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NATIONAL ASSEMBLY HANSARD 12 April 2016 42-51

PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE

Tuesday, 12^th April, 2016

The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two O’clock p.m.

PRAYERS

(THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER in the Chair)

ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER

APPOINTMENT TO COMMITTEES

THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER:  I have to inform the House that Hon. Gangarahwe has been nominated to serve on the Portfolio Committees on Youth, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment and Local Government, Public Works and National Housing.

INVITATION TO A MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR THE LATE HON.

ENG. CHIDAVAENZI

THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER:  I also have to inform the

House that the memorial service of the late Eng. Edgar Chidavaenzi will be held on 30^th April, 2016 at 1000 hours at Vukwe Farm, Mvurwi.  All

Hon. Members are invited to attend.

ZITF OFFICIAL OPENING

THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER:  I have to further inform the House that all Hon. Members who would be attending the official opening of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair to be held on 29^th

April, 2016 are required to register their attendance at the Parliament of Zimbabwe stand to enable them to claim their fuel from Parliament when the House resumes sitting.

HON. NDUNA:  On a point of order Madam Speaker.  On 7^th

April, I moved a motion which was a Second Report of the Portfolio

Committee on Transport and Infrastructure on the operations of the NRZ.  What is of particular note is that there was a seconder who stood up and seconded the motion.  However, when the debate ensued, I presented the Report on NRZ, for want of adjournment of the House, the seconder did not then support the motion in terms of debate.  Madam

Speaker, seeing that this Report is very important and the seconder did not get an opportunity to also debate the motion, I seek leave of the House that the seconder be given an opportunity of debating this motion as I and the Committee believe that this is a very crucial Report.....

THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER:  Order!  We have not yet gotten to that motion.  Also, the motion was seconded by someone and the seconder would be afforded a chance to debate the motion.

*HON. CHINOTIMBA:  Madam Speaker, you have said Hon. Members who would want to attend the Trade Fair should come and collect fuel coupons – [HON. MEMBERS:  Inaudible interjections.] – Can I finish?  To register so that you will get your fuel coupons.  That is what I wanted to ask.

*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER:  I think you did not hear

correctly.  You are supposed to go and register at the Parliament stand at the Trade Fair.

*HON. CHINOTIMBA:  That is for fuel coupons.  What about our accommodation as parliamentarians?

*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER:  Hon. Members, that falls

under Administration.  Can you please go and see the administration.

*HON. CHINOTIMBA:  That is why I have asked.

HON. ENG. MUDZURI:  On a point of order Madam Speaker.

THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER:  Is it anything to do with the

Trade Fair?

HON. ENG. MUDZURI:  Yes, but it is on the privileges.

THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER:  We are not taking anything to

do with the Trade Fair.

HON. ENG. MUDZURI: It is not a debate, it is a point of order.

THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER:  Yes, we are not taking

anything to do with the Trade Fair.  That was only an announcement.  I even explained to Hon. Chinotimba that he should go to the

Administration of Parliament for clarification.

HON. ENG. MUDZURI:  A point of order Madam Speaker on privileges must be allowed.

THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER:  What is your point of order?

HON. ENG. MUDZURI:  My point of order is in terms of

Parliamentary Privileges that this Parliament is invited to attend the Presidential Address at Trade Fair.   Hence the preparations for accommodation and transport, if you are announcing must be clear in this Parliament so that there is no confusion.  In the last Parliament, we were told to go and register and I went and registered twice on two trade fairs  but I never got a coupon.  So, I am saying, we want it to be clear on logistics so that you do not go there with your wife and sleep in the dump.

THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER:  Order!  Hon. Members, let us

have order.  I think I have explained that.  The Administration is going to look into that.  We cannot debate anything to do with Trade Fair in the House where administration is supposed to answer.  He is not supposed to debate in this House.  So, you have to understand the procedures of the House.

HON. P. D. SIBANDA:  Madam Speaker, I personally appreciate that this is an administrative issue and I am quite sure that when you made the announcement of the need for members to go and register, that was also an administrative issue.  But for you Madam Speaker to then refer a 400 Member House to go and queue into the administrative offices in order to hear about the Trade Fair.  Madam Speaker, Parliament has got 400 members and to expect 400 members to individually go and find out how they are going to find a place to sleep in Bulawayo, I think it will be awkward.

Madam Speaker, my suggestion is that administration should make an announcement through your Chair on the arrangements they have made.  We are aware that they have made their own arrangements.  We should know what arrangements are in existence for the Hon. Members when they get to the Trade Fair.

THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER:  It may not be today.

Administration is here, but that will not be announced today and now.

They are going to look into that.

SECOND READING

MANICALAND STATE UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES

BILL [H.B.8, 2015]

Second Order read:  Second Reading: Manicaland State University of Applied Sciences Bill [H. B. 8, 2015].

THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY

EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT

(HON. DR. GANDAWA):  The Ministry wishes to establish the

Manicaland State University of Applied Sciences through the Act of Parliament.  The University will be launched with four inaugural faculties of Engineering, Tourism and Natural Resources, Horticulture and Environmental Sciences, Agriculture and Life Sciences.

JUSTIFICATION FOR ESTABLISHING THE UNIVERSITY

• Manicaland State University of Applied Sciences will have the niche area in applied sciences in order to proffer scientific and technological solutions to challenges that militate against socio-economic development of Zimbabwe.
• Manicaland Province has various economic activities which are a result of the diverse natural resources found in the Province. Therefore, they are in economic developments that will come with the establishment of a State University in a Province which has diverse agricultural and industrial activities.
• In addition, the Province posses scenic landscapes and other tourist attractions. Thus the proximity of the proposed State University campuses to these economic activities reduces the cost of research and site visits by lecturers and students, while positively influencing production levels through research skilled human capital development.

MULTI-CAMPUS LOCATIONS OF THE UNIVERSITY

It is proposed that the University will be established as a multicampus University, taking cognisance of the distribution pattern of the natural resources prevalent in the main centres of the Province.

Here are the proposed campuses and related programmes:

• Mutare – Shall be responsible for Engineering because of the manufacturing and mining activities in areas in and around the city of Mutare.
• Makoni – Shall be responsible for Agriculture because of high rainfall. This is traditionally a flue-cured Virginia tobacco, maize and wheat growing belt and is complemented by animal husbandry.
• Nyanga – Shall be responsible for Forestry, Tourism and

Hospitality, Wildlife, Horticulture, Fruit and Vegetables and Fisheries because of the obtaining pleasant and ideal climatic conditions.

• Chipinge – Shall be responsible for Horticulture and irrigation – supported agriculture, in particular wheat and cotton in Middle Sabi and Sugarcane cultivation for biofuels.

The recommended multi-campus approach will bring operational excellence to each of the campuses due to proximity to resources and related activities.  The developments at these sites will be in phases.  It is proposed that each site should have a Techno Park as part of the infrastructure and programmatic developments.

• FERN HILL FARM (MUTARE

CAMPUS)/HEADQUARTERS OF UNIVERSITY – Has been

proposed to house the Administrative Headquarters of the University due to its centrality as well as being located in the Central City of the Province of Manicaland.

Mutare has a comprehensive and robust infrastructure to support most of the needs of a modern University.  The Fern Hill Farm Campus is envisaged to host the first Faculty of Engineering.  There are several other institutions of higher learning in Mutare.

NICHE/OBJECTIVE OF THE UNIVERSITY

The key objectives for the university will be:

• Specialisation in applied sciences;
• Mineral sciences;
• Forestry sciences;
• Agricultural sciences;
• Wood technology; and
• Tourism and hospitality

Agriculture: because of high rainfall in areas such as Makoni - traditionally well known for growing flue-cured Virginia tobacco, maize and wheat and animal husbandry.

Forestry, Tourism and Hospitality, Wildlife, Horticulture, Fruit and Vegetable and Fisheries: have been proposed because of the obtaining present and ideal climatic conditions.

Horticulture and Irrigation: supported agriculture, in particular wheat and cotton in Middle Sabi, and sugarcane cultivation for biofuels.

Resource Mobilisation for the University

The Foundation Steering Committee, on the proposed State University was very positive about prospects for useful and successful fundraising activities for the proposed project. They confidently made it clear that there were business executives, bankers and local business persons who were eagerly waiting to trigger processes into operation on receiving Government notification granting the establishment of a State

University in Manicaland.

More importantly, the establishment of the Manicaland State University of Applied Sciences is in line with the Government policy to have a state university in each province of Zimbabwe. I thank you.

HON. DR. MATARUSE: 

1. Introduction

1.1 The Manicaland State University of Applied Sciences is yet  another commendable effort by Government to provide institutions of higher learning to prospective undergraduate and post graduate students. It is particularly important as it provides for the establishment of a State University in the Manicaland Province, which will complement the work of private institutions such as Africa University in Zimbabwe in absorbing growing number of A’ Level graduates who decide to enroll for university education. Following the gazetting of the Bill on 4

September, 2015 and reference to the Committee on Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development, the Committee resolved to analyse the Bill in line with Parliament’s mandate of scrutinising legislation.

2.2 Methodology

2.2.1 In coming up with this report, the Committee devoted time to analysing the provisions of the Bill during its series of meetings. A

Public Hearing on the Bill was conducted in Mutare on 23 November,

2015. Input was also sought from stakeholders of the Bill. The Committee expresses its gratitude to those who attended the public hearing and those who made written submissions for consideration by the Committee.

3. Findings and Observations of the Committee

3.2 Clause 4, Objects and Powers of University

3.2.1 The residents of Manicaland were naturally excited about this development considering that the province was one of the few remaining provinces without s State University. They submitted to the Committee that it was their wish for the university to offer all academic fields as opposed to focusing on Applied Sciences. There was overwhelming support of the need to incorporate research and development that is aimed at coming up with solutions to the country’s political, economic and social problems.

3.3 Clause 8, Vice Chancellor

3.3.1 The stakeholders proposed that the Vice Chancellor should be an appointee from the Manicaland Province. They felt that if one is from the Province, he or she is likely to have vast knowledge of the area and is best placed to take care of the needs and aspirations of the local people. In addition to that, it was recommended that the Vice

Chancellor’s term of office should be a five-year term renewable for

another term based on good performance.

3.4 Clause 10, Council

3.4.1 Noting that the country is experiencing financial challenges, the stakeholders felt the proposed membership of the Council is too large and therefore, should be revised downwards. It was also contemplated that a smaller number would assist the Council in quickly arriving at decisions. It was proposed that members of the Council must declare their assets before assuming office as a safeguard to corruption through the embezzlement of public funds. For purposes of having an international appeal, it was suggested that there should be provision for the appointment of a distinguished person from the region who will assist in marketing the university regionally and internationally.

4.0 Other Issues

4.1 Stakeholders also proposed that the University adopts a multicampus concept that will see each district in the province hosting a campus specialising in one discipline. It was recommended that the authorities should consider appointing general staff from among the locals with serious consideration of ensuring gender equality.

5.0 Committee’s Observations and Recommendations

5.1 Having considered the provisions and contributions from the stakeholders, the Committee came up with the following observations and recommendations:

51.1 Whilst the Committee notes the objects of the university stated in the Bill, the development of the curriculum is a continuous process. The determination of programmes and courses to be offered should be left to the discretion of the university authorities who will be guided by, among other factors, demand for and ability of the institution to supply the requisite facilities and services.

