PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday, 13th April, 2022
The Senate met at Half-past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE
SWITCHING OFF OF CELLPHONES
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: May I remind Hon. Senators to put their cellphones on silent or better still switch off their gadgets.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. SEN. MUZENDA: Thank you Mr. President. I move that Order of the Day, Number One be stood over until the rest of the Orders of the Day have been disposed of.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
.
MOTION
MEASURES TO RESUSCITATE THE ECONOMY
Second Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the need to come up with measures to resuscitate the economy.
Question again proposed.
HON. MUZENDA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. DENGA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 14th April, 2022.
MOTION
EFFORTS TO CURB CORRUPTION
Third Order read: Adjourned debate on motion to introduce deterrent sentences for those engaging in corrupt activities.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: Thank you Mr. President. I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. CHISOROCHENGWE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 14th April, 2022.
MOTION
FIRST REPORT OF THE THEMATIC COMMITTEE ON HIV AND AIDS ON THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC LOCKDOWN RESTRICTIONS ON HIV AND AIDS SERVICE DELIVERY SYSTEM IN ZIMBABWE
Fourth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the impact of COVID-19 pandemic lockdown restrictions on HIV and AIDS service delivery system.
Question again proposed.
^^HON. SEN. MOHADI: Thank you Mr. President for giving me this opportunity to say a few words on the motion raised by Hon. Sen. Kambizi on the impact of COVID-19 on HIV/AIDS patients. These two diseases are deadly even though they are not the same. What we have figured out is that if one is affected by both diseases, it becomes a challenge.
The Ministry of Health has always been indicating that when one has HIV/AIDS, they are supposed to visit health institutions to make sure that they are checked. For those that have other health issues like HIV/AIDS, COVID-19 becomes a challenge to treat. Therefore, let us see to it that our people visit hospitals each time they are affected by any of these diseases.
Mr. President, each time we talk of HIV or COVID-19, especially regarding rural communities where most of them stay far away from health institutions, they face challenges of getting health treatment. In most cases, their treatment is unavailable. We have also realised that at times they fail to get money to access drugs that they need at any particular time. Looking at their health needs, we realise that besides transport and being far away from health institutions, the road network is in a sorry state. Our plea is that if only we could get our roads rehabilitated so that people get to hospitals quickly and through better means.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we continue to encourage people to go and get vaccinated. We also realised that people who are visiting health institutions for vaccinations are increasing. When we talk of the booster vaccine, we realise that people are no longer interested in going to health institutions for the booster drug because they are saying up until when will people continue visiting health institutions for these vaccination? COVID-19 is still within us and therefore, we need to make sure that we follow all the health guidelines like putting on masks and washing our hands frequently.
If we tend to relax on following these guidelines, we will find that infections will keep increasing. Today, one of us or someone who is not part of us here, their child or one of those they stay with maybe found to be COVID positive. We therefore need to ensure that we take this pandemic seriously. Let us continue to put on our masks and promote social distancing so that we are not infected.
Speaking of HIV/AIDS, some people are reluctant to visit health institutions when they are supposed to go for their ART drugs. Each time they go there and are feeling a little better, they stop visiting health institutions, yet it is supposed to be a lifelong treatment that they are supposed to be taking. The moment you stop taking medication thinking that all is well, you are only lying to yourself. If one defaults, it will be a challenge to recover.
Looking at those that take a lot of alcohol, we urge them to drink reasonably and know that drinking too much can lead to one’s death. Even those that smoke, we encourage them to reduce the number of cigarettes that they take because they affect us health-wise, especially with regards to other health problems like tuberculosis.
With these few words, I would like to thank Hon. Sen. Kambizi who moved this motion. We support the move that this would help reduce the impact of these two diseases. We need to make sure that we follow the stated health guidelines so as to survive. Talking of HIV/AIDS, we have realised that quite a number of people can go up to 30 years whilst they are positive if they take their drugs accordingly. Let us try and see to it that we support each other in taking these drugs continuously because most people have children that are still young who need support. Mr. President, thank you very much.
*HON. SEN. CHIFAMBA: Thank you Mr. President. I thank Hon. Sen. Kambizi for raising this pertinent motion on HIV/AIDS and COVID-19 and how COVID-19 disrupted a lot of things including those who are taking ARVs.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Order, order. You are not connected Hon. Member.
*HON. SEN. CHIFAMBA: Thank you Mr. President, I want to thank Hon. Sen. Kambizi for raising this pertinent motion on those living with HIV in this COVID-19 pandemic. This pandemic disrupted the efficient supply of ARVs to patients because most of the people were failing to go to hospital to take their medication. The health facilities are far away and some failed because of restricted movement during the pandemic. Some failed to obtain letters to enable them to travel to their health centres. This affected the efficient supply of drugs and many people defaulted during the pandemic, which led to the suffering of HIV patients.
When they eventually did, they also faced problems since most of the hospitals were in short supply of the second line drugs. When we visited hospitals, we found out that many hospitals do not have Cotrimoxazole drugs. If it is possible, it is my wish that certain drugs be manufactured in this country because trade and transportation of goods were disrupted during the pandemic, hence the shortage of drugs in the country. If we as Zimbabwe were able to manufacture our own drugs then we would not go out of stock of any vital drugs. Many people’s health has been affected because of the COVID-19 restrictions. People are no longer receiving six months supply, they reduced this to three months and some hospitals were charging US$5 in order for patients to be given a six months supply. This compromised the health of the poor. Some patients travelled long distances and cannot afford to come to the centre monthly, these are the patients that benefited a lot from the six months supply. If they fail to go then they will have defaulted.
Health facilities must desist from corruption, so may this issue of corruption be investigated so that it can be addressed. The perpetrators must be apprehended. My plea is that our country must be able to manufacture some of the vital drugs so that we desist from depending on other countries. Those countries which we are relying from, if one day they decide not to help us, it means that many people will suffer. Yes, we might need help but we must also work very hard on improving our health sector. As a country, I do not think we can fail to manufacture Cotrimoxazole as our country is well endowed with minerals.
I am also encouraging that hospitals must have CD4 machines and other machines that can help people so that everything will be done under one roof. In some areas CD4 is done at one facility and for results the patient is referred to the other district. Some patients will fail to go there because they do not have money for transport. Some patients are requested to come back after some weeks and some die during the waiting period. It is my plea to the Government that at least each centre must have one CD4 machine so that everything can be done under one roof.
We have our youths who are illegal gold panners, they move from one place to another in search of gold. This becomes very difficult for the health officers to follow them up to see if they are taking their medication well or why they stopped. When they visit the addresses they would have been supplied with, that person will no longer be at that address and this becomes a problem yet they will continue to infect others with the disease. Some of our youths who take drugs like marijuana and mutoriro, when they are drunk they forget to take their medication or even fail to use protection when they engage in casual sex because they will be under the influence of drugs and they will end up spreading the disease wherever they go. With these few words, I thank you Mr. President.
+HON. SEN. G. MOYO: Thank you Mr. President for affording me this opportunity. I want to debate on the motion raised by Hon. Sen. Kambizi. I had the opportunity to be amongst the people who visited hospitals with the Thematic Committee on HIV and AIDS. We found that some hospitals did not have CD4 count machines; they said they take samples and send to other health facilities. Sometimes the results take three to four months and sometimes the results are lost or sent to the wrongplace. We encourage the Ministry of Health and Government to look into this issue so that all hospitals have the CD4 machines. People are being given dates to come back for the results but when the day comes, sometimes the results will not be available and yet they would have travelled long distances to go to the centres. During this COVID-19 pandemic, they find it very difficult to travel to get their results. I felt very sad when health workers told the Committee what they go through - there is no medical equipment, no drugs and this makes it difficult for them to carry their duties efficiently. With these few words, I would like to thank you Mr. President for affording me this opportunity to debate.
*HON. SEN. CHIRONGOMA: Thank you Mr. President for affording me the opportunity to add my voice to the motion moved by Hon. Sen. Kambizi. This motion is very pertinent. COVID-19, when it started, was a small thing but the laws which were stipulated by the authorities for example lockdowns - many people failed to understand what that meant. This led to the interruption of the smooth flow of many things. Some people lacked food and those who are into vending failed to get food because they were not allowed to sell during that period. All the people stayed at home and nothing was happening that brought food on the table. As time moved on, many people began to die from COVID-19 and more lockdowns were imposed in order to protect the people. It became difficult for people to go and collect their anti-retroviral drugs from health facilities because of the lockdowns. Some of the health facilities were very far and transport became a challenge also. Some of the people tried going on foot but some of the health facilities were closed. Our country’s laws say you are not compelled to reveal your HIV/AIDS status but during that period, the regulations demanded that if you wanted to go and collect drugs, a letter had to be written for you stating the reason for travelling and this ended up exposing people’s privacy. This led to the violation of people’s rights.
Even schools were closed as COVID-19 wreaked havoc in the country. Schoolchildren were at home and boys and girls started spending a lot of time together and it ended up with a lot of pregnancies. COVID-19 caused a lot of harm to schoolchildren whom we look up to as the future leaders. Also for parents to stay together at home day in day out caused a lot of gender based violence, lack of food and lack of money. As fathers, we agree that the wives cater for the father and the children and it became difficult for them to find food to cook but the husband expected to see food on the table - hence the violence as there was no food on the table. Lockdowns resulted in increased pregnancies even in married families because women failed to go and collect their family planning tablets.
I want to thank our health workers who worked very hard during the pandemic. Many people who got COVID-19 went to health facilities and the health workers were always there to assist despite being exposed to COVID. They worked very hard to help the sick. I would also like to thank the doctors for working very hard and saving people’s lives as they struggled with COVID. We got to a very painful period during COVID when many Government officials succumbed to COVID. Our Government officials died painful deaths and we could not all go and lay our loved ones to rest because of the restrictions on numbers. Only a few people or family members were allowed to attend funerals.
In rural areas, our culture was violated due to COVID-19 because all people come together to commiserate with the bereaved but funerals became COVID super spreaders and many people contracted COVID and died. We tried to educate people to understand that only a few people had to attend funerals but it was difficult to reduce the numbers in the rural areas due to cultural beliefs. You cannot prevent someone from coming to a funeral, hence people continued to go to funerals in their numbers and the virus spread quickly. COVID-19 also caused many diseases which I am not able to mention. Some people died because of lack of drugs because one drug would be found at this facility while the other would be found at another facility. I want to thank the Ministry of Health for putting in place measures to ensure COVID-19 treatment was provided everywhere and they were working at ensuring that at each hospital, all the machinery would be there. We encourage the Ministry to continue to work hard so we continue to achieve better health facilities in the country. I thank you Mr. President.
*HON SEN. CHINAKE: Thank you Mr. President for affording me this opportunity to debate. I also want to thank Hon. Sen. Kambizi for raising this pertinent motion because it touches everyone in the country. Many of the things have been raised but I want to say at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies in the country downsized their operations and some of them closed. This development was not only in this country but the world-over. When these companies closed, many people lost their jobs, which means that their families suffered a lot because what they used to get, they were no longer getting. Many countries suffered a lot especially those which were not prepared for the pandemic. Many people who died did not get the right for a decent burial.
This disease brought many problems to many people of all age groups. Some people divorced because of COVID-19. Some died due to hunger and lack of food. Some people who died failed to get proper burial space. Some countries had death tolls reaching one thousand per year. Some people who died were not buried according to their cultural wishes. Some were buried in mass graves. COVID-19 disrupted the way people used to live. Some of the Senators mentioned that some girl children were impregnated and they suffered a lot during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some natural calamities like these happen without proper preparation. When pandemics like these come, we must get prepared that if we face something similar to this in the future, we must have a proper way of solving this. We heard that there is another wave which is coming from Botswana. When you listen to the news on radio, you hear that one person has died today and a certain number are not feeling well. We must follow all the COVID-19 regulations and guidelines in order to overcome the disease. Yes, we have been vaccinated but there are other people who are not vaccinated. Let us protect ourselves by wearing our face masks. Let us get vaccinated because we do not know who has the virus or not. It is very important to protect ourselves, especially us the older people who are mostly affected by the pandemic. We must listen to WHO COVID-19 protocols so that we can be protected. We must follow all the procedures because COVID-19 is still with us and it has not ended. The former Minister of Health and Child Care, Hon Sen. Dr. Parirenyatwa also mentioned that we must follow what is required of us so that we can protect ourselves. I thank you.
HON. SEN. KAMBIZI: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. CHIRONGOMA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 14th April 2022.
MOTION
SECOND REPORT OF THE THEMATIC COMMITTEE ON HIV AND AIDS ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ANTIRETROVIRAL THERAPY (ART) ROLL-OUT PROGRAMME
Fifth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the implementation of the anti retroviral therapy (ART) roll out programme in the selected health institutions in Zimbabwe.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. KAMBIZI: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 14th April 2022.
MOTION
CONDOLENCES ON THE DEATH OF HON. SEN. SIMON KHAYA MOYO
Sixth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the untimely passing on of the late Senator for Matabeleland South, Hon. Sen. Simon Khaya Moyo.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MALULEKE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 14th April, 2022.
MOTION
PREVALANCE OF DRUG ABUSE BY YOUTHS
Seventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the devastating effects of drug abuse by youths.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: Thank you Mr. President for affording me an opportunity to add my voice on this pertinent question. It is painful that our children whom we expect to be the future leaders end up being drug abusers without meaningful life. We need to find a solution on how best we can help our youths because some of the drugs are imported illegally through our borders. So it is very pertinent to see that the law enforcement agents look into the issue. We must eradicate corruption. Wherever you go you come across people who are demanding money in exchange of services. This issue must be looked into to see how best we can be able to help people as a country. We should curb smuggling of drugs.
Mr. President, not all drugs are imported in the country but here in this country, there is something which is happening where youths are doing experiments, for example they use diapers. They go to the dumping site and collect those diapers and start making drugs and end up drinking those drugs. In the end they abuse their parents and kill them because they will be under the influence of drugs. They must also see that as a country there is what we call peer pressure. These children play together and end up imitating each other. Even in schools, there are school children who are using drugs. Parents will think that a child has gone to school but they do not get to school, they begin to use the drug after getting them using illegal means.
I want to thank the Government for working towards the eradication of this problem. The Government has opened a youth bank - may that bank begin to function so that the youths can access loans to start doing their own projects so that they can get empowered through the Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises. This will enable them to get proper help and stop abusing drugs. Some of them come from decent homes but because of peer pressure, they end up into drug abuse. We must see how best we can help our youths through the programmes being put by Government. How best as Senate can we help our kids to improve their livelihoods so that they can desist from drug abuse?
Mr. President, right now there is a programme for Young People for Economic Development. We must make sure that this programme reaches all areas of the country so that our children get occupied rather than focusing on drugs. I want to thank the Government because our President noticed that we have a problem of drug abuse in the country. It is no longer a small problem, the whole nation is affected, and there is now need for collective responsibility. The President formed the Inter-Ministerial Committee which is responsible in seeing how best we can work as a nation to eradicate drug abuse. When the problem of drug abuse began, many youths started to take these drugs and the President set a Committee to look into the issues and how children can be helped. I am appealing to the Inter-Ministerial Committee to come and inform this House on what they have done since its inception and how to eradicate the problem of drug abuse. These youths and kids are the future leaders. Thank you Mr. President. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIFAMBA: Thank you Mr. President Sir, for affording me this opportunity. I want to thank Hon. Sen. Dube for raising this pertinent motion that our kids have been destroyed because of drugs. Many parents are crying because our kids are indulging in very indecent activities due to influence of drugs. If you hear that there is someone who has been beaten or killed, during investigations, you will find out that the perpetrator is a drug abuser. There are also rising cases of rape due to drug abuse.
It is very painful; many people are being killed and raped by drug abusers. Our kids use drugs, they are experimenting using those drugs. They take a substance from those globes which we use for light. If you see these kids when they are high on drugs, they will be laughing and talking to themselves. You will see that this kid cannot control himself at all. After they are affected by these drugs, they do not even check the road when crossing roads, the motorists will have to avoid hitting them. When they are affected by these drugs, they will not be functioning properly. Our kids are doing much of the bad behaviour because of drug abuse.
There is another girl who was broadcast on social media, saying that I can leave prostitution but I cannot stop taking drugs because it is difficult to live without taking them. When we look at the issue of rehabilitation facilities for drug abusers, it is very expensive to take your child to those facilities. Sometimes these kids really need those facilities so that they can be helped to stop drug abuse but they cannot afford them. These facilities are very expensive, hence kids end up continuing abusing drugs because they cannot just stop on their own. They have nothing to do, so in the morning they just go out and sit on the bridges and start taking drugs because they will be stressed due to idleness.
Right now we know about diapers and globes but they also know about tablets which they can take for them to be drunk. There are also some people who are well established. They import drugs into the country and these people are not apprehended by the law of the country. Those who are caught by the law are the abusers only, those young people in the streets. It means that there is corruption at the border post where these drugs get into the country. These people import the drugs and distribute the drugs to our youths but they are not being caught by the police officers.
If you walk during the night and see some of the activities being done by the youths, you will be hurt because they will be under the influence of the drugs. Some of them will be sleeping in the open, whether it is raining or it is sunny. They do not feel anything because they will be under the influence of drugs. Drugs are one of the problems slowly taking over the country. Those who are importing drugs into the country must be arrested and be jailed because they are destroying the future of this country. These kids, under the influence of drugs end up raping, killing and doing all sorts of bad things. When they are in jail, they will not be aware how they committed these crimes because they were under the influence of drugs.
We have got a man called Zhandale who is abusing drugs. He is raping and killing people. I do not think a normal human being who is not under the influence of drugs can kill more than 20 people for nothing. This person is being encouraged to perform those heinous crimes because of drugs. There are some other illicit beers, coming from countries like Zambia and Mozambique, they must not be allowed in the country. These beers and drugs are being taken by the kids and they end up in crimes under the influence of these substances. Some school going children are being involved in drugs.
There is a school in Zimbabwe, which has got school children who are abusing drugs. They are encouraged to smoke or taste a little bit and then they do not know what they are doing. They can do anything under the influence of these drugs. Even girls are also involved in these drug abuses. It is very painful because these girls are the future mothers of the country. I do not know how best we can do to solve the issue of illicit drugs being imported into the country. The problem is when these people approach the border post, they bribe relevant authorities on their way to cross the border. Sometimes a person carrying drugs worth US$100 000, can bribe by giving the authorities US$5 000 and they will be released. Those who are selling drugs must be given stiffer penalties.
Our children and even other men are performing different crimes under the influence of drugs. Their behaviours in homes, schools and everywhere is uncalled for because they will be influenced by drugs. In homesteads, gender based violence is being perpetuated by the use of drugs. Sometimes as parents or as a couple, you can fail to communicate properly because the other partner will be under the influence of drugs. Most of the times women end up killing husbands as a way of defence or the husband can kill his wife under the influence of drugs.
We used to hear the issues of drug abuse happening in European countries but right now the issues have escalated to Africa and our country. Many women are going to die because of drug abuse. May Government intervene and help to fight the issue of drug abuse. Many women are suffering because of drug abuse because they end up at the receiving end. They are raped and killed as well. Thank you Mr. President.
^ HON. SEN. MALULEKE: Thank you Mr. President for awarding me this opportunity to add my voice on this pertinent motion raised by Hon. Sen. Dube. This motion is very important because it is a motion on drug abuse. The issue of drug abuse is something which is discussed by other countries as a weapon to destroy Zimbabwe. They saw it fit to use drugs on youths because these youths are the future leaders and parents of tomorrow. The issue started in other countries where they were singing and planning how best they can destroy our country. It is very painful to the Head of State the President, the whole nation and us parents.
The issue of drug abuse is affecting the whole country and our future. Today many youths are being eroded by the drugs. As elders, we are working for the future of our country and we must hand over this future to the youths. Most of the youths in the country are involved in drug abuse activities. Today at Rainbow, I saw some youths who were under the influence of drugs. These youths were showing signs that they do not know anything because they were under the influence of drugs. In Chiredzi, there is a spot were youths used to go and take drugs there. As Government, we must work to eradicate the use of drugs in our youths. The future of our country is in the hands of our youths.
His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe saw it fit to put in place an Inter-ministerial Committee to deal with the issue of drug abuse because it is something which is affecting the whole country. These youths are no longer respectful to their elders. They commit crimes and do not respect each other. They speak vulgar language and they are not respectful to their elders and fellow youths.
I want to thank the committee members who dedicated themselves to work on this issue of drugs. May this Committee work with people from all provinces and districts, teaching them on the negative effects of drug abuse. I also encourage the Committee to come up with income generating projects aimed at assisting the youths to desist from drug abuse. The Committee must also teach us how best we can educate our constituents when we get back to our homes.
One day I was listening to a South African radio station and there is someone who was found with drugs. When the law enforcement agencies apprehend perpetrators of drug abuse, they must ask them who send them. This will help in solving the issue of drug supplies. Drug abuse is killing our country’s future. Drugs came hand in hand with sanctions; those who imposed sanctions on our country are trying to destroy our youths so that they do not talk about these issues.
Mr. President, a country is called a country because of the youths who are there. The youths must inherit and lead in the future. These youths are the ones who are involved in drug abuse. I thank the President of the country for intervening. Let us all unite and fight the drug abuse and let us help the school children and the rest of the people to fight drug abuse. Thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF MAKUMBE: Thank you Mr. President for according me this opportunity to debate on the issue of drug abuse by the youths. It is very true, what is being articulated in this House. It is a problem to us parents that you raise a child with the intentions that he will grow up and raise the family name but to no avail. I want to say this is bad as we are losing a lot of our future leaders because of drugs. It can be a boy or girl child. Whatever is happening is not good. We have parents who are being murdered by their children because of drugs.
We have grandparents who are being murdered by their grandchildren under the influence of drugs. Those who read newspapers, in Buhera last year, a boy murdered six people. He confessed in court that he killed these people and admitted that he is addicted to drugs. He murdered the people after coming from the beer hall. Drugs lead to teenage pregnancies. We passed the Marriages Bill and we are happy as this will encourage parents witnessing their children getting married so that they get lobola. If a child is under the influence of drugs they do not know the one who would have impregnated them. As I stand here, there are three women who came to me asking for assistance to get birth certificates. They said they went to parties and drank beer, now they do not know the fathers of the babies because they were under the influence of drugs.
As leaders, we must encourage children to behave and not take drugs. As politicians, sometimes we use youths to campaign for us and give them money. When they receive that money they go and buy drugs to carry out our instructions. There is nothing bad in buying them beer but we must make sure that they do not take drugs, especially during election times. Another sad story is that you now find those who are called ‘jersymen’ close to schools and universities selling marijuana to school children.
Last week I lost my brother. We bought some light bulbs so that there will be light. The boys who helped us to take lounge suits and other things outside stole the light bulbs so that they extract mutoriro from the lights. It is very painful, as elders we might work hard to develop our country but we will not have anyone to leave this country to if we do not teach our future generations that drugs are dangerous. When parents die, if their children are into drugs they will sell everything that would have been left by the parents and buy drugs. We must enact a law that bans the use of drugs and the sentences must be stiff.
We know that we are living in a global village and we know that we must align our laws to match that of our neighbourhood but we must remember that we are Zimbabweans. If a person misbehaves, the rod must be used, it is very difficult to discipline a person that claims to know their rights. We are here Hon. Senators because our parents used the rod to discipline us. We cannot say we should not discipline our children now - everyone in this Senate is well behaved because our parents used the rod to discipline us and we are all alive, no one died from being beaten. Disciplined children will be afraid to commit any acts of indiscipline because they fear the rod. The other thing is that our country is under sanctions and there are no jobs. Most of our children just roam the streets because they do not have anything to do and they engage in all sorts of illegal activities. As parents, we are also obliged to know the friends of our children. There is a Shona saying that says rooranai vematongo, meaning to say that if you go and marry someone far away from you, you do not know their traits. This is done because we will be coming from different backgrounds and towns, you will find that our culture differs as well. What is more important is that children must be taught our cultural values.
In jails, it is not a good place to be because when youths are convicted and imprisoned you will find that instead of them reforming, they will come out hard core criminals because they will meet other hard core criminals there who will teach them to be even harder. Drugs are being sold everywhere, in police stations, and even teachers are conducting lessons under the influence of drugs. As legislators, we must look at these drugs to see if there are any that are legal.
I come from Mutare where they brew beer called ‘one day’, and when you drink it, you will become unaware of who you are. You lose consciousness and some even burn down houses because of this brew. Drugs also weaken the immune system of a person and leads to heath disorders. If you look at their teeth, they are decaying because of ‘bronco’, this is a flue drug; I think Hon. Sen. Dr. Parirenyatwa is aware of it. They take it like tablets morning, afternoon and evening. When they take that drug they lose consciousness, they cannot even do anything.
You cannot help them, even by giving them piece jobs because when you give them piece jobs, and when they take drugs, they will not be able to do anything. They sometimes even steal the tools they will be using to go and buy drugs. At the end of day, it is useless even in trying to help them. Stiffer penalties should be put in place especially on those that sell the drugs. If we deal with these drug sellers then the youths will have nowhere to buy these drugs.
As we were growing up, there were places where marijuana was being sold, the police were always there trying to stop this. These days it is like it is no longer a crime because it is being sold everywhere. Our elders used to take it once in a while for them to become intelligent; not often but here and there, they used it as medicine. People nowadays take it anytime. Even the way our children are dressing these days, their clothes look tattered and their eyes are red. A few weeks ago we met boys and girls fighting for a loaf of bread because of drugs. We are losing respect because of drugs. In our constituencies, if we know of any cases of drug abuse, I think the law enforcement agencies must be informed about this. They must be arrested and if they appear in court they must not be given short sentences so that this will deter would-be victims. I think this is our biggest challenge because most of our children are engaging in drugs. So, as parents, it is our responsibility to put our heads together and deal with the issue of drugs once and for all. Drugs will destroy our history, heritage and country. Thank you Mr. President.
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR MASHONALAND CENTRAL PROVINCE (HON. SEN. MAVHUNGA): I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday 3rd May, 2022.
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE
ADJOURNMENT OF BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE AND COMMITTEES
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Hon. Senators, I would like to inform you all that the Senate is going to adjourn today. What it means is that all Committee business will stand suspended until Monday 2nd May, 2022.
On the motion of the MINISTER OF STATE FOR MASHONALAND CENTRAL PROVINCE (HON. SEN. MAVHUNGA) the Senate adjourned at Five Minutes Past Four o’clock p.m. until Tuesday 3rd May, 2022.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 12th April, 2022
The Senate met at Half-past Two O’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF SENATE in the Chair)
ANNONCEMENTS BY THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF SENATE
ERROR ON THE ORDER PAPER
THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF SENATE (HON. SEN. MOHADI): I wish to draw the attention of the Senate to an inadvertent error on today’s Order Paper, where the Printer retained Order of the Day, Number 7, which related to the Committee Stage of the Pension and Provident Funds Bill [H. B. 17A: 2019], which was passed last Thursday.
Consequently, Order of the Day, Number 8 which is adjourned debate on motion on the reply of the Presidential Speech would now be re-numbered as Order of the Day Number 7.
BILL RECEIVED FROM THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I also wish to inform the Senate that I have received the Zimbabwe Independent Complaints Commission Bill [H. B. 5A: 2020] from the National Assembly.
MOTION
MEASURES TO RESUSCITATE THE ECONOMY
First Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the need to come up with measures to resuscitate the economy.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. A. DUBE: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 13th April, 2022.
MOTION
EFFORTS TO CURB CORRUPTION
Second Order read: Adjourned debate on motion to introduce deterrent sentences for those engaging in corrupt activities.
Question again proposed.
+HON. SEN. A. DUBE: Thank you Madam President for affording me this opportunity to add my voice on the motion which was raised by Hon. Sen. Tongogara. This is a very important motion which deals with corruption. Corruption has destroyed our country. If we look closely, corruption is not done by only one person but it is done by two people. You will find that someone at work will be given whatever he or she is given as a bribe by some people around there. Then the person who will be at work receives this bribe because he/she needs the money, so he or she accepts the bribe.
