GWANDA youths, who participated at a Habakkuk Trust-organised youth camp, are mobilising community members, particularly youths, to register to vote in next year’s general elections.
BY SHARON SIBINDI
The youths were trained on citizenship, human rights, citizen participation in decision-making and development processes and community mobilisation. The phase 3 of the biometric voter registration (BVR) exercise started last week and the current political standoff in the country has overshadowed the process.
In an interview with Southern Eye, Nobesuthu Maphepha from Gwanda ward 3 appreciated the training saying it was an eye opener to them and the community.
“We were trained on the importance of participation and we have seen the voter registration statistics circulating on WhatsApp we noticed that our province has very few registered voters compared to other provinces. As youths we are conducting voter education in our ward to mobilise people to vote. On Friday, in Dema village some young people were going in groups to register,” she said.
According to statistics published by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) at the end of phase two of the voter registration blitz, Bulawayo had the least number of registered voters followed by Matabeleland South.
Mholi Khumalo from Gwanda ward 4 said: “Voter registration started on a low note in Stanmore and we are hoping as days go by, more youths will register. We will continue encouraging people to participate in this process.”
The youths have been distributing fliers, putting up posters and mobilising people for the BVR exercise.
