Whose parly is it anyway?

Swag Mama
The new Child Parliament started its term in office last week on Saturday. Many schools from Harare and a few from beyond sent some students to witness the occasion. The children were in Africa Unity Square where they followed the events in the Parliament building on a big screen TV.

Cool Lifestyle’s Swag Mama spent time with the kids in the park talking to them about the Parliament and its role in their lives. We bring you what some of them had to say, in their own words:

There is a disconnection between the election process and how the actual Parliament then runs. We got all the information on the elections on time and this is a great way to build leaders of tomorrow. But once they are elected, we are not sure what it is that these Parliamentarians do. We want them to tour our schools and hear what we have to say otherwise they cannot talk about our issues properly. – Memory Chigwende, Marashmar Matsilo, Cynthia Matsanga and Precious Makore – Dzivaresekwa 2 High School.

These junior Parliamentarians are just like their adult counterparts. They are full of empty promises. We were promised support for any clubs of our choice but nothing has been delivered so far. Last year’s MP for our constituency, we never even saw for the duration of his or her term. – Anonymous — Knowledge Planet College.

It is too much of a talk show. We want action. It seems to be just a platform for personal development for those who make it into Parliament rather than an actual platform for the rest of us high schools kids to really get involved.

I think the biggest problem with these people is that once they are elected they are busy acting like celebs rather than serving the people. Two years ago our MP promised us T-shirts but we only saw him again at the handover ceremony like today.

Maybe it is the fault of those who control the funding who never give the junior Parliamentarians a chance to live up to their aspirations. So I will not blame my peers for thee false promises because they are just kids but I do not expect anything from them anymore. – Anonymous — Glen View 2 High School.

We do not even know the name of our outgoing MP, never mind the incoming one.

We know that they are helping highlight the issues that affect us as kids like child marriages but we really cannot point out to any particular area and say this or that has been changed by the Junior Parliament.

We think they need to focus on practical actions, no matter how small, like helping the homeless children (street kids). There are also some students who are in dire straits needing school fees, uniforms and learning resources.

They should identify such people and help them practically get equitable education, not just talk. They should also help mainstream disability. We also want e-learning for everyone not the situation now when most kids are still having to rely on print materials. – Trish Mathukutela — St Mary’s High School, Chitungwiza.

We are proud of the Junior Parliamentarians. They are our role models and help us feel recognised by society.

We are happy to have them in our midst and I feel that the platform helps many of us reach for our dreams. – Abiot Sibanda —Domboramwari High School, Epworth.

I think our MPs should take their roles seriously and talk about the issues at the grassroots. Like for me personally I hope this current lot tackle the issue of beatings in school. There are some institutions where the situation is so bad that even prefects are allowed to beat students! This is contributing to the school dropout rate. – Courage Nyamadzawo – Chindunduma 1, Mt Darwin.