Corruption is destroying our country because everywhere, we find that there are a lot of devious things which are taking place which destroy our State. The President provides aid to assist the people but this aid is being diverted and is sold on different platforms. It is now surprising that the things that are issued by Government so that they could assist members of the public are being sold, which is not a good thing.
Aid from the Government is not supposed to be paid for. There are a lot of ways in which corruption is taking place. Corruption is destroying our development in most of the places and you cannot see the development which is taking place. This corruption is perpetuated by the citizens of this country and other citizens are not exposed so they are not arrested for being corrupt. We thank the President for putting a Commission in place that handles and deals with issues of corruption. We see that the President is interested in ending corruption in this country of Zimbabwe. Corruption has taken a grand stand. Even at food courts, there is corruption. The prices are just altered and lowered if someone they are afraid enters. This shows that corruption is almost in every place and corner. In the queues at the banks, there is corruption. There are now people who go and queue at the banks early and sell their positions to people who arrive late. There are people that even force people to board buses that they do not want so that they get money.
Madam President, there is corruption everywhere. I do not know which step the State can take to curb corruption. The responsible commission that looks into issues of corruption should be supported. Also as citizens, we are supposed to support the Government in fighting against corruption but it is the other way round, we are protecting corruption and increasing it.
Corruption is like a disease that is destroying the country. Every evil thing that has happened in this State is caused by corruption. Everyone is now self-centred. People just want to fill their pockets without thinking about the other person. People think that it is now the norm that life is supposed to be conducted. This is a very important motion that needs all of us to get united and end corruption.
If you see someone getting involved in corrupt activities, we should report them to the authorities for them to be punished. It is supposed to be a sentence that is set aside which will serve as an important measure and deter people from engaging in corrupt activities. If people are scared of exposing corrupt activities, there are suggestion boxes that can be used at post offices. These can aid in reporting corruption cases. If anyone has seen something of a corrupt nature, they can also write a paper and deposit it in these suggestion boxes. Some people are afraid of being whistleblowers for fear that they can be harmed. If there are suggestion boxes for people to report violence and corrupt activities, this could also assist us as a nation.
Corruption has clenched its jaws even to the young people. If you ask a child to do a task, they ask how much you are going to give them. For now, to send a child without giving him money, they will refuse to do the task. The generation that we have now is filled with violence and corruption.
With these few words, I would want to say this is a very important motion, especially to us leaders who represent the people. It is important that we assist people and if we see any corrupt activity, we should report it. The Government should also create awareness platforms so that if people see corrupt activities, they should report them. The practice that people are asked to pay for them to get aid from the Government is not the proper channel. People will blame the Government that it is giving them food and they ask them to pay. I support the motion that was raised by Hon. Sen. Tongogara. Thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHISOROCHENGWE: Thank you Madam President for according me this opportunity to add my voice to this motion that was moved by Hon. Sen. Tongogara. I would want to thank all those that debated on this motion. Indeed, this is a good motion. Corruption has destroyed the country. It has now become a cancer. Be that as it may, people speak against corruption but are involved in corruption. For one to acquire a national identity card, one has to pay their way on to the line. As a result, those that do not have the money and cannot pay those that work there, especially people who travel from the communal lands to urban centres, are unable to obtain passports and national registration cards.
The President is on record saying this country can be built by its owners. It is my observation that as owners, we are also destroying our own country. A lot of corrupt issues are being reported in the newspapers but we never get to hear the end of the corruption case. As a result, it is not acting as deterrent. Corruption must be dealt with and it must be uprooted. You can go to hospitals and you cannot access drugs. However, you find a person who is employed at that particular hospital administering drugs and also injecting people. Where would they have acquired the drugs and medicines from? The Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Home Affairs should ensure that our practices are corrupt free and that all those that are involved in corrupt tendencies are dismissed.
During the time of COVID, people were not allowed to move around but you would see a vehicle passing through a road block where they were supposed to deny the same vehicle access. They simply pay their way through. These corrupt tendencies permeated every one of us in Zimbabwe. We need to put an end to corrupt tendencies because there is no Government Ministry that is not involved in corrupt tendencies. A lot of people are making their living out of corruption.
In our communities, children are being raped and reports made at the police stations but nothing comes out of that because the accused will pay their way throughout and it is the poor man that suffers. If a rich man commits offences against the poor, they will not get justice. Everyone has a duty to ensure that we fight corruption.
Corruption is now a problem. The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission must be properly remunerated so that they cannot be bribed and that they will not prosecute corrupt accused persons. Let us fight this cancer together, I thank you.
+HON. SEN. D. M. NDLOVU: Thank you Madam President for the opportunity given. Corruption is a very painful issue. The issue of corruption is difficult because it strikes at the epicentre and for us to get over this, I do not know what to do because we have a challenge where people in the law-making process are the ones who are pushing it more. If you are to go to hospital to seek for medical attention, doctors are also involved in corrupt tendencies and this ends up complicating the health of our patients. In most cases when a doctor is supposed to make a certain procedure, they always make it a point that they push time until the patient gives up. Once money is involved, the procedure is not followed accordingly because the one who pays money will always jump the queue. Hon. Senators also have a problem with service stations because if you go to fuel stations, those that pay money are attended to first. In the end you will be told that there is no fuel yet those that come when you were in the queue are served whilst you follow the queue.
This is what we call corruption, and it is one of the major challenges that we are encountering as a country. It is indeed painful like what the previous Hon. Senator said that if you send your child to buy something they are not given enough change, they will pocket the rest. This is why we say corruption should be nipped straight in the bud. In most cases you hear quite a number of people who have been arrested due to corruption but if one is to find out what happened to the arrested people, the cases just die a natural death. At the end of the day there is no trace to the cases. My plea is that our Government needs to make it a point that they arrest everyone who is found to be involved in corruption despite their position in society. In other instances, when the communities are supposed to pay a very minimum amount for receiving Presidential aid - the figure is sometimes exaggerated to some people and those corrupt people cause deliberate delays so that people continue to pay more money. Therefore, it is very difficult to deal with corruption because the epicentre is the one that is worsening things.
If you do not pay anything you will not get the services you want and that has to be addressed. In criminal cases, quite a number have gone scot-free and there is no trace on the disappearance of certain documents. The same happens to lawyers and these are the worst corrupt people because they charge exorbitant figures for legal consultations. Some people are not able to stand for themselves in courts and not because they have enough money. They claim to be diverting their duties or create time for you so that they charge more and this is a major challenge for our country.
Madam President, even when armed robberies and housebreaking cases are reported and the criminals are apprehended, funny enough those cases just die a natural death because of corruption. Different Government institutions including the political environment, quite a number of issues are not addressed accordingly because of corruption. Are we saying corruption is good as a country forgetting that it does us no good? It is a challenge for our country because corruption cases are rising. This ends up having people saying our Government is failing to deal with issues of corruption. These are the few submissions that I wanted to add regarding this motion. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. MOEKETSI: Thank you Madam President for giving me the opportunity to debate this motion. I want to go into the merits of the motion that was raised by Hon. Sen. Tongogara on the subject of corruption in the country. In truth, corruption has destroyed our country. Corruption is likened to a clay pot that has a crack. If the crack is not stopped, it will lead to the destruction of that particular clay pot. It is akin to the corner that has a crack on the wall of a house. If it is not attended to, the house will collapse. That is how our country has collapsed. Corruption started as an insignificant thing started by two or so people. Can we say Madam President that we have graves of people who died because of illegal mining which is done in a corrupt manner? If they bring $10, they are given a pit to mine. They enter the pit today and the following day they will be dead. As we speak, the President said land should be allocated to people but there are some people that have now become wealthy as a result of land. When you go there and say I have observed that this piece of land is not being farmed, may I be allocated, they will tell you it is already occupied. But if you go behind the back with $20, you will get the piece of land. Corruption has destroyed the country.
If I go to a school with my child who requires a place for form 1 and I do not have a bribe, the child will not secure a place. It started as something very small but it has grown to large proportions. This is similar to the crack on the clay pot which needed to be attended to in time. A stitch in time saves nine. The poor are being taken advantage of by the rich. When you go to a market where tomatoes are being sold and you do not bribe them, the farmer who will have brought the tomatoes has no power over the tomatoes she/he will have brought to the market. At the market place, you will be surrounded by animals that are bent on surviving. I urge those that are looking into putting an end to these corrupt tendencies to put their heads together. I also wish that the President could hear our dissatisfaction and plea concerning corruption. The people that are involved in cracking down corrupt tendencies should be well paid so that they are not tempted to look aside by the perpetrators of these offences because they will have been given a bribe. Corruption has killed this country Madam President. Fraudulent and dishonest activities are destroying this country. There is nothing that we are capable of doing today without paying a bribe in this country. If the truth be told, when people tell you that there has been a death next door, that is the only time they will be telling the truth, though at times they will be lying. I urge all of us to put our heads together as Zimbabweans, as a country. As an august House, let us put our heads together. We have a Commission but as an august House, I urge us to put our heads together. Wherever there is corruption, we should accept that there have been corrupt activities and not ask for evidence and just end the enquiry. We need to put our heads together to build our country. We need to say the truth and once we start saying the truth, our children will also tell the truth. If we desist from criminal activities, our children will also not be criminals. It does not end where I will have committed a corrupt activity but even at home, my children will also hear me talking about corrupt activities and they will also want to follow my footsteps.
There is also the issue of RTGs and the US$ rate which is a serious challenge. Anyone is free to name their price because they will be having sacks full of money. They demand whatever they want because they will see the desperation. However, we are destroying our country and making each other suffer. We look at our money like a newspaper but other countries are proud of their currencies. The South African Rand at one time was less powerful than our Zimbabwe dollar. We are no longer paying much credence to the value of our dollar because of corrupt activities. The council of elders is urging us to put our House together. The elders of this august House which exudes wisdom should work together to end corruption. I thank you.
*HON SEN. DENGA: I want to thank Hon. Sen. Tongogara for the motion that she has moved on the subject of corruption. Corruption is now the order of the day. It is becoming a way of life for people of this country. If you look at all our ministries, there is a lot of corrupt activities taking place such that the Anti-Corruption Commission is a small unit. It needs to be enlarged and expanded to be able to deal with corruption in Zimbabwe because everyone is now corrupt.
Yesterday as I was listening to the radio, I heard that at Parirenyatwa Hospital and Sally Mugabe Hospital where women are supposed to receive free maternity services, they are supposed to get beds when it is delivery time. It is very difficult for one to get such a bed because of corrupt tendencies. There is a nurse that I spoke to and they said that they require US$20 for one to be able to receive a bed so that they are able to get assistance when they go into labour. If you do not pay the US$20, you sleep on the floor until delivery days. It shows that there is rampant corruption in the Ministry of Health.
If you look at the recruitment of soldiers and police officers in the Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Defence, corruption is rampant in the recruitment process. People are being made to pay US$50 in order to be recruited. In my home area of Chikomba District, this was revealed when there was recruitment of soldiers recently.
On major highways in our country there are now soldiers and police officers manning the roadblocks. When mushikashika passes by, both the soldiers and police officers go there. If an Hon Member’s vehicle passes by, they turn a blind eye. If you drive along Chinhoyi Road, you may come across four roadblocks. One wonders as to whether there is no communication that the roadblocks are too close to each other. You cannot have a motorist being stopped just outside Harare and at Nyabira. Before one gets to Chinhoyi there will be another roadblock. Some are illegally operating these small roadblocks in the middle of the night. One day I witnessed a roadblock which was mounted in the middle of the night when it was raining. It would appear as if they are making a living out of that. Maybe we may need to look at their remuneration.
On the issue of rehabilitation of roads, there are contractors that are being given these contracts to rehabilitate roads but you find that some of these contractors do not even have a grader or caterpillar. They have no equipment. All they have is just their vehicles but they are given a tender to construct a road. I once witnessed a contractor complaining about 200 litres of diesel which had covered 40 kilometres. The contractor showed that he had no knowledge of road construction but got the contract corruptly because they are known to the ones that are awarding tenders.
If you look at Grain Marketing Board, one brings their maize and they are told that there is too much moisture which is at 12.7%. But when one brings their maize with moisture content at 13% they are accepted. This is all because of corruption. If you go to ZIMRA, the couriers of this world like malayitsha are bringing in goods into the country without the owners of the goods presence. Household goods such as beds and television are able to cross the border without any duty paid because corruption will have taken place. That is why some people are using short-cuts, going through bushes and others will be found in possession of firearms.
There is also the issue of child trafficking. A bus leaves Harare and picks people in Rusape and children without passports go through Zaka area and pick up people from as far afield as Chiredzi and they are able to do these hot deals because there is a lot of money behind it. However, are they able to go past the border through the security of soldiers, police and ZIMRA? They go past because they will have paid bribes to be able to access their entrances. Drugs are passing through these borders because people are paying bribes. Firearms also pass through the same borders and these arms are a threat to our national security.
It is my appeal to the President that if there are people who are involved in corrupt tendencies, they should be called to order and be told that it must end now; we should open up a new chapter. Those that are now involved in corruption should be arrested and dismissed from work. That way, our country may go forward. I thank you Madam President.
*HON. SEN. KOMICHI: Thank you Madam President for giving me this opportunity to add my voice to this debate in terms of corruption. I want to thank Hon. Sen. Tongogara the mover of the motion. What I have observed Madam President, is that in 2021, there was a survey about corrupt countries where 180 countries were assessed in terms of corruption level. The country with the highest level of corruption was Syria followed by Somalia. In Syria there is war, there is no stable Government, people do as they please, there are no strong institutions, the same applies to Somalia, and there has been no Government for quite a number of years. It has been difficult to come up with a strong Government. Those are the findings in terms of corruption the world-over. Out of 180 countries, Zimbabwe was 157 as a corrupt country.
We see that it is in terms of established Government and institutions; it is in the same bracket with Somalia and Syria. Denmark and Singapore have very strong governance systems, they have very strong economies, poverty is not rife in those countries, and they live well. Those countries that I earlier on mentioned, life is difficult in Syria and Somalia as we speak right now. Madam President, corruption is rife in our country. It is everywhere, everywhere you go there is corruption. I see that Government has engaged police officers and ZACC, it is akin to drawing water with a tin that has a hole, it will never be full. It is akin to say the fish that is in the water should not drink water. They are in the water, hence they drink the water.
Madam President, Zimbabweans are in a corrupt environment, an environment that is conducive for corruption. For us not to be involved in corrupt activities we may speak against it the whole day, from morning to sunset but as long as the environment that is conducive to corruption is not eliminated, the corruption will continue to rise. Extreme poverty is the driver of corruption; 49% of Zimbabweans live in abject poverty, 70% of Zimbabweans are poor because of unemployment. Our children go to school but mothers who are vendors are finding it difficult to survive because the economy has gone down. Can we say we are capable of putting corruption to an end -what measures would you have put in place?
Members of Parliament have given several examples of Home Affairs, Immigration and so forth that there is corruption. I say they are corrupt because of the salaries that they are receiving. If civil servants are poorly paid, corruption will be rife as a result of them wanting to live. Our economy has gone down, corruption will be difficult to deal with because people are suffering, if you want a place at school, you must pay to secure the place. There is need for one to pay wherever you go. I believe even today Members of Parliament are even ashamed of producing our pay slips. If you are going to come across corrupt tendencies, you are going to be involved in corruption because the little money that you are earning does not allow you to buy groceries for two weeks. Once afforded an opportunity, you will also be involved in corrupt tendencies. Corruption will never come to an end no matter how we cry.
Madam President, one day I gave a lift to a police officer. He asked me why he was going to work and I said you are going to work to earn a living, it was raining and he showed me 18 000 as part of his pay which appeared on his pay slip. He said once given an opportunity to be corrupt you will accept the bribe. We should take this task and place it squarely on the shoulders of Government. It is their duty to ensure that corruption ends. If Government fails to solve the economy of this country, corruption will not end. It is in Government where we are facing the highest challenge of corrupt tendencies. Government should take its responsibilities, if you are ruling you must ensure that you do things that enable people to live. Corruption also deters investments to the country. A lot of rich people will think twice about coming to invest in Zimbabwe when we are rated number157 out of 180 countries in terms of corruption.
Madam President, Government can come up with the budget but because of corrupt tendencies they will come up with several supplementary budgets. Corruption will ensure that this country does not develop no matter what we do. The President might run, work and sweat; he is very energetic, he is in Chivi, Victoria Falls, Singapore, he is all over, he does not rest. Hardworking as he is and the First Lady as well; she is hard working, she is all over the show to ensure that there is a turnaround for the better. For as long as we remain without meaningful answers, our country will remain struggling. We may mourn or groan but we must come up with an everlasting solution in terms of the economy of this country. We may go to elections, removing one another from power but corruption will not end. We may shout at one another or arrest each other but corruption may not end. There is need for solutions for this country to go ahead and develop. The solution that I have in mind is that Government should take its leadership role in calling for a national dialogue. National dialogue will bring in a solution that is wholly owned by Zimbabweans and we do away with this idea of fighting or insulting one another and start building the economy of this country. We must be focused and give one another ideas in terms of how best we can deal with our economy. Once people are paid properly in our local currency, the currency will become strong and jobs will be abundant, commodities will be affordable, surely you will see corruption going down. Zimbabwe will move from number 157 up to 130 or 140 instead of the 157 we are currently at in terms of corrupt countries. The solution of the economy lies in the revival of our economy. We need to sit down together, have a political dialogue; come up with a solution, united as one family. Then we can approach anyone for investment and they will come and work with us as a united family. I give this task to the President and Ministers who are here that they should take ownership of this problem and be able to turnaround the fortunes of this country.
We may arrest one another and jails will become full. In those jails, there is also corruption.I was once arrested and I was asked to pay US$60 so that I get a blanket. These are difficult situations. So my appeal to the Ministers here present and the President of the country is to take charge. If we are united, even investors will come and invest with us and the solution of the country is there. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. SHUMBA: Thank you Madam President for affording me the opportunity to add my voice on this motion moved by Hon. Sen. Tongogara. This is not the first time that there has been debate on this particular motion. I remember there was also a report last year that was tabled in this House, which was also talking about the same issue of corruption.
As has already been said by others, Hon. President, corruption is rife in Zimbabwe countrywide. The Hon. Member who spoke before me said it is the responsibility of the Government, through its Ministers to ensure that there is common purpose and that there is national dialogue but I tend to disagree with him because there are some people who want to see people suffering. There are some people who befriend Whites so that they can see their own people suffering. They do so inherently on the fact that it is the Government that suffers. However those who suffer are our relatives. This is what has led to corruption.
That is why it is said that people suffer because of poor salaries. Even us Senators, we are poorly remunerated. Why are we in this situation? Is it not because of the sanctions that were called for by some of us? Why do we not simply deal with the issue of sanctions, let those who called for them go back to their Whites who have imposed these sanctions on all of us. Will this not lead to a reduction in corruption because once it is done, the sanctions are removed everything will be good. I hear some people saying that there are no sanctions and the like. They believe these sanctions are self proposed but it is the causative agent of the suffering by the people of Zimbabwe. This is what has led to Zimbabwe having a poor economy and this has fueled corruption.
I do not believe that it started a long time ago. This country was enjoying a good economy but when we all wanted to become rulers of this country, we then brought Whites on board so that they can impose these sanctions on us. We need to be united and once we are united, we go and say to our Whites, we do not want the sanctions anymore. We start from there and then we can see how best we can grow. The country is now affected, there is no money; there is no good economy. Others would be smiling while others are suffering. This is where corruption started.
We may debate the whole day but my considered view is that we need to be united. We need to forget the past and forget about the appetite to want to rule because we do not know if corruption will be eradicated once one becomes President. We have to be united. We need to first remove the sanctions. Once the sanctions have been removed, we need to then look and see where we were lost. Whites are no longer with us here, we are inviting them to make us suffer.
I was listening, processing what was being said and realised that there is something which is controlling our economy, which is sanctions. It might please us but we are not all pleased with those sanctions. I do not know how corruption can be put to an end. I was thinking that we need to have strong prayers so that we can become united. There is only one being who is capable of doing that and that is God. Corruption is rife and it will continue being there because of the sanctions. The sanctions are hurting, God help us so that we can live in harmony and think about re-building our country. I thank you Madam President.
HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: Thank you Madam President. I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 13th April, 2022.
MOTION
FIRST REPORT OF THE THEMATIC COMMITTEE ON HIV AND AIDS ON THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC LOCKDOWN RESTRICTIONS ON HIV AND AIDS SERVICE DELIVERY SYSTEM IN ZIMBABWE
Third Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the impact of COVID-19 pandemic lockdown restrictions and HIV/AIDS service delivery system.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. DR. PARIRENYATWA: Thank you Madam President for giving me this opportunity to add my voice to the motion that was raised by Hon. Sen. Kambizi. The motion is very good. It remained on the Order Paper and it is a good thing for people to continue debating about it. The motion speaks to the impact of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions on HIV/AIDS service delivery system. There is need to carry out an investigation as a country so that we can draw some lessons for posterity.
Madam President, COVID-19 and HIV/AIDS are in existence. We still have COVID today. We hear that there are some new variants detected in Botswana. In Europe and China, it is still there. We are now getting into our winter in June and July. There will be a lot of colds and flu, so we should continue wearing our masks properly. Those that have not received the first and second doses of vaccination should get vaccinated. There are some who have not received the third jab, they should go and receive it. We urge Zimbabweans to get vaccinated because prevention is better than cure.
On the issue of HIV, we urge people to be faithful to a single partner and should there be challenges, they should use protection. Condoms are easily accessible and should be used. If you are HIV positive, you should continue taking your medication so that your viral load would not increase. The same applies to pregnant women so that they do not pass infection to the child. COVID and HIV are both stigmatised. If one contracts COVID, the entire family will be placed in isolation. There was caution but there was a lot of stigma. This is what happened to people who were first infected with HIV. These two conditions suffer from stigmatisation. However, both conditions are getting better because there is now treatment and people are no longer required to disclose their status.
I have observed that if you are HIV positive and you contract COVID, it appears that your medical condition worsens. That is where there is a link between HIV and COVID. It is a co-morbidity that affects you when you are HIV positive, especially if you are no longer taking medication. We have encountered cases where HIV patients refused to get vaccinated. We are saying there are vulnerable groups and they ought to be vaccinated. Also, diabetes and tuberculosis patients should be vaccinated against COVID as well as the elderly. This is because our immunity is now low due to our advancing ages.
We have observed that during lockdown, those that are on HIV treatment had difficulties in accessing their medication. That is how COVID impacted on HIV. It was difficult to visit laboratories to get their viral load checked. It was said there was a danger of contracting COVID at health institutions. Children were not going to school. This increased teenage pregnancies, contraction of STIs and HIV. We should investigate our children to find out what happened because a lot of things happened during that period. If you are HIV positive and get COVID infection, your mental status gets compromised. That is where there is a smash between HIV and COVID-19 morbidity, especially when you are no longer taking medication, you will have serious challenges. People must be vaccinated for COVID-19, especially the vulnerable groups like people with tuberculosis and diabetes should be immunized from COVID-19 as well as elders in this august Senate, our immune system is no longer strong because of our ages.
We observed that during lock down, those that were on HIV treatment had difficulties in accessing their medication because of COVID-19 restrictions. It was difficult for people to go to the clinic to be tested for viral load despite the fact that people with HIV had greater risks of contracting COVID-19. School children have a higher risk of contracting the disease also, especially those in boarding schools.
There were also cases of gender based violence and teenage pregnancies. A lot of things happened during the COVID-19 lockdown period Madam President. Mental status will be compromised if you are HIV positive and can also contract COVID-19. We were in a difficult situation. It is whereby you can knock at the door and you will fail to remember why you knocked at that door. After sitting down then you recall what you were doing, it is because of being HIV positive and contracting COVID-19 at the same time. We also surveyed other countries on issues to do with drug abuse; we saw that they were almost similar to Zimbabwe.
What is the magnitude of this drug abuse? As a country, what are we doing? There is an inter-ministerial task force on drug abuse but as Members of Parliament, as usual we must be engaging. There should be a board in Parliament that looks at such issues so that when Hon. Senators go to their constituencies they will teach people about drug abuse.
On domestic violence, we noticed that people that used to spend less time at home like the husbands, because of COVID-19, they had to spend more time at home. Some couples were engaged in conflicts; instead of getting together and loving each other, they resorted to violence. Those that were in love found ample time to love one another, and those that did not love each other ended up fighting. We experienced gender based violence on both sides; men and women. The lockdown impacted on social interactions, diabetes patients, COVID-19 patients and HIV patients.
This also impacted on commercial sex workers as men were locked indoors by their wives, so they did not get money during the lockdown period: is this positive or negative to the country? If they are no longer having income then how do they look after their children?
Lastly, I plead with this august Senate that COVID-19 and HIV are still in existence, our health sector remains threatened and we must allocate more funds to the health sector. The money that was going to COVID-19 must continue to be channeled to the health sector despite the fact that COVID-19 is now on the decline. I thought I would add my voice on this motion and I thank you.
HON. SEN. KAMBIZI: Madam President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. CHIRONGOMA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 12th April, 2022.
MOTION
SECOND REPORT OF THE THEMATIC COMMITTEE ON HIV AND AIDS ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ANTIRETROVIRAL THERAPY (ART) ROLL-OUT PROGRAMME
Fourth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the implementation of the Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) Roll-Out Programme.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. KAMBIZI: Madam President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 13th April, 2022.
MOTION
CONDOLENCES ON THE DEATH OF HON. SEN. SIMON KHAYA MOYO
Fifth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the untimely passing on of the late Senator for Matabeleland South, Hon. Sen. Simon Khaya Moyo.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. KAMBIZI: Madam President, thank you very much for affording me the opportunity to debate a special motion that talks about somebody special and I am talking of none other than the late Hon. Sen. S. K. Moyo, a national hero. What makes this man very special is his contribution towards the liberation of this country and the sacrifices he made for this country to get independence. I also want to thank Hon. Sen. Mathuthu for coming up with this motion. Fellow members of this House debated at length, but I feel I would like to add some flesh and a few other things that I feel were left out; his contribution to Zimbabwe after 1980, the appointments that he got in both the ruling party and in Government.
The Late Hon. Sen. S. K. Moyo was born on 1st October 1945. The late gallant son of the soil skipped the border of this country in 1968 headed for Lusaka in Zambia. Upon arrival in Lusaka, he was directed by ZAPU leadership to take up studies with the University of Zambia and he did that and studied for a Diploma in Social Sciences. Immediately after that in 1973, he enrolled with the University of Makerere in Uganda where he studied for a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Sciences, which he passed with an Upper Second Class Honours and is testimony of his intelligence. Accordingly, that same year in 1973, he was appointed ZAPU representative in Uganda. In 1975 on his return to Lusaka, probably as payback time for what he had been doing, he was appointed Secretary and Special Assistant to yet another gallant son of the soil the late Dr. J. M Nkomo.
He then went for military and intelligence training in Germany and had refresher military courses in Cuba and Russia. On his return, he was appointed to serve in the ZAPU Revolutionary Council. Madam President, because of the intelligence, education and military training that he got in various countries, he had to travel with the late Dr. J. M Nkomo to attend the Geneva, Malta and Lancaster House conferences as a Special Advisor. In 1980 when we attained independence, he was duly appointed Assistant Secretary to the Ministry of Home Affairs. In 1983, he served as Undersecretary in the Ministry of Justice. In 1984, he was appointed Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health. Accordingly, in 1989 he was awarded the Liberation Decoration Medals for his role in the liberation of Zimbabwe (Gold and silver). In the same year 1989, he was chosen to be head of Corporate Affairs of Zimbabwe Development Trust, a trust that had been founded by Dr. J. M. Nkomo and he was also elected Member of the Central Committee in the same year. In March 1990, he was elected Member of Parliament for Bulilimamangwe South Constituency. As an MP, he served in the Public Accounts Committee and the Indigenisation of the National Economy Committee. In 1992, he was appointed Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce. In 1994, he was re-elected Member of the ZANU-PF Central Committee and thereafter appointed Deputy Secretary for Administration in the ZANU-PF Politburo. In 1995, he was appointed Minister of Transport and Energy and in 1997 to July 2000, he was appointed Minister of Mines, Environment and Tourism. In 1997, he was also appointed Deputy Secretary for Legal Affairs in the Politburo and in 2001, he was appointed to go and serve as High Commissioner to the Republic of South Africa and to the Kingdom of Lesotho, a post that he served with distinction. I just want you to see the type of person this gallant son of the soil was.
