Sports Stadium today.

June 16 has been celebrated annually since 1991, when it was first initiated by the Organisation of African Union now the African Union.

Newly-elected Child President for the Junior Parliament, Neville Mavu, of Goromonzi High School, will take over from Unathi Nyoni, whose tenure ends on the opening of today’s session of the Children’s Parliament.

In a statement yesterday, the Zimbabwe Youth Council said all was set for the event.

Speaking after winning, Mavu expressed gratitude for the responsibility to lead other children.

“I am so excited and I feel proud to be elected as the new Child President,” he said.

“It is such an honour. I seek to bring change, empower the youths, because I believe as Africans, we are brilliant and we can stand out.”

Nyoni of Bulawayo was delighted and appreciated the opportunity rendered to him during his tenure.

“I appreciate the opportunity rendered to me during my term,” he said.

“It was beyond an eye opener and life changing and I am truly grateful for that. I will still progress with my advocacy with the competence that I have been given by the experience, training and guidance which I received.

“My advice to the newly elected Child President and the Junior Parliament is that they have got the task of defining what their parliamentary session is going to be like. They are the face of that parliamentary session and, as the Child President it is important when rendered such an opportunity, to push the agenda for the 31st session.”

As for the elections that were held to select the Child President, Zimbabwe Youth Council programmes manager Mr Lungani Zwangobani said the Child Parliament mirrors the national set-up constituting the women quota, while six out of 10 presidential aspirants are women.

“In total, we have 350 members elected from the 10 constituencies and we have adopted the same system from the national parliament. We have more female representation,” said Mr Zwangobani.

“The process has been transparent and improved from last year and we have the right calibre of leaders that can voice issues that are troubling youths.”