5.1.2 The Committee fully supports the idea of having a Vice Chancellor of the University being someone from the Province. It also recommends that the term of office for the Vice Chancellor be limited to a maximum of two five-year terms.

5.1.3 The Committee observes that the proposed membership of the Council will be a financial burden to the university and recommends a revision of the membership to twenty (20) members.

The appointment of an individual from the region should be dependent upon the institution’s ability to pay him or her.

5.1.4 As recommended earlier on, the idea of a multi-campus institution and choice of a certain district for a specific discipline should be left to the university’s decision making body as such decisions fall within their purview.

          6.0 Conclusion

          6.1 The Committee congratulates the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development for bringing such a progressive Bill for consideration by Parliament. It is the

Committee’s request that the Minister of Finance and Economic Development apportion the university meaningful resources for the development of the institution and call upon the university authorities to be innovative, particularly in the area of resource mobilisation to complement Treasury allocations. The Committee, therefore, recommends the Bill for approval with the proposed amendments.

HON. CHASI: I rise to support the Bill that has been presented by the Minister. I also want to take this opportunity to congratulate Government for the continuous efforts in improving the education of our people. In particular, I would like to congratulate the team at the

Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development. In this respect Madam Speaker, this Bill concerns a university that relates to sciences. I want to submit that this is a very critical area, which hitherto, has not been adequately addressed and so, I believe this university is going to fill a vacuum that has existed in our education system.

However Madam Speaker, I have a number of concerns. I am concerned about the fund raising efforts that will be made. The

Minister’s presentation does not give me confidence that there is going to be in the immediate future, sufficient resources for this very important university to come up. I have seen that from the presentation, it is largely private actors that are going to be involved in efforts to fund raise for the university. I want to add my voice to Hon. Dr. Mataruse’s statement that Government will need to set aside sufficient resources to ensure that this university comes into existence.

My second point Madam Speaker, relates to the various campuses. I would have thought that the Bill would provide or rather the university would be based in a number of provinces because of all the areas that the Minister has mentioned, I am sure that almost every province has something to do with agriculture, tourism, et cetera. I think that it would be convenient for the students if a relevant campus, for example dealing with tourism could be in Victoria Falls, another one dealing with agriculture in another province so that we do not have people travelling from all over the country to one area when they could actually access some of these relevant areas in their own provinces. Otherwise, apart from that Madam Speaker, I want to say that the efforts to stematise the students and to have a university that is dealing with science and scientific matters is going to complement the efforts that Government has already done with respect to the STEM programme.

HON. CHAKONA: Thank you very much Madam Speaker for

giving me this opportunity to contribute towards this Bill. First of all, I want to thank the President and Chancellor of all universities for championing the establishment of the Manicaland State University of

Applied Sciences. Secondly, I also would like to thank the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development, specifically the Minister and his staff for the numerous efforts that they have endeavoured to ensure the university is established.

Madam Speaker, I would like to support the establishment of the Manicaland State University of Applied Sciences for the following reasons. Currently, the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education,

Science and Technology Development launched the STEM Programme which is going to produce a number of students that actually have to be accommodated at different universities of science and technology, Manicaland University being one of them. I would like to applaud and thank the Ministry for this initiative.

In line with the ZIM ASSET Blueprint, the issue of infrastructure and also human resources development is key in that blueprint. In that regard Madam Speaker, the issue of training specific skills in agriculture, wood technology, tourism and wildlife becomes imperative and we would like to support that initiative.

An Hon. Member having passed between the Chair and the Hon

Member speaking.

          THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER:  Order Hon. Member.

HON. CHAKONA:  Madam Speaker, the set up with Manicaland State University of Applied Sciences of a multi campus approach is very noble in the sense that the way they have designed the multi campus programme looks at the niche in each and every district in Manicaland. In that regard, whatever is happening in other regions will also be catered for. For example, the wood technology would be based in Mutasa District where there are vast tracts of woodland which makes it very attractive. Tourism and wildlife is in Nyanga where there are facilities and current business initiatives in that particular sector and I think that is what we need to see.

I also want to put my weight towards the establishment of the Manicaland State University of Applied Sciences in view of the number of students that are being produced from different high schools at ‘A” level who are struggling to find places to train in different skills and academic endeavours. In that regard the Manicaland State University will increase the number of students that have access to higher and tertiary education in Zimbabwe. In that regard Madam Speaker, I want to thank the Minister for bringing this Bill to this House for enactment.

Lastly I just want to emphasise the fact that Manicaland State University right now already has constructed infrastructure on site, which is applauded and we want to thank the leadership of that particular institution for what they have already done. I thank you

Madam Speaker.

HON. ENG. MUDZURI: Thank you Madam Speaker for giving

me this chance to add my voice to the establishment of Manicaland State University of Applied Sciences. I really want to appreciate that the Government is doing a good effort in bringing up new state universities.

The next item on the Order Paper is showing Gwanda State University. We have got Midlands State University and we have got the University of Zimbabwe.

My concern really is that it is very brilliant for the Government to add this university in line with STEM which they have also introduced to say we want to increase more science and technology personnel in the country. However, my worry is about infrastructure. Honourable Minister, the present institutions do not seem to have enough infrastructure. I am not sure whether we are doing a very good service to our people if we end up having them going to school half baked. I would urge you to make sure that the Government brings in enough resources to put enough state of the art infrastructure. We have examples of universities where students have nowhere to sleep. They have no proper campuses. You end up with people going to classes in makeshift places and they do not have accommodation.

We have examples of students who are going to universities and they get grants from the Government and when they finish their degrees, their certificates are held up by Government until they get employment when we know and are clear that there is not enough employment. So how are we helping these students when they have completed these science subject to go and exercise their expertise which they have just taken from the college? I am an engineer myself and if you have finished your degree, you need to practice. If you spend four years without practice you are almost redundant and no one will take you up. What is the plan of Government in making sure that while we have put these institutions we are going to have uptake of these college students?

I will give you an example of Midlands State University. The college is producing a lot local government students graduants and there is no one to absorb them in the country. Some of them have had grants from Government and they cannot get certificates to look for work anywhere. They have spent years and there is no employment in any of the city councils or in the rural district councils.

We also look at sponsorship. We are talking of hardships in Zimbabwe and I think you can see that banks are struggling and everyone is struggling. Once you see banks struggling you know there is a problem. We can talk of cash crisis but we think the economy is in trouble. When we look at these financial constraints, a lot of parents might not be able to pay. The Government has a duty to ensure that students go to school and as we create these universities, the big question is, is there enough preparation for students to get scholarships so that they go to these colleges without strain and Government ensures that the colleges are well utilised? We can also invite foreigners to come and join our universities as a resourcing gimmick but as long as they do not have enough infrastructure and we do not have enough local students, then they become foreign based institutions in our midst.

If we do not prepare for the future of the graduates that we are going to produce, we are going to create a bigger burden for ourselves. If you see why people end up going for family planning, it is not that they do not want children but they want to have children whom they can look after and make sure that they grow to be successful people. Our challenge is that we are not making ourselves a responsible Government by leaving students who have finished college doing nothing. Last time I asked the Honourable Minister about students who have finished their engineering degrees – I have got a list of Engineering students graduants who have more than two years unemployed. They are sitting around and they are looking for jobs. They are trained engineers of different sectors. So when we continue to produce these people and do nothing for them, we are creating an elite idle society; we must be able to help them.  If we cannot export them, we must utilise them and let us find something for them.

It is the business of Government to ensure that everyone who has gone through school gets a reward. You are going to kill the incentive of going to school to the extent that people will not see the reason of going to universities and schools. They will think that going to school is a burden and it becomes a burden in that once you finish college, your expectations are different. Educated youths are  expecting to be more elite, affluent and the like in society. Whereas if you do not go to school; you can do anything. Those who do not go to  higher education might end up more relevant to the economy at the end of the day, especially with the informal sector we have today.

I thank you Madam Speaker but I would want to applaud the

Minister for the job he is doing in terms of creating new institutions but add a little more to make sure that there is consumption of the product.

HON. MANDIPAKA: I am tempted to debate on this Bill from

what Honourable Mudzuri has just said. It will be folly for any Government to think that it cannot empower its own citizens and students because at the end of the day there is no employment. We do not send students to schools and universities so that primarily they get employment. We do that so that they have knowledge – knowledge that will assist them to eke a living even when there is no employment in a country. It is very important for Honourable Mudzuri to take note of

that.

I come from Manicaland and I am so excited by this Bill from the point of view that as Manicaland, we welcome the establishment of such campuses or such universities for the sole reason of equipping our young men and women to be able to understand the scientific environment that we now live in. The abundance of resources in Manicaland cannot be overemphasised. We are all aware that we have diamonds and forests. So, the Ministry and the Government of Zimbabwe should be applauded for coming up with this idea of establishing various campuses in Manicaland province because of the resources that are readily available there.

I congratulate the Hon. Minister, the Government of Zimbabwe and the thinking by His Excellency that for any country to be rated viable and as a country that is developed, its human resource needs to be equipped with skills. This is what the Government of Zimbabwe is doing. I want to thank the Minister for presenting such a Bill and I urge

Parliament to adopt such a wonderful Bill. I thank you.

*HON. MACHINGURA: Thank you Madam Speaker. I come

from Manicaland and I would like to congratulate the Minister for introducing this Bill on the establishment of a university in Manicaland. I know it is coming late, but we say thank you for the coming of this institution. Let it be done sooner than later. As a member from Manicaland, we would want to see a different engineer emanating from Manicaland.

I remember one incident in Harare were there was some water gushing out of water pipes. This was clean water which was gushing out and going to waste, yet we have got a lot of engineers passing through that place and they have no conscience of stopping and repairing that broken pipe. Therefore, we want to create engineers who have a conscience and are patriotic. That is why we talk of food security and ZIM ASSET. We are saying to engineers who are going to study agriculture, should also partake irrigation.

We have seen children going to visit Birchenough Bridge to see the control of traffic moving on the Birchenough Bridge because that type of a bridge is not in their curricular or syllabus. Hence, we want our local engineers who will be prepared to repair such a bridge as the Birchenough Bridge which is a technical advancement. Therefore, when this university is established, let it be established and launched sooner than later. I thank you.

HON. P. D. SIBANDA: I do not come from Manicaland, but I want to share with the people of Manicaland the joy of having a college in that particular province, especially that I come from a province that does not have any college nor resident university. I therefore, sentimentally have a feeling of what the people of Manicaland are feeling when they see a Bill being put in place to give them a university. The most important thing Madam Speaker is that the presence of a university in Manicaland gives the people that sense of ownership and that sense of belonging to this country, that sense of being equal to other people in this country that have got universities in their provinces.

Therefore, I think it is a good idea. As I debate Madam Speaker, there are certain issues that have been raised during the debate like the fact that the Vice Chancellor should be an appointee from Manicaland. Personally I do not share that kind of thinking. In my view, the Vice Chancellor of a university should be someone that has got the requisite capacity and skill to run that university, so that that university can be a successful one. The problem of trying to patronise the position of Vice Chancellor and putting anybody because they come from that province is the fear that the university at the end of day, can be run down and be a university that produces poor quality.

So, it is my view that the Ministry should try by all means to make sure that the appointment of a Vice Chancellor considers the qualifications and the capacity of that person to take the university to dizzy heights because the people of Manicaland do not simply want a university, they want a university that produces quality output. As they come up with this Bill, I think it is important for us to emphasise this point to Government that we are having so many universities and it is quite good for purposes of accessibility of education to the majority of our population.