The late Hon. Sen. S. K. Moyo was an adept writer. His first book was “Mr Speaker Sir” a compilation of his speeches in Parliament and beyond. His second book was “Service to my Country”. Between the period 2011 and 2014, he was the National Chairman of the ZANU-PF party. In 2017, he was appointed the Minister of Media Information Broadcasting Services. The late national hero and gallant son of the soil was instrumental in the independent sovereignty of this country and its Land Reform Programme. When the late national hero passed on, he had worked tirelessly for this country. The national hero status was befitting for such a gallant son of the soil. May his soul rest in eternal peace.
THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Just a point of correction. Hon Senator S. K. Moyo was never a Speaker in the august House. He contested as Speaker in 2008 in a rerun of the post and he lost to Hon. Lovemore Moyo. It is just a point of correction.
*HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: Thank you Madam President for affording me this opportunity to support the motion which was raised by Hon. Sen. Mathuthu on the death of Hon. Sen. S. K. Moyo on 14th November 2021.
Firstly, I would want to thank the parents of Ambassador Simon Khaya Moyo for being able to send him to school because those days, very few blacks were able to go to school during the colonial era. After he was sent to school, I want to thank him for remaining a true patriot by not looking down upon other people. I want to thank the likes of Ambassador Moyo because of the education which he attained and the opportunities that he got during those difficult times. There are very few who remain humble after getting educated that they would work for their country and uphold their kinsmen.
We have heard about his history that he went and joined the liberation struggle when he was a young man. Because of his education, he had a choice not to join the liberation struggle, but could have looked for a job. As I have alluded to before, he had his country at heart. He loved his people so much that he wanted to bring change to the country.
We heard from the chiefs that he respected the chiefs because he was a well mannered child. He was brought up well and he knew that he was human. We know that in our country, our chiefs are community leaders, so he respected the chiefs. We missed a lot during his illness and when I am standing here, I can visualise him sitting on his chair. Despite being ill, he would attend all sittings and he would be cheerful. He did not show that he was sick and could not come to work. He was always here, being cheerful and participating in everything that took place in this House.
People like Ambassador Moyo are not very common. These are people who love their country. These days, very few people love their own people. I want to thank him for the works that he did. We have heard about his history that he was once an Ambassador outside the country and he performed his duty well, making sure that people from Zimbabwe are living well. When he was an Ambassador in South Africa, he did all his best to enable our people living in South Africa to live well. A person like that should be honoured and respected, especially for the work that he did.
As Senate, we really lost a good person of the likes of Ambassador Simon Khaya Moyo because of his experience and keenness to ask. We learnt a lot from him. I want to say may his soul rest in peace and may the Lord continue to look after his family because he is the one who can only do that.
HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. CHIRONGOMA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 13th April 2022,
MOTION
PREVALENCE OF DRUG ABUSE BY YOUTHS
Sixth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the devastating effects of drug abuse by youths.
Question again proposed.
(v)HON. SEN. S. MPOFU: I want to thank the mover of the motion. I have noted that what caused people to use drugs most of the time are the elders; they point in a direction that people are supposed to drink alcohol and smoke dagga and being engaged in other various illicit activities. In the end, children think that taking a lot of alcohol and smoking of dagga and substance abuse is something to be adored. As adults, we are supposed to protect the children and not to allow them to be involved in drug activities and even show them that we drink in public spaces before their eyes.
Hon. President, the other thing that caused this is the places that we come from and our backgrounds. There are people that are mentally disturbed. This disturbance of mentality is caused by substance abuse and it ends up even being transferred to the children. This bad habit is taken by children even at schools, to imitate adults in substance abuse be it in the form of smoking or drinking. We should as adults make it a point that we know the whereabouts of our children. If as adults we are not concerned about where our children are going, this freedom that we give them end up bringing other friends and start doing unscrupulous things as if it is the proper way of living.
Mr. President, whilst if the parent knows where the child has headed out to, and upon return questions him or her about his trip, it can help and protect in stopping drug abuse. What also causes drug abuse is that these substances are being sold in the streets. I am surprised, where are the law enforcement agencies at such times when people are selling illicit substances like drugs on the streets? Even in rural areas, there are now people that are selling these drugs. It is worrisome - we need to encourage the law enforcement agencies that they should arrest those that sell drugs in the streets so that they can be incarcerated.
The other thing that causes drug abuse is stress and poverty. When people see that they do not have groceries, they end up abusing drugs or they think that drinking could assist them in their sorrow. There should be an awareness that once one tastes drugs you get addicted and will have to live with it for the rest of your life. Long back, elders would have time with children and educate them about their future. As for now, it is no longer being done in that way. You witness that when people get to their homes, everyone is preoccupied by his or her own activity. Elders will be busy watching television. There is no longer that set-up that parents and children meet on around table and try to advise each other on matters of life.
Mr. President, my opinion on how to end drug abuse is that we could educate these youngsters that are still going to school and show them that drugs are not good at all. Also monitor their movements to get to know who they are with and know their friends whom they play with. This is done so that you know that if your child has gone out you will know the character of the person he has gone out with and his interests. As a parent, if you feel that your child is not playing with good company, advise the parents of your child’s friend that the child is practicing bad habits and he or she can end up influencing my child.
Mr. President, children are now abusing even bronco which is cough medication but they are now using it for drugs. Pharmacists are not supposed to allow youngsters to purchase medicines without a doctor’s prescription because they end up using these medicines as drugs. Both parents and guardians should lead as an example and be role models before their children. They should not take beer or get drunk before the eyes of their own children because this will end up portraying bad image in front of the children. I have noticed that most countries have places known as rehabilitation centres. These are places where children who have been heavily affected or addicted to drugs are taken to so that they withdraw from taking drugs. It is now important that here in Zimbabwe we have such centres so that children and youngsters who are now addicted to drugs can be rehabilitated through education on the disadvantages of drug abuse.
We are appealing to the Minister that such places be set up so that our children addicted to drugs can be taken to these places. Even in schools, children should be educated on the dangers of substance abuse. This should be part of their curriculum, from a tender age, they should be educated on drug abuse until they reach university level.
Our police officers should be visible in each and every ward the whole country. There should be a police station in each and every ward so that children are taken there if they do not listen to their elders on the issue of drug abuse. Children should learn to respect and fear the police officers. Even the village heads and traditional leaders should be given powers to arrest people who sell drugs to children. Even in rural areas, the issue of drugs is now dangerous. Selling of any substance that leads someone to be drunk should be a crime and should stopped with immediate effect. Our children are now at risk in this country because of drug abuse. They cannot even dress properly. You will see their trousers on their knees. I thank Hon. Sen. Dube for raising such a salient motion because it helps our country to develop. I thank you.
HON. SEN. A. DUBE: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 13th April, 2022.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
Seventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MUZENDA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MKWEBU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 13th April, 2022.
On the motion of HON. SEN. MUZENDA, seconded by HON. SEN. CHIEF MAKUMBE, the Senate adjourned at Twenty-one Minutes to Five o’clock.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 12th April, 2022.
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two O’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. SPEAKER in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE HON. SPEAKER
NOMINATIONS TO PORTFOLIO COMMITTEES MEMBERSHIP
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have to inform the House that the following Members have been nominated to serve on the following Committees: - Hon. Munyaradzi Zizhou- Portfolio Committees on Energy and Power Development and the Public Accounts Committee; Hon. Master Makope - Portfolio Committees on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development; Hon Davison Masvisvi- Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and the Public Accounts Committee; Hon Tasara Hungwe- Portfolio Committees on Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development and Industry and Commerce; Hon. Jeremiah Chiwetu- Portfolio Committees on Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development and Youth, Sports, Arts and Recreation; Hon Nyasha Masoka- Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade and Public Accounts Committee; Hon Musa Ncube - Portfolio Committees on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises; Hon Zalera Makari- Portfolio Committees on Foreign affairs and International Trade and Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services; Hon. Misheck Mugadza- Portfolio Committees on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and Information Communication Technology.
NON-ADVERSE REPORT RECEIVED FROM THE PARLIAMENTARY LEGAL COMMITTEE
THE HON. SPEAKER: I also have to inform the House that I have received from the Parliamentary Legal Committee, a Non-Adverse Report on the Labour Amendment Bill [H. B. 14, 2021[.
PETITIONS RECEIVED FROM THE WOMEN’S COALITION OF ZIMBABWE, COMMUNITY YOUTH DEVELOPMENT TRUST AND MEDIA INSTITUTE OF SOUTHERN AFRICA
THE HON. SPEAKER: Furthermore, Parliament received the following petitions from the Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe of Milton Park, Harare, beseeching Parliament to take the necessary steps to ensure the implementation of the recommendations made by the Committee on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women. The petition has since been referred to the Portfolio Committee on Women Affairs, Small and Medium Enterprise Development.
The second petition is from the Community Youth Development Trust of Gwanda, beseeching Parliament to exercise its oversight and legislative roles by institutionalising the informal traders and legislating for their protection. The petition has since been referred to the Portfolio Committee on Women Affairs, Small and Medium Enterprise Development.
The third petition is from the Media Institute of Southern Africa, beseeching Parliament to conduct an enquiry into the cost of mobile data in Zimbabwe. The petition has since been referred to the Portfolio Committee on Information, Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services.
HON. TOGAREPI: Mr. Speaker - [HON. ZWIZWAI: Inaudible interjection.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Zwizwai, you are a very senior and seasoned Member of Parliament. Please respect the procedures.
HON. TOGAREPI: My point of privilege relates to the unfortunate events that are taking place in South Africa where some of our people have been killed. Some have called this xenophobia and Afro-phobia or whatever it is called. Many people are in deep pain as to how our fellow Zimbabwean was killed in South Africa by the so-called vigilantes. We are deeply pained and it is our hope that the people of South Africa, especially those criminals who are perpetrating this heinous activity stop it and allow for co-existence which will see them doing their work, and Zimbabweans or any other African live in peace. We are however confident that the South African Government has the capacity to deal with these criminals. We hope that this xenophobia or whatever it is called is arrested and no further spilling of blood is seen in South Africa.
Elvis Nyathi was killed in a barbaric way that I have never seen where people beat someone, pour him whether it was, paraffin or petrol – a human being cannot just do that to another human being. What a painful way of dying, may his soul rest in peace. It is our hope that we see peace and those who are perpetrating this violence are dealt with according to the laws of South Africa.
(v)HON. NDUNA: Hon. Speaker Sir, would you not want to make a comment on the issue of national interest if it pleases you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: I am not so directed.
HON. PETER MOYO: My heart bleeds Mr. Speaker Sir as we face Uhuru next week. Crimes being committed by members of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) show us that there is something very wrong in the ZDF. If we do not handle this issue as a matter of urgency…
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, did you say committed by ZDF?
HON. PETER MOYO: Some members of the ZDF and not all of them Mr. Speaker Sir.
Some of the members of the ZDF were arrested and incarcerated for 15 years each. This shows us that there is a very big issue in the ZDF. These people are not properly remunerated. We enjoy the independence that we have today because of these men and women who are protecting us on a daily basis during the day and night. The breakdown of aeroplanes tells you that there is something terribly wrong in the ZDF.
The ZDF is inadequately funded. I take this back to the Minister of Finance. He is responsible for not properly paying the ZDF members. These members of the ZDF …
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. There is a point of order.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): My point of order is with regard to the way the Hon. Member is speaking. He is speaking with authority that there is a co-relationship between the committal of crimes and conditions of service. I think he is uttering words that are discouraging the whole defence forces. He should concentrate on issues that he has full knowledge of as opposed to coming here to proffer an opinion that has not been proven.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. Hon. Member, can you restrict yourself to quantifiable evidence.
HON. PETER MOYO: Mr. Speaker Sir, I think it is also appropriate that you protect me when other people are saying point of order when there is no order. Mr. Speaker, what I am saying is of national interest...
THE HON. SPEAKER: You are saying the Chair has been unprocedural. Please sit down.
HON. PETER MOYO: No, I am not saying that.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Can you sit down.
HON. BITI: Hon. Speaker, I rise on a point of national interest and I hope that you may direct the Minister of Finance to issue a Ministerial Statement. I rise on my feet on the issue of the importance of gold in our economy. Gold is a stower of value but most importantly, in a country that is struggling with its currency, gold reserves and the gold bullion becomes the backer of the national currency because gold stows value traditionally.
Mr. Speaker, I am concerned about the disposal of 60% of our refinery owned by a Reserve Bank subsidiary, Fidelity Printers and Refineries. My question to the ...
HON. MATHE: I rise on my feet on a point of order against what the Hon. Member has already said; to call the Minister to explain what in this country when he is the one with clips of evidence calling for sanctions – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – What does the Hon. Member want the Minister to say honestly? That is my concern. – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – What is it that he expects the Minister to say at the expense of sanctions that are draining this country? He has to withdraw what he said to the Americans – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – the costs of sanctions on the economy of this country. We are all suffering in this country because of the sanctions that he requested and this is backed by evidence of the clips. I thank you Mr. Speaker – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order Hon. Members – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Hon. Biti, can you please proceed – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Hon. Members, please sit down. – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – [HON. MUNENGAMI: He is scolding us saying a lot of words. Mr. Speaker, it is not fair.] – Hon. Munengami, do not take the floor when you are not recognised. I had recognised Hon. Biti, so can you please sit down.
HON. MUNENGAMI: Thank you Hon. Speaker but the Hon. Member is saying a lot of things.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Biti, can you please wind up.
HON. BITI: Thank you Mr. Speaker – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Hon. Speaker, I would like the Minister to explain in his statement the rationale of the disposal of the shares in our gold refinery. Secondly, why Parliament approval was not sought –[HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – before the disposal was made. Thirdly, whether or not due diligence was done. Fourth, point of order is that why the country’s procurement laws were not followed and lastly, what was the purchase price – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order! You are not connected – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Order!
HON. ZWIZWAI: Mr. Speaker, do you want us to collapse this Parliament? We can equally do that and nobody will speak here. Your role as Chair there is to make sure that Members are heard in silence but if you allow ZANU PF to heckle one of our own when you have recognised him to raise points of national interest, we will not allow that.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you. I heard you. Can you sit down – [HON. ZWIZWAI: Maybe they are not respecting you because you are coming from a minority tribe yekuMatonga. Maybe if you were Shona or Zezuru, they would have respected you. It is important for you vanhu veZANU to respect the minorities. Eeeh the Speaker of Parliament comes from the minority tribe yeMatonga and we know kuti muri kuda kuvabvisa pahuSpeaker ipapo.] – Hon. Zwizwai! Can you sit down? Can you switch off your microphone there?
We have now wasted 20 minutes, I am closing the points of order and also the issues of national interest. We have wasted 25 minutes saying nothing – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Order!
Hon. Mathe having laughed.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Mathe!
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order! Next person to make noise, you are out of this House. Can the Minister be heard in silence – [HON. ZWIZWAI: Inaudible interjections.] – Order, order. Hon. Zwizwai, out of the House – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
Hon. Zwizwai left the Chamber.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Mr. Speaker, I move that Orders of the Day, Numbers 1 to 11 be stood over until the rest of the Orders of the Day have been disposed of.
Motion put and agreed to.
Hon. Munengami having stood up on a point of order.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Sit down. I said sit down. Can you get out of this Chamber? I have been very indulgent with you. Get out of this Chamber now.
Hon. Munengami left the Chamber
SECOND READING
PRIVATE VOLUNTARYO RGANISATIONS AMENDMENT BILL [H. B. 10, 2021]
Twelfth Order read: Second Reading: Private Voluntary Organisations Amendment Bill [H. B. 10, 2021].
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I rise to deliver my Second Reading Speech on the Private Voluntary Organisation Amendment Bill. Mr. Speaker Sir, the Bill before you today is a very necessary measure to improve the administration, accountability and transparency of charities in our country. The legal word for charity in our country Mr. Speaker is Private Voluntary Organisation (PVO). Under our law, every charity that uses money collected from the public or donated from the foreign Government or foreign agency is required to be registered as a PVO in terms of the Private Voluntary Organisation Act which the Bill before you seeks to amend.
Let me say Mr. Speaker, from the outset that our country benefits very much from the work of those PVOs which operate lawfully within our borders. PVOs provide support for communities in a wide range of areas where the national or local Government for want of resources or expertise has been deficient for any reason. I am speaking Mr. Speaker of support and assistance in the form of programmes, projects, services, goods and money in such sectors as health and education provision, assistance to widows and orphans, the relief of poverty and hunger and the empowerment of women, youth and disabled.
We, as Government are very grateful for the help given by the PVOs. The best PVOs have access to resources, experience and expertise solely needed by the people they benefit. Mr. Speaker Sir, therefore, from the bottom of my heart, I say to them, on behalf of the Government, “Thank you for the good work you are doing and please keep it up!”
Accordingly Mr. Speaker, this Bill does not speak to those law-abiding PVOs I have just mentioned, but to the few who may be tempted to use the guise of charity to carry out undesirable, harmful and even criminal activities. For instance Mr. Speaker, we have received communication from the Financial Action Task Force (which is the world’s policemen against money laundering) that some charitable trusts are being misused as a means for channeling funds to fund terrorism and other criminal activities, or to launder the proceeds of criminal activities by, for instance, buying up properties in Zimbabwe and other countries.
Mr. Speaker Sir, we are also as the Government, aware that some so-called charities act in a politically partisan manner by directing money to favoured political parties or candidates at the expense of other political parties or candidates. Partisan assistance using foreign money or money collected from the public under the guise of charity must never be allowed to influence the outcome of national or local elections. In many developed countries Mr. Speaker, this kind of behaviour is understood to be harmful to the very idea of charity. In the United States for example, you cannot register any organisation as a non-profit organisation for tax purposes if that organisation campaigns or canvasses for any political candidate or party.
Mr. Speaker Sir, it is in this context that this Bill seeks to clean up the space within which PVOs may operate. For some time now, the Government has noticed that some so-called charities have completely by-passed the Private Voluntary Organisations Act by forming “trusts” sanctioned by the High Court. This is a devise that is specifically permitted by the Act because originally Mr. Speaker, the Government did not want to discourage families or individuals from forming family or private trusts to benefit family members or members of the public using their own wealth. It is still not our intention Mr. Speaker to impose registration on these kinds of private trusts. However, if it appears that any trust is using for “charity purposes” foreign money not generated by their own activities or investments, or using money collected from members of the public at large, then they must be required somehow to register as a PVO under the Private Voluntary Organisations Act. We want such trusts to be accountable in the eyes of the public on the sources of their funds and the use to which they are put.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I realise that the procedures for registration under the Act need to be streamlined and expedited. This is why some of these charities have chosen the route of forming trusts sanctioned by the High Court. We cannot run the risk of charities of a public character being used as a cover for theft, embezzlement, tax evasion, money laundering or partisan political activity.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I will not at this stage, undertake a clause-by-clause analysis of this Bill. The Explanatory Memorandum to the Bill admirably suits that purpose, I encourage Hon. Members to read it carefully. However, we have taken suggestions from stakeholders on how to improve its provisions.
Just yesterday, the Government through me - I personally undertook consultations with Civil Society organisations (CSOs) to improve this Bill. The CSOs indicated their willingness to co-operate with us to improve the Bill in certain key respects. In particular Mr. Speaker Sir, they suggested improvements to the composition of the PVO Board to ensure a fair representation of a cross-section of PVOs and CSOs, from a list of nominees supplied to the Minister by an umbrella organisation of PVOs and CSOs. Mr. Speaker Sir, we are willing to seriously consider their suggestions in that regard. Also, they undertook to explore Committee Stage amendments to the Bill to better refine the Minister’s powers to intervene in the operations of PVOs in a manner more consistent with rights bestowed by our Constitution, especially the freedom of association.
Mr. Speaker Sir, more importantly, the CSOs agreed to assist us with the reformation of Clause 6 of the Bill, which seeks to criminalise the politicization of charitable activities. We do not want our PVOs to operate in a climate of fear in which they feel they may be subjected to criminal prosecution because they might unwittingly involve themselves in partisan political activities. For example Mr. Speaker, we do not wish to punish a PVO for assisting women to become candidates in national and local elections. However, we do look with extreme disfavour upon PVOs that abuse their resources by acting in a partisan manner, for instance by favouring communities on the basis of their supposed or expected political affiliation. Mr. Speaker Sir, we look forward as the Government, to CSOs helping us to frame an appropriate criminal offence in this regard.
With these words, I urge Hon. Members to support this Bill, which is intended to promote a better, safer and more conducive environment for the operation of PVOs in our country. I move that the Bill be now read a second time Mr. Speaker Sir. I thank you.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I understand that the report is not ready. I move for the adjournment of debate so that the Committee can first present their report.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 13th April, 2022.
THE HON. SPEAKER: The responsible Committee, make sure your report is ready.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS: I move that we revert to Orders of the Day, Nos. 8 and 9 on today’s Order Paper.
HON. T. MLISWA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir. My point of order concerns how the Ministers come for a Second Reading. After the submission, he then says ‘is there any debate?’ The Minister says no, it must be moved to the Committee. I think there is a communication breakdown between the Minister and the Committees. What is supposed to happen is; the Minister is supposed to communicate with the Committee first because the mere fact of saying, ‘is there any debate,’ cannot go back to the Minister; we must debate. So the ministers must understand that they must liaise with the Committees so that when you call if there is any debate, the Committee is ready. This happens all the time and I need to be guided by you because I wanted to debate but then it has to go to the Committee. So why do the ministers not talk to the Committees first to say, here is the Second Reading – we are here to debate because the Committee would be ready to debate. This is a culture which I have seen happening but it shows that there is no communication whatsoever. I think through your Office, may that be stopped because it is really disturbing the processes of Parliament at the end of the day.
THE HON. SPEAKER: The Committee was not ready and that is why I urged the Committee to make sure that the report is ready because we start with the Committee before any other person can debate.
SECOND READING
INSURANCE BILL [H. B. 1, 2021]
Eighth Order read: Second Reading: Insurance Bill [H. B. 1, 2021].
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHIDUWA): Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. I rise to present the second reading for the Insurance Bill [H. B. 1, 2021].
HON. MUSHORIWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. The Hon. Minister wants to present the Insurance Bill and it is under consideration by the Budget and Finance Committee. We wanted to seek the indulgence of the Hon. Minister that, can it be moved forward so that we can be in a position to have sufficient time for Members to debate after the Committee has submitted this report.
THE HON. SPEAKER: When will the Committee be ready?
HON. MUSHORIWA: It will be ready by tomorrow.
THE HON. SPEAKER: You present tomorrow?
HON. MUSHORIWA: Yes, the Committee is finalising tomorrow and by Thursday, it will be ready. So I am seeking the approval of the Hon. Minister to move the debate to Thursday.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Well, allow the Hon. Minister to make the statement and will adjourn the debate until your Committee presents tomorrow.
HON. CHIDUWA: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. I allow the Portfolio Committee to finalise their report so that we can do the Second Reading on Thursday as proposed. I thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Minister, I said proceed to speak on the Bill. We will adjourn so that tomorrow the Committee can make their presentation. So, proceed.
HON. CHIDUWA: Let me proceed with the Second Reading of the Insurance Bill [H. B. 1, 2021]. Mr. Speaker Sir, I hereby present the Insurance Bill for consideration by this House. Hon. Members, the Insurance Bill is aimed at repealing the Insurance Act [Chapter 24:07], to strengthen regulatory supervision and policy holder protection.
The Insurance and Pensions Commission was established in 2006 following the promulgation of the Insurance and Pensions Commission Act [Chapter 24:21]. The operational Acts namely the Insurance Act and the Pensions and Providence Funds Act [Chapter 24:09], have provisions which are outdated and hence, the need to have provisions that conform to both the regional and international best practices.
The March 2017 Justice Commission led a Commission of Inquiry into the conversions of insurance and pensions values, highlighted the need to review the legislation in order to strengthen the effectiveness of IPEC’s regulatory and monitoring mechanisms to protect policy holders. It is against this background that the Insurance Act is being amended. Mr. Speaker Sir, the Bill covers a range of amendments which are, in terms of the Insurance core principles. I will therefore, with your indulgence, make emphasis on some of the major amendments.
The Bill requires all insurers to engage in only one class of insurance business which therefore means that composite insurance companies writing both short term and life business will no longer be registered as such.
Mr. Speaker Sir, it is imperative that financially unsound institutions engage expect assistance for recovery. The current Act does not provide for this, hence the Bill is proposing that registered entities showing signs of distress should be placed under the administration of a curator. The Bill outlines the curator’s powers and duties. The Bill now allows the commission to apply to the High Court for winding up of any registered person with solvents issues who is unable to meet liabilities and continue with the insurance business. The Bill also confers the right to oppose any application by any other person. Provisional liquidators are to be appointed after recommendation from the Commission and Sections 42 to 47 and 49 of the Insolvency Act to apply to liquidators. The clause also provides for IPEC to recommend the appointment of a provisional judicial manager, liquidator or judicial manager for the registered person. The claims of policy holder and IPEC in relation to any fees or expenses incurred in the exercise of its duties in terms of the Act against the person whose estate is being sequestrated or wound up shall enjoy such priority as may be prescribed.
The Bill leavers room for voluntary winding up of a registered person which is to be done upon written approval of the Commission.
Mr. Speaker Sir, another method or change in the Bill is that the Commission will now be able to prescribe minimum and maximum premiums payable in any class of policies. IPEC has experienced situations where a number of insurers charge inadequate premiums to meet claims and other obligations. Indeed, some Government bodies have found themselves doing business with an insurer charging uneconomic premiums only for that insurer to fail to honour its claims. The Bill will now allow IPEC to prescribe payment of minimum premiums after consultations with industry associations.
Prescription of premiums in accordance with the Bill will not affect premiums payable on policies issued before the date on which the minimum and maximum premiums was prescribed.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the Bill also provides that the Commission shall maintain or cause to be maintained, a register of each registered person covering insurers, insurance brokers, risk consultancy, loss adjusters, insurance surveyors and any other person required or permitted to be registered or under this Bill.
The Bill also strengthens the regulatory power of the Commission by stating that if a memorandum, articles, constitution or any constitutive document of a board corporate contains a provision that is inconsistency with the Bill, the provision shall be void to the extent of the inconsistency.
The Bill also provides that a person who is not registered and holds himself to be registered or conducts any insurance or insurance related business and a registered person who deals with any unregistered company shall all be guilty and liable to a fine not exceeding level 14 or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 20 years or to both such fine and such imprisonment.
The Bill also provides that a juristic person shall be liable to pay a fine for contravening the Act provided that a director or employee of such a juristic person who mainly contravenes this Act shall also be liable to a fine and to an imprison term where the relevant provisions so provide and the commissioner may serve upon the defaulter a civil penalty order of the appropriate category.
The current Act provides that inspection should be done by individuals. This limits the scope of work as bodies such as but not limited to auditors and actuaries may not be engaged as inspectors. The Bill therefore extends the appointments of inspectors to include corporates, firms or associations.
The Bill also seeks to provide for the setting aside by registered persons in a manner satisfactory to the commission, an amount equal to a prescribed percentage of its paid up capital to be deposited to policy holders and pensions and provident and fund members’ protection fund established in terms of the Insurance and Pensions Commission Act.
The Bill has proposed amendments which empower IPEC to ensure that insurers disclose relevant comprehensive and adequate information on a timely basis in order to give policy holders and market participants a clear view of their business activities performance and financial position. This will assist the commission to fulfill its mandate of prudential and market conduct whilst enhancing market discipline. The market will also have access to information on the risks an insurer is exposed to and the manner in which those risks are managed.
