A Zanu PF affiliated youth group under the banner of the Zimbabwe Youth Action Platform (ZYAP) has castigated the proposed delimitation of electoral boundaries by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) citing the exclusion youths in the process.
Delimitation involves the fixing of electoral boundaries into constituencies and wards for the purposes of electing local authority or parliamentary representatives.
Addressing journalist in Harare Tuesday, ZYAP president Tonderai Chidawa discredited the delimitation exercise saying the exclusion of youths was a direct attack on their future.
“We raise our voices against the proposed delimitation of boundaries by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission. We believe the exclusion of youths in this process is a direct attack on the future of young people for which our nation’s backbone was created and embraced. We strongly disagree with the proposed delimitation of boundaries by the Electoral Commission. This is an appeal to the leadership of this nation, to revisit the role of young people and their constituents and consider our right to express our views in the configuration of our nation’s boundaries,” said Chidawa.
He accused ZEC of deliberately ignoring the influence of youth community in electoral processes.
“The redrawing of electoral boundaries affects our ability to choose the right leaders who can better represent the interests of young people. We speak against the intentional marginalization of young people in the delimitation process, and any attempt to serve only the interests of political groups and representations while ignoring the burden that our boundaries place on the future of youths.
“The recent 2022 census has brought to light, the challenges faced by youths in this nation, and while the delimitation process must be informed by the census, the Commission has made a deliberate attempt to ignore the influence of the youth community in this process.
“The delimitation process lacked sufficient consultations, and youths will never endorse any self-interested process. We expect high levels of engagement across all the sectors of society including an understanding that young people must always be at the center of every process that define their future,” he said
Chidawa added “The configuration of boundaries without giving due respect to the importance of race, the distribution of devolution programs, peace building and national healing process, undermines the very tenets that bind our communities together. The proposed delimitation is an attempt to bury down the influence of youths in local politics. The failure of ZEC to consult the youths in this process brings a question of whether there is any transparency and accountability to the process.”