However, I think the Government has to take into consideration what is currently happening in the universities that are existing. One thing to note Madam Speaker is the remuneration for lecturers. If you go out around most of the universities, you find that our lecturers are paupers. They are very poor and they get little salary and irregular as well. The salaries rarely come. We are talking about...-[AN HON. MEMBER: Inaudible interjection]- Hauna zvaunoziva iwe nezveuniversity, nyarara mhani iwe. Haazi mabhazi mhani iwe.

What we are saying Madam Speaker is that lecturers play a critical role when it comes to the moulding of our human resource base, the people that we want to produce. If you are saying that the people that are supposed to mould those, people are going out without a salary, they are going out with a salary that ...

THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: On a point of order Hon.

Member.

HON. J. CHUMA: Thank you Madam Speaker. Good afternoon

Madam Speaker.

 

It is not you who called for

the point of order.

HON. J. CHUMA: I am the one.

THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I am the one who called for

the point of order.

HON. MUPFUMI: He said he can put the point of order for me.

THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Ah, no, we do not do that Hon. Members. Order, can you please resume your seat? We are not joking Hon. Members, please resume your seat. Hon. Member, please proceed.

HON. P. D. SIBANDA: Thank you Madam Speaker...

HON. J. CHUMA: On a point of order Madam Speaker.

THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Would you please resume

your seat otherwise I will send someone out.

HON. J. CHUMA: But I have got a point of order.

No, I am refusing that point of

order because you cannot joke with the Chair.

HON. J. CHUMA: What did I say which is joke?

THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, I said take

your seat.

HON. MANDIPAKA: On a point of order Madam Speaker.

THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: What is your point of order? 

HON. MANDIPAKA: Madam Speaker, it is an event that might have skipped your mind. The Hon. Member was disrespectful of another member on the floor when he said iwe nyarara iwe, hapana chaunoziva nezvemauniversity during debate. Thank you.

THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Okay, I take that point of order. Hon. Member, would you please resume your debate?

HON. P. D. SIBANDA: Thank you Madam Speaker. The point that I want to emphasise is that the Government should ..

Order, Hon. Member, you are

talking too much.

HON. P. D. SIBANDA: My point of emphasis Madam Speaker is that Government should ensure that the current crop of lecturers that we have in universities are well remunerated and that their remuneration comes on time. That way, we can increase the probability of getting quality output out of our universities.

The other aspect that I want to indicate is that when we look at current universities for example a visit to NUST, will show you that we have got cranes that are decomposing right now. The infrastructure at that university is seriously deplorable. It is an eyesore when you get to that university, it creates a bad image about, not only the university itself but about the Government that is owning that university.  My plea is that even as we are extending and expanding the number of universities in this country, it is important that Government gives priority to the construction of infrastructure.  If you walk into a university like NUST today, it does not create confidence in you as a parent or as a student if

 

you want to go and acquire your qualification there.  So, it is important that Government should invest sufficient resources in terms of infrastructure for universities.

As I speak about infrastructure in universities, Madam Speaker, I think you are already aware that in Matabeleland North, where I come from, we still have got a Lupane State University in Bulawayo.  It is not there in Lupane and the reason why that university is not there in Lupane is primarily because of lack of infrastructure.  It is primarily because the university is there on paper but not there on ground.  So, the Government cannot afford to continue giving us pies in the sky.  We need infrastructure to be existent on the ground.  Otherwise, these universities will just be universities on paper without anything on the ground.

The other issue Madam Speaker is that Hon. Mudzuri has spoken about is that; it is important that we match the level of training output with the level of creation of opportunities for employment.  There is no way we can continue to churn out graduates each and every year out of our universities and expect that we are going to export all of them.  It is important that we create employment opportunities for them in this country so that these people can be able to get experience.  Whenever they want to go outside the country, they will not go there to be some kind of labour which is paid low wages.  It is important that as the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education creates opportunities for people to learn, the other Ministries should also be working hard to ensure that they create necessary opportunities for those people coming out of the universities to be employed and apply their theoretical knowledge unto practice.  That is good for the development of the country as well.

The multi-campuses, I think in my view are good.  I do not have any problems with them.  That is the contemporary way that most colleges are operating these day.  I think it is a welcome move for a number of advantages that I cannot start to articulate right now, but it is a good move.

Madam Speaker, I think it is important that our accessibility of education should be accompanied by affordability of that education.  It does not make sense for us to create so many universities that will see foreign students coming into those universities when our own local students cannot afford to go to those universities.  The cost of education in this country is still so high and it is highly unaffordable to the majority of our people, especially under the current economic situation that we are facing.  It is important that the Ministry should come up with a method to ensure that our education becomes affordable to the majority of our people.  That is the only way that education can permeate to the lowest men on the ground.

Finally, Madam Speaker, let me speak about the issue of quality.  We cannot afford as a country to compromise the quality of our graduates that are coming out of the universities.  It is important that the Ministry, as much as it increases the number of universities that we are having, it should continue to put so much emphasis on ensuring that the quality of our products is one that can compete with any other graduates in the whole world.  We should not be a country that only produces for the vendors in the streets; we should be universities that produce for competition throughout the world.  I thank you Madam Speaker for the opportunity that you gave me.

HON. NDUNA:  Thank you Madam Speaker.  I would want to add my voice to the debate on the Manicaland Universities of Applied Sciences.  First of all, I want to applaud and congratulate the Minister for bringing to Parliament, the Bill for the establishment of the same.  However, Madam Speaker, having listened to those Hon. Members that spoke before me, I want to add my voice as follows, I in particular, want to emphasise as Hon. Chasi has alluded to, that we major on the majors.    Where this  Manicaland University of Applied Sciences is going to be established is Manicaland, which Manicaland part is endowed with natural resources, in particular, mineral resources and one comes up immediately, to mind is ngoda or the diamond – [HON. MEMBERS:  Hear, hear.] – Madam Speaker, the Minister spoke about the financing of the venture.  Immediately, we see that we will have no want if we beneficiate or we immediately look at ways of beneficiating our diamond utilising our tertiary education system in that university so that:

1. That university gets to be capacitated in terms of income;
2. It does not only produce for itself but it also gets to sell its produce so that it can pay university fees for those that want to go through that same university but cannot afford to pay fees; and
3. So that it can also create what is called safe landing for those graduates that are churned out of that university because this is the new normal, so that they can create their own employment and not create using old methodology of utilising the existing companies but create their own companies whilst they are still in university.

Madam Speaker, I want to continue to say this new normal should make sure that our universities, in particular this one, which is imbedded in a place that is endowed with diamonds does create employment industries now and for the future.  These graduates that are going to be churned out there should during the time of their subsistence in that university be given opportune time to go and supervise their industries or to be employment heavens or safe landing zones of their future employment.  They should be given that opportunity to go and manage and supervise employment based on the expertise that they would have learnt in terms of diamond polishing, cutting and processing.

Madam Speaker, I speak like that because it is where I believe we can utilise our engineering ability in that Manicaland sphere, utilising what we have to get what we want.  This is the new normal.  Madam Speaker, I beg to differ that if we use the methodology that I have spoken about, we will continue to churn out a lot of graduates that will not have any future or that are not going to be employed in the future because the new normal speaks to creation of employment, utilising the resources that we have.  We should now go away from the normal way of doing things that was embedded and ingrained in our minds by the neo-colonialists that said, if you do not go through an education system and go to Barbours and get employed, you are not employed.  Let us now formalise the informal sector, utilising first and foremost, the establishment of our universities.  Let us start from there, go and build up from there to create our own industries utilising our own universities.

Madam Speaker, as I conclude, as a Committee of Transport and Infrastructure Development, we will also want to see how we can get benefits from our God given natural mineral resources by advocating for the establishment of a road rehabilitation tax.  However, the university’s establishment of applied sciences can take a cue from this.  As they are embedded in a place which is endowed with natural mineral resources, have from those mines that are in that area, an education empowerment tax so that they can only resource themselves in terms of finances and also, have a throughput of that mineral wealth beneficiated, create industries and then go after it to make sure that they create their own safe landing zones for them and for the future.   Afterwards, what should happen for the lecturers that are there, they should go after their students who are now owners of the means of production and do what is called monitoring and evaluation of the methodology that they would have started.  I thank you.

*HON. MAPIKI:  Madam Speaker, I want to make my contribution on the establishment of the Manicaland University.  We are saying we are not only interested in increasing the number of universities, but establishing of manpower.  What we have noticed of late is that some of these graduates have skills which are surpassed by self made mechanics in home industries such as Siya So in Mbare.  These people can make some good products because of the experience they have in life, but what happens with some of these graduates churned by our universities, you only know that he is an engineer because he uses that as a title for the sake of pompousness.  Therefore, let us churn practical graduates, let us churn patriotic graduates.

Zimbabwe has a long way to go.  When we compare engineers such as those from the countries of Israel, they manufactured irrigation equipment which will irrigate a very large area using very little water.

These are the kinds of engineers we want in Zimbabwe, using the little water that we have in the country, but irrigating a large piece of land.

Hence, we are calling for the development of such engineers.

Let me now turn to lecturers who will be offering education to these undergraduates.  We have expectations that they should be people with life experiences, who have a track record which shows what they have done in life.  We look at areas like ARDA.  If we have a graduate from ARDA to come and train these students, they will not produce anything because ARDA is failing to develop the country because of the poor engineers who are there.  We would not want them to come to such universities.

We want them to teach people to partake in value addition.  That is what we want.  Like the engineers in South Africa who have developed new products and taken part in value addition, what we need now are practical engineers.  We are not interested in engineers who will only be there as engineers as a title but we want practical graduates.

Zimbabwe has a lot of minerals, some of which have not been exploited as yet and yet when we get them and add value the country will develop.  We have lithium in our country which can be used, but unfortunately the kind of lecturer that we have at the moment in Zimbabwe is not a practical lecturer.  He is someone who simply has a paper qualification and goes and trains other students.  He will simply be training them seeking employment and yet they should be creating jobs.  We need people who can create a programme of value addition and create employment in the country.

We also would like to engage the Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises and Co-operative Development to be able to utilise these engineers and talk of practical subjects.  We also talk of Ministries like the Ministry of State for Psychomotor Activities in Education.  We should be able to assess the capability of a learner so that when they graduate, they will be able to carry out value addition and create products, but at the moment without all those exploitation, we are creating graduates who are moving around seeking employment instead of them creating employment.  As far as I am concerned, the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development should come in handy at the training of these engineers, so that they will be working on irrigation of crops in the country.

At the moment, we have machines which are coming from Brazil and China and we are using them in our country.  We should create or emulate what was done by Japan.  The Japanese went to other countries, borrowed knowledge and developed it in their own country and they are now leaders in technology.  When we are talking of disk harrows, we need those people who can go to other countries and copy the way those disk harrows are made and make a value addition which suits the Zimbabwean climate and Zimbabwean technology.  Those are the technicians we want and lecturers we want.  I thank you.