With the approval of the Minister, and subsequent publication in the Government Gazette, the Bill also empowers IPEC to come up with regulations covering the following:_ registration of persons carrying on insurance business outside Zimbabwe; requirements to comply with international and regional best practice; requirements such as capital adequacy, risk based supervision, solvency, risk management and corporate governance; accreditation of actuaries; the inclusivity of insurance to low income segments of the population in terms of cost, scope, coverage and delivery through micro insurance.
In conclusion, Mr. Speaker Sir, I move that the Bill be now read for a second time. I thank you. - [HON. MLISWA: Inaudible interjection.] –
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MUTOMBA): I think I am so much respecting you. We need to have a triangular relationship in this august House.
HON. T. MLISWA: I do not know if you could hear my voice from this side.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: You are supposed to be quiet and take your seat so that other Hon. Members listen to the debate attentively.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHIDUWA): I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 14th April, 2022.
SECOND READING
INSURANCE AND PENSIONS COMMISSION AMENDMENT BILL [H. B. 6, 2021]
Ninth Order read: Second Reading: Insurance and Pensions Commission Amendment Bill [H. B. 6, 2021].
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHIDUWA): Mr. Speaker Sir, I hereby present the Insurance and Pensions Commission (IPEC) Bill for consideration by this House.
Hon. Members, the IPEC Bill seeks to amend the IPEC Act [Chapter 24:21]. Regulatory reforms in the insurance and pensions industry have not kept pace with the dynamic changes being experienced in both the domestic and global financial markets, driven mainly by technological innovation and the development of new financial instruments. These changes have resulted in new ways of doing business that call for legislative amendments to align with market developments, minimise regulatory gaps and arbitrage.
The current legislative framework cannot address observed weaknesses in the insurance and pensions industry. In recent years, we have witnessed poor corporate governance practices and failure by insurers and pension funds to meet policy holder and member expectations. Regulatory inadequacies were also identified through the 2012 assessment done by experts from the SADC Secretariat on the level of compliance of the country’s insurance and pension legislation to the regulatory standards set by the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) and the International Organisation of Pension Funds (IOPS). Therefore, benchmarking Zimbabwe’s legislation to these standards forms part of the basis of the proposed amendments.
The Bill covers a range of amendments. I will therefore, with your indulgence, make emphasis on some of the major proposals. The Bill under Section 4 was amended to provide for the functions of the Commission. This is done to provide the Commission with additional powers in its mandate of supervising, regulating and monitoring the industry.
Another notable change in the Bill is that IPEC will now have the power of accreditation of certain service providers in the insurance and pensions industry such as actuaries, auditors and asset managers.
The Commission was in the past faced with the challenge of having inadequate board members to fulfil the Commission’s mandate and there was therefore the need to increase the number of board members and the need to also provide for adequate and diverse skills in line with Section 11 (7) of the Public Entities Corporate Governance Act [Chapter 10:31]. The Bill proposes to amend the Act by increasing the number of maximum members from five to seven.
The board will have a balance of skills mix which should at a minimum include insurance and pension industry expertise, actuarial, legal, finance, regulatory background, human resources management, information technology and any other expertise as may be required.
The current IPEC Act does not define what amounts to conflict of interest. The Bill proposes to remedy that by amending the Act through adding disqualifying criteria for persons who can be appointed as members of the Commission’s board to include persons who are under the employment of any other such body or organisation under the supervision and regulation of the Commission or any organisation associated with an entity under the supervision and regulation of the Commission or a person with significant conflict of interest to perform his or her duties independently. Conflict of interest is now defined in the Bill to include the following situations:
A member of a board of a regulated entity or employee of a regulated entity;
Direct or indirect ownership of more than five per centum of shareholding in the regulated entity or
Close relations to any person employed in the regulated entity or a controlling stake in the regulated entity.
There was need to amend the IPEC Act to make it explicit that all non-executive board members must be independent. Individuals with significant conflict of interests should not be appointed as board members. The Bill further provides instances which may result in vested interests such as being a member of the holding or subsidiary of the insurance company and/or pension fund.
Mr. Speaker, the current Act provides the term of office of board members to be three years only and is not in line with Section 11 of the Public Entities and Corporate Governance Act [Chapter 10:31] in terms of the tenure of office. The Bill proposes that a board member can serve for up to four years and be eligible for renewal for only one term, in line with the Public Entities and Corporate Governance Act.
The Bill also removes the requirement of a board seat to be reserved for the Secretary of the respective Ministry, to comply with Section 11 (5) of the Public Entities and Corporate Governance Act.
Mr. Speaker, another notable change in the Bill is that the Bill now makes it mandatory to establish certain committees such as the Audit Committee. It is critical that the regulator has the requisite committees to enable effective supervision. The responsibility of each sub-committee will clearly be stipulated in the regulations which the Minister can prescribe from time to time.
The Bill has also removed the current reference to the Commissioner in his/her individual capacity and now makes reference to the Commission as an entity. The Bill also now provides for insurance brokers which were previously covered and extends the scope to include new types of entities that may fall under IPEC.
Mr. Speaker, the Bill proposes an insertion of a new Part 11A which provides for provisions relating to the Commission’s cooperation with other authorities, treatment of records obtained from foreign law enforcement authorities, sharing of privileged information provided to the Commission. This provides for agreements to be put in place which will allow for cooperation in investigations, enforcement, and harmonisation of laws, exchanging information and handling of such information, including privileged information.
Another notable proposal that the Bill brings, is the introduction of a Policy holder and Pensions and Provident Fund Members Protection Fund. The new provision creates the parameters of setting up and administering a Policy holder Protection Fund. The purpose of the fund is to compensate policy holders and fund members for losses directly incurred by them in the event of a contributor becoming insolvent.
The Policy holder Protection Fund will consist of, amongst other sources, contributions from insurers registered in terms of the Insurance Act, pension funds registered in terms of the Pensions and Provident Fund Act and other sources such as donations.
Mr. Speaker, the Bill introduces a new section 32A whose purpose is to remove personal liability for the actions of IPEC Board, management, staff, and inspectors appointed in terms of the Insurance Act and/or Pensions and Provident Fund Act unless such acts are done intentionally and are grossly negligent.
The Bill also ushers in the introduction of Section 32B. This section gives the Commission the responsibility to maintain a register of assets of its regulated entities. Disposal of these assets will require written notification of the Commission and supporting documentation (valuations and reasons for disposal).
With the coming in of the Bill, the Commission will have powers to stay any disposal where disposal is considered to not be in the interests of the policyholders. In conclusion Mr. Speaker, I move that the debate do not adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 14th April, 2022.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. TOGAREPI: I move that Orders of the Day, Numbers 1 to 10 be stood over until Order of the Day, Number 11 has been disposed of.
HON. L. SIBANDA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
SECOND READING
AMENDMENT OF STATE UNIVERSITIES STATUTES BILL [H. B.13, 2021]
Eleventh Order read: Second reading: Amendment of State Universities Statutes Bill [H. B.13, 2021].
HON. MAPHOSA:
INTRODUCTION
Following the publication of The Amendment of State Universities Statutes Bill [H. B.13, 2021] was gazetted on 7 January 2022, the Portfolio Committee on Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development considered the Bill in terms of Standing Order 20(b) which enjoins the Committee to consider and deal with Bills or and Statutory Instruments or other matters which are referred to it by or under a resolution of the House or by the Speaker. After that, the Committee conducted public hearings on the said Bill. The Bill seeks to amend the thirteen State Universities Acts. In its memorandum, the Bill states it aims to align the university statutes with the Constitution to bring uniformity and harmonisation to all State universities.
METHODOLOGY
In compliance with Section 141 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, the Committee conducted Public Hearings on the Bill from 14 to 18 March 2022. Six universities, namely; Lupane State University, the National University of Science and Technology, Midlands State University, Great Zimbabwe University, Manicaland University of Applied Sciences, and the University of Zimbabwe, were physically visited for the public consultations. In partnership with the Youth Empowerment and Transformation Trust, the Committee held a consultative workshop on 6 April 2022 at Crowne Plaza Hotel. This workshop targeted representatives from the universities that were left out in the public hearings.
SPECIFIC SUBMISSIONS ON THE PROPOSED AMENDMENTS
Clause 1 of Masvingo State University
This clause applies only to Masvingo State University Act as it seeks to change the name of the University from Masvingo State University to Great Zimbabwe University. There was no objection to the clause.
Clause 2 of Masvingo State University which is Similar to Clause 1 of NUST, 1 of Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU), 1 of Marondera University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (MUAST), 1 of Lupane State University (LSU), 1 of Bindura University of Science Education (BUSE), 1 of Chinhoyi University of Technology (CUT), 1 of Gwanda State University (GSU), 1 of Harare Institute of Technology (HIT)
The clause provides for the objects of the university to include the five pillars of Education 5.0 most of the submissions suggested that the clause should be expanded to include how innovation was going to be funded.
Clause 3 of Masvingo State University which is similar to Clause 2 of NUST, 2 of ZOU, 2 of MSU, 2of MUAST, 2 of LSU, 2 of BUSE 2 of CUT, 2 of GSU and 2 of HIT.
Tt provides for the University Council which shall consist of not less than ten (10) and not more than twenty (20) members. Most respondents welcomed this amendment as a step in the right direction as it promotes efficiency, however, representatives of student movements expressed disappointment that the clause provides for the inclusion of the President of the Student Union only to represent all students. Students opined that this was a typical case of underrepresentation. Students, therefore, submitted that there is need to increase the number of students who sit in the council to at least three, that is, the President, the Secretary General and/ the Gender Secretary.
Several submissions highlighted that the number of Council Members appointed by the Minister should be reduced from 10 appointees to five inclusive of the Ministry’s representative. Further, it was suggested that the title of the student representative under the amendment of section 10 should clearly read, “President of the Student Representative Council,” instead of “President of the Student Union” as highlighted in the Bill. Students noted that the Bill talks about “fair regional representation” however, they submitted that the conceptualisation of the phrase was not clear hence the phrase should be expanded to clearly conceptualise its meaning or be removed from the Bill completely.
Some submissions voiced concern over the overemphasis on the University Council and its silence when it comes to other important organs like the University Senate. Those of this opinion submitted that the Ministry should also address how the Senate was going to be aligned to the new philosophy of Education 5.0.
Under the amendment of Section 10, the public emphasised that the attendance of the Pro-Vice-Chancellor should not be at the mercy of the Vice-Chancellor but the former must be obliged to attend. It was therefore recommended to delete the word “may” under the amended Section 10 (1) (a) with “should” to make it obligatory for the Pro-Vice Chancellor to attend Council meetings.
The Committee heard that there should be an intersection of the Senate and the Council by appointing at least eight members of the Council from the Senate. It was submitted that Senate was an integral pillar of the university and its members should be included in the Council. Further, the public opined that in the spirit of inclusivity, the appointment of the Council members should take into consideration appointment of people with disabilities.
Clause 4 and 5 of Masvingo State University which is similar to Clauses 3 & 4 of NUST, 3& 4 of ZOU, 1&2 of PAMUST, 3&4 of MSU, 3 of MUAST, 3&4 of MSUAS, 3&4 of LSU, 3&4 of BUSE, 3&4 of CUT, 3&4 of GSU and 3&4 of HIT; provides for the appointment of the Bursar and Librarian by the Council with the approval of the Minister. Some members of the public expressed concern that the approval of appointments by the Ministry was tantamount to excessive Government control of the institutions thereby striking at the institutions’ autonomy. Those aligned to the foregoing argument submitted that the Council alone should have the sole right to select and appoint qualified persons through “competitive procedures.”
Some respondents suggested that the Minister must not be given any power to disapprove or approve the appointments of any executive post, rather the University Councils should have full authority to appoint top university officers and notify the Minister in writing of their decisions. The public submitted that allowing the Minister to approve or disapprove appointment of the executive officer would cripple impartiality, transparency, and meritocracy as the decisions of the Minister might be influenced by political or other interests. Further, the public observed that Minister’s approval or disapproval of executive posts appointment was ultra vires the current Public Entities Act [Cap 20: 07] Section 18 (2) which stipulates that where the board of a public entity appoints a senior staff, it shall cause written notice of the appointment to be sent to the line minister without delay. The public submitted that similarly the Universities Council should have the right to appoint to officers and then send a letter of notification to the Minister.
The public also picked some inconsistencies and discrepancies where the Bill gave differing provisions on supposedly similar issues which should be homogeneous. Cases in point were that Clauses 2 and 3 of the Harare Institute of Technology respectively talk about an Institute Board and a Financial Director. This is in contradistinction to the rest of other universities where the terms used are Council instead of Institute Board and Bursar instead of Financial Director. The public opined that such variations defeated any semblance of uniformity projected by the Ministry. It was suggested that for uniformity’s sake, the terms should be uniform across all the universities, if the intention of the Ministry was to harmonise and bring uniformity to the terminology used in the institutions.
Some submissions received voiced the logic of having 13 different statutes if the purpose of the Bill was to bring uniformity to all 13 institutions. The public opined that the ministry should come up with a consolidated and composite Universities Statutes Bill which does not fragment but seeks to amalgamate the miscellaneous independent statutes.
The public also criticised what they called archaic and simplistic nomenclatures used to refer to some posts as failing to capture the dynamic nature of the posts in the modern era. It was suggested that titles; ‘Librarian and Bursar’ were now out of step with modernity and do not capture the essence of those posts. Some suggested Chief Finance Officer or Financial Director should replace Bursar while the title Librarian should be replaced by Chief Director of Information Management. Some submissions highlighted that the title ‘Vice-Chancellor’ should be replaced by ‘Chief Executive Officer’ and going down the ladder Chairpersons of Departments should be called Departmental Managers. Such change of names, submitted the public, was the new thinking enshrined in the New Management Theory which states that if you want to enhance performance at a public institution, you must undertake the quasi privatisation of key aspects of public entity operations.
Clause 6 of Masvingo State University which is similar to clause 6 of ZOU, 3 of PAMUST, 5 of MSU, 5 of MUAST, 5 of MSUAS, 5 of LSU, 5 of BUSE, 5 of CUT, 5 of GSU, and 5 of HIT;
The amendment provides that the conditions of service are as stipulated in the Labour Act [Chapter 28:01]. There was no objection to this amendment.
Clause 7 of Masvingo State University which is similar to Clause 5 of NUST, 8 of ZOU, 4 of PAMUST, 7 of MSU, 7 of MUAST, 7 of MSUAS, 7 of LSU, 7 of BUSE, 7 of CUT, 7 of GSU and 6 HIT; provides for the Student Disciplinary Committee to include a registered Legal Practitioner. At NUST the public picked an inconsistency where the summary to clause 5 highlighted the inclusion of a Legal Practitioner in the Student Disciplinary Committee, however, in the actual amendment of Section 25 of the NUST Act, there is no mention of the Legal Practitioner. The public hence submitted that the Legal Practitioner should be expressly included under the amended Section 25 of the parent Act.
The public also further, quizzed if the Legal Practitioner was going to be an external or internal practitioner. Most of the views opined that an external legal practitioner is likely to be impartial and hence the appointment should be informed by the need to preserve impartiality and objectivity. The public also submitted that an external Legal Practitioner would reduce costs since he or she would be engaged on a need-basis not as a permanent employee of the institution. In addition, the public submitted that state universities must provide for legal practitioners to represent students in disciplinary hearings or facilitate a fund for such arrangements. Moreover, it was highlighted student representatives must be present at student disciplinary hearings so that they can assess if the students have been given a fair and just chance to present their cases.
It was also suggested that the Disciplinary Committee must include all 16 officially recognised languages as working languages of the Committee and the provision must be stated explicitly in the Amendment Bill.
Other members of the public noted minor errors which have the negative impact on the gender lenses of the Bill. It was observed that the amendment of Section 26 on the Staff Disciplinary Committee of several universities continuously referred to a “Chairman” instead of the more ungendered title, ‘Chairperson.’ The public, therefore, called for the deletion of the word Chairman and be replaced with Chairperson.
Clause 8 of Masvingo State University which is similar to 6 of NUST, 9 of ZOU, 5 of PAMUST, 8 of MSU, 8 of MUAST, 8 of MSUAS, 8 of LSU, 8 of BUSE, 8 of CUT, 8 of GSU and 7 of HIT; provides for the removal of the Chairperson of Council and the Vice Chancellor from the Finance Committee. Submissions, notably from Vice-Chancellors, suggested that the amendment was problematic. As such, the Vice-Chancellor should retain his or her Finance Committee since he or she is held accountable to any financial consequences to which he was not part and parcel. However, some members of the public welcomed this amendment as they said it brought with it transparency and objectivity in universities financial matters. In the same vein, other submissions noted that the Vice Chancellor and Chairperson of Council must remain in the Finance Committee of the University Council as they have a crucial role to play in the financial management of the university.
Clause 9 of Masvingo State University which is similar to 7 of NUST, 10 of ZOU, 6 of PAMUST, 5 of UZ, 9 of MSU, 9 MUAST, 9 of MSUAS, 9 of LSU, 9 of BUSE, 9 of CUT, 9 of GSU and HIT; provides for the four-year term limit for external members of Council. The public welcomed this amendment.
Clause 7 of ZOU, 6 of MSU, 6 of MUAST, 6 of MSUAS, 6 of LSU, 6 of BUSE, 6 of CUT, 6 of GSU; provides for appointment of the Staff Disciplinary Committee and disciplinary action procedures. It was recommended that the Staff Disciplinary Procedures should be synchronised with the procedures laid down in the Labour Act. The public further suggested that the Chairperson should not be someone appointed internally by the Vice-Chancellor as there were fears that he or she would be ‘captured.’ Rather, the public suggested, the Chairperson should be someone appointed from outside the rank and file of the university. Some suggested that a Retired Judge who is neutral could make an ideal candidate for the post. Further, it was suggested that most of the committee members should be people versed in law.
The public submitted that the following should constitute the Staff Disciplinary Committee; the Pro-Vice Chancellor, representative from the Workers' Committee/Associations, a registered legal practitioner to act as an arbitrator and a representative from the human resources section. Other submissions submitted that the quorum of the Committee should be increased from two to three.
Clause 5 of ZOU; provides for the removal of the post of the Information Technologist from the ZOU Statute. The public underscored that the move was flawed and was not in sync with the spirit of Education 5.0. It was submitted that Information Communication Technology Systems (ICTs) had become an integral part particularly for the internationalisation and survival of higher and tertiary education institutions as such the ICT Governance should be reflected in all statutes. The public bemoaned the failure, by the Ministry, to realise that universities are increasingly becoming digitalised. The public submitted that it was paradoxical that the Ministry was pushing innovation on the one hand and then seek to undo appointment of a post which epitomises the embrace of the digitalised 4th Industrial Revolution by the institutions. The public opined that ZOU as the premier university for Long Distance eLearning, therefore, relies heavily in ICTs to deliver and the position of the Information Technologist is of paramount importance. It was from this backdrop that the public concluded that the post of Information Technologist should be designated a principal post and should be left intact.
The public applauded the 1998 ZOU Act which introduced the post of Information Technology and argued that the drafters had the virtue of farsightedness. Respondents that supported this move opined that undoing such a positive gesture 24 years latter was anachronistic and defies logic. The public, therefore, submitted that the post of Information Technologist should be introduced at the executive level in all other state universities. The public queried the essence of maintaining the position of librarian, a position which they alleged to be outmoded given the shift from the traditional concept and space of library, and at the same time downplaying the import of the Information Technologist post, a post which they argued was speaking to the modern way of learning and the general modus operandi of the institutions worldwide.
General Observations by the Public
Some members of the public opined that the Bill purports to bring uniformity to university statutes, however, the very same universities have different niches and bringing homogeneity to such universities will defeat the peculiar nature of the institutions.
Other submissions criticised the move to create uniformity on the number of designate posts across all institutions, a move they described as retrogressive and devoid of any empirical basis to warrant such a proposition. Supporters of this view submitted that it was wrong to force universities to have similar executive structure and the Ministry should move away from the traditional executive structure of the; Vice Chancellor, pro-vice chancellor(s), bursar, librarian and registrar. It was submitted that universities should be allowed the flexibility of coming up with their executive structures which take into consideration their unique natures.
The students noted the absence of any reference to academic freedom in all clauses and that it was an indictment on the utility of academic freedom in the everyday running of universities. They opined that academic freedom was at the centre of higher learning hence one of the clauses should address how universities and the Government were going to guarantee academic freedom.
The public bemoaned the lack of clarity on who was the actual employer of the university staff. The staff submitted that there was confusion on whether the staff was employed by the Council or the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development. This, the staff submitted, negatively impacted on the establishment of a negotiating forum between the employer and the employees. The staff, therefore, recommended that the Bill should unequivocally state who the employer of university staff was to avoid this ambiguity.
The public felt that the Bill was silent about awarding individuals who excel in the fields of innovation and research. Such awards, the Committee heard, were critical in encouraging staff to be innovative.
COMMITTEE’S OBSERVATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The Committee observed that the Bill still seeks to maintain the same university governance structures of the universities which have existed since independence. This does not take into consideration the disjuncture in the operations of the universities since the establishment of the universities and the nexus between Education 5.0 and the use of ICTs.
RECOMMENDATION:
The Committee recommends, to the Ministry, that there is no harm in including an ICT post under the designated posts. The Committee feels that ICT should be part of the Government’s broader policy given the digitalised learning environment, including such a post under designated executive posts in all state universities will be a step in the right direction. Such a move will catapult State Universities towards embracing modern learning methodologies. Hence, the Information Technologist can give strategic advice and direction on how universities can grow with digitalisation in mind (digital mainstreaming of policy and decision making).
It was noted that the Bill is silent on issues of academic freedom which is enjoyed by both students and university staff. The Committee further observed that academic freedom is the bedrock of disruptive innovations and research and failure to clearly articulate this in the parent act governing the institutions would be a failure on the part of the Ministry. Section 61 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe protects academic freedom as a fundamental human right and academic freedom broadly means the freedom of members of universities and similar academic communities to research, study and teach what they consider to be appropriate. Academic freedom includes (a) freedom of the academic community to express themselves as enquirers after knowledge and truth in a manner consistent with professional standards of enquiry. It includes freedom to teach, to conduct research and to publish their views, (b) institutional autonomy of the university, which entails a corresponding right and obligation on the university to protect the freedom of its academic staff. While universities are entitled to determine teaching standards, they must protect their staff against external pressures that seek to limit their freedom, and (c) an obligation on the State to respect and protect academic freedom in both the other two aspects.
RECOMMENDATION:
The Committee recommends the inclusion of a clause which expressly provides and guarantees academic freedom. Such important provision should be included in the parent Act and not necessarily wait to find its way in individual university rules and regulations documents.
The Committee concurs with the public that streamlining the Universities Council was commendable and a positive step towards good corporate governance system. Having noted this, the Committee shared the same sentiments that, with only the president of the SRC in the Council, students are heavily underrepresented given the utility of the Council in the decision-making process of resolutions which affects the generality of the students.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Recalling the accusations, from the students, of how the voice of the students are not usually heard in key decisions the Committee underscores the need for the Bill to increase the number of students in the University Councils to be at least three members. The Committee reiterates that the students are an integral stakeholder of the university body politic hence inclusivity can assure the smooth governance of the institutions.
The Committee observes that the Bill is silent on how the Councils or the Senate will achieve 50/50 gender representation in line with the constitutional provisions.
RECOMMENDATION:
The committee recommends the Bill should state clearly that council composition will be 50/50 in terms of gender representation in line with Section 17 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
The Committee notes that most submissions called for the inclusion of a Retired Judge to preside over staff and students’ disciplinary proceedings. The Committee understands the utility of such legal people in disciplinary hearings. However, the Committee is also cognizant of how it can be difficult to have Retired Judges readily available to preside over the disciplinary proceedings.
RECOMMENDATION:
The Committee recommends that beyond Retired Judges, the institutions should also work with Retired Magistrates who are relatively in abundance as compared to Judges. This will widen the pool of legal persons.
CONCLUSION
The idea to align the statutes governing universities is highly commended especially if such amendments bring the need to transform the governance system, promote inclusivity and revolutionise innovation and industrialisation. The Committee is emphatically convinced that such aspirations can only be achieved when there is a general and mutual consensus from the stakeholders and parties which will be directly affected by the amendments, hence it calls for the Ministry to look diligently into the suggestions made by the public. I so submit Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. T. MOYO: Hon. Speaker Sir, I want to add my voice to the Report that has been presented in the House by Hon. Lindiwe Maphosa on Amendment of the State Universities Statutes Bill [H. B. 13, 2021]. I will start with Clause 1. Clause 1 provides for the objects of the universities to include pillars of Education 5.0. The pillars include teaching, research and service to the community, innovation and industrialisation.
I find this Bill very important because when it is enacted into an Act of Parliament or law, we are likely to see a lot of fast tracking in terms of innovation happening in the already existing innovation hubs that have been established in universities. There is going to be a lot of research in those innovation hubs and laboratories which will prompt, lead to or pave way to industrialisation and modernisation of Zimbabwe.
I will also talk about the titles given to Vice Chancellors, Pro-Vice Chancellors, librarians, Registrar, Bursar and so on. From the visits that we conducted throughout Zimbabwe, there is a general feeling by the public that these titles are now old, so they want new titles to be given. For example, Vice Chancellor should be given the title Chief Executive Officer because he is the one who will be directing and presiding over most of the activities at the university. The Bursar can be given a title like Director of Finance and so on. We found that to be prudent and important that we should move with time. Just like the Dean of faculties, for example the Dean of the Faculty of Education or of Science, those titles have been there for many years and we need to move with time. So name suggestions could be a manager of a particular faculty, Faculty Manager in terms of Law, Social Science, Education and so on. Those suggestions were given by the public.
I will talk about Clause 2, ‘University Council shall consist of not less than 10 members and not more than 20 members.’ Mr. Speaker Sir, in the past, University Councils could consist of 40 to 50 members and that was found to be retrogressive. If we compress the numbers to 10, between 10 and 20, it means there is going to be efficiency in the execution of duties in those particular councils. So, I also want to support the Bill in that we need to restrict the figures to between 10 and 20 to bring about efficiency and effectiveness in the council.
On Clause 8, which provides for the removal of the Chairperson of Council and the Vice Chancellor from the Finance Committee, I think that is not a good clause because the Vice Chancellor is like a Chief Executive Officer who has a mandate to ensure that the day to day business of universities progresses smoothly. I suggest that the role of the Chief Executive Officer and the Chairperson of Council should be retained in the Finance Committee because they have a lot of responsibilities. The vision of the university is driven by those two members to ensure that business of the university is conducted in a very good way. I will go on to talk about Section 61, which protects academic freedom in our universities and which is fundamental to the running of universities. The public felt that academic freedom is not explicitly stated in the Bill but when we talk of academic freedom, we are saying that faculties should decide their research activities and should also have the autonomy to consider bodies of knowledge. Whatever is taught in universities will be determined by those faculties.
However, the Bill is not against academic freedom. The Bill should support academic freedom which should happen in universities, students, professors are free to decide whatever they want to teach, research on, field trips and so on.
I will now talk about the issue regarding who should preside over disciplinary hearings. According to the Bill, if there are any misdemeanors by members of staff, the Vice Chancellor will appoint a pro-vice chancellor to preside over disciplinary hearings. So, from the universities that we visited especially at Manicaland State University there was an outcry that people felt that the pro-vice chancellor is a senior position, so if he or she is given the mandate to preside over disciplinary hearings, they felt threatened by the boss. So, suggestions given were that the Bill should include the chairperson of the disciplinary hearing to be a retired judge or a magistrate because there are so many magistrates who have retired from service.
Then the Bill is silent about rewarding individuals who excel in terms of research and innovation. We want the Bill to be specific and to be explicit, it should state exactly those who carry out those important studies and who are going to publish their findings. There must be some form of rewards which should be given to professors and students who do very well in their field of study. So, they need to be rewarded as a way of encouraging hard work and innovation among university students and professors.
