HARARE Junior Council last week launched a 28-page Junior Council Handbook in the city aimed at creating public awareness about the role of the Junior Council.
Report by Winstone Antonio
The book is a general outline of the Junior Council — its set-up and how it operates.
It also explains how schools can join and how students are chosen to participate in the programme.
Speaking to NewsDay recently, the City Junior Alderman, Lungani Zwangobani, who is also the chairman of the Harare City Junior Council and the brainchild behind the handbook, said there was lack of knowledge about the Junior Council programme.
“The idea of coming up with this booklet (the Junior Council Handbook) is to raise awareness and educate the public about the Junior Council programmes whose operations and significance very few people understand,” said Zwangobani.
He added that more than 2 000 copies of the booklet that will be made available in most school libraries across the country would help to enlighten students and schools that have not been involved in the programme to be part of the project.
About 70 senior school heads and representatives around the city attended the gathering where Harare mayor Muchadeyi Masunda urged them to encourage students to take part in the Junior Council. The Harare Junior Council, which is a replica of the Senior Council, is the most elite leadership and civic programme for young Zimbabweans of school- going age.
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It was established in 1953 with Lower Six students in schools around Harare being invited to take part in the interviews were successful candidates were then elected into office.
It is led by an executive council comprising the junior mayor, junior deputy mayor, junior town clerk, junior treasurer, junior public relations officer, junior projects co-ordinator, junior chief of committees clerk.
The Junior Council is a replica of the senior council with the number of junior councillors also tallying with the senior council on the minimum.
However, the number of junior councillors should not be less than the number of wards under the jurisdiction of the city or town.
The Harare City Junior Council term runs effectively from March to June the following year with the prospective councillors getting to serve under the mentorship of the current junior council until they are shortlisted and inaugurated.
Once the junior councillor has served a term, if they decide to go further and serve for an extra year, the councillor becomes a junior alderman whose role is to oversee the functions of the junior council, assisting them when necessary.