HON. SARUWAKA:  I also want to add my voice to the Bill on the establishment of the Manicaland University of Applied Sciences.  It is a welcome Bill in as far as it has allowed the Province of Manicaland to at long last, have a university of its own.  I must say, it has been a sad reality that Manicaland has been the centre of academic excellence in the country.  If you look at the number of schools that have over the years, since time in memorial, produced high caliber students at the other universities, especially at the University of Zimbabwe, we have St Augustines Tsambe High School.  It is famed all over the country and across the world for producing excellent results and we also have

Hartzell High School.

These are the schools that have been doing very well.  We have Marist Brothers – the list is endless, but to realise that it has taken more than 30 years for that province which has been producing the highest number of tertiary students, to have its own university, I think was a sad thing.  However, I am glad that the chance for Manicaland has now arrived and we must applaud the Ministry for doing that.

Let me also say that we have had efforts to establish universities in the country without the  requisite funds.  I think a number of speakers before me have raised that issue. I am happy that our Leader of the House is here now to probably listen to my proposal on areas where money can be raised or saved in our expenditure as a country.

I am worried Madam Speaker that our Government always tells us that they do not have enough money but we are at the present time carrying a whole ministry of people who, according to my own assessment, are not adding value to Government business. I am at this stage Madam Speaker, referring to the Ministry of Youth Affairs …

THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Member, would

you please concentrate on debating on the issue of the university in Manicaland.

HON. SARUWAKA: My point is, our Government must have money. At the moment it is using the same money and in Manicaland we have got more than 1 300 youth officers that are being paid by this Government. I wanted to say, if they could disband that Ministry and take the money that they are using to pay the youth officers to put towards the infrastructure of this university …

THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Member, has that got

anything to do with the university in Manicaland?

HON. SARUWAKA: Yes, it has in as far as raising funds.

THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Ah! no please.

HON. SARUWAKA: Because we are continuing to pour the resources away in a Ministry which is not serving any purpose. So, it is my submission Madam Speaker, that that money can be used to make sure that this university will be constructed …

HON. J. TSHUMA: My point of order is that I think we have rightly tried to correct the Hon. Member not to go back but he still goes back to the same issue. He has just mentioned it again. Please, could you ask him to stick to the debate that is being debated because he is wasting our time? We want to hear about the university and not about the

Ministry of Youth. We have nothing to do with that now.

THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you, could you please proceed Hon. Saruwaka.

HON. SARUWAKA: I am sure the Leader of Government Business has heard my point that we cannot continue to pour money elsewhere when we need to do serious business.

The other point I wanted to make Madam Speaker is, I just hope when the construction of this university starts, there is going to be a deliberate effort to make sure that any contractors, for the purpose of building the infrastructure, are companies and people from Manicaland. I say that because we had a very bad experience with the Chiadzwa diamond fields. The diamond fields are in Manicaland but it was sad that most of the people that took employment at the diamond fields were from other parts outside Manicaland. So, we do not want another case of having a university in our province but the service providers come from elsewhere. It then goes to further marginalise our people because they would see opportunities being taken away by other people.

Madam Speaker, it is sad that in Zimbabwe education is becoming very expensive and Manicaland used to be a very vibrant province. The policies of the Government have unfortunately led to a lot of company closures. The tragedy that I only fear is that because of the high unemployment rate in Manicaland, are we going to be able to get our students to go to that university? My proposal Madam Speaker is that when the university is up and running, -[HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] …

THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, Hon. Members. If I

call for order, even the one debating has to be in order. Hon. Members, I

think the Hon. Member is in order. He is talking about the recruitment of those who will be working on the building of the university.

HON. SARUWAKA: Thank you Madam Speaker for listening to

the debate. It is unfortunate that others come here under the influence of funny substances. My point Madam Speaker was that we must ensure that we do not continue to marginalise people in the provinces that we seem to want to promote. It will be very sad to have a university in an area and the people from that particular area fail to access education from that particular university.

Probably my last point Madam Speaker, is on the infrastructure, to say I have had an opportunity to study at Bindura University. It was very sad that the name is Bindura University of Science Education, but when

I went there from 2012 to 2015, we had some classes that were just basic classrooms without the use of projectors or modern technology to deliver education. We ended up renting space at Chipindura High School where we had to carry desks from one class to the other classroom.

So, I do not think we can say we have a university where the students have to move furniture from one class to the other, running after each other fighting for chairs to sit. I just want to say it will be very important that the Government must be able to put at least minimum standards before which they can allow a university to open. If the infrastructure is not ready, we must not force matters so that we can say we have this university operating yet the students that are attending school at that university are not getting quality education nor have substandard infrastructure.

Madam Speaker, my closing words would be to say, it is important that the province of Manicaland has been recognised at last. I just hope this particular university is going to be constructed and ready for use, maybe I am looking at least in the next 50 years it must be operating.

We do not want – [AN HON. MEMBER: 50 years?] – Yes, because we have had experiences where these universities take forever to be completed. Madam Speaker, can the Minister make sure that within the next 5 – 10 years, this university is fully operational, not that it goes forever trying to make it happen. Thank you.

*HON. MUKWENA:  Thank you Madam Speaker for giving me

the opportunity to make my contribution on this motion that has been raised. Madam Speaker, this is a very good Bill and it has to be supported by all of us. I may not come from Manicaland, I come from Masvingo but we support this Bill because this is a Zimbabwean university. It is going to assist in the development of not only Zimbabwe but SADC countries and we are very grateful to the Minister for introducing such a Bill. In as far as I am concerned, universities are a blessing to the country. I have heard members of this august House complaining and admonishing Government for establishing universities saying, we have too many universities but as far as I am concerned universities are a blessing to the nation. I will talk about what was said by other Honourable Members regarding education. When I look at the primary schools in the past, we had primary schools which were there and we are still adding some more onto these existing ones. Secondary schools are also being increased and hence it should not be a surprise that we are calling for more universities. We are saying to the Honourable Minister, you are constructing a university in Manicaland and I am saying we have ten provinces and each of these provinces should have a state university. We should also be able to cater for high school leavers who should come to these universities.

My idea is that the universities should be commensurate with the school leavers in high school, which means that the President did a good job by appointing a Minister who is capable and has foresight in running the country. I am saying whosoever is the Minister given a ministry to run should work tirelessly to meet the obligation of the country.

When we talk of the university in Manicaland, this is a multi faceted institution and it is going to care of programmes which are outlined in ZIM ASSET where we talk about manpower development.

The university will enrol students from everywhere in Zimbabwe. These students should not be job seekers but job creators not only in Zimbabwe and SADC region but all over the world. Wherever you go in this world, you have Zimbabweans. In New Zealand we have Zimbabweans. In Honolulu, Denmark, Hawaii and Waikiki we have students from Zimbabwe and hence we support this Bill. Zimbabwe is a visionary country and has the development of human manpower at heart. That is why Zimbabweans are all over the world and performing well. Everywhere you go Zimbabweans are said to be hard workers and intelligent people.

When Zimbabwe gained its independence, we have seen the production of human capital being manifested in the introduction of these additional universities in the country. Madam Speaker, let me conclude my contribution by saying that this university which is going to be established in Manicaland is going to be of great assistance in value addition of products in Manicaland which has a lot of natural resources and hence we need this university for value addition in this area. My request to the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education is that we should look forward to the time when sanctions will be removed and hence we should establish a fund which is going to be used in assisting with fees of the children who will be attending these institutions of higher learning. I thank you.

+HON. G. M. NCUBE: Thank you Madam Speaker. I would also want to make my contribution on this Bill which has been introduced by the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education. I am going to make my contribution in Ndebele because the Minister is a linguist. I would like to thank the Government for affording the people of Zimbabwe access to education in the country so that any of our students who want to go for further education, should be able to acquire education within their vicinity or environment.  When these learners get places at local institutions, they have no problems with accommodation because when Honourable Members were making  contributions on this Bill, some have said that the Government has little funds to support such a programme. As a result when learners come from the locality, it would be easier for them to get accommodation. It will be easier for them when it comes to transport to the institution of learning.

I know we have a lot of universities in this country including private universities but what we want especially in areas like Manicaland, is a state university. Therefore, our request is that if we have learners or under graduates who want assistance from Government especially finance, they should be assisted by the Government. We have under graduates who are coming from Bulawayo and other parts of Matabeleland especially those who are studying medicine, they have difficulty in getting funding because they are no longer accessing grants which had been availed to them. Consequently, we are saying when these learners come for assistance, they should be assisted because we know that Zimbabwe is going through some economic downturn and therefore we need to fully utilise the little we have. Zimbabwe is under the burden of the illegal sanctions imposed by the West.

We have been shocked by some statements which have been issued that when you are talking of sanctions, we have some of us in this august House who are like ostriches which hide their heads in the sand and pretend that sanctions do not exist and yet sanctions are a reality. When we talk about the closure of companies, we have some of these feeling ashamed of themselves because some of the funds which are supposed to be coming to Zimbabwe are intercepted by these diabolic western countries who imposed these illegal sanctions and therefore Zimbabwe has no money.

I am, therefore, appealing to fellow Zimbabweans, that Zimbabwe is under the illegal sanctions and therefore we need to look for ways and means of developing our country just as the Government of Zimbabwe is thinking of introducing this Manicaland University.  We know that the economy is not performing but Zimbabwe has to go on. As far as we are concerned nothing is going to stop us. We are going ahead and we are proud of ourselves. We are proud of our culture of hard work. I thank you.

*HON. SEREMWE:  I stand to make my contribution on the motion raised on the establishment of the Manicaland State University of Applied Sciences. I am supporting this motion because you will realise that the early schools which were established in Zimbabwe which had very good results were from Manicaland. On the contrary when you look at the universities which were established, the eastern province which has such good passes, had no university and we think this is a letdown. We are lagging behind other provinces and we are also urging the Minister that when you are introducing this Bill and this motion, may you please introduce equity and equality especially on the gender balance so that we have an equitable distribution of access to education.

We have a saying which goes, “develop a woman and develop the nation” hence, the girl child should be given the opportunity to advance and show that Zimbabwe is a country of equal opportunities.

I am very pleased by the development of education in Zimbabwe. I know people are saying we have unemployed graduates, but we are saying better have an unemployed educated person because they can create their own jobs and they can develop themselves. That is why we have peace in Zimbabwe. Looking at what is currently prevailing, Zimbabwe is peaceful in comparison to other countries. This is simply because we have educated people. We have academics and thinkers. Minister, I say congratulations and thank you for establishing a university in Manicaland, a place endowed with natural resources such as the diamonds. My pleais that there should be value addition and beneficiation of these diamonds, putting our knowledge into practice because we have an institute of higher learning in Mutare.

Let me now concentrate on the education in Zimbabwe. Most students in Zimbabwe are very educated but we are now talking of exporting labour. For instance, I have my cousin who had to go for education in Cyprus. I was surprised and said why should that child go and get education in Cyprus? The reason was that they could not get space in their country. Now, I say thank you Minister for thinking deeply and you said, like what Jesus said to his disciples, please throw your net at the deep end and you will get enough fish. This is what the Minister has done. He has cast his net wide in Manicaland.

We have some plants which are found in Manicaland and not found anywhere in this country. We are looking forward for the beneficiation for the other type of potatoes which are found in Manicaland. We support this university fully and may you please establish this university as fast as you can. Yes, you have been slow in launching it, but we are saying now that you have launched this idea, please implement it as soon as you can. We are saying North, South, and

East and West, wherever you look in Zimbabwe, there is a university. Congratulations Minister.

THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY

EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT

(HON. DR. GANDAWA): Thank you very much Madam Speaker. I

want to thank Hon. Members for their support of the Bill. Firstly, I want to thank the Chairman of the Portfolio Committee on Higher and

Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development, Hon. Dr. Mataruse for the support. It is sure that indeed all universities are meant to offer a variety of programmes, but they have a niche that they specialise in, and then they have other programmes that they offer. So, we take note of that. It is also a good recommendation that a five year term for the Vice Chancellor, we will consider doing this five year term that is renewable to be put in the Act.

I agree with you that currently the number of Councillors is at 42 and due to constraints, there is need to reduce the number of council members. It is an issue that is welcome. I am happy to note that he indicated that the stakeholders applauded the multi campus approach which is the best practice even internationally, that universities must be close to the people that they serve. The university has to be innovative. We are encouraging all universities to be innovative so that they produce grounded graduates that will benefit the country. So, we will look into the areas that they have recommended amendments.

I want to thank Hon. Chasi for his contribution and support. He raised concern on the funding mechanism. It is a fact that the economy is not performing well and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development is doing much to try and assist us in establishing the universities. It is a challenge that we have all of us as a Government, but we need to take congnisance of the fact that we must use the few resources that we have to make sure that at least we start, rather than being stagnant. We need to start as soon as possible. At FirnValley, we already have blocks that have been constructed by the little resources

that we have, that we are very positive that they will be able to kick start the programmes.

We already have two programmes that are currently running there. With this multi campus approach, we are very positive that in the areas that the four campuses that we have selected, there is at least infrastructure that is there that we can use whilst we construct other facilities for the university. Hon. Chasi also mentioned that we must not only give Manicaland a State University to do agriculture. The correct position is that all universities offer agriculture but there are specific areas depending with the region that they are.

So, agriculture is going to be offered in Manicaland, Marondera, Chinhoyi and even the University of Zimbabwe. The correct position is that all universities have agricultural programmes that are based with the region that they are situated in. We all know that in Manicaland, there is need for agriculture because that is where we get our tanganda tea from and many other agricultural produce that come from there. So, having specialities, experts being trained in that area, will have access to areas to practice in, rather than forcing them to be in other areas where there is no productive agriculture that is being practiced.

I want to thank Hon. Chakona for the support and he belaboured to try to explain and support the multi campus system. I want to thank you for that. Hon. Engineer Mudzuri raised pertinent points and the need to have appropriate infrastructure in our universities. He specifically mentioned the issue of accommodation. As a Government and you will notice Hon. Members that when the Hon. Minister of Finance and Economic Development presented his budget, he included the infrastructural bond. The infrastructural bond processing is now at an advanced stage where we are very positive that we will be able to alleviate the problem of accommodation in all our universities. This process has been taken up and we are now consulting with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development as well as the Reserve Bank so that they help us in facilitating and rolling out the programme.

He also mentioned that there is a problem with students that are being funded by the Government in cadetship and they are not getting access to their certificates after completion of the programmes hence, they are not able to look for employment. The correct Government position is that the debt that is being owed on cadetship is a Government debt and the Ministry of Finance and our Ministry have engaged and we have agreed. Institutions of higher learning, be it polytechnics, teachers’ colleges and universities have been directed to make sure that they give access to the results transcripts, photocopies, certified copies of the results so that they are able to look for employment anywhere they wish to look for employment. When the policy was put in place, the environment then was alright and we thought everyone was going to get employment here.  The system was, everybody was supposed to work in the country but we have since relaxed that policy to say people are allowed to even go out of the country and we will authenticate the qualifications so that our students at least get access to employment.

I agree with Engineer Mudzuri that we need to plan for the future.  As a Government, we are making efforts to make sure that we are planning for the future.  Even when we are training these students, we are training for the future.  Always, when a person gets into a university, they are going to start to be productive after three to four years.

Government is already seized with the matter and we are very positive.

We are making strides in that area.

I want to thank Hon. Mandipaka for his support and contribution.  He indeed mentioned it correctly to say Manicaland has abundance of resources.  It will always be prudent.  We are very sure the people from Manicaland will be able to mobilise resources - in the abundance of resources to make sure that the infrastructure is put in place for the university.

I want to thank Hon. Machingura for the support. He mentioned the need to produce special engineers.  I would like to say yes – indeed, our institutions of higher learning must produce grounded engineers that are able to solve local problems using their skills rather than us getting expertise or consultancy from abroad.  I agree and every university or institutions of higher learning and tertiary education must produce grounded graduates for the country as well as for the region.  If we have special expertise, then our graduates must be able to be hired by the region or internationally and bring in foreign currency and revenue.

I want to thank Hon. Sibanda for his support and contribution.  I agree with him that it is not in the best interest of the country to specifically say we want a Vice Chancellor of the Manicaland University to come from Manicaland.  These appointments are based on merit and they are state universities.  As long as it is a state university, we should cast our net wide in employment; whether the person comes from Matabeleland or Mashonaland, if they have the qualifications, they must be able to be employed there rather than saying we want a person from the province.

The other aspect that he mentioned which is very critical is remuneration for our lecturers. It is very pertinent that as a Government, I agree that we need to give priority to our lecturers so that we are able to retain them.  If we do not remunerate them properly and pay their salaries on time, they will always go across the Limpopo.  I agree with you that we need to remunerate our lecturers.

We are always engaging.  We have a cordial relationship with the Ministry of Finance.  The fiscal space is tight but they always try by all means to make sure that our lecturers get their salaries.  We agree that sometimes they are not paid on the actual date but they eventually will get their salaries.  This is a temporary thing in the country.  It is not going to perpetuate to be like this.  They need to hold on, when our economy improves, definitely they will get the priority.  As a Ministry responsible for universities, we really sympathise with them.  That is why I agree with what you are saying.

You also mentioned that the library at the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) has been stagnant for a very long time; indeed I agree with you and we have now put in mechanisms in place.

You will start seeing work in progress at NUST.

You mentioned that we must not have universities on paper and you cited the example of Lupane University who are operating from Bulawayo instead of Lupane.   I want to assure you that by May, students will relocate from Bulawayo to Lupane.  We have given them US$1.9 million to finalise the accommodation for students and lecturers so that we allow them to move to Lupane –[HON. MEMBERS:  Hear, hear]-

Accessibility should be accompanied by affordability; I agree with you.  While you note that our fees are affordable in the country, the problem has been the salaries that our people are getting.  If you compare our fees with the regional fees, you will realise that our fees are cheap.  But you need to note that we need the universities to run.  If we reduce the fees from where they are now, you will start to see problems in the universities in terms of the teaching aids and the teaching materials.

While we sympathise with the population that the fees seem to be a little bit tight because of the income that we are getting, I think when things improve, we will see progress and improvement in our people.

Affordability will not become an issue.

As you mentioned Hon. Sibanda, the quality of our education is paramount and we have always emphasised to our Zimbabwe Council for Higher Education (ZIMCHE) to make sure that they do not compromise on the quality of the graduate that we produce.  They always inspect our universities and recommend changes in areas that they feel are lacking.

I want to thank Hon. Nduna for his support and I want to inform this House that we already; because people think that the university has not started operating – we already have two programmes currently running at the university.  They are being surrogated by the Midlands State University.  He mentioned that we need to have a mining degree there.  There are twenty two students that are already doing mining engineering at Fern Valley Campus in Mutare.  The university will become - because every university has a niche and we envisage this university becoming a centre of excellence in value addition and beneficiation.

Like I mentioned before, I agree with Hon. Members who raised concerns that we need to produce grounded graduates for employment.  I am not sure that Hon. Nduna proposed an education empowerment policy.  I am not sure that we really need to go this way because we already have the ZIMDEF fund which is 1% of levy collected from the industry.  We are very positive that the industry is already contributing into higher and tertiary education and should we need to mobilise other resources, we need to find other mechanisms of funding so that we do not strain our industry.

*I would like to thank Hon Mapiki for his contribution whereby he said that graduates from such universities lack creativity and innovation.  Some of the people you see at these home industries are artisans who will have come from such institutions but they are not employed and prefer creating employment.

When we are talking engineering graduates, you find them in these home industries.  Instead of seeking employment, they are creating employment.  When we look at them as Government, we are proud of them and we say they are doing a great job.  They may not be graduates from universities but they come from vocational colleges.

The Hon. Member also spoke about irrigation and encouraged us to work with the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Psychomotor and the Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises; we are already doing that.    This enables us to share the needs and development of the country.  Now that the Hon. Member has mentioned it, it will encourage us to strengthen our relations.

The Hon. Member also talked about the importation of tractors from Brazil and we will continue importing these agricultural machines.  However, let us come and borrow the technology when we have imported some piece of machine, let us break it down and study how it was constructed and in the process introduce our own equipment which is suitable to the needs of our country.  We will be able to say we have a Zimbabwean tractor and a Zimbabwean generator because we would have been creative and innovative with value addition and beneficiation.

I want to thank Hon. Saruwaka for his contribution and he has emphasised the need for critical funding for universities.  I agree with him, we need to make sure that we fund our universities.  He went on to say the Ministry of Youth, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment, must not be funded and so on, which I disagree with because if you note, our catchment area or our stakeholder in universities and tertiary education are the youth.  So, I am very positive that the Ministry of Youth is a very critical Ministry that we must work together to make sure that we create employment, we educate the youth and we make sure that we find employment for them.  So I am very positive that the Ministry of Youth is a critical Ministry and it is the one that feeds into our Ministry and the general populace of Zimbabwe, 63% are youths.

So, a Ministry that caters for the youth is very vital in a Government.  I agree with you when you say the locals should be employed in Manicaland or in any other part.   We want the locals to benefit when the construction is being done but leave room for special expertise that might be required, that we might not have in that particular province.  It is a State University, if we feel there is expertise that we require from any other part of the country, we should be able to allow that to happen.  In principle, I agree the people in the community must benefit, we want to see may people, the local people benefiting from the construction of this university.

I also agree with you that there is need to put modern equipment in our universities so that the graduate that we produce is competitive globally.  The university has already started and we feel we must be pushing so hard to make sure that other basic minimum requirements are put in place so that we see things happening in Manicaland.

I want to thank the other Hon. Member; unfortunately I could not pick his name, who mentioned that there is need for all provinces to have universities.  You will note that on the Order  Paper, the next Bill is Gwanda in Matabeleland South, which completes the policy for Government to have a university per every province.  He also mentioned the need to assist students in terms of funding, it is an issue that we are seized with and a matter that we feel we should be able to break.

I would like to thank Hon. Malaba; he mentioned a specific issue that we should give assistance to undergraduates who are studying medicine at the University of Zimbabwe.  As a government we are prepared to look for ways and means of alleviating the problems faced by these students.

I would like to thank Hon. Zemura who mentioned the issue of gender and equality. We will always uphold the Constitution of Zimbabwe.  It requires us to be gender sensitive and make sure that we have gender equality.  So I want to thank Hon. Zemura for that contribution to just alert us so that we take cognisance of the fact that in most cases the institutions are dominated by one side of the gender.  We will take note of that.

Otherwise, I want to thank all Hon. Members for the support they have given on this Bill.  I now move that the Bill be read a second time..

Motion put and agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Committee Stage:  With leave, forthwith.

COMMITTEE STAGE

MANICALAND STATE UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED

SCIENCES BILL [H.B.8, 2015]

House in Committee.

Clauses 1 to 34 and Schedule put and agreed to.

