Speaking in Parliament last Thursday, the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Youth chairperson Mathias Tongofa said Ziyambi should submit the Bill to Parliament by year-end.
He was presenting findings by his committee on youth participation in electoral processes.
Tongofa said although President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government had created structures that accommodated youth participation and representation, the youth were the majority in the country and there was need to increase their threshold to 25%.
He said Mnangagwa had approved that 10 youths be proportionally elected to represent youths in Parliament.
“The Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs ministry should submit a Bill to Parliament by December 31, 2021 amending the Constitution to increase the youth quota from 10% to 25%,” Tongofa said.
“The Justice ministry should amend the Electoral Act to provide for the modalities for the realisation of the amendment to the constitutional provision for 60 women to include young women and young women with disability by December 31 2022.”
He said young people faced stiff competition from financially sound adults, thus limiting their chances of success, necessitating the need to increase the threshold.
