THE Zanu-PF Women’s League has appointed Monica Mutsvangwa as its new national secretary for Women Affairs, following the expulsion of Mrs Grace Mugabe last week.

The national Women’s League secretary for information and publicity Judith Ncube confirmed the appointment of Mutsvangwa yesterday, saying the decision was made at an executive meeting held in Harare on Monday.

“The purpose of the meeting was to map the way forward following the expulsion of Mrs Mugabe and to implement the November 19 resolution by the Central Committee to reinstate fired Women’s League members to their original positions confirmed in 2014.

“We agreed that Mutsvangwa will be our national secretary, replacing the former First Lady. Angeline Chipato from Masvingo province is our new secretary for security, replacing the late Shuvai Mahofa,” said Ncube.

She said these appointments were an effort to bring women together and build a strong Women’s League without causing rift among members.

Other members who were reinstated are Abigail Damasane, from Matabeleland South. Ncube said Damasane was reinstated to the national executive but has been assigned to the position of secretary for production and labour, while Tambudzani Mohadi retains the position of secretary for legal affairs.

“On the resolution to have a female candidate for the position of Vice President we agreed as the Women’s League that we must respect the constitution, which clearly defines that out of the three leaders, one should be a woman.

“We still stand with the resolution that was submitted in 2015. Once the constitution has been amended it will make our life easier,” said Ncube.

The executive, Ncube added, also resolved that all the 10 provinces should hold their provincial conferences in order to come up with their resolutions to be presented at the extraordinary congress to be held in December.

Ncube commended the army for their role in negotiating for Mugabe’s resignation, adding the inauguration of President Emmerson Mnangagwa brings hope to the people.

“We’re thankful as the Women’s League to the army for the work they did in bringing a new era in the country that gives all of us hope for a transformed nation with a better economy. We congratulate President Emmerson Mnangagwa for his inauguration as the new President of Zimbabwe,” said Ncube.

She called on the Women’s League members to work together and promote peace in the party and in the country.

“We must learn to forgive one another and move forward. We can’t achieve our goals if we’re not united and we don’t respect one another. We want to see peace, unity and development,” she said.

Representatives from all the provinces who attended the meeting agreed that due to low numbers of people registering to vote, it was their responsibility to assist in the voter registration programme and make sure that all eligible voters are able to vote when election time comes.