Why I’m Confident Of Becoming Zimbabwe’s First Female President – Valerio

By Ebi Kesiena

As Zimbabweans go to the polls in August, President of the United Zimbabwe Alliance (UZA) party, Elisabeth Valerio has disclosed that she is confident of becoming the next and first female president.

According to Valerio, she was confident of a win because majority of eligible Zimbabweans are women and will most likely vote for a woman candidate.

Speaking to ZBC on Monday, Valerio who is the only female presidential candidate in the upcoming election, noted that the majority of voters she has spoken with, both men and women, said for now they want a woman president since they have given men the mandate to lead the country but failed.

‘‘They most definitely are ready for a female leader and I am confident I will win this election because I am a woman and 51 percent of the population are women.

‘’Men and women I have spoken to told me that they have given men a chance before and now they want to give a woman a chance’’

The female Presidential candidate also said her manifesto resonates with the citizenry and was therefore confident of winning the presidential race.

‘‘All that we are offering to the electorate is what they want. We went to them and asked how they wanted us to change things and their responses made us realise that we have to offer what makes sense to the people.

‘’‘I am promising the electorate that if they vote me into office there are a number of policies that I will introduce to ensure that every Zimbabwean benefits from the resources we have in the country’’ she said.

Elisabeth Valerio was added to the ballot last week after winning a court challenge in which the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) had turned down her nomination, claiming she had failed to meet the deadline to settle her nomination fees.

Valerio is among the country’s 12 presidential candidates vying in the August 23 elections following her court victory.