YOUNG BLOOD IN PARLY

MBABANE – Parliament will have a predominantly youthful House of Assembly, as a sizable number of the elected members of Parliament are below the age of 40.

Two of these are even below the age of 30. They are Phila Buthelezi and Mthokozisi Kunene of Shiselweni II who are both 29 years old. However, they are not the youngest that have ever been voted to the House as former MP Ntuthuko Dlamini was 26 years old when he first became a legislator.

A random count by this newspaper found that from a set of 20 MPs who were willing to state their ages, 14 were below the age of 40.
Some of the youthful MPs include Phesheya Hlatshwako of Motshane, Sikhumbuzo Dlamini of Nkwene, Apton Ndlovu (30) of Timphisini and Michael Masilela (33) of Lobamba, Sifiso Magagula (30) of Ntfonjeni and others.

 
However, Parliament will  have a fair share of the pensioners in Phineas Magagula of Lomahasha who is 64, veteran Siphofaneni MP Gundwane Gamedze who is 63; and Saladin Magagula who retired from the civil service last year.
Swaziland Democratic Party President Jan Sithole, who represents Manzini North is also aged 60. Many others are within the 40-50 age bracket.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Swaziland National Youth Council Victor Shabangu said he had also noticed that there were many youthful MPs among the elected ones.

“This is a positive development to youth in the country. We also noticed that during the elections, there were more youth participated this time around. You could find the youth among voters and candidates, which was a positive development.”

Shabangu said the council was still to ask the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) to furnish it with the age list of those who participated in the elections so they can have the true picture. “It is imperative that every term we are able to measure the growth in terms of youth participation in elections,” he said.

Shabangu said there were several initiatives undertaken by the council in order to encourage youth participation.

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