House resumed.

Bill reported without amendments.

Third Reading: With leave, forthwith.

THIRD READING

MANICALAND STATE UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES

BILL [H.B. 8, 2015]

THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY

EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT

(HON. DR. GANDAWA):  Mr. Speaker Sir, I now move that the Bill be read the third time.

Motion put and agreed to.

Bill read the third time.

SECOND READING

GWANDA STATE UNIVERSITY BILL [H.B. 9, 2015]

Second Order read: Second Reading: Gwanda State University Bill [H.B. 9, 2015].

THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY

EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT

(HON. DR. GANDAWA):  Mr. Speaker Sir, the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development seeks for the approval for the establishment of Gwanda State University through an Act of Parliament and provides for matters provided therewith or incidental to the establishment of the Gwanda State University is in fulfillment of the Government policy to have a State university in each province of Zimbabwe.

          BACKGROUND

There is no State University in Matabeleland South Province.  To address this deficiency and pursuant to the stated policy in 2006, a Foundation Steering Committee to spearhead the establishment of a

State University in Matabeleland South Province was appointed.

FINDINGS OF THE STEERING COMMITTEE

The Foundation Steering Committee held several meetings between

2007 and 2009 and made the following recommendations:-

• That the agreed university be located in Gwanda, the town being the provincial capital of Matabeleland South.
• The site is an eight hectare piece of land adjacent to J. M. Nkomo Polytechnic to the south, and to the Gwanda-Beit Bridge road to the east. It is located on a hill that will require landscaping for the construction of the buildings.  Adjacent to the University site is a farm that has been reserved for the University.  The site is easily serviceable with respect to water and electricity and Gwanda has so much water that it even supplies Bulawayo.

 

The incubation site will be the National University of Science and Technology and at the disused Epoch Mine which is under refurbishment by NUST.  The University administration will initially be accommodated in Gwanda town at buildings offered by the Ministry of Local Government and National Housing.

JUSTIFICATION/RATIONAL FOR ESTABLISHING THE 

UNIVERSITY

• The policy to establish a State University in every province is one of the ways to broaden access to university education in

Zimbabwe.  While this policy was mooted before the ZIM ASSET blueprint, it resonates with ZIM ASSET objectives under the Social Services and Poverty Eradication Cluster.

• Matabeleland South agricultural and mineral economic activities need to be fully exploited. Human capital development and technology are key success factors for the socio-economic development of the province.  Therefore, a state university in the province would facilitate and enhance such development.

A state university in Matabeleland South would also help reduce the current migration of high school graduates and youths to South Africa and Botswana for menial jobs.  Such youths presently are the role models for children in Matabeleland South province as they come back seeming to be well-up and impress the young generation.  Thus Zimbabwe takes seriously the obligation to empower the youths with education and skills for the formal market and self-employment. Therefore, this new institution will contribute in this respect and not only to the province but to the nation as a whole.

• Gwanda State University, like any other university will run community projects for the local people, and create and expose knowledge about the rich heritage and resources in the province.

          NICHE/OBJECTIVES OF THE UNIVERSITY

The key objectives for the university will be;

• animal and Veterinary Sciences,

Irrigation Engineering and Management,

• Mining Engineering; and
• Environmental Engineering and Eco-system Restoration.

             The Animal and Veterinary Sciences and Mining Engineering

are proposed to be the initial programme’s of the university.  However, other programmes would be subsequently included since the aim is to create a comprehensive state university without compromising the niche

areas.

Irrigation Engineering is important for attaining food security and self sufficiency in the region.  Thus through irrigation Matebeleland South can be transformed to a thriving, productive region and selfsufficient in food.

Mining Engineering is also a major activity in the province, hence the need to train experts in this field in areas of geometrics, surveying, metallurgy, environment engineering among other relevant disciplines.

 

Meteorology is one other relevant subject to the environment since the region is prone to incessant droughts.  Therefore, it is imperative to establish research and early warning systems to equip farmers for the purposes of food security and poverty eradication planners.

Zimbabwe is rated as one of the leading nations in Africa in education in general as well as higher education.  It is not only desirable, but more importantly, imperative for Zimbabwe to maintain this position.  The establishment of Gwanda State University in Matabeleland South is one of the ways to ensure access to university education in Zimbabwe.  I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.

HON. MATARUSE:  Thank you Hon. Speaker.  Mr. Speaker Sir,

the Gwanda State University Bill, which provides for the establishment of a State University, is another milestone in the country’s education sectors.  It fulfills Government’s resolution to establish a State

University in each of the country’s provinces.  As such, the Committee on Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development welcomes the introduction of the Bill since such a development is likely to ensure that the country maintains its high ranking in the region and the continent in terms of high standards of education.

1.2.  Soon after the gazzeting of the Bill on 9^th September 2015 and the Bill standing was referred to the Committee on Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development, the Committee resolved to analyse the Bill in line with Parliament’s mandate of scrutinizing legislation.

          2.0.  METHODOLODY

          2.1.  This report is a culmination of the Committee’s meeting devoted to the analysis of the provisions of the Bill.  In addition to the meetings, the Committee benefited from the oral and written submissions made by stakeholders and members of the public as provided for by Section 141(2), which requires that members of the public be consulted on Bills before Parliament.  Oral submissions were made during hearings conducted in Bulawayo and Gwanda on 24^th November, 2015.  The Committee is grateful to all the people whose input has been considered in compiling this report.

3.0.  FINDINGS OF THE COMMITTEE

          3.1.  Clause 4, Objects and Powers of University

3.1.1.  The residents of Bulawayo and Gwanda welcomed the Bill and hoped that the University will start operating in the near future and ease the burden of the National University of Science and Technology and Lupane State University, two other universities in the Matabeleland region.  Participants at both hearings submitted to the Committee that the university should be general and open to other academic fields and not only focusing on sciences.  They recommended the adoption of a multi-campus concept that links a discipline to a particular area that has something in common with it.

          3.2. Clause 8, Vice-Chancellor

          3.2.1.  The stakeholders in Bulawayo and Gwanda were emphatic in their demand for a Vice-Chancellor for the university to be an individual that comes from the province. It was their conviction that such an appointee will be familiar with the area and will necessarily drive the institution to great heights by taking the needs and the people of the province.  A five-year term renewable for another term was recommended as the term of office for the Vice-Chancellor. The extension of one’s appointment for a second five year term would be based on one’s good performance during the first term.

          3.3. Clause 10, Council

          3.3.1.  Stakeholder were concerned by the costs of running the institutions in particular the payment of allowances and benefits for Councilors.  It was proposed that the membership be revised to some manageable number and that serious consideration should be made in terms of appointing individuals who come from the province.  However, they felt there is need to include someone from outside the province even from the Southern African region with expertise and knowledge to bring to the Council and give the university an international appeal.  In running the affairs of the university the Council was expected to adhere to the good corporate governance and ensure transparency and accountability in their actions.

          3.4. Other issues

          3.4.1.  Sentiments were expressed that a lot of the unemployed people in Matabeleland South should be considered for employment as general staff at the university as a matter of policy.  With regards to lecturers, stakeholders expressed their opposition to the employment of persons who are not fluent in all the local languages, who may require the services of interpreters.  It was recommended that the authorities should consider appointing general staff from among the locals with serious consideration of gender equality.

4.0.  COMMITTEE’S OBSERVATIONS AND

RECOMMNEDATIONS

4.1.  Having considered the provisions of the Bill and the contributions from the stakeholders, the Committee came up with the following observations and recommendations:

4.1.1.  The choice of programmes and courses should be the responsibility of the university.  The Vice Chancellor and other membes of the Senate should be left to choose these progressively.

4.1.2.  The Committee concurs with the public on the term of office for the Vice Chancellor.  A five year term will give an individual time to prove ones worth and if one proves to be good he or she will deserve more term before another Vice Chancellor is appointed.  The proposal to have a Vice Chancellor from the province is also a noble idea which the Committee recommends.

4.1.3.  The Committee recommends that the membership of the Council be reduced to twenty (20) members.  The appointment of an individual from the region should be dependent upon the institution’s ability to pay him or her.

4.1.4.  Although the stakeholders submitted that lecturers must be fluent in local languages especially Ndebele, it is the Committees’ observations that lectures are conducted in English and therefore the stakeholders’ recommendations cannot be sustained.

          5.0.  CONCLUSION

5.1.  The Committee congratulates the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development for brining the Gwanda University Bill before Parliament for consideration.  There is need for Treasury to support the establishment of the university by allocating the project adequate funding for its development.  University authorities should also find ways of complimenting Government efforts by raising some funds independently.  The Committee recommends the Bill for approval with the proposed amendments.

HON. MANDIPAKA:  Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, having heard

what the Hon. Minister has presented and having heard as well what the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee has presented.  I want to add my voice by actually commending the Government of the day led by His Excellency, the President of the Republic, Cde. R. G. Mugabe for being a responsible Government.  Not only responsible Mr. Speaker Sir but there is an attempt to live to its billing.  Why do I say so?  The Minister has correctly put it that it is Government policy to ensure that we have universities in our various provinces throughout the country.

We know how constrained our Government is, but it has made tireless efforts to ensure that such universities are established.  So it is a pat on the back of Government and a pat on the back of the responsible Ministry to be able to fulfil this ambition.  From some political quotas, we normally hear that this Government is not responsible but I would want to challenge those political circles to say this is clear evidence of what a responsible Government is all about.  Therefore, a pat on the back to the Ministry and the Government of Zimbabwe.

Mr. Speaker Sir, I would also want to mention that in coming up with this Bill, there has been something that striking my mind which has to be commended by this Parliament.  The manner in which the Bills are crafted, to the extent that the Ministry has been able to identify certain resources that are peculiar to a given area, that has also necessitated the choice of programmes.  That is brilliance at its best.  We have been looking at Manicaland State University and we are now looking at Gwanda State University.  What the Government and the Ministry have been able to do is to identify those things that are found in these respective areas or provinces and they have tailor made relevant programmes for the relevant provinces.  That should be applauded in the

Bill.

I was also, Mr. Speaker Sir, impressed by the fact that in Matabeleland South, more so in Gwanda, we have had stories of young people, girls and boys migrating from those areas to South Africa, perhaps for greener pastures, so they say or for employment.  The establishment of a university in Gwanda, like the Minister has rightly pointed out, will curtail the migration of our youngsters from Gwanda from Matabeleland South to South Africa.  When these universities are established, when the university is fully fledged, our youngsters, both male and female, are going to be absorbed by these universities.

Mr. Speaker Sir, I would want to add my voice and implore Hon. Members of Parliament to support this noble Bill, a Bill that seeks to empower our human resources, not only for the betterment of the current generation but for the betterment of generations to come.  What a responsible Government we have, what a responsible Ministry we have.  We would want to congratulate the Minister for bringing in this Bill at the right hour.  I thank you.

HON. M. KHUMALO:  I also rise to add my voice and also to express my joy on such a noble development that has happened to my rural home province, Matabeleland South.  That is where I come from, Gwanda.  I am very pleased that His Excellency, the President, through his wisdom, seeks to bring education right to the grassroots level and this has finally reached my doorstep, at my own house.

Mr. Speaker Sir, let also thank the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education for coming up with this noble idea to bring such a relevant university to my home town, Gwanda in Matabeleland South province.  Gwanda and part of Matabeleland has always been known for having a lot of gold including Filabusi and others.  Bringing such a university that will come to teach our kith and kin how to mine properly and how to beneficiate the minerals in our province, I think our province will be a better province than before.

