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Naledi Lindarose Maunganidze-Madzara
The August 23 elections have been fought and won, and by now everyone knows that President Mnangagwa won the presidential vote by 52,6 percent, paving way for him to embark on his second term.
This second term is a continuity of the President’s developmental programmes that are changing the face of Zimbabwe.
The election results left no doubt that President Mnangagwa and Zanu PF have been given a clear mandate by the people to continue leading the country.
Everyone is looking forward to this more developmental, successful and progressive fresh five-year mandate that has been bestowed by the people in accordance with the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
Of course, in such elections, one would expect some sideshows who would want to make people doubt the victory of the ruling party and its presidential candidate.
But the people have spoken and they have done so without fear or favour, as peace prevailed in the country, creating a conducive environment for voters to cast their votes peacefully.
We have to treasure this peaceful environment going forward so that Zimbabwe can progress in the right direction which President Mnangagwa and Zanu PF have charted.
It is time to move on to the next stage after these elections – putting our shoulders to the wheel, working day and night to ensure our country prospers in development.
The foundation has already been laid through the various developmental programmes we witnessed during President Mnangagwa’s first term.
This second term means consolidation of development arising from the foundation laid in the first term.
Zimbabwe will never be same again because of this continuity given to President Mnangagwa and the party by the people through this second term.
This election win was engineered with the participation of every party member in their areas, including the youths who saw their future in President Mnangagwa and Zanu PF.
As the Zanu PF Secretary for Gender and Culture in the Youth League, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the youths for their vote which helped propel the President of our party to victory.
President Mnangagwa always encourages youths to take part in shaping their destiny through participating in various programmes, including in politics.
By voting overwhelmingly for President Mnangagwa, the youths were demonstrating to the whole world that they know where their future lies.
Our future as youths is secured with President Mnangagwa and Zanu PF at the helm of the country.
The President and the party have demonstrated capacity to take concerns of the youths on board, hence the various empowerment programmes that have availed to the young people during President Mnangagwa’s first term.
This second term, we expect more for the benefit of the youths, and we can trust President Mnangagwa to deliver as he always does.
As the youths, let us not have time with those who want to dissuade us by bringing sideshows to our politics and country.
The focus should be on ensuring we help the President and the party to ensure this second term is as successful as the first one.
For us as the youths, we say it is time to concentrate on making sure that the next five years are successful, thus positioning our party for another resounding victory come the next election.
This can be done through staying close to the people, being foot soldiers for the party who listen to the people’s problems and carry them to our party leaders for redress.
Remember the youths of yesterday, who would carry information to the liberation fighters, sometimes acting as the link between the masses and the fighters!
As youths of today, our role should remain the same – linking the masses with the party and most importantly, through ensuring that the developmental deficits in our communities are brought to the attention of the party leadership for quick redress.
Once we do this, we will be playing our part in ensuring that no one and no place is left behind – as our President always says.
Remember, we are still focused on achieving Vision 2030, which entails that we become an upper middle income economy by that year.
This vision needs everyone on board, especially the youths, because of their big role they are already playing in the economy.
There are youths in every facet of the economy who are doing wonders in their spheres and their participation is helping move the country forward, towards achieving the upper middle income economy by 2030.
The achievement of Vision 2030 will be important for everyone, including the youths, as it means that our economy will have grown to the levels that it would be able to support incomes of between US$4 046 and US$12 535.
Let us not shy away as youths from bringing our ideas on the table through the listening ear of President Mnangagwa, remember he is a listening President who does not discriminate against anyone based on age, colour and creed.
This is why the youths participated in this election and voted for President Mnangagwa, and this is also why there is need to say: Thank you, the youths of Zimbabwe for your part in ensuring our President gets his second term.
It was a collective effort, and as youths you played your part so well in ensuring that our party wins in all the polls, including the parliamentary and council polls.
This election saw the youth quota for the National Assembly becoming a reality, with 10 youths, one each per province, taking their seats in the 10th Parliament when it starts business.
Let me take this opportunity to say that I am grateful to President Mnangagwa and the party for selecting me to represent Masvingo province under the youth quota.
I am glad to say I am one of the youths who managed to make it to the National Assembly under the youth quota, together with seven others from our party.
Only three of these seats went to the opposition, raising the need for us to work harder for the next election to ensure that all these 10 seats are taken up by our party.
We should not forget that the youth quota is as a result of President Mnangagwa’s vision for an empowered youth population, which has representation at all levels of society.
Now that we have voted overwhelmingly for President Mnangagwa as youths, we have done our part and the President has been playing his part to empower us, for which we know he will do much more.
There is a lot to expect for us youths during President Mnangagwa’s second term.
He has been moving along with the youths, not leaving any youth behind, and we expect the status quo to continue.
We should brace for the rollout of more empowerment programmes for the youths during the next five years and those who are willing to participate will not remain the same.
What is important is that when it comes to these youth empowerment programmes, President Mnangagwa does not discriminate or ask for party affiliations.
Every youth in Zimbabwe is bound to benefit from these empowerment programmes. Those youths who did not vote for President Mnangagwa, it is not their fault, they were hoodwinked by pretenders.
I believe that such youths have now seen the light and come the next election, they will do the right thing by casting their vote for Zanu PF candidates.
Otherwise, thank you Zimbabwean youths for voting President Mnangagwa and Zanu PF, you have shown you are focused on issues that really matter.
Naledi Lindarose Maunganidze-Madzara is the Secretary for Gender and Culture in the Zanu PF Youth League and a Member of the National Assembly under the Youth Quota representing Masvingo.
Online Reporter