Finally, I find this Bill to be very important because it is going to pave way to innovation industrialisation and modernisation which is the expectation and mission of the Second Republic. The Second Republic’s mandate and vision according to His Excellency, the President is to bring about reforms which will see Zimbabwe quickly industrialising. For industrialisation to take place, there has to be a lot of innovations, a lot of hard work which should take place in the innovation hubs. Industrialisation will also lead to employment of graduates, semi-skilled, unskilled people and that will contribute to the economic development of Zimbabwe.
(v)HON. S. BANDA: Thank you for giving me this opportunity to also add my voice to the voices that have been raised by the mover of the motion, Hon. Maphosa who is a student herself at a university so she is speaking from the heart.
Firstly, I want to discuss the issue of people with disabilities. I note that whilst the Bill makes an effort to say 50/50 on gender, while the Bill seeks to remove marginalisation of regions by disabled representation, there is very little to do on people with disabilities. Statistics show that about 50% of the world is people with disabilities. So, I was also hoping that the Hon. Minister would also consider stating in the Bill directly that a portion of whatever positions could be available, set aside for people with disabilities.
I also want to support the motion which was brought up by the Hon. Chairperson, Hon. Maphosa which stated that the numbers of students who are in the councils are also key effective. These universities and colleges are there specifically for students. So, I also support that there should be an increase to at least 3 members of the council from the students themselves so that they can decide on their own future.
Globalisation and internationalisation of higher education, I note with concern that there is an attempt to make more state universities. If you go to other countries, you find that there are international, local and regional universities. So, we really need the Bill to state transparent platforms so that we identify which universities are national, international and regional. The University of Zimbabwe and NUST among others used to be among the top 50 universities in the world but now they are not even counted because they have made all universities to be the same. So, I am imploring on the Minister to make sure that while we are talking of innovation, technology, let us not make all things equal. Let us have global universities with global standards. So, this Bill must also have that platform whereby we do not make all oranges, oranges but we make oranges we make apples and we differentiate depending on what they provide.
HON. T. MLISWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Let me commend the mover of the motion for a job well done on this critical issue which is the hub of the country in terms of moving forward. Let me repeat Hon. Prof Murwira’s adage that development today’s technology is quite critical in a lot of things that we do. Education dominates technology and that is critical because the world that we are living in today is about technology. I am glad that the Minister puts that as a very critical issue in terms of moving forward. That is the world that we are in.
It is important that resources are accounted for. Tertiary institutions must be well resourced. They must be allocated resources which most of the institutions that have benefited from these resources such as mining and farms have under-utilised them. I think this whole research and development resides. There is no nation that can develop without research and development. I propose that in our National Budget, can there be a percentage that goes to research and development the same way we talk about a certain percentage going to health. May there be a certain percentage that goes to research and development.
We also need to uphold our heritage culture and tradition. Heritage, culture and tradition are quite important. He has spoken about rapid industrialisation which is true in terms of what we have seen on the ground and what universities are able to do in terms of Education 5.0. It has been exciting to see a lot of new things happening, which we never saw before. We wonder what the other ministers were doing when they were in office because clearly, there has been an education revolution where people are able to create jobs for themselves rather than waiting for the job.
Education 3.0 moved to Education 5.0. I am going to do this for other members who are not as gifted intellectually like others – Education 1.0 is teaching; Education 2.0 is research; Education 3.0 is community service; Education 4.0 is innovation and Education 5.0 is industrialisation. I hope that with so much knowledge that I have today, if there was a quiz, probably only three people would get this right but at times you wonder when Hon. Members are heckling – is it a noise of brilliance or of some lack of certain things. This is where we must be focussing on – Education 5.0 which requires a lot. In terms of uniforms, there are a lot of issues which need to be considered at the end of the day.
On appointment of board members, it must be based on merit. I commend the Minister because he is the first Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education who has not participated in student politics. Most of them went there to do student politics; ZICOSU, ZINASU and so on. For the first time, there is no student politics which is associated with the Minister. He is an academic. I must applaud the President for all that. I always joke with him and say I never want you to win a constituency. I am one of the people who pray that you lose so that you focus on this portfolio. If he had a constituency and was running this Ministry, he would not have the time to do that. That is why we say those five non-constituency positions be given to technocrats – here is a true technocrat. I wish many more would be like that. I want to once again commend the President for that and also congratulate the Hon. Minister Prof. Murwira for his discipline and dedication to ensure that this country is taken to another level.
I think merit has got to be used when appointing board members and that is important. What I do not see in most of these institutions which has to be done is career guidance. The reason why most children leave and go overseas is because those universities advertise themselves. Why are our universities not having career guidance through going to various high schools in the country and tell children what they offer. We are known to be an education hub.
There is education and health tourism. People go to India where they are treated and that is health tourism where they are treated. Zimbabwe must be making money and charging overseas students foreign currency which these institutions need to be able to run certain things. You can ask anybody from the University of Zimbabwe the education reputation we have as a nation – why are we not riding on that in terms of us marketing ourselves? The South African, Zambian and Mozambican education is nowhere near Zimbabwe education. We must be able to speak to other SADC countries encouraging them to come and learn here and pay us in foreign currency because what you get is a good product.
If you look at the captains of industry in South Africa, they are Zimbabweans – Old Mutual, MTN; these are conglomerates which are listed on many stock exchanges but they are run by Zimbabweans. Just recently, the Vice Chairperson of Google is Zimbabwean – James Manyika and was in partnership with Mackenzie. He went to Prince Edward School and University of Zimbabwe. Prof. Mutambara is also an academic. He has been through the University of Zimbabwe and Oxford University. One of the people involved with the vaccine Pfizer is Zimbabwean.
That is why I am saying there should be a certain amount of money on the budget which must go towards research and development – be it agriculture or civil engineering. We must be on top of the situation. People must be coming here to see. I propose that at least one percent of the total budget must go to research and development because we all need it in every sector; be it health, transport, agriculture and all that.
On the gender balance issue, Section 17 is very clear but the problem is that the laws are there to support women to be in power and they are not being complied with. There is no enforcement. When laws are there to empower them, who else should be pushing for that? There is a total of 55% of women in the country but they do not vote for each other. It is their choice – so democracy speaks. Women should be in the corridors of power and boards detecting the future because they are the majority at the end of the day.
Hon. Banda spoke about the disabled, 10-15%; why are they not sitting on these boards? Why are they being left out? We must come up with an institution for the disabled, a university for the disabled with amenities that suit them and not to tailor-make and so forth. It does not work.
HON. MAPHOSA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir, the terminology, they are now particular with being called disabled or living with disabilities. The correct terminology is ‘persons with disability’.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Okay, may you stand guided Hon. Mliswa.
HON. T. MLISWA: I am the patron for the National Council for the Disabled Persons and they actually do not like me using ‘living with disability’, you are right. They want to be called they are disabled. I am the patron, so I cannot make a mistake on that. They do not want any excuses. They are disabled. I am the patron Honourable, I do not know if you knew that. So, I would not be insensitive about that – [HON. MAPHOSA: I am also in the Steering Committee kana takuudzana zvema lokhuzeni, Steering Committee of people with disabilities, so the terminology is ‘persons with disability’]...
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Maphosa, I did not give you the floor. You cannot dialogue with the contributor.
HON. MAPHOSA: Sorry Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. T. MLISWA: The disabled must be given an opportunity to sit on these boards so that there is also that balance. The SRCs, I like the fact that there must be students in the boards. Students must be represented. There is no way we can have a council without students and what I propose is that if there are elections, numbers one and two sit there so that there is a checking system. We do not want a situation where ZICOSU or ZINASU wins and it is always ZICOSU and ZINASU. If there are elections, if number one is ZICOSU and ZINASU number two, then they sit. If number one is ZINASU, number two is ZICOSU they sit. If YARD is number one and number two is ZICOSU, then we have all that. It is important that there is representation of the students at the end of the day in what goes on.
I want to also zero-in on the tenure of Vice Chancellors. The President is the Chancellor and enjoys two terms. Why should the Chancellors not enjoy two terms too? There is no continuity there. If we believe that the President of a country must have two terms, why are we limiting the terms of the Vice Chancellors? There is no logic there. You Members of Parliament do not have terms, whether you lose or not, whether you are developing or not, you keep going on. Why do you want to give a shorter term to the academia which requires planning and futuristic approach? The President’s terms must also be in compliance with the terms of the Vice Chancellors and that is very important as that is continuity because the prerogative to appoint lies in the President’s Office. The President has the prerogative to appoint or disappoint. I do not think we really want a situation where - because there are a lot of things and research can take a lot of time, you know that. It is not about five years. You can be at something for years until it comes out. So, I believe the two terms are quite important at the end of the day.
Then the Vice Chancellor, the report which was tabled spoke about the Vice Chancellor not sitting on the Finance Committee. I would say the Vice Chancellors must be ex-officio members of each committee. They must know what is going on. They might not chair but they must be ex-officio members so that they contribute and know what is going on. Yes, chairing I totally agree but being an ex-officio member is important because you cannot have somebody chairing again and at the same time they are Vice Chancellor, then how does oversight work? It becomes difficult in that regard. I believe that they must be ex-officio members of every committee so that they know what is going on and all that.
I will go now to the controversial term before I close. I googled the word ‘Chairman’ and the definition of chairman by Google search is “a chairman is the leader of business meeting or group. The chairman oftenly opens a meeting by addressing the group and explains what the agenda would be. Charities, clubs and boards or companies have a chairman who acts as the President or leader.” Then I went a step further to say why is it called chairman. My sister provoked me to go deeper and Google search says when the word “chairman” showed up in the mid-17th Century, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, it referred to occupier of a chair of authority.
You know, it is great when you research. To me, that is what it means. It does not talk about gender. It talks about authority and that is why I am saying we need to educate the public there, that being a chairperson whether you are a woman or not, you occupy a chair of authority. So now when you say because it is a woman you must say chairperson is wrong; if it is a woman chairing, we might as well say chairwoman. You cannot bring that in. I think we need to educate the public on that. I am glad it came from the public but it does not make any sense at all. Chairman is good and we want to see women in the chair and chairing men. That is what I like about it. If you look at the provincial elections which were held in Mashonaland West Province for example, the Hon. Minister of State is the chairman of the province. In the political parties we belong to, whether it is a woman or not, it is still the chairman of the province. So, I propose that it remains chairman and I think it makes sense.
I want to conclude by saying that the contributions or submissions by the Chairperson were quite thorough, diligent and thought-provoking, and certainly require people to pay attention. The problem Madam Speaker is that we have a Parliament which is known for heckling and not for debating. This is where we expect them to debate. Those who were heckling, this is your time to debate and not to heckle. The Chief Whip tells them to heckle like dogs, bark and they bark. I hope he can also tell you to debate. We must be in this Parliament to debate and not to continue heckling each other as if we are baboons. I think baboons are the ones that heckle each other. As human beings, we must respect each other. I would like to urge members to debate positives towards this because this is where the future of the country is in terms of higher and tertiary institutions, which really are critical for any nation to grow. I thank you.
(v) HON. MOLOKELA-TSIYE: I would like to start by congratulating the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education for yet another Bill that has been presented before the National Assembly. In 2018 and 2019 when I used to chair the Committee, one of our major concern was that the Ministry was struggling to bring in Bills to address some of the issues that were affecting that particular sector but I am so happy that in the last two years, we have seen several Bills being introduced in Parliament, including this latest one. I am excited and happy for the Ministry.
Let me comment on some specific clauses. I personally welcome the new Amendment Bill. I was part of the public hearings and also part of the Committee. I am aware that most of what the Chairperson has presented and other colleagues have seconded is exactly what I am also supporting. I would like to be more specific to avoid repetition. The Ministry has introduced Education 5.0 and this particular Amendment Bill would have been an important opportunity to further give more guidance and specific leadership in terms of the institutions of higher learning implementing the aspirations of Education 5. 0.
This is an opportunity that the Bill is presenting, especially in terms of adding more flesh to the policy framework around innovation. For example, we know that one of the key issues is that under Education 5.0, we are not just producing graduates. We want to link the graduates with the mainstream economy, with the industrialisation of the country. So one of the key guidelines around the innovation in line with Education 5.0 that needs to come out clearly is around the proposal to make sure that institutions for higher learning start setting up companies and commercial ventures on their own and also ensure that students who are studying at these institutions for higher learning start also to have practical studies; not to just have lectures at lecture halls but also do practical lectures in a very technical and vocational way to enable them to make sure that once they graduate from university, they are not just looking for employment but they are ready to work on the factory and industrial floors. It is important that there be clear guidance and leadership through this Bill to the institutions for higher learning, giving them opportunity to give practical implementation of Education 5.0.
I would also want to comment on Clause 3 which talks about the University Council. I am happy I am a former University of Zimbabwe Council member. I served at the University of Zimbabwe Council between 1995 and 1999 and I used to represent students in the University Council. One of my major concerns that time has been addressed through this Bill. We had a bloated University Council, most of the members were not very active and useful. I welcome the proposal to reduce the number of councillors to about 20 members. My main concern is that in the process of reducing numbers, there has not been any balance between the university community stakeholders and the ministerial appointees.
At this moment in time, the Bill as it stands, gives unfair advantage to the ministerial appointments which are almost 50% if not 60% of the councillors. This then will reduce the university councils into an extension of the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education. I would move that there be a reduction on the number of direct ministerial appointees from about 10 that we have at the moment to about five to increase the independence of the university councils from the Ministry.
It is also a major concern that if you go through the Bill, you will realise that the Executive arm of the State is too involved in the administration of institutions for higher learning. The Minister in particular, is almost appearing everywhere in the Bill. I think it is something we must be alert to and something which must strongly be opposed to. I think if the Minister of Higher Education is so involved the way he is at the moment, it then reduces the independence or autonomy of the institutions for higher learning. I would want to discourage those clauses where the Minister of Education is directly involved like an operations officer which is the job that should be done by the Vice Chancellor or the Chief Executive Officer of the institution of Higher learning. Let us try to reduce the direct involvement of the Ministry in the day today running of institutions of higher learning, especially in the appointment of structures in the institution like the university council and the university Senate.
There should be a specific clause giving guidance in the appointment of council members that speaks to the special interest groups. One special interest group I feel should be clearly articulated in the Bill should be the disability sector. We need to make sure that the disability sector is clearly represented. Right now if you go across institutions of higher learning across Zimbabwe, you will see that the disability community is being excluded in terms of student intake, in terms of staff intake both teaching and non-teaching staff. I think it is important especially in the university council, that we have people from the disability community to push the agenda of disability inclusion.
We need to make sure that the Bill is more specific around gender inclusivity. We need more women to be represented in the university organs like the university council, the university Senate and so on. In my time at the University of Zimbabwe, the majority of the university councillors and the majority of the university senators were not women. They were men and that situation has been like that for many years. This Bill presents to us an opportunity to fulfil the aspirations of the 2013 Constitution of Zimbabwe that seeks to promote 50:50 gender representations and in particular Section 17 of the national Constitution.
I would want a specific clause to be inserted to say that not just in the university council but in all offices or committees affecting the institutions of higher learning, whether it is the student disciplinary committee, staff disciplinary committee, the senate or the student affairs committee. All such offices or committees must have 50% gender inclusivity in terms of women. So we need to make sure that such clause is put.
I forgot to mention earlier Madam Speaker, that even for the disability sector, we must also make sure that they are included together in the other structures apart from the university council, the student affairs committee and also the Senate. Also appointment of positions and employment opportunities, special regards must be given to historically and presently marginalised interest groups such as women, youth and disabled persons.
On academic freedom, as a former student leader, I am aware how important the University of Zimbabwe Amendment Act of 1990 was to a lot of student leaders in terms of how it reduced the Vice Chancellor from being chief academic to a chief disciplinarian. One of the issues that happened after the UZ Amendment Act of 1990 is that we have a lot of student leaders being victimised and expelled from university arbitrarily. Not only just student leaders but we had a lot of workers’ representatives being victimised by the Vice Chancellor or the University Administration because of the stripping powers that the UZ Amendment Act of 1990 gave. We lost a lot of experienced lecturers, academic staff who left Zimbabwe in protest and went to other countries.
Up to date, almost 30 years later, we see that the issue of academic freedom is still strong throughout the public hearings consultations. There was a strong voice around lack of academic freedom in institutions of higher learning in Zimbabwe. This is a strong concern coming not just from the students but also from the staff, both teaching and non-teaching. We need to make sure that in this Bill, there is a specific clause that speaks to institutions of higher learning promoting academic freedom. This is very important especially in line with Education 5.0 where we are trying to encourage institutions of higher learning to improve or increase their focus on innovation. Creativity and innovation are directly linked to academic freedom. It is important that in this Bill, we have a specific clause that seeks to promote academic freedom in all institutions of higher learning so that we may promote innovation and creativity and free thought in institutions of higher learning.
I also wanted to comment around the issue of committees that are chaired like the disciplinary hearings committee that are chaired by legal practitioners. My strong view is that the legal practitioner should be someone who is not a full time employee of the institution of higher learning because they will be subject to manipulation and victimisation by their seniors. It is also expensive to employ a full time lawyer. So I think the universities should have a pool of lawyers who apply that they accredit to be available on call, on standby to take up opportunities to play the role of the legal practitioners. These lawyers must be registered with the Law Society of Zimbabwe but there must be a pool of lawyers on standby that the university can call upon to chair some of these committees. The universities must not have a full-time who would be subjected to manipulating and would lack independence because they would be subjected to the authority of their superiors.
I also wanted to emphasize that the Bill as it stands right now, does not speak directly in terms of legal representation in both the Students and Staff Disciplinary Hearings. I think as it stands, it speaks only to Students Disciplinary Hearings. It must also include Staff Disciplinary Hearings; there must be an opportunity for someone to be represented by legal practitioners.
I also wanted to speak around Clause 5, on the Zimbabwe Open University that seeks to remove the post of the ICT specialist in the top management of the institution for higher learning. I think this is a very retrogressive measure and is marking the trend because since the advent of Covid …
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MAVETERA): You are left with five minutes Hon. Molokela.
(v)HON. MOLOKELA-TSIYE: Thank you Madam Speaker. Since the advent of COVID-19, we have seen more institutions of higher learning migrating towards virtual education, use of technologies for their students.
Zimbabwe Open University by its very nature was established to emphasize learning through ICT – virtual education. So it is a generation ahead of other institutions of higher learning. So this clause should actually be made to be written upside down. We should say, ‘all institutions for higher learning in Zimbabwe should have an ICT specialist in their top management so that all institutions of higher learning migrate towards virtual education in line with the impact of COVID-19 which has made it easier for institutions of higher learning to start using information technology to increase access to education in Zimbabwe’. Education should be made more accessible through the use of ICT. So I am strongly opposed to the removing of the ICT Specialist from the top management of the Zimbabwe Open University. Instead, I recommend that the position be equally put in all other institutions for higher learning in Zimbabwe.
Last but not least Madam Speaker, I think this Bill should also include a specific clause around the appointment of the Chancellor in institutions for higher learning. In the 1980s, we only had one university in Zimbabwe which was the University of Zimbabwe. There was no real harm having the President of the Republic doubling up as the Chancellor of the university but today, we have about 13 institutions for higher learning that are universities in Zimbabwe. I do not think that the President of Zimbabwe should be laboured with the responsibility of being Chancellor of each and every one of the universities in the country.
So I am proposing that there be a clause that gives flexibility in the appointment of chancellors to say that the chancellor of the university can be the President of the Republic or someone else who the University Council may deem fit. This is in line with other institutions for higher learning across the world even public institutions for higher learning. For example in South Africa, the President of the Republic of South Africa is not the chancellor of each and every State university. The university councils are given the flexibility to appoint another eminent person in society to be a chancellor. So I am recommending that we include a clause in this amendment Bill that says, University Council should have an option of appointing another chancellor, apart from the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe because we now have a lot of universities and there is no need to burden the President to officiate.
You have seen graduation ceremonies being postponed because the President is unavailable, the President is busy. Yes, that is normal because the universities are now many. So let us include a new clause that says that the chancellor can be the President of the Republic or any other eminent Zimbabwean citizen who the council may choose. Otherwise I am happy. Thank you so much Madam Speaker.
THE MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY EDUCATION, INNOVATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. MURWIRA): Thank you Madam Speaker. I wish to thank the Hon. Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development and the Committee members for always supporting the Ministry and doing everything that is objectively necessary to make sure that we advance our education in such a way that this country develops and that this country has dignity in knowledge, and innovation for industrialisation, and making sure that we use our knowledge, and heritage to give dignity to our people.
So the object of this Bill is basically to make our universities comply with Section 13 of the National Constitution which states that, ‘Every institution of Government must lead to rapid and equitable development.’, so this is the main basis. The other basis is basically that we need efficient administration and efficient administration as captured in Section 194 of the Constitution. At the same time, this Bill wants to comply to the spirit and letter of the Constitution including Section 61 (1) (c) which talks about academic freedom – that is why, it is very important Madam Speaker that the Bill, in its founding statement, is to bring aforementioned Acts into conformity with the Constitution in totality. This is why it is very important to note that in formulating this Bill, we made sure that academic freedom is not violated.
I would be very happy for any Hon. Member to tell me where this Bill is violating academic freedom because that is not what it intends to do. It actually intends to strengthen academic freedom. In my opening statement, I said so. If it pleases the House therefore, it might then say, section this, this, this of the Constitution but then another one would say, why did you not mention one? It means it is the Constitution in totality. So this is very important, just to make it very clear that this Bill review was mainly for compliance with the Constitution.
I will also try to comment to the best of my ability on the very useful and important insights that we got from the Public Hearings as it was stated by our Chairperson. Hon. Speaker, there are two things at universities. There is overall general governance of the university which is the responsibility of Government. This overall governance is represented by about five officers. One the Librarian, we may want to change terms but what if it changes tomorrow? Universities by nature are conservative in order to be stable. So the word ‘Librarian’, even in the computer, there are libraries in the computer. They actually say Library A, Library B, et cetera. So I would not reduce this debate to semantics.
So I said Librarian, there is Registrar, Bursar, Pro-Vice Chancellor and Vice Chancellor. This is for the overall Administration Financial of the institution. However, there is what we call Academic Administration of the university. In the Academic Administration of the university which talks about generation of knowledge and innovations, and how people teach what they teach, and what time they teach, this is the realm of academic freedom, and Government does not interfere in that and there is nowhere it is mentioned that the Government will appoint a Dean. The Government cannot appoint a Dean because that is an academic post. Therefore, once you start to appoint a Dean, it means that the Government is interfering and that is where academic freedom begins to be violated. If the Government appoints, for example a Chairperson of a Department to say with the approval of the Minister, it cannot be so, that is the academic side. So when we are talking about the appointment of principal officers, these are by any definition and one can search anytime, to know that the principal officers of a university anywhere in the world are appointed by the Government.
An Act of Parliament is administered on behalf of Parliament and the President by a Minister. That is why we brought this thing here. However, it does not mean that the Minister is going to run the university on a day to day basis. Ceremonially, it is important that an Act provides that ‘the Minister shall…’ Several mentions of the Minister are normally on issues of procedure rather than issues of substance of academic freedom of the university.
Hon. Speaker, the Bursar is the Finance Officer of the university who accounts for Government resources at the university. We might talk about their alternative names and so on but if we do that, we are not focusing on the main point. The main point is; we want universities to constitute cogs of the development of this country. In the past, universities were doing teaching, research and workshops and we are saying; innovation and industrialisation because where else will we get innovation and industrialisation? In the past, the university is in the metropole of countries which had colonised us and had all the five items, including innovation and industrialisation. Here we were only taught to do three things for the purposes of becoming managers in their innovation industries. So, we are breaking a barrier that is very important and I am very pleased that the Committee and Hon. Members are emphasising on the importance of this shift.
I want to thank this Hon. House for making sure that they passed the Manpower, Planning and Development Act which is the principal Act of planning and is telling us about the mechanisms by which innovation is going to be managed at all institutions including universities and it talks about the establishment of the innovation fund. When we say innovation, it is already mentioned in the principal Act, what it means and in detail. This august House also passed the Centre for Education, Innovation, Research and Development Bill, which belongs to the same universities and state exactly the establishment of an innovation fund and what they should do with that fund.
So these Acts should not be read in isolation, they are a part of a cocktail of remedies that this august House has put in place to make sure that this Higher and Tertiary Education has a meaning to this country, gives dignity, food, health, connection, sleep and water to this country. Hon. Speaker, academic governance is entirely the purpose of the university and the highest academic authority in a university is the Senate and we do not interfere with it. It is very important to create an environment where they make their decisions regarding degrees and how to learn what; we only provide them with the environment in which they can do so. So there is no interference there.
However, the Government has a purpose to see whether public funds are being appropriately used when they are sent there and it is primarily in the Constitution that we should do so. So, we will continue to appoint the principal officers of the university; that is not interference, but it is facilitation.
On the issue of council, it is clearly stated; maybe some Hon. Members might have lost that in terms of gender. I will just give an example of the Zimbabwe Open University Act. On Section 10 (2) (a), on Council; ‘ensure both genders are equally represented and for the avoidance of doubt, that women constitute half of the membership of council.’ So, maybe some comments are due to the fact that maybe some terms are hidden and people are not seeing them, but it is very clear that we are not in violation of that constitutional requirement. We actually stated it for the avoidance of doubt.
There was an issue also on the issue of information technologist. An information technologist is like a Dean; these are operatives of a university. It is important that the university chooses whom they think is an information technologist in their university because they are directors of ICT. There are two things; at some point, people want us to make sure we impose another person but at some point they say, your hands off. So, on this one, we are saying ‘hands off.’ It is important that this academic post – because the head of Computer Science and Computer Centre is normally an academic, so let them do it, let the Senate deal with it, it is their business. However, when it comes to our monies and where our money is going, we will follow it, it is in line with the Constitution.
There are other issues like student representation, which is enshrined in the university ordinances. We are saying, the President of the Student Representative Council or the President of the Student Union sits in Council. Just like a nation, I do not know when we will go to the United Nations and we say the President must go with other people - what is he a President of? If the president is truly a president of the Student Representative Council, he/she must be representative of the students’ concerns. If the students are not happy with that president in Council, they must vote down the person, we do not interfere with that. We will not decide the president of the Student Representative Council (SRC).
We want to make sure that we have a lean and efficient administration. For every department at a university, they have a student representative at level 1 to 4 and then they have faculty representatives and then they have an SRC. Student representation at universities is the core business of the university and academic freedom is guaranteed because nobody will tell – Government cannot tell a person how to think and what to think when they are in a faculty. Most of the times there is confusion between freedom of speech and academic freedom. Academic freedom is a specialised type of freedom that is enjoyed by students and faculty members only. It is like a privilege. Academia is like a little cult; it is a specialised group where people think. Lawyers call themselves; I think they say, ‘we are the learned people.’
In academia, we do not interfere with how they do their business because we want them to think freely so that they can provide solutions for us. So academic freedom is not under threat; if it was, that was then but not now, now it is completely guaranteed. Academic freedom does not mean shouting at a parent, it does not mean running around the street and destroying property, that is not academic freedom. It is a preserve of those people in faculties who think freely and do things freely without interference or fear. They might actually say, ‘I want to describe Prof. Amon Murwira as a ghost when they are in class. There is nothing that I can do to them. It is because they want to take me as a ghost and they can talk about it as long as they are in class. As soon as they get out of class and they are in the streets and they call me a ghost, I will sue them. I think it is very important that we understand what academic freedom is all about. It is not violation of laws of a country. It is a special preserve of faculty whereby people can criticize freely. That is why you can see that some academics are even heads of political parties but they are not chased from institutions because at university they are doing what they are supposed to do in the academic.
This country respects academic freedom but the main object of this Bill is developmental. Secondly, it is just to make sure that the administration of the university is efficient. Thirdly, is to make sure that representation does not violate the Constitution and to make sure that students are represented.