As the Ministry is coming up with such an important Bill, I was thinking to myself right now that I hope the other part of the Executive will now look seriously into the issue of formalising the artisanal miners so that they become proper miners in order for this whole chain of events to be a very successful and meaningful process.  Mr. Speaker Sir, I say so because if you look at Gwanda, 90 percent of employment comes from the so called makorokozas, the artisanal miners.  That is where the money comes from.  If we have a university, they will be taught how to do the mining properly.  This means that subsequently, we are going to have a proper structure and proper employment.  The two million jobs that we were talking about shall be contributed from

Gwanda through that university.  So, it is a very noble move indeed.

Mr. Speaker Sir, I would also want to thank the Ministry for thinking about the meteorological department as well.  As you know

Matabeleland South is always drought prone.  If we now have a school that will now be able to predict accurately our climate system, we might be able to come up with measures to avert the starving situation that we have in Matabeleland South.  I hope the curricular that the Ministry is going to put across will ensure that they teach our people things like cloud seeding.  In the agricultural sector, they must teach them how to plant drought resistant crops so that Matabeleland South will have something to benefit from such a noble idea that was brought in by the Government.

Mr. Speaker Sir, I do not want to take much of your time but I just want to say that, if we continue in that route of such a revolutionary and visionary leadership of our President, Cde. R. G. Mugabe, we will never get lost.  Matabeleland South is now a province.  I stand here as an Member of Parliament from Matabeleland very proud to be associated with such a great man, very proud to be associated with such a Ministry led by these two gentlemen, Hon. Professor Moyo and Hon. Dr. Gandawa.  You make us happy indeed.  We are now able to go back to our constituents and tell them that the Government is thinking about you and it is doing something for you.  Here is the evidence.  Well done and keep it up.  Ngiyabonga.

HON. ZINDI:  Thank you Mr. Speaker for recognising me.  I want to also add my voice and concern in supporting the motion that has just been moved by Hon. Dr. Gandawa and also the Report by Hon. Dr. Mataruse.  As much as I got here a bit late in terms of contributing, particularly on the Manicaland State University but nonetheless, the Bill on the Gwanda State University as well is coming from the same concept or school of thought in terms of setting up State Universities in both Gwanda and Manicaland.

Mr. Speaker, I will not say much but my emphasis, the zeal and interest that I had in terms of making my contributions is mainly being driven by the fact that beneficiation is of utmost importance.  You know Africa is what it is today because of our failure to extract natural resources and processing them into final products.

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MARUMAHOKO): 

Order Hon. Members.  Vehicle Ford ACY3316, is blocking other vehicles.  If the owner is in this Chamber, could you please go and remove your vehicle.

HON. ZINDI:  Mr. Speaker, I was just mentioning the idea that Africa is what it is today - so impoverished we cannot account for our natural resources.  As much as we are endowed with natural resources, those natural resources are not benefiting us as Africans, but instead those natural resources have become a curse for Africa as a whole.  I can name the countries, the list is endless, but of importance to Africa, DRC is one of the countries where it is endowed with so many different natural resources, but those natural resources have become a curse.

In Zimbabwe, we have over 67 different kinds of mineral resources and these are not mineral resources of poor quality.  We are talking of Uranium, Platinum, Copper and Gold.  We are talking of timber in Manicaland and it is through that State University in Manicaland that we need to see an extractive processing of timber.

THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER:  Order, Hon. Zindi.  We are talking of Gwanda University and not Manicaland.

HON. ZINDI:  Mr. Speaker, I was only making reference and giving an example because remember, the Gwanda University offers studies on agriculture and mining and in Manicaland we have agriculture and mining too.  So really, there is a very thin line in terms of how we can relate and debate on Gwanda because what is happening in Gwanda is to focus on those natural resources and processing, which is exactly what I am saying.  It should apply in Manicaland, where we have timber because that is one of our major agricultural produce which is being imported by foreign companies as far as China and Korea.  We then go to Dubai to buy the furniture or the same timber that has been extracted from Manicaland, transported all the way by sea to Dubai and China.  It is being imported by Zimbabweans as furniture.  As you see all these furniture shops which are written Lifestyle and what have you, that is our timber.

What I am simply trying to express here, Mr. Speaker, is that we want to see universities of practicality in the sense of having to really focus on having to actually come up with finished products, which is beneficiation.  I know this has been on the AU agenda, but to what extent because the AU agenda, and these have been charted by heads of states and governments, is now the responsibility of the Executive to implement in terms of now insuring that beneficiation is being done.

We are extracting our natural resources.

Mr. Speaker, it is painful, painful in the sense that we are as poor as we are.  I was reading this morning and I came across a statement which was saying the first world economies would want to make sure that Africa, as having the least developed countries, should remain the way it is.  Why?  Simply because of being a base for natural resources which are to be extracted and exported in the raw form they are to the First World in order to keep their companies running.  The money that we borrow or the money that is being channeled to us as Africans in the form of aid, we are having to pay twice with the interest before we can even start talking of repaying the debt.

From 1990 to 2008, it was a staggering figure of US$419 billion from Africa through natural resources.  I think it is high time our leadership, the Executive, which is the policy implementer and policy maker, they should come up with policies which focus on having to beneficiate all our resources to benefit us Africans.  Let me mention this Mr. Speaker, we must also promote intra trade amongst ourselves.  Most of the products, we are having to import from the developed economies.

Two weeks ago, Mr. Speaker, Zimbabwe, through the Statistics Office, was saying just in the first quarter, we have spent close to US$15 million importing vegetables.  You can imagine vegetables and these universities are coming in handy in terms of improving our agriculture.  They are coming in handy at the right time.  So, instead of just focusing on theory to say what is the model on seed germination rate, students having to cram something of that sort about models and theories and what have you, we need practical subjects.

For example in Manicaland, as I have said, we need to restore the African foods – njera, rukweza.  We need to restore the madumbe, magogoya.  In Gwanda, I do not know exactly in terms of agriculture what they produce – macimbi.  Let us can these macimbi.  Let us create our niche market where we will have macimbi canned in piri piri, the way we like them, fried and well preserved.   This is what we want and let these universities focus on that. Let us have canned madhumbe and the different types of hohwa (like nhedzi) which we have in Manicaland.

Let us restore our traditional food. Our traditional food is liked by everybody who, at least if you introduce this traditional food like mhunga, rukweza, hohwa, mancimbi, I am sure there is nothing that can stop us having to create our mark on the world market and export those things. Through tourism, we have food marketing tourism that can actually be launched annually or something of that sort. We see these things happening in other countries. Why do we not have that kind of tourism where we just say, it is about African Zimbabwean food.

Right now if you ask a Zimbabwean what is really our staple food. It is sadza, beef (nyama) and vegetables mixed, period. We no longer have anything else that used to be there like mufushwa une dovi and all those kinds of things. We need to be promoting all that. Those are the practical and practicalities that I am talking about Minister, which I am saying the curriculum should be actually tailor-made or you should tailor make in terms of really beneficiating the natural resources. We have plenty of these natural resources but we have to continuously export in their raw form. Canning maavocado, I just want to give you a picture. In Manicaland, we have plenty of avocados, bananas which are being thrown away, mangoes, apples and all these citrus fruits or fruits which you normally get in summer like peaches, plums, apples, mangoes, guava and so on. We need them canned and juiced.

That is the area that is of concern to me and I am speaking right from the bottom of my heart because I know what it is and how many jobs you could create. On my farm, I should be able to can. On his or her farm he/she should be able to can. Why should we just say this should be done by the mzungu? Why should it just be a preserve of the mzungus? In Gwanda, with the cattle we are talking about, we want to see them establish abattoirs and then process the meat by smoking or the so many varieties of how we can preserve meat which can be sold locally.

Chimukuyu, if you look at most of the zvimukuyus, they are being done by the mzungus which has always remained the white traditional extractive market. Mr. Speaker, through you I am appealing to the Minister to really take heed of what I am saying. I am saying this right from the bottom of my heart. Thank you.

HON. CHAKONA: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker for giving me this opportunity to add my weight to the Minister’s presentation. The Gwanda State University will be specialising in agriculture and mining engineering in its curriculum. As we all know, Gwanda falls under region V and VI in our geographical classification in terms of its climate. In that regard, the introduction of agriculture in Matebeleland South is critical in the sense that the type of agriculture that will be taught will be very specific to that region that ensures food security under ZIM ASSET.

At the same time, the university will also specialise in certain areas that are not being taught in other universities. I think you will recall that almost every university in Zimbabwe has a faculty of agriculture. I suppose the Gwanda State University will specialise in the type of agriculture that is suitable for that particular region. So, I want to applaud the Ministry for bringing this Bill for debate.

In the same vein Mr. Speaker, Matebeleland South is endowed with minerals of different types from gold to even diamonds. In that regard, we believe the consummation of Gwanda State University will give rise to specific mining methods and technology that is appropriate for those minerals in that part of the region. Also, in collaboration with that I believe this is going to be a national university which will, amongst its curriculum, include every other type of mineral mined in this country.

Mr. Speaker, I just want to highlight that the migration of youths and even adults to South Africa, especially from Matebeleland South is rampant. The introduction of this university will incite our youths to also participate in academia in this country. We want to wake up to the xenophobic attacks that happened in neighbouring South Africa recently on foreign nationals. I would want to even reiterate that currently, a lot of our youths, especially from my constituency, last week we buried one who was killed in South Africa through murder and this is happening almost on a monthly basis.

I, therefore, believe that when we create more learning institutions in our nations, it will incite our youths to pursue their education and careers in Zimbabwe, develop themselves in this country and stay away from going to neighbouring countries where they are vulnerable to attacks by the nationals of those countries. Mr. Speaker, if you go to South Africa and Botswana, I would want to say there is a little bit of tribal and regional segregation that is taking place on our nationals. To a greater extent, we want to discourage our youths from actually migrating to those countries and focus on developing themselves in this country.

I also want to say Mr. Speaker, Bulawayo is well-known for its industrial development but at the moment, the utilisation of industries in Bulawayo is close to 10% and most of the industries have been closed. I suppose the introduction of this university will obviously produce graduates that will go and resuscitate these industries in line with our

ZIM ASSET. When we went through the consultation phase in Matebeleland South, one of the issues that were raised was that, most of the schools in Matebeleland South are not teaching science subjects. I hope the Minister will address that issue because the statistics they might have got from that area in terms of their STEM programme should indicate that there were very few youngsters that enrolled for the STEM programme.

One other thing that we also discovered was that most of the schools do not even have the infrastructure to teach science subjects and hence they were actually reiterating that again most of the places would be taken up by students from other provinces. I therefore, call upon the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education to seriously look at improving the facilities at most of these schools so that they can also offer science, technology, engineering and mathematics at high school as a request.

The other observation that we also made when we went for consultation in Gwanda is that whilst Manicaland State University already has infrastructure on site where the university is going to be built, in Matabeleland South, they have a very beautiful site with beautiful flora and fauna around that place, but there is no infrastructure. There is virtually nothing. I therefore, call upon the responsible authorities to start doing something.  Whilst we appreciate that there is no money and waiting for something but to just sit and wait until Government releases funds may not be that noble. They need to do something. Manicaland has already done something and they have not done something.

