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Chamisa's new legislators sworn in

by Staff reporter
06 Apr 2022 at 06:26hrs | Views
The 28 National Assembly parliamentarians that won in the by-elections held last month were sworn-in yesterday when the House resumed sitting after a two-week break.

The legislators took their oaths of affirmation to the Constitution and laws of the country before Clerk of Parliament Mr Kennedy Chokuda.

Following the by-elections, Zanu-PF extended its two-thirds majority in the National Assembly after it won two seats that were formerly held by the opposition.

The seats are Epworth, which was one by Cde Zalerah Makari and Mutasa South won by Cde Misheck Mugadza.

Overall, the ruling party won nine seats in the by-elections while the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change won 19.

Speaking in an interview after taking her oath, Cde Makari said she would work hard to improve the livelihoods of her constituents in line with the promises she made during the campaign period.

"This (the swearing in) is the fruition of what we have been working for. There is a lot of work that has to be done in the constituency. My priorities are the regularisation of houses in the constituency and improvement of roads," she said.

Cde Makari said she will strive to ensure that Epworth had all social services that were available in other parts of Harare.

She added that she will intensify the fight against drug abuse, which has affected her constituency just like many high density suburbs in the country.

Cde Mugadza also said he would work towards improvement of peoples' livelihoods in line with the Government's drive to attain an upper middle income society by 2030.

"We have a constituency endowed with natural resources like gold, timber and water and all that is needed is someone who provides leadership in making sure that people benefit from the exploitation of the resources," he said.

Cde Mugadza said he would use his expertise to fight the scourge of child marriages, which has affected many young girls.

CCC's representative for Kwekwe Central, Judith Tobaiwa, said she was happy to be the first female parliamentarian for the city and vowed to work against child marriages that are prevalent in her constituency as young girls are lured into relationships by artisanal miners.

She encouraged other women to take up opportunities in council and parliament.

Clerk of Parliament Mr Chokuda said the legislators must hit the ground running since they have a short tenure given that Zimbabwe goes to the vote in harmonised elections sometime next year.

Source - The Herald