Midlands legislator Tsitsi Zhou says two-thirds of the tenders reserved for youths must be allocated to females because they are better business people and they think of their country first.
Speaking during a motion on the establishment of a dedicated framework to ensure government tenders are reserved for youth-led business enterprises which is calling for 30% of these tenders to be reserved for youths, Zhou said when male youths get money, the first thing they think of is a luxury car.
“I prefer that from the 30%, the 20% should be reserved for the female youth. Why do I say so? When a woman gets money, they take good care of that money and they think of their country,” she said.
“If a male youth gets money, you have not seen what happens. If I give my daughter 100 000 and I give my son 100 000, my son would think about the car to procure but the female child would think about the localised environment where they stay and the roads, as well as the security and the welfare of the children; the grandparents, as well as the local area.
“Giving them the same amount, the male child can buy a luxurious car. From that 30%, I think the big chunk of that quota should be reserved for the female youth.”
Zhou said the 30% being asked for was quite reasonable because youths constitute 60% of Zimbabwe’s population and therefore deserve more.
Below is her full contribution.
HON. TSITSI ZHOU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, for giving me this opportunity to add my voice to this debate on the motion moved by Hon. Maunganidze. This affects me as a parent. The youths are the ones with a lot of energy to work, especially in all the lucrative sectors of the economy. The youths constitute 60% of the population in this country. Most of them are very intelligent and can contribute positively to the development of this country. Looking at the youths who went up to tertiary, college or university level, they constitute the majority. Intelligence can be very helpful in most of the Government sectors.
I would like to thank my leaders who gave me the opportunity to sit on the Speaker’s Panel. As I sit on the panel, I have come to realise that most of the youths who debate exude a lot of knowledge, for example, Hon. Sakupwanya who is the Youth Caucus Chairperson. I see a lot of intellect in him. Hon. Malinganiso also leads another Committee, Hon. Pinduka and female legislators such as Hon. Chakakura and Hon. Nyelele who speaks fluent Tonga as well as Hon. Maunganidze who has the opportunity to teach others. Hon, Makumire
is in my list. – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear] –
It is unfortunate that I am not able to debate properly because of the interjections by those other Hon. Members. I had prepared my speech and I was going to mention Hon. Makumire as one of the youthful leaders who speak progressively. There is Hon. Bajila who is also a youthful leader who speaks progressively. If we give the youths the opportunity to get tenders according to their request, we would congratulate them one day. I would like to congratulate Hon. Maunganidze for being a leader who knows what he wants and what he
is doing. Some just speak to incite but the Hon. Member realised that there is a platform like this august House where you can bring your requests. We could have an august House full of youths but if you are to join politics, you have to compete and you need resources to campaign.
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