When it comes to the Chancellor, it is not a new introduction that we are making here. The Chancellor is already known and is the President of the Republic. We are not making any amendment about the Chancellor at all. In my tenure, with the privilege of being in this tenure, we have never delayed any graduation. It is on time. The Chancellor is a ceremonial post with the most prominent person in that nation. We take our first citizen proudly as our most prominent person. It is in the statutes and we do not have any problems with that.
It is also very important that in our boards we do not violate sections of the Constitution that include the sections on disability and women, which basically means in our council we must observe Section 17 and 18 of the Constitution. If it is not clear, we can just insert, observe Section 17 and 18 of the Constitution but I thought it was there. It is not in our intention to violate the Constitution at all.
Madam Speaker Ma’am, I thank the Hon. Members for such a robust debate and the involvement of communities in giving input to how we run our universities. In other things, we can include the details in the ordinances because if we are too detailed in the Act, it might be difficult to make flexible ordinances. The universities must be able to look at their ordinances so that we increase the amount of academic freedom that they must have. Madam Speaker Ma’am I move that the Bill be now read a second time.
Motion put and agreed to.
Bill read a second time.
Committee Stage: Wednesday, 13th April, 2022.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. T. MOYO: I move that Orders of the Day, Numbers 1 to 34 be stood over until Order of the Day Number 35 has been disposed of.
HON. TEKESHE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE INSTITUTE OF CHARTERED LOSS CONTROL MANAGEMENT BILL
Thirty-Fifth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion that leave be granted to bring in a Private Member’s Bill.
HON. MUNETSI: Thank you very much Madam Speaker for giving me this chance to air my views from this Institute of Chartered Loss Control Management Bill. I found it very interesting when I was going through the Bill and I decided I should air my views as well so that we have a solid act to control loss in this country. When I was reading through, I decided to thank Hon. Dr. Murire for bringing up this Bill so that we can assist in controlling loss. The whole idea about this Bill is to plug some gaps that are found in losses that are incurred in this country; loss of property, damage of property, injury of persons, loss through negligence, accidental loss or loss by breach of law. All these losses need to be controlled somehow.
Loss control management is to ensure that there is safety and security, there is also protection and prevention of items, whether they be for companies or the State. A lot has been done in this country to try and prevent loss quite a number of mitigatory measures have been tried so that loss is not incurred. Loss starts from planning. If you do not plan well, you lose a lot. It proceeds to when you do the manufacturing, if you do not manufacture and if you are under manufacturing, you incur a loss. It proceeds to the time when you want to gain some profits; you will discover that it has been a trail of losses. Loss Management has been tried in this country in several ways. You will discover certain systems that have been put in place, all have been designed everywhere to control loss. There is some hiring of guards, it is a measure to control loss in a country, you have CCTVs, cameras all over, there are some designs of cyber software, private investigators in companies and everywhere. All those are put to try and control as a measure of loss management.
You will discover that whatever method is used, the idea at the end of it all is to try and consolidate what one wants to gain. I was also looking at some of the sophisticated methods, technological advancements methods that have been used but they were all manufactured by a human being who makes it. If it is human manufactured, it can also be attacked by a human and loss can be incurred. This Bill seeks to bring in some ideas of how many loss management systems have been put; how then can they be put together to come up and go under oversight of Government. You will discover that all these loss management systems that are there, some are personal, whatever one thinks can control loss is what you do. All these systems have no Government oversight. They need to be put under some stringent measures, be they private as they may be. They should have some regulatory factor in them.
If they are not regulated, then they stand a chance to lose anyhow. There are several issues on control measures that have been put in place, some human and others machinery. Now, if you look at some video surveillance camera which we put, or some close circuit television, biometric security processors and even some drones, all those were put to try and mitigate loss in any company. You will discover at the end of the day, clever as we are, we always come up with a method to counter whatever methods...
Hon. Col. (Rtd) Dr. Murire having passed in between the Member holding the floor and the Speaker.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Member, you do not use that way of crossing between the Speaker and the member. You can proceed Hon. Member.
HON. MUNETSI: Thank you Madam Speaker. I was saying all those methods are put to try and control loss in any situation. The whole system that we have in this country, some institutions, some universities that teach about loss control, we have Chartered Institute of Management Accountancy, Association of Certified Chartered Accountants, Institute of Chartered Accountancy and all those institutions. All those are meant to try and put some measures to control loss in companies and elsewhere. You will discover at the end of the day, many as they are, you still incur shrinkage and you wonder why? There has to be somehow some regulatory measures which have a Government insight to control loss in the country.
If we do not make or put an Act that has measures to control loss, the loss remains on individuals, just like for example you can have debt collectors, it is a loss control measure but there is no way in the statutes of Zimbabwe where debt collectors are allowed to do that. It is just a measure that people come up with. So, as a recommendation, Parliament must come up with occupational activities and h measures that allow loss control to have regulator effects and Government oversight. I thank you.
(v)HON. BRG. GEN. (RTD) MAYIHLOME: Thank you very much Hon. Speaker for giving me this opportunity to add my voice to this very important motion raised by Hon. Col. (Rtd) Dr. Murire concerning security organisations in the country. It is very alarming that 42 years after independence, this country has never thought of regulating this sector that is private security organisations operating loosely although they get licenced by the Ministry of Home Affairs but they are operating loosely without strict oversight, strict control and observance of what they do. It is indeed a security threat or a serious security breach that such things can happen for 42 years in a country with the advent of so many disturbances around the world.
We talking of insurgency, terrorism, civil disobediences and as a country somehow, somewhere, who is carrying what weapons and for what purposes? Who is carrying what gadgets and for what purpose? Where did they source them, how do they use them and how do they dispose of them? Will those gadgets not end up with a subversive element in the country? It is important that there is an Act that oversees and regulates the way they operate. The events that we see in the rest of Africa, we talk of Born of Africa, the Sahel Region, Nigeria; the Great Lakes and very close to our border in Mozambique here. These look remote but one day they might visit us as a country. We do not want such situations to arise and we do not know who is who. We know we have private armies. We have this dyke group that goes out of the country to intervene or to assist other legitimate Governments in the region like in Mozambique. That group means it is a force. How is it regulated, which law covers their operations, not just to go and operate in Mozambique but the law that regulate even their carrying of arms, what sort of weapons do they have and how do they get them. Weapons in the world are procured on the strength of an end user certificate. So, how are they procuring their weapons? We do not want such loopholes to remain. Such loopholes should be closed and regulated so that the nation is never put to risk.
We also need to understand the level of training that they get. We do not want to have a situation whereby private security organisations and private armies destabilise the region. We need to know what force is where and how they can assist. As long as they are not regulated we do not know. As it is their strength and capabilities are not easily quantified because no law regulates how they procure and operate. I really strongly feel that this Bill is long overdue. We need an Act that will ensure that everything that has to do with security is monitored and known so that when the need arises those security forces and those that need to react have sufficient information. I strongly recommend that the Ministry of Home Affairs crafts this Bill and brings it to Parliament. I thank you.
HON. DR. MURIRE: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. TEKESHE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 13th April 2022.
On the motion of HON. TOGAREPI seconded by HON. TEKESHE the House adjourned at Twenty-one Minutes to Six o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Thursday, 7th April, 2022
The Senate met at Half-past Two O’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE in the Chair)
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I cannot complain today that Ministers are not enough because the House is almost empty so we just proceed with those who are here.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
HON. SEN. MOHADI: Thank you Madam President. My question is directed to the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development. The Ministry is doing a very wonderful job on the Beitbridge-Chirundu Road, can the Minister highlight to us on how far they have gone on the road rehabilitation programme taking place along that road. We want to know the mileage because we just see the work taking place but we do not know how many kilometres they have covered?
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I am sorry Hon. Senator, I will not allow the Minister to answer that question because you are talking of a particular road, please put that question in writing so that the Minister can go and ask the engineers.
*HON. SEN. CHISOROCHENGWE: My question is directed to the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development. What is Government policy concerning the use of red triangles that are not being used by motorists when they have breakdowns?
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. MHONA): I want to thank the Hon. Senator for the question that she raised. It is true that our road regulations are not being adhered to. As the Ministry of Transport who are responsible for the transport sector, we work together with the ZRP, which means that the question she has raised, every motorist is supposed to be well equipped with the required gadgets in his/he car, including the red triangles that she mentioned so that when a breakdown happens, that triangle is placed to notify motorists that there is a breakdown. So our motorists need to adhere to road regulations. Even when driving, you are not even allowed to use your cellphone. So I urge all motorists in Zimbabwe that we are the ones who passed the laws and we are supposed to adhere to the laws. I hope that as I work with the Ministry of Home Affairs, we will ensure that we strengthen our systems to ensure that every car has the required gadgets in case of a breakdown. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. G. MOYO: Thank you Madam President for giving me this opportunity. I want to thank the Minister of Transport for the bridge that they worked on which had been eroded because of the heavy rains and we want to thank him for that. My question is, how far have you gone in terms of rehabilitation of rural roads? Are you still working on that or you have since stopped working on the roads for some time? I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. MHONA): I want to thank the Hon. President of Senate and I want to thank Hon. Sen. Moyo for her appreciation of the work that the Government is doing under President Mnangagwa in terms of roads rehabilitation. I also want to say that on the issue of road rehabilitation, especially in rural areas, we were behind in terms of rehabilitation. During the rainy season, it was difficult for work to continue on the roads because of the texture of the soils.
We have Rural District Councils and DDF in rural areas and we work together with the Ministry of Transport. We are working together and we do not put the blame or give the road network to one particular group. As advised by the President, we are now working together with DDF and RDC. I want to make a commitment that you will soon realise that most of the roads will be rehabilitated and work is going to progress. Thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI: Thank you Madam President for giving me this opportunity. My question is directed to the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development. I want to thank him for his intervention on the issue of number plates. My question is, has the situation improved so that people are able to get number plates so that they are not given tickets for violation of regulations? I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. MHONA): Thank you Madam President. I also want to thank Hon. Sen. Chimbudzi for the question that she posed which is very important. It is true that we had a challenge in terms of number plates at the beginning of the year which led us to investigate the area where number plates are found. We found that there was a challenge in that Zimbabweans were being denied this because others were engaged in corruption. Middlemen wanted to line their pockets and through our President, who has said no to corruption we realised what was happening at the station.
So we ensured that number plates are now accessible at ZimPost stations and we ensured that we decongest the Central Vehicle Registry. As I speak, it is progressing well. We do not have challenges of the long queues where people would queue outside the building so that we do not have those people who engage in corrupt activities. Zimbabweans can now access number plates in a civil manner.
I am grateful that we were able to stamp out corruption that was happening at the Central Vehicle Registry Department. What we have now is the challenge with the licences and they were being back dated to 2019. I want to inform the House that we have a listening President, meaning that he has heard the cries of the people that licences have not been available since 2019. So what we have done is that we have been capacitated to make these licences, looking at the backlog from 2019. Those who do not have their driver’s licences, we will be notifying you.
Currently, there is progress in terms of getting these driver’s licences. We are hoping to also get regional licences within the SADC Region. So, we will move from our national licence to the SADC licence. I want to emphasise that for those who have not received their licences since 2019, we will be informing them to come and collect their licence disks. Thank you Madam President.
HON. SEN. CHIEF MAKUMBE: Thank you Madam President. My question is directed to the Minister of Finance. I would like to know what Government policy is with regards to the issuance of guarantees to Independent Power Producers (IPPs) so that colleagues in that area can attract capital in order to ensure we have the much needed power in the country. The challenge has been that of guarantees from the Ministry of Finance. Thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHIDUWA): Thank you so much Madam President and thank you Hon. Senator for the question which is a very critical one regarding the issue of power. The issue of energy and power is very critical for the development of this country. Independent Power Producers (IPPs) as rightly said, the Government has a leeway in terms of the provision of guarantees. It is true, but we go through a lengthy process of due diligence.
The process starts with the acceptance of the tariff rates that are supposed to be used. At the moment, we have not yet finalised the issue of tariffs. This is an issue that has been taking a lot of investors aback because they would come up with proposals where they would say they want tariffs of say around 11 cents per kilowatt and for us, we would look at affordability when it comes to charging such rates to the industry. That issue has been finalised now and we are done especially with regards to the agreed tariffs.
On the guarantees, for all the independent power producers where we agree on tariffs, we issue guarantees. So, the position is very clear, we provide guarantees where the tariff has been agreed upon. Thank you.
HON. SEN. KOMICHI: Thank you so much Hon. President. My question is directed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. We do understand that the Government has a policy of re-engagement with the external world. Would you please update us on the progress that you have made so far as far as our relationship with Europe, Britain and America is concerned?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FOREIGN AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE (HON. MUSABAYANA): I would like to thank Hon. Sen. Komichi for a very important question that many Zimbabweans have been asking, on how far we have gone in terms of the philosophy of our President, Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa, of engagement and re-engagement. I will try to take you back a little bit; as you know that from 1980, our foreign policy was very straight-forward where after the liberation struggle, the late President who was the Prime Minister then, Robert Gabriel Mugabe, pronounced a foreign policy that was well accepted the world-over, of reconciliation, peace and unity and also of turning guns into plough-shares. Over the years, our relationship got to the extent of even being united by the Queen.
However, over the years, that relationship was not sustained after we tried to implement the Lancaster House Conference Agreement of 21 December, 1979 where Britain and the United States of America had actually offered guarantees to compensate land that would have been taken away from the white commercial farmers restoring it back to the black farmers.
After we did the Land Reform Programme, sanctions were imposed on us and along the way, we also had to come out of the Commonwealth voluntarily. We then had the Look East Policy where we focused on China, Russia and India - but it was not sustained because we saw our currency being decimated. There was unprecedented depreciation with the worst inflation the world-over and the rest you know it; food shortages, fuel shortages, we had queues at the banks and everywhere. Things stabilized a little bit during the Government of National Unity but again it was not sustainable.
In 2017, we saw a new dispensation being ushered and President E. D. Mnangagwa heading it and this is when he pronounced a new policy of engagement and re-engagement, which is a 360 degree policy, which was now a diversion or contradiction from just the Look East Policy. So, from re-engagement and engagement, we are focusing on rebuilding the bridges that have been broken and at the same time, creating new avenues. This is where we saw our President going to Belarus and we saw the equipment that came from there. There was also the fire-fighting equipment that was commissioned last year by the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, Tourism and Hospitality Industry which came from Belarus.
We also saw the engagement that has been done by the Americans where we saw the John Deere Facility of US$50 million. What has that done - we have seen that it has actually become a very important cog in the improvement or upgrading of our agricultural systems and we saw the surplus that we achieved last year in our maize production. We had more than 2.7 million metric tonnes because we now had enough harvest capabilities in terms of harvesting and tilling our land. With the wheat, over the years we have been importing 70% to 80% of the wheat in this country but because of the engagement and re-engagement programme or philosophy in our foreign policy, we saw the production of wheat which was unprecedented. As we speak, we actually have enough wheat for the rest of the season which has never really happened. This goes to show that the engagement has worked.
Our President has never travelled to Europe for the past 25 years but in November, we saw the President being invited to Glasgow to attend the Climate Change Conference, COP 26, which has never happened before and he met a lot of European leaders. This year, he was also invited to the AU-EU Summit in Brussels which goes to show that the international community has warmed up to the engagement and re-engagement process.
Finally, the issue of sanctions, you know the economic sanctions that were imposed by Britain, United States of America and the European Union (EU). The EU has removed most of the sanctions except the sanctions for Defence and Security – that goes to show that the engagement and re-engagement process has worked.
We have also analysed that since 1970, the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) even during Ian Smith’s time, our ratio of FDI to GDP had never surpassed a 3% mark. Even at the height of the GNU, in 2014, it was 2.85% but during the new dispensation in 2019, we scored 3.85% according to the World Bank which has never been surpassed or reached before. This goes to show that the new dispensation’s engagement and re-engagement mantra is actually indeed bearing fruits.
Finally, last year, we recorded the biggest growth in Africa in terms of economic growth despite the COVID-19, Cyclone Idai that impacted on us, despite the previous year’s drought, and also other challenges that the globe faced. We scored 7.8% economic growth which is phenomenal and we were the best in Africa. So I think, the engagement and re-engagement process is a journey but is bearing fruits and better times are really coming. I submit Hon. Madame President.
+HON. SEN. A. DUBE: Thank you Madame President. My question is directed to the Hon. Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage. What measures are in place to protect members of our police who are being abused or hurt by criminals who do not want to be arrested? Most of our police officers are being injured whilst on duty with nothing to protect them.
+THE HON. DEPUTY MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS AND CULTURAL HERITAGE (HON. MAVHUNGA-MABOYI): Thank you Madam President Ma’am. I would also like to thank Hon. Dube for the pertinent question. The police are protected. When the police go after criminals, we give them all the tools of work.
There may be differences in tactics but they are protected. We now have cars – we were given cars by His Excellency the President, Hon. E. D. Mnangagwa. We were given big cars with the requisite security accessories. Yes, people do get injured but the police are protected. The fact that they are injured is not because they are injured due to lack of protection against criminals. Mostly our police are killing the criminals and at times the criminals are arrested.
I would like to notify the House that we are trying our best as Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage to protect the police. Sometimes they join forces with soldiers but they have the requisite accessories. I thank you.
^^HON. SEN. NYATHI: My question is directed to the Hon. Minister of Finance and Economic Development. Hon. Minister, with the current situation where fuel is expensive and other things, what is Government’s policy regarding the monies being paid to people, which is not enough to cater for their needs considering the prices? I thank you.
*THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Hon. Minister, did you understand the question?
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHIDUWA): Thank you Madam President for the pertinent question that was asked by the Hon. Senator. If I heard well, I believe, the question is about the inflation rate and the sky rocketing prices.
Let me say that what is causing the hyper-inflation is that at the moment, there are two issues. One, what is happening outside Zimbabwe in the macro-global economic environment that we cannot control and other internal issues. So what is happening is that inflation in Zimbabwe, sometimes it happens because we are working on our expenditure and revenue.
Our money supply, when we look at basic economics, what causes prices to rise? Right now, in the Monetary Policy Statement that was issued by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), the target surplus was brought down to 5% in April and June. This means that our money supply does not have an input on inflation. The other reason is that Government may be using what it does not have. So as Government, since November 2018, we have never taken any money from the RBZ. We only spend what we have in our fiscus. This means that there is nothing that we are doing which results in price increases. So we need to look at the current account balance that we have, that is, the revenue that we have from imports and exports. We have a current account surplus. So this means that on that aspect, in our management of imports and exports, these are not factors that contribute to price increases.
Looking at our inflation rate, we discovered that the inflation rate is going up. When we looked at this, we noted that this is because of the black market rate which is fluctuating but this has nothing to do with economic fundamentals. The challenge is that in our fiscus, there are two currencies; the Zimbabwe Dollar and the American Dollar and there is one strong currency. The other currency is not as strong as the other one. However, those who use money for consumption use the softer money and save the stronger currency as the store of value. When we price in Zimbabwe Dollars, people are now looking at the exchange rate because of the fluctuations that are happening in the exchange rate. This is because of what happened in the past and they end up saving the US dollars.
This is a behavioural issue we are trying to fix. There are also some factors like the Ukraine-Russian crisis. This is a war which is affecting a lot of things. I would start by mentioning disruption of supply chains. It affects logistics in terms of transportation of goods and services which results in price rises. There is also the issue of gas and fuel which have primary and secondary effects on price increases. Also looking at food, we have been receiving fertilizer from Ukraine and Russia. Any price increases on inputs like fertilizer will cascade down to food stuffs. When we came up with our annual budget last year, there was a theme; Enhancing Sustainable Economic Recovery and Resilience; which means that shocks were known that they can happen at any time - external shocks like the one that we are talking about and other shocks like the COVID-19 pandemic and Cyclone Idai as well as the drought.
We are saying as Government, how then do we adjust our exchange rate so that we do not continue seeing what is happening in the black market. In the past week, the RBZ released a Monetary Policy Statement which said that the bank is now taking a gradualist approach starting with small amounts. This helps Government to keep markets so that they understand whether the willing buyer-willing seller basis is working. This will be formalised through the banking system. Where there are challenges, Government has safety nets.
There are social protection intervention mechanisms which are meant to cushion those who are facing challenges, for instance food stuffs and school fees for those who cannot pay their fees. That is why we intervened with BEAM programme. Also the Pfumvudza Programme, it is also meant to cater for that as the productive intervention protection scheme is meant for adults as social safety nets to cushion those who are vulnerable. So, price increases have nothing to do with fundamentals of economics. This has to do with the macro global economic environment. This is what we are fixing. We are coming up with interventions to make sure that people are cushioned. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. KOMICHI: Thank you Madam President. Price fluctuations and the reduction in people’s incomes through erosion; does Government have the capacity to capacitate civil servants or give them money which is equivalent to the poverty datum line? I thank you.
*HON. CHIDUWA: Thank you Madam President. Thank you Sen. Komichi for your pertinent follow up question to what we are discussing. I would like to start with the vision of our Government which we were given by our President that we want to be an empowered, prosperous upper middle class economy by 2030. As our economy improves, then our salaries and conditions of service should be adjusted in tandem with what is happening in the economy.
Looking at what is happening at the moment in 2022, people’s salaries might be increased in two ways, either by holding inflation, by stabilising prices so that salaries can be increased in real terms. They can be raised in absolute terms. This is what I said last time responding to a question that through the Joint Negotiating Forum, Government is committed to addressing the salaries issue, not only to those levels that are being mentioned but as Government, we desire that people have meaningful salaries looking at what we have in the fiscus as approved by Parliament. What we can do as Government, without compromising the growth of our economy, because when we looked at the past, we discovered that 90% was going to salaries. However, in the new direction that we have been given by His Excellency, 60% of our budget should go towards development whilst the difference goes to recurrent expenditure.
We are not only looking at the 500 and something salary but we want to go beyond that amount depending on the growth of our economy, but at the moment, we can adjust salaries by stabilising the inflation rate. I thank you.
+HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: Thank you Madam President. My question is directed to the Minister of Home Affairs. What does the law say with regards to the payment of spot fines? What should commuters do in such situations?
+THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS AND CULTURAL HERITAGE (HON. MAVHUNGA-MABOYI): Thank you Madam President. I would like to thank Hon. Sen. Mathuthu for the question. Spot fines are not allowed. They are illegal but the police sometimes, because of the situation and circumstances, end up demanding spot fine. If you give him time to pay - they fail to comply with that, they fail to cooperate and pay. Some promise to pay and then they get out of the country, we do not have time to look for those people. We do not ask people to pay fines in foreign currency. Thank you.
+HON. SEN. A. DUBE: My question is directed to the Minister of National Housing and Social Amenities. There are some houses in Zimbabwe which are called pool houses. These are houses that accommodate civil servants, some have stayed in those houses for more than 30 years and they are still on rent to pay scheme. What does the policy say so that they can be on rent to buy scheme? I thank you.
*THE MINISTER OF NATIONAL HOUSING AND SOCIAL AMENITIES (HON. GARWE): There are people who are living in pool houses. Those people are paying rentals. Will there be a time when they will be allowed to pay for rent to buy schemes? We have programmes for rent to buy and rent to retire. Those who have stayed for a long time in those houses are like those who have paid mortgage and the Ministry is trying its best to prepare a proposal that we will take to Cabinet, and if Cabinet agrees we will come back to you with the outcome. We have a plan for those houses and we are still in the process.
Madam President, last month you heard the President saying and currently he is still saying that those people who are staying in houses but do not have title deeds must be given those title deeds. Those people who are staying in mortgaged houses are some of them. In Highfield, Makokoba, Dangamvura, those houses do not have title deeds. Those people will be monitored if they are paying rent and they will be given the title deeds for the houses. Thank you Madam President.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: Thank you Madam President. My question is directed to the Deputy Minister of Energy and Power Development. There are places all over the country where electricity was installed. Unfortunately, through heavy rains and winds those poles fell, yet already electricity was connected. In other places, it has taken more than three years whilst those poles are down, what is the policy of the Ministry on that one?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER DEVELOPMENT (HON. MUDYIWA): I want to thank the Hon. Member for that pertinent question. It is true that during the rainy seasons we have challenges of poles falling down because of the heavy rains. We are very much aware that we have got a number of areas where there is no electricity because of the poles that are down. The utility is seized with the matter and are working hard to make sure that those poles are replaced with new poles and electricity restored in those areas. The challenge that we were facing is that of funding to buy the much needed poles. The suppliers of those poles, most of them are preferring customers who pay in foreign currency and our utility cannot afford to pay for those poles in foreign currency. Thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF MAKUMBE): Thank you Madam President. We are having problems of accidents which are being caused by trees that have grown through electrical poles. What is Government’s plan concerning those trees? Trees are growing, passing through power lines. What is the Government saying concerning that problem? ZESA is no longer cutting down trees that are growing through power lines, which is called bush cutting. Thank you Madam President.
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER DEVELOPMENT (HON. MUDYIWA): Thank you Madam President for the question from Hon. Sen. Chief Makumbe which is pertinent. Trees that are disturbing our power lines must be cut down so that we do not have electrical problems that will affect people and animals. I think what is happening is that ZESA has more work to do and most of the times they will not be aware that there are certain places experiencing those problems. If ZESA is aware of those problems, I believe they will take action.
There are some residents who allow trees to grow and pass through power lines, not to them only but to their neighbours and the community at large. We encourage people to be aware and take caution with regards to those trees so that they will not affect power lines. ZESA must take action and cut trees that pass through power lines. They might be having challenges with resources to take action immediately but they take action before people are affected. Thank you.
Questions without Notice were interrupted by THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE in terms of Standing Order No. 67.
HON. KOMICHI: Thank you Madam President. We are kindly asking for the extension of time by ten minutes.
HON. SEN. A. DUBE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: It has been proposed that we extend by ten minutes and so at Quarter to Four o’clock p.m., we will stop.
HON. KOMICHI: Thank you Madam President. My question is directed to the Minister of National Housing. We once had an argument about people building their houses on wetlands, especially in Harare. What has Government done about those people residing on wetlands and where will they go? Thank you.
THE MINISTER OF NATIONAL HOUSING AND SOCIAL AMENITIES (HON. GARWE): Thank you Madam President and thank you Hon. Sen. Komichi for that pertinent question. There are people who build on wetlands and there are people who build their houses on places which were meant for schools and roads. The Government is saying that it is not allowed. Those people who build their houses on wetlands must be relocated to other places. Government is looking for places to relocate people and do infrastructural development before they relocate the people.
Those people must be given developed stands which are legal, according to the by-laws of the council which is according to the Government. Above that, the Government introduced the programme of building flats. Some of the people who will be given opportunities to buy those flats are those people staying on wetlands. These flats are already being built in Dzivarasekwa. We will be building some more flats in Highfields, Waterfalls and behind Sunningdale suburb. If we go to Mashonaland East in Marondera, we have already started building those flats. In Gweru, we have started building those flats in Senga suburb. The Government will build flats all over Zimbabwe so that the people who are staying on wetlands and places meant for infrastructural development will have places to relocate to. People who want to buy stands that are already developed may also buy them but the cost will be too much.
I would also like to talk about those people who are selling places which are meant for the Government, especially councillors in Harare who are selling places which are meant for Government. Those land barons are the ones responsible for selling stands in wetlands. Yesterday we were answering the question in the National Assembly concerning the Dzivarasekwa suburb concerning the issue that you find some places having five or six people at one place which is being caused by land barons.
We are kindly asking citizens of Zimbabwe not to buy stands from land barons because you will be wasting your money. If those places are for Government, they will remain Government places. If they are for local authorities, they will also remain local authority stands. If someone is selling stands, you must take note of them and make sure he/she has enough papers to sell those stands. If anyone buys a stand from someone, they must report to the police so that they make sure they are from the Government and not from land barons.