Another thing that we also saw was that there is a lot of negativity with whatever Government is doing. I believe at this stage the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education has to do something like the previous speaker was saying to show that Government is serious about investment in Matabeleland South. I think it is imperative that people see action on the ground in terms of whatever Government is trying to do in that particular province.

Lastly, I want to say the Bill that seeks to establish the Gwanda

State University is also another channel of harnessing a lot of students that are coming onto the higher and tertiary education stream looking for places to train in different skills and experience in different faculties and so forth. I want to thank the Minister for bringing the Bill and I also want to thank the Chancellor of our universities, His Excellency, the President and Head of State for the continuous effort to improve on higher and tertiary education. I thank you.

+HON. D. M. NDLOVU:  I would like to thank the Minister of

Higher and Tertiary Education, Honourable Gandawa and the

Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Higher and Tertiary Education, Honourable Mataruse who have introduced this Bill.  I want to say thank you for opening this university because as far as we are concerned it has already been launched. What we now want is for you to make some visible improvements because at the moment the students are studying from NUST and some of them would like to go and learn at Epoch Mine which is a dilapidated mine which lacks the necessary facilities such as electricity and water.

Whilst we are happy that the university has been launched we are saying we need the infrastructure. Talking as representatives of the people in  Matabeleland South, this is a cattle ranching area. We have a very high breed of cattle. We also have our all year river which has supply of water like Mtshabezi which has a lot of water. As a result of this we have a lot of caterpillars which are now digging underground because nobody is able to harness them. This is a natural treasure which is going to waste.

Matabeleland South is also endowed with cement. This is a very essential developmental aspect. Cement is mined in Matabeleland South but it is developed in some other areas. If only this university had been long established we should be beneficiating and adding value to the cement in our area.

Let me now turn to gold. When we talk of artisanal miners, we are talking of Matabeleland South because Gwanda is a world of gold and it is the small scale miners who are taking part in this process. These are educated youngsters but they lack the necessary university education so that they can be taught on how they can be creative, innovative and be able to exploit profitably the natural resources of this area.

We also have people who are accusing us of letting our children cross illegally into neighbouring countries such as South Africa and Botswana but it is not their fault and the parents fault because when they have successfully gone through their high school they have to go to universities at Midlands State University or Africa University. This involves a lot of expenses in both travel and accommodation and hence we are very grateful that a university has come at our doorstep. Our children will not suffer from accommodation and transport crisis.

My plea is that when this university has been launched, these children should be taught about practical subjects which they can utilise and become innovative and exploit the resources. If they only do theory, they end up selling airtime cards on the streets or become vendors. What I am saying is that when cement in mined in our area it should be fully value added and beneficiated because we see lorries taking this resource away from our areas and we end up with children illegally crossing into South Africa, Botswana and other neighbouring countries. I urge you to speed up the process of launching this university.

The previous speaker talked about the lack of science subjects in Gwanda schools, we plead with the Ministry to introduce science and technical subjects because when the STEM programme was launched only a few were accepted into this programme because of non teaching of science subjects.

HON. E. GUMBO: Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to add my voice to the debate on the Gwanda State University. First and foremost, I would like to applaud the President for fulfilling the national scope of a university in every province. In an effort and in support of the Gwanda University Bill, I urge all Honourable Members to support it because this is very critical for a lot of reasons be they economic, social and otherwise for the development of Matabeleland South.

Gwanda State University will specialise in mining and agriculture.

These two areas dominate the economy of Matabeleland South.

Matabeleland South has been alluded to by the last speaker as contributing more gold than any province. Since January 2016, about

42% of all the gold that has been sent to Fidelity Refiners has come from Matabeleland South. That is really a commendable issue. We need to look after our assets.

A mining university will empower the people with necessary knowledge and skills to fully participate in the mining sector. We are mostly looking at artisanal miners that will be given the right knowledge and skills to do their mining safely. I am talking about practical issues like blasting, shaft sinking, dewatering of the small scale mines which is what they are doing and they will be good entrepreneurs and employers.

We are also looking at the fulfillment of the indigenisation plan and ZIM ASSET. We are talking of 51% and 49%. We expect this university to churn geologists, metallurgists, people who can go out and set their own companies and contribute to the mining and see the cause for indigenisation, the wealth transferred into the hands of the indigenous people. I am the MP for Gwanda Central. I had to do mining.

At the time I had to do it myself, it was so horrible. I had to go somewhere in a foreign land and do a lot of things. Syllabuses were not even appropriate to my country, just to get a mining skill.

I had to come back, readdress myself to the local environment. I am hoping my university would be so appropriate, that is taking the local requirement for the local people and that is appropriately structured. We are looking at practical skills and research into the areas such as beneficiation. How best we can use our gold. We are expecting to see a few streams of jewellers setting up in Gwanda at Gwanda University to support jewellery production as part of the university research.

We also have people who are working in the mines, some older people who are very skilled in practical knowledge without a qualification, who cannot impact this knowledge freely because they lack academic qualification. We expect the university to have block release classes that those people already with skills in the mining field, can acquire technical skill so that they can go and qualify to go and teach and impart the skills to others. So, block release would be one of those modules that we advocate for so that the university must have block releases so that people at work, in the mines in Matabeleland South can be released on part time basis and acquire the necessary skills, both to develop themselves and to teach practical aspects of mining to the upcoming youngsters.

In Matabeleland we have got two key inputs for agriculture which are cattle that we are famous for. We are also cattle for mancimbi, the mopani worms. I am hoping that everybody says you sell them. I do not think it is value addition. I would like to work on a process, ready to research how to extract the proteins from those and we add it as naturally protein addictives. Those are some of the value addition that we are looking at.

On the cattle side, we are known for producing good cattle, big ones as you know, but we can endeavour to go even more and point out that it is not just big cattle and all that. The grass in Matabeleland South, the soils make the best quality of beef. Hence in the past, there was the largest factory at West Nicholson that used to carry beef for the whole world. It was not just a factory which was established there for no reason. It was there because the quality of meat, even the taste, you should ask those who live there and taste that nice meat from

Matabeleland South. I will tell you that that is the best quality of meat.

We are not only endowed with the cattle but also sweet grass and the soil in that grass produce the best quality of beef. The world knew about the produce at West Nicholson because of that quality. We are pleased that the university has come at last at Gwanda. Therefore, I feel that I am a typical testimony; I have worked 30 years in the mining industry and my hope in coming to Parliament was to persuade that somebody recognise that miners can even come and contribute in

Parliament when there is a cause.

I would like to thank the President very much. It is a gift to me as the MP of Gwanda Central that a mining school has been opened. We have been working with the foreigners from Wits University and they are mainly whites. The system there was only for whites. They have dominated positions in all of the Gwanda Mines because they were preferentially admitted to Wits University where mining was done in South Africa, the closest place, and they came to do it. I had to go to England just to make a feel with my counterparts back in the 80s. Now with our own university, I am so proud that our children, Zimbabweans, black Zimbabweans as well can take meaningful positions.

We have been disadvantaged because the universities that were there were predominantly training whites and the mining industry in

Gwanda as I talk, is dominated by whites. I think I worked for mines and I was the only black manager employee there and the rest were all whites. I used to ask why I could not promote my own fellow blacks. They would always say a degree from Wits or equivalent university with so many years experience, and that left a lot of our people out.

Now that we can get a degree from the University of Gwanda, may be we will say a degree from the University Gwanda, appropriate for Matabeleland South is what we require for the qualification. Foremost, I must also thank the Minister and those who moved this Bill for the good foresight. The people of Matabeleland South, particularly the Gwanda Constituency that I represent, we would like to say thank you.

Siyabonga.

THE DEPUTY MNISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY

EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT

(HON. DR. GANDAWA): Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. I want to thank Hon. Members for their contributions. Mostly I want to mention that people are crying that the Gwanda State University must start. Two programmes have already started at NUST. As of today, we have just given them the US$293 000 they required to refurbish the Epoch Mine for the water and electricity so that the students can work from the Epoch Mine. There is a fantastic facility but there was the problem of water and electricity.

The appointment of the Vice Chancellor is on merit. We would not strictly say we want to employ someone from Matabeleland only, but if there is a candidate from Matabeleland who has applied and they qualify and they pass the interview, they will be appointed. I want to thank Hon.

Mandipaka for his comments and appreciation. I also want to thank Hon.

Khumalo for the comments and appreciation and the formalisation of the artisanal miners. I want to thank Hon. Chuma for his comment on the formalisation of artisanal miners. I am very positive that the Ministry of Mines should take up this because they will contribute to the economic activity of the area and the province at large. He also emphasised the need for training in meteorology because we know in that area he mentioned seed clouding which is definitely part of the programme that is going to be taught there.

I want to thank Hon. Zindi for the comments although I noted that she was really emphasising on Manicaland which she missed in contribution. But, I agree with what she was saying that we need practical subjects, technical subjects that focuses on beneficiation and the restoration she used, the term restoration of traditional foods which we would cover under the indigenous knowledge systems in terms of the training.

I want to thank Hon. Chakona for the support and the emphasis that the agriculture that must be taught in Gwanda must be related to the agricultural activities in the area. I want to assure him that we hope that the graduates that will come there must be able to resuscitate the industries if they are given the skills that are necessary. We are serious about the development of Matabeleland.  As a Ministry, we do not select how we apportion resources because of the location of the province. So, it is an issue that we are assisting and we are very positive that every university must get a share so that they kick start.

*I would like to thank Hon. Ndlovu for his contribution. We are going to support with the water so that we can have more water and we want Epoch mine to have more water and also electricity. We are saying, we would want this university to be moved to Gwanda, but we are now utilising the existing facilities such as NUST, but we would like to move this university from Epoch Mine and then move to Gwanda like J. N. Nkomo.  We want the Government to mobilise more funds so that we will have more construction on this site.  I spoke during your absence that we have given this institution US$290 000 so that they can work on sanitary facilities including water and electricity.

He spoke about youths who cross illegally into neighboring South Africa but now that we have launched this university, it means they will be able to go school and institutions will be established there.  Our children will then be able to get employment in Matabeleland South.  Our wish as Government is that people from Matabeleland will be self sustaining, innovative and creative in their own style.

I would also want to thank Hon. Edson Gumbo with the contribution he has made about the university which must empower people there to participate in the mining sector. He empasised the need to train our people in order for them to be practical geologists and engineers who are also entrepreneurs.  This is the wish that we also have as a Ministry to produce graduates that are capable to produce and reengineer our own products from the country.  I am pleased that he mentioned issues to do with research and he has alluded to specific areas of research in which he emphasised the extraction of protein from mopane worms.  I am very positive this area is a very good area of research and our researchers must take it up.

He also mentioned the need to research more in mining and value addition and beneficiation.  He also emphasised the need for us to be able to do research in cattle production which I am very positive we have a lot of specialists and lecturers who are capable of doing this.

He also said there is need for us to be able to allow the university to have part time tutorials for the people that are working who will then contribute to the university in terms of the skills because they have got the practical work.

With these contributions, I really want to thank all Hon. Members for their contributions and support.   I now move that the Gwanda State

University Bill [H.B. 9, 2015] be now read a second time.

Motion put and agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Committee Stage: Wednesday, 13^th April, 2016.

On the motion of THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HIGHER

AND TERTIARY EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. GANDAWA), the House adjourned at

Twenty Nine Minutes past Five o’clock p.m.