It is hard for the police to sue those people if they do not have valid evidence. If cases are going to the High Court, we kindly advise the public to come and testify in the courts so that the land barons will be prosecuted. These cases need to be reported to the police so that the land barons will be arrested. Thank you Mr. President.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: Thank you Mr. President Sir. My question goes to the Minister of Women Affairs. My question is on the issue of the Women’s Bank which is in operation, I just want to know its progress because women are supposed to get loans or starter packs if they have projects. I want to know if this project is working because many women are waiting and they do not have the collateral that is supposed to be paid. I would also want to know the interest rate for loans at that bank. I thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF WOMEN’S AFFAIRS, COMMUNITY, SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES DEVELOPMENT (HON. MHLANGA): Thank you Mr. President. I would like to thank Hon. Sen. Mohadi for that very important question. Mr. President Sir, I would like to say that, yes the Women’s Bank has progressed very well from a capacitation of just $6.5 million to half a billion last year. I also want to say that the Women’s Bank has rolled out programmes in all the provinces of our country. The main programme and the emphasis that the bank has been spreading out is that of financial inclusion in terms of those women in businesses that had been excluded in terms of getting loans from banks.
Mr. President Sir, the starter packs that our Hon. Senator is asking about have come in the form of assets, which assets we have had to use as collateral so that our women access loans from the bank. The bank is still in its growing stage and we also want to protect the bank from those liability loans. We will insist on the bank operating under the fundamentals of any other normal bank.
Questions Without Notice were interrupted by THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF SENATE in terms of Standing Order No. 67.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHIDUWA): Thank you Mr. President. I move that Orders of the Day, Numbers 1 to 6 be stood over until Order of the Day, Number 7 has been disposed of. I thank you.
Motion put and agreed to.
COMMITTEE STAGE
PENSION AND PROVIDENT FUNDS BILL [H. B. 17A, 2019]
Seventh Order read: Committee Stage: Pension and Provident Funds Bill [H. B.17A, 2019].
House in Committee.
Clauses 1 to 64 put and agreed to.
Schedule put and agreed to.
Bill reported without amendments.
Third Reading: With leave, forthwith.
THIRD READING
PENSION AND PROVIDENT FUNDS BILL [H. B. 17A, 2019]
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHIDUWA): Mr. President, I now move that the Bill be read the third time.
Motion put and agreed to.
Bill read the third time.
On the motion of THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHIDUWA), the Senate adjourned at Seventeen Minutes past Four o’clock p.m. until Tuesday, 12th April, 2022.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Thursday, 7th April, 2022
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two O’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. SPEAKER in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE HON. SPEAKER
DECLARATION OF ASSETS/FINANCIAL INTERESTS BY MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have to inform the House that in terms of Section 198 of the Constitution as read together with Standing Order No. 51 of the Standing Orders of the National Assembly, Hon. Members are expected to declare their assets. This must be done within 60 days of taking Oath of Loyalty after a General Election.The declaration of financial interests is recorded in a register that is kept and maintained by the Clerk of Parliament.
There are two forms to be filled in - namely: form (a) which is public and form (b) which is confidential and strictly for use by Parliament. The forms may be filled in at the Counsel’s Office which is situated on the third floor in office number 305. Hon. Members are not permitted to leave with the forms they would have filled in as these must be submitted in the same office. Failure by a Member to declare his or her financial interests within 60 days of taking of the Oath or presenting a false declaration shall constitute contempt. The 60 days within which Hon. Members are expected to declare their assets expires on 6th June, 2022.
Further to that, let me advise Hon. Members who have already filled in these forms that they must update them if they have acquired assets or disposed of assets since the date they filled their forms.
NETWORK CONNECTIVITY AND VIRTUAL SITTING OF THE PLENARY
THE HON. SPEAKER: Finally I have to remind the newly sworn in Members to get in touch with the ICT officers stationed in the Member’s Dining for assistance on issues relating to network connectivity and virtual sitting of the plenary.
SPEAKER’S RULING
WEARING OF PARTY REGALIA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
THE HON. SPEAKER: I noticed that among the new Hon. Members, some have insisted on putting the attire that we discussed on 5th April during swearing in. In the middle of the swearing in, if you recall, Hon. Chinotimba raised a point of order regarding the regalia of the MPs being sworn in and that is the Members of CCC Party. I noted the point of order and continued with the swearing in of the Members, craving them my indulgence so that the proceedings would go on undisturbed. At the end of the swearing in ceremony, the Chair agreed with Hon. Chinotimba’s observation and the Chair implored the said MPs not to wear the regalia in question, that had a generic CCC Party insignia. The MPs protested and were allowed to stay in the Chamber and they did participate in the parliamentary proceedings but were warned to desist from putting on the attire in question because of its generic party allegiance connotations.
The following day on 6th April, 2022, the said MPs stomped into the Chamber after ignoring a police cordon. The Chair warned them not to wear the attire in question but they protested in an unruly manner until they cooled down. The Chair then proposed an ad hoc Committee represented by the three parties; CCC, ZANU PF and MDC-T and Hon. Mliswa indicated that he did not have a Chief Whip so he needed to join that ad hoc Committee and I agreed. The whole idea was to find the way forward in the context of our Standing Rules and Orders.
That Committee met this morning to no avail and CCC was represented by Hon. Biti who refused adamantly to back down on the issue of the attire. Now, some ZANU PF MPs were asked by the Chair in the past and yesterday, not to wear the Presidential trademark scarf in the House. They all complied. Thus, in fairness and in the spirit of impartiality, Members on my left from CCC, the majority of whom have not put on the attire in question and only three, I think decided to disobey my ruling which had carried so much indulgence.
In the past, before the recall of the said Members of Parliament, we did not have issues at all about the attire of political and this is a public Chamber. It is not a place for political theatre. We can wear our attire and party regalia outside when we go for our political meetings or in our constituencies but not in the Chamber because this is a public institution. It is an institution for all the people of Zimbabwe we represent and we do not want to be confused by such tendencies exhibited through generic political attire. In that context, I am asking Hon. Biti, Hon. Hwende and Hon.Chikombo to please go and put on different ties altogether as your colleagues have done.
HON. T. MLISWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. First of all, I would like to say that despite your ruling of yesterday that I must be part of the committee, I was not invited to the meeting. I had a meeting with the Clerk at 0930 hours with the Parliamentary Sports Club. I was there and no communication came through. I think it is important that when such ad hoc committees are called, effort is put to invite all Members. The mere fact of others going ahead without even one Member, can create a problem because the ruling of the Speaker is final and you also have to show evidence as to whether you got hold of me or not. I am actually surprised that no one could get hold of me yet people know how to get hold of me. It really shows some disrespect of the ruling of the Chair. Whether it was some caucus held so that I am not there because I raise pertinent points and you were probably worried I would raise pertinent points, it is really not good moving forward. It does not reflect the true sense of this Parliament at the end of the day. We must be tolerant of each other.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the fact that I was not there, I would like to go back to the rules of Parliament, Standing Order 80, which is very clear. If I had been to the meeting, this is what I would have just stuck to. We are governed by Rules and Standing Order 80 is very clear in terms of the appearance. I would want to go to Standing Order 80 (5) which states“the attire for male Members shall include the following-...” I am shocked that the lawyers were there and could not stick to just Rules and not decide on the Rules. These Rules do not change. It talks about “(a) suits (b) jacket and tie”. It does not mean the colour of the tie, it talks about ‘jacket, tie and safari suit’. That is what is expected according to our Rules which we must respect and stand by unless they are changed.
Many a times, I have approached your Chair to say for example, Hon. Mahoka’s funeral, that may Parliament send MPs to the funeral and you were correct to say it is not in the Standing Orders. I have read and understood this. If this is our guiding principle, it is stuck in my head yet there are other Rules which come and are not there, what do I do? Mr. Speaker Sir, I will therefore indulge you. First of all, we are lucky we have a Speaker who is a lawyer, not only a lawyer but an advocate who will not waver in terms of Rules. He sticks to the Rules as we have been taught. We have learnt the Constitution and the Standing Orders because of you. You always say, if you are going to say anything, know your Constitution and Standing Orders. You have taught us that and we have lived by that, it is our bible.
I would want Mr. Speaker Sir, with your indulgence, to say, MDC-T is red, so do we also go for red. It will seem as if it is different strokes for different folks kind of attitude but the Rules do not say that. If I look at Hon. Biti’s tie, it actually has a label of the company which made it, there is no CCC. When he bought it, it was like that. If you talk about party regalia, unless if the meaning is different but with your indulgence Mr. Speaker Sir, may we just stick to the Rules that you have taught us to stick by. Some of us are thinking of studying law because we have now understood the Constitution and the Standing Rules because of your insistence for us to know the Rules.
May I indulge you Mr. Speaker Sir. While they failed to reach a verdict, I was not there, I would have come up with this and hopefully the verdict could have come through. Because of absence, I have not proffered this contribution, which I would have done, which is about the Rules. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
THE HON. SPEAKER: First of all, I tender my apology. The Clerk has agreed that there was an oversight to invite you Hon. Mliswa. An apology was tendered by the Clerk who was responsible for calling Members. Let me try to put across one thing. I thank you for your contribution Hon. Mliswa. Before the Hon. Members were recalled, they never, as a group, put on the generic tie of the MDC – [HON. ZWIZWAI: We were putting on red] – Yes, as a group – [HON. ZWIZWAI: As a group, yes.] – Do not interfere if I am still speaking. As a group, when I chaired here or my fellow Presiding Officers chaired here, we never saw an array of red ties simultaneously. That never happened. So we get one person with a red tie and you ignored that – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Order, order, order. I am talking of a generic situation that never happened before the recall. When the Hon. Members came back and were sworn in, they were putting on a generic tie, which was yellow. It does not matter where you got it from but the fact of the matter is that there was that array of neck-ties for the CCC newly sworn in Members - [AN HON. MEMBER: Inaudible interjections.] – Hon. Member, do not provoke me to chuck you out.
Order! It is factual that the array – [AN. HON. MEMBER: Musadaro mudhara.] -
HON. TOGAREPI: On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, we cannot have an Hon. Member saying to the Speaker, usadaro mudhara iwewe. Achitaura kuna Speaker. This is not a bar. - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] -
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! Hon. Hwende, I am not mudhara, can you withdraw that statement?
HON. HWENDE: I withdraw Mr. Speaker.
Hon. Matsunga having been making noise.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Member, do not invite me to ask you to leave the Chamber - [HON. MATSUNGA: It is Hon. Nyabani shouting at me.] – Thank you, can you listen. When we are in this House, we need to be Members of Parliament, discussing issues, without any titivation- towards our political affiliation. That is why I made a ruling on the scarf and that is why I made a ruling on the generic ties as well. I am exercising some impartiality and fairness.
Hon. Mliswa, says it is a tie, it does not describe what tie it is, neither does it describe what jacket it is, neither does it describe what type of suits? We did not go into details because for certain issues, you would have to apply common sense. You cannot go on a standing describing what type of tie it is and so on. This is why I am talking of generic ties that were put on by a group of newly appointed Members and that makes a difference. My ruling is based on that. - Back to Hon. Mliswa, Order Number 80 (2). “If the Speaker or the Chairperson, as the case may be, is of the opinion that the attire of a Member present in the Chamber during a sitting of the House is unsuitable or unbecoming to the dignity of the House, he/she – HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – he/she may order…” – Hon. Biti, I am addressing you please, you are talking, let us be together. [HON. BITI: Thank you very much] – So “…he/she may order that Member to withdraw from the precincts of Parliament, until such time as the Member concerned is suitably dressed.”
Now, you cannot take away the opinion of the Chair, in terms of the orders – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – Further, go to Order Number 215; “In any matter (not in some matters), for which these Standing Orders do not provide or which are not provided for by a Sessional or other Order, the decision of the Chair must be final, and in arriving at such a decision, he or she may take as his or her guide the relevant practice and such Parliamentary precedents of this or another country as may be applicable in the circumstance.” This provision admits that you cannot regulate for everything. That is why the power is vested on the Chair to guide accordingly. If you are unhappy with first my opinion, in terms of Section 80 (2) and my decision in terms of Order Number 215, you are free to approach any other competent authority to give an interpretation and adjudicate on my decision.
HON. BITI: Mr. Speaker Sir, as a point of clarification, is your determination centred and directed at the colour of the neck-tie or your decision is directed at the fact that there was a collective sartorial adoption of yellow neck-ties by Members that were sworn in, on Tuesday, 5th April, 2022? If your decision is directed at the colour, surely Hon. Speaker, it cannot be a correct one with great respect. Standing Order Number 80, which I alluded to yesterday, has got one qualification, which colours demeaning of attire in Section 80 (5). Section 80(1) says, “every Member must appear in attire befitting the dignity of the House”. So, the attire must respect this august House; must respect…
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order Hon. Biti, with all due respect, I said I am guided by Standing Order Number 80 (2). I am guided by Standing Order Number 215. – [HON. BITI: I am coming there.] - You cannot debate my ruling. Just a minute, if you are not happy with my ruling, you know what to do in terms of our law processes in this country.
HON. BITI: I need clarification.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Please sit down. If you want clarification, you can take the Chair to court and I am prepared to defend - [HON MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections].
HON. BITI: Hey, hey, hey I am talking to the Speaker. Pfutseke mhani. I seek clarification. Ibva apo iwe. Ndiwe wakandidzinga futi iwe. I am seeking clarification. Haah pfutseke dzakutsaku.
THE HON SPEAKER: Can you take your seat. Order! – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections]- Can you switch off your microphone. Order! I made a ruling against ZANU PF on my right and I have made a ruling against the concerned MPs on my left. I stand by those rulings. Anyone who feels that I have ruled incorrectly, approach the courts and I am prepared to appear there.
Hon T. Mliswa having stood to debate.
Hon Mliswa, take your seat – [HON T. MLISWA: I am not arguing. The Speaker should tell me and not you.] - I had said as a consequence to my ruling, I am asking Hon. Biti, Hon. Hwende and Hon. Chikombo, if you can leave the Chamber.
HON. T. MLISWA: My clarion call to you Mr. Speaker Sir is that the ruling is accepted. The Hon Members came very far. I do not think they have a spare tie, can you just allow them to sit in this session - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] - I have the floor.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Mliswa, unfortunately my ruling is without amendment. I am asking the Hon. Members to peacefully leave the Chamber.
Hon. Biti, Hon. Hwende and Hon. Chikombo were escorted out of the Chamber.
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE JUDICIAL SERVICE COMMISSION FOR THE YEAR 2021
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON ZIYAMBI): I rise to move that this House takes note of the report of the Judicial Service Commission for the year 2021, presented to this House in terms of Section 323 (1) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe. I move that we adjourn debate so that we allow Members to study the report and then we debate later on. I so submit Mr. Speaker Sir.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 12th April, 2022.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE NATIONAL PEACE AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION FOR THE YEAR 2020
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Mr Speaker Sir, I move that this House takes note of the Report of the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission for the Year 2020 presented to this august House in terms of Section 323 (1) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I move that we adjourn debate to allow Members to study the report and then we debate later on. I so submit Mr. Speaker Sir.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 12th April, 2022.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE ZIMBABWE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION FOR THE YEAR 2021
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Mr. Speaker Sir,
I move that this House takes note of the Report of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission for the Year 2021 presented to this august House in terms of Section 323 (1) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
Mr Speaker Sir, I move that we adjourn debate to allow Members to study the report and then we debate later on. I so submit Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. MLISWA: Mr. Speaker Sir, I think as you alluded to yesterday, it is good that these reports are coming through from the Independent Commissions. We must however, also do some justice to them. Could the reports go before the respective Committees first? I see that you have a lot of powers and you can also use Standing Order No. 215 like you just did if there is no rule in the Standing Orders to comply with Committees to look at the reports and interrogate them. At times those Committees who are stuck with those reports never do anything and if it can be a practice of Parliament that, let us say it is a report from the Ministry of Energy, the Portfolio Committee zeros on it, comes up and debates on it then it becomes a thorough process. When we are in here, most people do not read; some of the esteemed Members have got the gift not to read. So, others with the gift to read would then be able to interrogate it. It is with your indulgence Mr. Speaker Sir. It is good that they have come on time and Committees must zero in on them, come and then debate. We would have done justice to the reports. That is my contribution Mr. Speaker Sir.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you very much. I think that is taken and the relevant Portfolio Committee as from Monday, I believe will start discussing and make their opinions, debate and then you join them in the debate.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 12th April, 2022.
(v)HON. MUSHORIWA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir.
THE CHAIRPERSON: What is your point of Order?
(v)HON. MUSHORIWA: The Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs being the Leader of the House, when he was giving notice of the reports, there was an intimation that those reports were now available or were sent to our emails, I just want to state that there is no report on our emails yet. So, I think there is need for that correction because it creates an impression that Members are receiving these reports and are failing to read them.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Thank you very much Hon. Member. I think your point has been noted already because Hon. T. Mliswa raised a motion that these reports have to go to the relevant Portfolio Committees, so obviously the reports will be put on our gadgets.
(v)HON. G. BANDA: What is the exact procedure, what comes first? When the Hon. Minister gave us notice, are we supposed to receive these reports or we are supposed to receive them when they read the statement, in terms of procedure?
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: The reports are supposed to be posted on your gadgets and you go through the reports whether you are from that Portfolio Committee or you are not a member, you still have to receive that report through your gadgets.
(v)HON. G. BANDA: The question is when Hon. Speaker?
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Today, that is what I am being informed.
CONSIDERATION STAGE
ZIMBABWE INDEPENDENT COMPLAINTS COMMISSION BILL [H. B. 5A, 2020]
Clauses 6 and 13 put and agreed to.
Bill, as amended, adopted.
Third Reading: With leave, forthwith.
THIRD READING
ZIMBABWE INDEPENDENT COMPLAINTS COMMISSION BILL [H. B. 5A, 2020]
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Mr. Speaker Sir, I now move that the Bill be read the third time.
Motion put and agreed to.
Bill read the third time.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Mr. Speaker Sir, I move that Orders of the Day, Nos. 6 to 11 be stood over until Order of the Day No. 12 has been disposed of.
HON. T. MLISWA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
HON. T. MLISWA: My point of order is that if all Hon. Ministers could perform the way Hon. Ziyambi performs on these Bills, we will go a long way; the same applies to Hon. Prof. Murwira. You are the leader of Government Business, why is it that the Hon. Members do not follow suit? Most of the Bills would have been done already and this is where we queue. The Mines and Minerals Act is not here yet since. I was Chairman then, it has been years and you wonder when it is going to come to the National Assembly. I want to commend Hon. Ziyambi, I might not agree with the laws but you have a way of getting them. I want to commend you for that and Hon. Prof. Murwira is also one – vakabata Bill rinosvika kuend. You must talk to your Hon. Ministers whom you lead, that being a Minister is being able to pass a Bill. That is what is important and there are many Bills that are hanging and nothing is happening yet. They are paid and have never missed any allowance whatsoever. That spirit must cascade down to other Hon. Ministers.
HON. MPARIWA: Hon. Speaker, let me take this opportunity of appreciating the Hon. Minister for tabling several reports of all the Chapter 12 Commissions. We appreciate, they have been presented timeously. I hope and trust that as a House, we will do justice to them. I belong to the Public Account Committee, year after year, we have been moaning delayed submission or non-submission of such reports. Now that they have been tabled, I call upon the relevant Portfolio Committees to actually do justice to the reports so that we make use of them and get to do our business in Portfolio Committees. Otherwise Hon. Speaker, I want to also acknowledge the hard work that has been done by all the Commissions that have submitted their reports timeously. This is what Parliament demands, timeous submission of reports to Parliament. Without these reports, we cannot observe or know what is happening behind the scenes.
SECOND READING
AMENDMENT OF STATE UNIVERSITIES STATUTES BILL [H. B. 13, 2021]
Twelfth Order read: Second Reading: Amendment of State Universities Statutes Bill [H. B. 13, 2021].
THE MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY EDUCATION, INNOVATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. MURWIRA): Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir, please allow me to start by premising the start of our presentation on Section 13 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, Amendment No. 20 Act, 2030. I will refer to it as the Constitution from now on; which focuses on national development; subsection (I)(13) states that; “The State and all institutions and agencies of Government at every level must endeavor to facilitate rapid and equitable development; and in particular, must take measures to promote private initiative and self-reliance, foster agricultural, commercial, industrial technological and scientific development and foster the development of industrial and commercial enterprises in order to empower Zimbabwean citizens.
His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Dr. Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa pronounced that our national vision is to become an upper middle income economy or better by 2030, in compliance with the requirements of section 13 of the Constitution on national development, among others. Thus, our strategic national intent Hon. Speaker, is rapid and equitable development through Vision 2030.
Mr. Speaker Sir, it is imperative that all Government ministries, departments and agencies, including universities must play their part to achieve this vision by providing the required and necessary national capabilities and national capabilities can only be achieved when the relevant national systems are properly configured. I show this on my first figure on the screen. To show that if we have to reach our national strategic intent, we have to have the capability or to develop the capability to do so, but that capability can only come when we are able to make our institutions, to configure our institutions in such a way that that capability can take place.
His Excellency the President further stated that this vision will be fulfilled through leadership in knowledge and innovation. To this end, our contribution as the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development is to ensure that Zimbabwe becomes an innovation led and knowledge driven economy by 2025, as espoused in the National Development Strategy 1.
Mr. Speaker Sir, this provides an important background and context of our presentation today. To this end, please allow me to explain further on our mission to make higher education relevant to national development as required by the Constitution, Section 13.
Mr. Speaker Sir, please allow me to state that simple truism that no nation can develop faster than the development of its education system, particularly the objectives of that education system. To this end, a national development cycle can be summarised as a tight and inseparable logical combination and flow between human needs. Human needs are the ones from which our education shall take from, human needs that include food, water, shelter, sleep, connection or communication and innovation.
We are saying from these human needs; this is where our faculty comes from. Our faculty must come from what our people want. This must inform the syllabus that we teach each other and from our syllabus we shall develop methods that lead to routine production of goods and services, which is basically called industry. So our national development is tied to how our education responds to human needs and how those human needs, through the education, are fulfilled through an industry that is produced through knowledge and innovation.
A good education system, particularly the curriculum, must be empathetic to and therefore derive from human needs and by being the means of devising solutions to provide for these needs, the education system must, by design, lead to development - thus, responding and being in accordance with section 13 of the National Constitution.
An industry that facilitates rapid and sustainable provision of human needs must come from our education. Our strategy or game plan is to cause national development which is summarised as industrialisation and modernisation using well configured national systems and process working on our heritage, which means working on what we have as a country. Our inputs are our heritage, what we have: our minerals, our water and our people. Once we configure them properly, they will be able to mine, make technology, provide water, provide food and the realisation of this configuration of our people so that they work on our heritage - that is what we call industrialisation and modernisation.
Industry does not fall from the sky. It comes from the minds of the people as they work on the natural resources that they were given by God. This is our logic Mr. Speaker Sir. In other words, when our education system is configured in such a way that it works on our heritage, which is basically our natural resources and our people, it can only lead to rapid and equitable national development as is demanded of us, by section 13 on national development in the National Constitution.
Mr. Speaker Sir, it is in order to fulfill the constitutional requirement on national development that Zimbabwe had to reconfigure its higher and tertiary education policy from Education 3.0 which we summarise as teaching or learning, research and community service or workshops, to now the heritage based Education 5.0 which is focused on teaching, research, community service, innovation and industrialisation. Mr. Speaker Sir, it means that Education 5.0 is in strict compliance with the demands of the National Constitution on national development.
Our overall aim in this transformation is to make Zimbabwe’s education curve dominate the technology trajectory. Mr. Speaker Sir, with your indulgence, I will explain the dark figure that you see there, the dark line is the technology and the golden line is the education,
Mr. Speaker Sir, if our education is dominated by technology - it means that technology is being produced by some people elsewhere, not by that education. Our aim during that time when technology is dominating our education means we are importing everything because we cannot make anything, so ii is a time of social stress or social pain. When we are suffering with imports, it means our brains are not using our natural resources enough to be able to dominate our natural resources. It therefore means our education is being dominated by technology which is being made elsewhere. Our aim is to make our education dominate the technology trajectory whereby we can determine what our people used to plough, what our people used to pound, what our people used to cook, what our people used to communicate, where our people used to walk, what our people used to move, and what our people used to drive. At that moment when our education is dominating the technology, that is what we call national development. This is a time of national prosperity. So we are trying to change from social pain to national prosperity by moving from Education 3.0 to Education 5.0.
HON. T. MLISWA: On a point of order.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MUTOMBA): What is your point of order Hon. Mliswa? It is a presentation and why would you want to disturb the flow?
HON. T. MLISWA: My point of order Mr. Speaker Sir is, I am worried that such a great presentation, the Chief Whip from the ruling party seems to have the ability to mobilise MPs for heckling but not for listening. Where are they? Such a presentation and they are not here. You are now behaving like the opposition CCC. What is the difference between you and CCC when all your people are not here? You were busy heckling. When we debate, we will not heckle because we are listening. This presentation is critical, but ask your Members of Parliament, where are they? Do not encourage them to heckle, encourage them to participate in debates, then you are a good Chief Whip. Mr. Speaker Sir, may the Chief Whips stick to their work, especially from the ruling party. Rule by having information and brilliance, not just numbers. Debate dhololo, how can you debate when you are not comprehending issues?
HON. PROF. MURWIRA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. Section 13 of the Constitution on national development makes it imperative that we have to ask each agency of Government what they are doing to promote rapid industrialisation of this country. What we are talking about here is how we can make our education be the leader in terms of the technological development, thereby the eradication of poverty and encouragement of development in this country.
Hon. Speaker, there is a well-known company in this world which is called Microsoft. When they started working on their computer programmes, they had Microsoft Dos. The whole world started going Microsoft Dos. They moved to Windows 3.11, Windows NT, Windows XP, Windows 7 and so forth and the whole world moved with them. It therefore means that the knowledge or education was dictating the pace. Based on this therefore, it means this is our endeavour as a country and this is the transformation that we are kindly asking this august House to take note of and drive forward.
Universities play a crucial role in this regard. Once we are able to make our university education dominate the technology curve, we transition from social pain that we are in most of the times to prosperity, therefore leading to the facilitation, rapid and equitable development as envisaged by Section 13 of the National Constitution.
Mr. Speaker Sir, you are aware that the Amendment of State Universities Statutes Bill was gazetted on 7th January, 2022 and was subsequently read for the first time in this House on 17th February, 2022.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the amendments aim to;
(i) Align the State Universities Acts with the Constitution and making their provisions with regards to administration, more uniform while maintaining and strengthening their different founding statutory missions,
(ii) Bring the State Universities mission objectives into line with the need for 21st century university functions as agents of the industrialisation and modernisation agenda, herein expressed as the Government of Zimbabwe Education 5.0 policy direction where education is to be national development outcome based, that is with a focus on the production of goods and services, thus fostering industrialisation and modernisation. This Mr. Speaker, has already been enshrined in the Manpower Planning and Development Act [Chapter 28:02] as amended, and we are now therefore proposing to put all State Universities Acts into line with this constitutional requirement;
(iii) Increase efficiency and economy in the functioning of University Councils by reducing their size while making them more balanced with regard to gender and regional representation in line with Sections 9 (2) and 194 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe;
(iv) Make uniform the way some designator/senior university administration officers are appointed across all State universities;
(v) Strengthen and where not clear, make explicit principles of good corporate governance, and
(vi) Streamline State universities disciplinary procedures in line with the demands of Section 61 (1) (c) of the Constitution on Academic Freedom.
Specifically, the Amendment of State Universities Statutes Bill seeks to amend the following 13 State University Acts:
- Bindura University of Science Education Act [Chapter 25:22];
- Chinhoyi University of Technology Act [Chapter 25:23];
- Gwanda State University Act [Chapter 25:30];
- Harare Institute of Technology Act [Chapter 25:26];
- Lupane State University Act [Chapter 25:25];
- Manicaland State University of Applied Sciences Act [Chapter 25:31];
- Marondera University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology Act [Chapter 25:29];
- Masvingo State University Act [Chapter 25:24];
- Midlands State University Act [Chapter 25:11];
- National University of Science and Technology Act [Chapter 25:13];
- Pan-African Minerals University Act [Chapter 25:33];
- University of Zimbabwe Act [Chapter 25:16] and
- Zimbabwe Open University Act [Chapter 25:20]
The Constitution ushered in the promotion of good corporate governance, gender balance and regional representation. This necessitated a process of entrenching these and other progressive principles into the existing laws in order for the law to be intra vires with the supreme law of the land and to improve service delivery in universities.
Furthermore, innovation and industrialisation are ongoing in Compliance with Section 13 of the Constitution and it is indispensable that the laws speak to innovation and industrialisation of the country, through higher education institutions in compliance with the Constitution.
In this regard, it is also herein proposed that all State University Acts follow the University of Zimbabwe Act model on administration in compliance with Section 61 (1) (c ) on Academic freedom. The provisions of this Act together with other Acts need to be updated to enhance efficiency and effectiveness as required by the Constitution on matters of basic values and principles governing public administration.
PRINCIPLE 1: Good Governance
In terms of Chapter 9 of the Constitution, all the State institutions, including universities, must conduct their affairs in compliance with principles and values of good governance which include but are not limited to the following: efficiency, competence, accountability, transparency, profession and ethical conduct, financial probity, responsiveness, inclusivity, meritocracy, equality and non-discriminatory. Accordingly, in this regard, it is proposed that;
All State universities must be run by lean and efficient Councils which are inclusive in terms of gender and regional representation. Trimming numbers in council resources with constitutional values of economic use of resources. Section 194 (1) (b) provides for the efficient and economical use of resources; apart from expending resources, bloated university councils tend to be inefficient and a burden to the fiscus and institutions they lead, without much additional value being realised.
Appointment of members to university councils must be based on merit. This is in line with Section 194 (2) of the Constitution which provides that appointments to offices in all tiers of Government, including Government institutions and agencies and Government controlled entities and other public enterprises must be made primarily on the basis of merit.
All university councils must develop and adopt approved council charters.
All university employees must be governed by codes of ethics that respect academic freedom;
All Vice Chancellors must be appointed by the Chancellor for a single five year term that may be renewable once in line with the Public Entities Corporate Governance Act [Chapter 10:31] and Section 197 of the Constitution.
Vice Chancellor and Chairperson of council to be removed from Finance Committee. This amendment was necessitated by the need to comply with principles of good corporate governance where the chairman of council should not chair committee meetings and council at the same time.
Librarian and Bursar to be appointed by the council with the approval of the Minister, to be in line with the University of Zimbabwe Act. There is clarity in the Act on how the Registrar is appointed but for the Bursar and Librarian, the Act just says they are appointed in terms of Statutes. This amendment seeks to clarify and standardise.
All university disciplinary procedures must be standardised with the Constitutional provision of academic freedom and those procedures as regulated by the Labour Act [Chapter 28:01 in order to remove cumbersome and costly procedures.
Section 17 of the Constitution stipulates that the State must promote full gender balance and that the State must take all legislative measures to ensure that both genders are equally represented in all institutions and agencies of Government.
Accordingly, as much as possible, women must constitute at least half the membership of appointed members at all levels in institutions of higher learning.
This principle seeks to bring into effect the right to gender balance as stipulated in the Constitution.
PRINCIPLE 3: Innovation and Industrialisation
The needs of the nation are ever changing. It is vital for University Acts to speak to the said needs of society.
In this regard, all University Acts must specify mandates of universities in their objects section in line with the 5.0 education policy focusing on teaching, research, community service, innovation and industrialisation. Education 5.0 seeks to extend the role of universities in national development programmes by ensuring that the heritage-based education system produces quality goods and services for the nation.
The objects section seeks to promote artistic expression, scientific research and creativity in line with Section 61 (1) (b) of the Constitution.
Some absurdities, such as citing University Acts using old names (for instance, Great Zimbabwe State University is using Masvingo State University Act) should be cleaned up through the amendment process.
Conclusion
Mr. Speaker Sir, the constitutional alignment process is crucial in order to bring the University Act into line with the Constitution. It is therefore envisaged that once the amendments go through, the Acts will fully be aligned to the Constitution and also that university administration becomes more efficient as required by the Constitution.
The amendment of the Acts process will also serve to develop and reform the laws governing universities to enable them to address the needs of society in line with changing social, political and economic environment and the desire for the nation to be modernised and industrialised as required by Section 13 of the Constitution.
State Universities play a critical role in the industrialisation and modernisation of the nation. The Bill therefore entrenches the constitutional provision of fostering national development within the constitutional principles of academic freedom which are essential for universities to fulfill their core scholarly mission of seeking through and advancing knowledge for the purposes of industrialisation and modernisation. Thus, universities perform their business by making their mission empathetic to human needs which then creates the basis of industry to meet the same human needs as their main guide to service society with regards to rapid and equitable development. I move that the Bill be now read a second time. I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 12th April, 2022.
On the motion of THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON ZIYAMBI), the House adjourned at Four o’clock p.m. until Tuesday 12th April, 2022.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday, 6th April, 2022
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two O’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. SPEAKER in the Chair)
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, before we begin our proceedings, I did indicate yesterday that we cannot wear attire that is indicative of our parliamentary affiliation. I suffered some yesterday because we were on a knife edge and wanted to swear in the Hon. Members. I respected that instead of dismissing them. We proceeded accordingly and at the end of the ceremony, I made an announcement and a few of the Members have decided not to abide by my ruling. So I am requesting the Hon. Members to go and change their ties – [Hon. Zwizwai and another Hon. Member having stood up on a point of order] – I have not recognised you, so can you sit down.
HON. ZWIZWAI: Why are you wearing red?
THE HON. SPEAKER: Can you sit down.
HON. ZWIZWAI: I will sit down but I am just asking – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Can you please sit down.
HON. BITI: Hon. Speaker, on a point of privilege.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Can you sit down! - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Order, order! I had not finished. You can make your case soberly. You do not have to shout at the Chair - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Order! A few months ago, an Hon. Member brought in a scarf and I - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Order! Hon. Chibaya, can you allow the Chair to speak. Thank you. I said I had made a ruling concerning the scarf and it was being worn by Hon. Musabayana and I ruled that it must be removed from the House. So the yellow and that scarf – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
HON. BITI: On a point of privilege Hon. Speaker – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Biti, can you approach the Chair.
HON. BITI: Thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order Hon. Zwizwai, I am still speaking to Hon. Biti.
HON. BITI: Thank you Hon. Speaker. Hon. Speaker, on a point of privilege. The current Standing Orders of Parliament - the Ninth Edition have no section that deals...
THE HON. SPEAKER: Can you be connected?
HON. BITI: I believe I am connected Hon. Speaker Sir. Mr. Chokuda, can I make my submission please Sir. Thank you very much.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order. Hon. Biti, if you can be brief please.
HON. BITI: Yes, I will be brief. On a point of privilege Hon. Speaker, Sir. The current Standing Orders of Parliament, the Ninth Edition, do not have a provision that was in the old Standing Orders that dealt with the decorum and presentation of a Member of Parliament as he or she appears in the Chamber or in a Committee, but we assume that old rule is carried over, consistent with parliamentary practice which as you know is still part of our law by virtue of Section 4 of the Privileges of Parliament Act. Therefore, a Member of Parliament must dress with dignity and with decorum.
The issue of a neck tie is one of the implicit requirements but there is no colour ascribed to a neck tie. So an ordinary Member has got a constitutional right to put on a neck tie of his or her own choice, which is why in this august House, as I speak to you, there are different neck ties. Some have got red, some have green, some blue and some yellow. It is their constitutional right. The only test Hon. Speaker Sir, of how a Member dresses is decorum. Is he dressed sufficiently such that he does not bring Parliament into disrepute? Those of us who have chosen to put on yellow neck ties are in fact enhancing the dignity of Parliament because we are smartly dressed. We are not putting on t-shirts, we are not putting on partly regalia. So I submit Mr. Speaker Sir, that you cannot make a ruling that determines the colour of what a Member owns. You do not have that power, with great respect Sir. I thank you very much.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you Hon. Biti - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Order! You make your point from a position of sobriety and you lose nothing, alright. I have been checking here on the provisions of the Standing Rules and Orders and taking into account what Hon. Biti has raised. I shall rule as follows: That there be a combined meeting of representatives from the Government side led by the Leader of Government Business, the Chief Whip and one other. From this side, we get another three so that at the end of the session, we look closely at the Standing Orders and if we cannot come up with a resolution, I shall rely on the advice of that Committee on whether the matter should proceed to the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders for final arbitration – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
HON. T. MLISWA: Mr. Speaker Sir, I think this Parliament is made up of a number of political parties and an Independent. For many times, you seem to ignore the composition of this Parliament…
THE HON. SPEAKER: I get your point and you may not go further. You can join that group – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
HON. T. MLISWA: Let me thank you Mr. Speaker Sir for going back to the Standing Orders. I was praying that I hope the Speaker …
Hon. Togarepi having stood up.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Chief Whip, if another Hon. Member is holding the floor, you take your seat.
HON. T. MLISWA: I want to thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, for going back to the Standing Orders of this august House, which determine how this House should be run. I am glad that we have a leader who is able to get us back to what gives us the direction through what was agreed by this august House. I want to thank you for the humility. I am hoping that the Standing Orders will guide us in whatever we are going to do all the time. Thank you very much for such leadership. It is very magnanimous of you to do that.
HON. TOGAREPI: Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that we are going to have this Committee. We should be also guided by the Standing Rules that the ratios of that Committee should reflect that ZANU PF is the majority – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! Order! I get your point – [HON. ZWIZWAI: Inaudible Interjection.] – Hon. Zwizwai, do not test my patients please. In terms of the composition of our Committee on Standing Rules and Orders, we will respect the principle of proportionality. It is there in our Standing Orders. The Chief Whip is correct – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – So, we can add another two.
ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE HON. SPEAKER
NON-ADVERSE REPORTS RECEIVED FROM THE PARLIAMENTARY LEGAL COMMITTEE
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have to inform the House that I have received non-adverse reports from the Parliamentary Legal Committee on the Zimbabwe Independent Complaints Commission Bill, [H.B. 5A, 2020] and the Child Justice Bill, [H.B.11, 2021].
CONNECTIVITY TO THE PARLIAMENT NETWORK AND VIRTUAL PLATFORM
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have to advise all new Hon. Members to approach the ICT desk stationed at the Members Dining Hall for purposes of connectivity to the Parliament network and virtual plenary. In the same context, someone did indicate that we are new and we do not have tablets. No tablets were withdrawn from any Member who had been absent otherwise.
APOLOGIES RECEIVED FROM HON. MINISTERS
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have received the following list of Members from the Executive who have applied for leave of absence:
Hon. C.D.G.N Chiwenga, Vice President and Minister of Health and Child Welfare;
Hon. Prof. P. Mavima, Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare;
Hon. Sen. M. Mutsvangwa, Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services;
Hon. O.C.Z Muchinguri-Kashiri, Minister of Defence and War Veterans;
Hon. D. Karoro, Deputy Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Fisheries and Rural Development;
Hon. P. Kambamura, Deputy Minister of Mines and Mining Development;
Hon. V. Haritatos, Deputy Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Fisheries and Rural Development;
Hon. Dr. F.M. Shava; Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade;
Hon. W. Chitando, Minister of Mines and Mining Development;
Hon. Machingura, Deputy Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development; and
Hon. Dr. S.Kanhutu-Nzenza, Minister of Industry and Commerce.
The Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs having given notice to present reports on various Commissions.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Members, the reports will be distributed in soft copy. Hon. Minister, I need to congratulate you, the Commissions are now up to date in terms of tendering their annual reports to Parliament.
ORAL ANWERS TO QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
Hon. Mathe having put on a scarf of the flag of Zimbabwe. - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! I have ruled already on that scarf.
+HON. MATHE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is directed to the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare. Since he is not present today, his deputy is here. My question is, looking at the atmosphere, it is dry and people did not harvest anything. We want to hear from the Minister whether there are any measures in place to curb or avoid starvation and hunger since people did not harvest at all? People are now suffering the effects of the drought since they did not harvest at all.
HON. T. MLISWA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir. Hon. Members must pay attention to proceedings. This question was asked and I think those who were in this House can confirm. She is the very same person who asked the question and we come back here and we talk about it. We must pay attention to these proceedings. It is important that you listen and have the capacity to comprehend information because it is really a waste of time to be told the same question all the time. Hon. Matuke answered this question and even referred to the Minister of Agriculture coming in with what was going to be produced. Hon. Matuke is very honest, he can confirm.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Minister, can you refresh our memory, if this question was asked of your Ministry?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND SOCIAL WELFARE (HON. MATUKE): Thank you Hon. Speaker. The question is already on the written notices and we are going to respond as we proceed.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you very much. So Hon. Mathe, the same question has been asked under written questions, so the Hon. Minister will answer accordingly.
+HON. M. NKOMO: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is directed to the Minister of Energy and Power Development. Is the Minister aware of power lines that have fallen down all over the country? What measures are being taken to repair them?
THE MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER DEVELOPMENT (HON. SODA): Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. We are aware that there are some power lines that have fallen down, especially as a result of the rains and the effects of the cyclones that we experienced. The policy of Government is to bring back those power lines. At the moment, we are seized with the procurement of the equipment to bring back the power lines. One of our challenges is on the procurement of wooden poles. Our suppliers prefer the external market which is paying them in foreign currency. We are in the process of negotiations with the suppliers so that we offset the bills for electricity which they are supposed to pay in foreign currency with the poles that we require to bring back most of the power lines that have been pulled down by the effects of cyclones and other disturbances. I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
Hon. Members having risen on points of clarification, instead of supplementary questions.
THE HON. SPEAKER: This is not a Ministerial Statement. You have forgotten.
HON. MUNENGAMI: Unfortunately Mr. Speaker Sir, I am still to receive the gadget in order for me to get connected. My supplementary question to the Hon. Minister is that he never gave us a timeframe. He just promised to say that they are currently seized with the situation in order for them to procure the poles. People are being affected and are dying. Can he give us a timeframe in order for this problem to be solved?
HON. SODA: Timelines would be difficult to give now, given that we are still assessing and scoping the work that has to be done and also determining the amount of the poles that would be required, including the other materials that would be required to put back the power lines. That would be operational. In terms of policy, it is Government’s policy to bring back those power lines. We are very much aware that the poles have to be put back and the supplies have to be restored. It is the intention of Government to give service to its people, including those that are in rural areas. We are very much aware and we intend to give back or restore the power supply to them. We know there are some clinics, hospitals and schools that require power supply.
If the Hon. Member would accept, I will bring a statement after consulting with the power utility as to when the power lines can be restored, but that would then require specific areas to be included in that statement.
THE HON SPEAKER: I cannot allow a supplementary question because the Hon Minister has promised a Ministerial Statement which would be very comprehensive and in that statement, he should be able to give the timelines accordingly – [AN HON MEMBER having stood up] – Sit down please! Can you sit down Hon. Member? Wait for the Ministerial Statement - you will be able to roast the Hon. Minister.
HON. HAMAUSWA: My question is directed to the Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage. Is it now Government policy to roll out a nationally important programme without adequate resources? I am making reference to the second blitz on voter registration which has been rolled out before issuance of national identity cards and those teams that are giving out identity cards do not have adequate equipment. Therefore, the second blitz becomes a waste of resources if it is being rolled out before the issuance of national identity cards which should be the pre-requirements for one to register as a voter. I thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS AND CULTURAL HERITAGE (HON. MAVHUNGA-MABOYI): Yes that is a programme which has started but it does not mean that we can stop that programme because we have limited resources. We are busy and we have started. Once we get whatever we think is missing, we are going to do what is required. I thank you.
HON. ZWIZWAI: My question to the Deputy Minister is as follows: as you do the blitz for the national identity cards, what is the Ministry’s policy in respect of those people in Matabeleland and Midlands Provinces whose parents were killed during Gukurahundi time who do not have birth certificates and who do not have people who can testify that they were children, to access birth certificates and also to access food aid from Government because they are not registered as voters and citizens of this nation? What is your policy in respect of that Gukurahundi fiasco?
HON. MAVHUNGA-MABOYI: We are not looking at Gukurahundi business but we are saying every citizen has the right to be given all the documents which are needed. When we talk of giving out the hand-outs, I do not think that we are looking at those who have not registered. This is why we have kraal heads and headmen, we have chiefs, so those are being catered for. When we talk of registration, we do I.Ds and ZEC does voter registration.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, Hon Chikwinya and Hon. Chibaya, the two of you, can you allow the Hon Minister to respond. If you have a supplementary question, then you can ask. That is the procedure.
HON. MAVHUNGA-MABOYI: I just wanted to correct the Hon Member because when he was asking his question, he mentioned voter registration. I am not talking about voter registration but the I.Ds. Those are going to be given. We have already started but I do not have a timeline as to when it will be completely done.
HON. T. MLISWA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir. I think she is correct in terms of Home Affairs and I think that question should go to the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs where ZEC is involved in terms of voter registration. I think it is in two parts, the I.Ds and voter registration. Voter registration is under ZEC, so it must be a two pronged question. If it is to do with I.Ds, then the question must be directed to her. The blitz was on voter registration which lies within the Ministry of Justice. Voter registration has nothing to do with Home Affairs. The Hon. Member can ask a different question pertaining to I.Ds.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you Hon. Mliswa for separating the two issues. Can we ask supplementary questions based on I.Ds for Home Affairs?
HON. ZWIZWAI: Thank you very much. I will indulge myself to ask the question in Shona so that the Minister can understand me.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order, Hon. Members. Hon Zwizwai, you are imputing the ignorance of the Minister. You ask in English.
HON. ZWIZWAI: My question in respect to the national I.Ds is such that we have a shrinking voters’ roll in Matebeleland and a shrinking feeding basket because the people do not have I.Ds.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order, please ask your question on I.Ds.
HON. ZWIZWAI: Yes, because for one to be registered as a beneficiary of food aid, they should have an I.D and in Matebeleland, they do not have them because of gukurahundi. What is the Minister doing about that Matebeleland gukurahundi fiasco so that people can access food and we do not have a delimitation which will be affected because of this I.Ds issue? The constituencies in Matebeleland will end up being moved to Mashonaland when we go through the delimitation process because of lack of I.Ds due to gukurahundi.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Can you clarify your supplementary question.
HON. ZWIZWAI: Mr Speaker Sir, the starting point of voter registration is I.Ds. Those are primary documents and people are being eaten by crocodiles crossing the Limpopo because they do not have primary documents because of gukurahundi. That is my primary question and you understand it better because you come from Matebeleland and you are also a victim of the gukurahundi order.
HON. MAVHUNGA-MABOYI: I think I mentioned that we have started issuing out the documents. The mobile exercise was started on the first of April and as Ministry of Home Affairs, we have not had any problems at all concerning those documents. If we have any problems, we are going to address them as they come.
THE HON SPEAKER: Hon. Chibaya and the Hon there, you do not stand up when the Hon. Minister is still responding. Be patient. Hon. Minister, please wind up your response.
HON. MAVHUNGA-MABOYI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. The job on the ground is being done perfectly. We are supervising whatever is happening and if there are any problems, we will face and address them as they come. Now on condition of those who are eaten by crocodiles, I do not know whether you are not supposed to be eaten because you have an I.D – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear] – Let us not mix issues here. If we are talking of I.Ds, we are in control right now. Thank you very much.
HON. P.D. SIBANDA: Hon. Speaker, talking of birth, the process and procedures of taking birth certificates and national identity documents involves certain requirements and these include proof of parentage. Therefore, there is a certain specific population in this country whose parentage was affected by an event called Gukurahundi. What special measures has the Ministry put in place in this blitz to ensure that those people are catered for because their situation is different from the rest of other citizens? I thank you.
HON. MAVHUNGA-MABOYI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Everything has been put in place, there is a waiver for those who are staying in rural areas, we have the sabhukus, we have headmen, we have chiefs, they are going to write letters in order that these issues be addressed. In town, I cannot answer now as the matter has not yet been finalised but I will check. In rural areas, we have done that and this is working very well – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: The Leader of Government business would like to answer.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. His Excellency went to Tsholotsho some time, he sent the Minister of Local Government to the Sun Community and they faced more or less the same problems. After that, a discussion was done in Cabinet and His Excellency directed that everyone without a national identity document must be given one. So there is no problem, everyone, you can take anyone to the Registrar-General’s Office and give them the surname Biti, Biti, Biti, it is now allowed, the President has allowed it [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, can you sit down please we have exhausted supplementary questions and if you have further information you may want, you may put the question in writing and then a detailed explanation will be given.
HON. D. P. SIBANDA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir? I am the one who asked the question.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order please, I have ruled already.
*(v) HON. KWARAMBA: My question is directed to the Leader of the House. I want to know how far we have gone with the Marriages Bill? I thank you.
*THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Mr. Speaker and I thank Hon. Kwaramba for her question. This Bill is under consideration to see if all what we have contributed has been effected. When they finish, the Bill will be sent to His Excellency the President for Presidential assent. What I have heard is that this process is about to be completed and we will be looking forward for this Bill to be sent to His Excellency the President for assent.
HON. T. MLISWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is directed to the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education. Mr. Speaker Sir, my question is, the COVID-19 regulations have been relaxed as a result of vaccination. In some schools, there are children who belong to the Apostolic Faith sect who are refusing to be vaccinated. What is Government going to do about that?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (HON. E. MOYO): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir and I thank the Hon. Member for the question. The issue of vaccination is a health issue. However, as education, since the population that has been included in the vaccination exercise also concerns schools, we are having a blitz where we are encouraging parents to allow their children who are below the age of consent, the current age group that has been included to allow these children to be vaccinated. The question of the churches is also included in the advocacy that is going around educating people so that they will indicate to them the importance of vaccination. So, we may not per se force them to get vaccinated but we can only encourage them to do so and that is what is already happening. I thank you.
HON. T. MLISWA: Hon. Speaker Sir, the Minister alluded to the fact that it is optional in a way, so what is the point of vaccinating everyone if you are giving people a right to say yes or no because of religion at the end of the day? Does that not endanger others?
HON. E. MOYO: Thank you Hon. Speaker. Yes, it does and hence the advocacy that we are doing. I am not a lawyer, I might not know the implications of forcing people to get vaccinated. I think the country has been very clear to say let us all get vaccinated so that we can protect ourselves and protect others that are close to us. The question is that all of us should do the advocacy so that everyone gets vaccinated. Perhaps those who are in the area of law could advise whether we have the powers to force them to get vaccinated or not? I am not very sure on that one. I thank you.
HON. T. MLISWA: On a point of clarity. Minister, we have got our children who were vaccinated who are going to school and there are those who belong to religions who refuse to be vaccinated. The question is, what are you doing about it as a policy in Government, because Government has said children must be vaccinated? It is different if the time has not gotten to them resources permitting, but resources are there. They are refusing to be vaccinated and yet they want to go into class. Our children are vaccinated. Are they not a danger? The question is, should they go to school or not? What is the policy under that because others are being affected? They are being exposed as we speak. What is your policy on children who refuse to be vaccinated because they belong to a certain religion?
THE HON. SPEAKER: The Leader of Government Business would like to assist.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Mr. Speaker, when we started vaccination, we said people from 18 years and above were going to be vaccinated. We have now moved to say from 12 onwards, you can be vaccinated and this decision was done two or three weeks ago. We have not reviewed and made a decision to say what is the impact of those that may not be inclined to be vaccinated? This is so that we can take a policy position as regards what he is saying. It is still in its infancy. We are still to receive a report on the uptake in terms of our learners. I thank you.
HON. BITI: My question is to the Leader of Government Business in the House in the absence of the Minister of Finance and Economic Development who you did not excuse when you read out a list of apologies.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the cost of living is rising exponentially. The cost of basic commodities like cooking oil, bread, milk and rentals is rising. Equally, the consumer basket has now gone up. For a family of six, it is now in excess of $120 000. Only yesterday the official exchange rate was 145, but in shops…
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Member, couch that in a question.
HON. BITI: My question to the Hon. Minister of Finance and Economic Development, through the leader of the House is that with the cost of living rising exponentially, with the exchange rate depreciating, the parallel market rate is now close to 300, what are you doing to the plight of civil servants, teachers, nurses, doctors, judges, magistrates, bus drivers, Speaker of Parliament, Clerk of Parliament, staff at Parliament, Members of Parliament who continue to have their salaries being eroded by the rambunctious inflation and the depreciation of the Zimbabwean dollar? Why do you not just dollarise the salary of the Speaker, the Clerk, civil servants, teachers, doctors and nurses? I thank you very much Hon. Speaker Sir.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order Hon. Member, there is no need to mention specific people. Just simply say the public, it is enough.
HON. BITI: But I was making a case for your salary too.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): I want to thank the Hon. Member. Mr. Speaker, it has become a perennial question asked by Hon. Biti every time he has been in this House. Having said that Mr. Speaker, we are not discontinuing the use of the Zimbabwean dollar. What we are alive to is that the fundamentals that have to support our dollar are there but because we have a situation in this country whereby we have sanctions and those sanctions directly attack our currency, we will continue with the policies that we are making to ensure that we strengthen our currency and review the salaries of our civil servants.
I am aware that the Minister of Finance and Economic Development has been reviewing the salaries of our civil servants. He has given allowances in United States dollars to cushion but what we are doing is, we will continue with the use of our dollar. We will continue to soldier on despite the fact that those that are calling for the return of the United States dollar are the ones that made sure that we suffer so that they can scream on top of their voices. I thank you.
HON. BITI: Thank you Hon. Speaker. The question to the Hon. Minister is, what effective measures are you taking to ensure that the civil servant is decently rewarded in view of the high cost – [HON. TOGAREPI: Ndiwe wakaisa masanctions acho.] – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – My question to the distinguished and esteemed Minister is, what measures are you taking to effectively cushion the worker, the civil servant against the falling exchange rate and the cost of living that is rising exponentially–[HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! Can we allow the Hon. Minister to respond – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Order, order! Hon. Biti, do you want your question to be answered? Withdraw!
HON. BITI: I withdraw Hon. Speaker.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Hon. Speaker, the effect of sanctions is to ensure that the people suffer. If you take for instance any country and you compare it with Zimbabwe in terms of ease of transacting with the whole world, if you do a business transaction in Zimbabwe, for example you send money to China and somebody in Zambia sends to the same company, money from Zimbabwe will take a week or two and from Zambia it takes two days. The net effect of that is, our economy will be in slow mode because of the sanctions and the growth of our economy is different from any other country. Our ability to pay will now be retarded because of our failure to have a throughput that is fast. My call to him is, if you want us to pay decent salaries, let us have a level playing field whereby we can trade equally with anyone and our economy will be able to pay all our civil servants comparable to anyone in the world. Thank you.
HON. T. MLISWA: I have a point of order Hon. Speaker.
THE HON. SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
HON. T. MLISWA: Mr. Speaker Sir, my point of order is, first of all, I think the Government Chief Whip must show maturity and behave appropriately in respect of his office. Kana murume mukuru akutema matombo, vana vadiki vanotanga kutemawo matombo. It requires him to be calm, composed and not to make the task very difficult. Secondly Mr. Speaker Sir, the President in the Second Republic said that Zimbabwe was open for business. I am sure the aspect of sanctions was factored in. We talk about a $12 billion economy in terms of the mining sector, withstanding sanctions. If we go back on sanctions, I do not think we will make progress at the end of the day. The truth of the matter is that, Notwithstanding sanctions, we have come up with a roadmap which should make sure that there is transformation.
The President, at no point has he even spoken about sanctions. He has continued to advocate for transformation through our resources that we have, resource mobilisation. The question here is pertinent in saying that Vision 2030 is also premised outside sanctions. So, I do not see the Vision 2030 where the President says with sanctions – no he leaves them out knowing very well they are a hindrance. The hindrance has not stopped us from breathing. Ministers must respond to simple questions and not take them to a different level because we sit here Mr. Speaker Sir and I think ZANU PF which is the ruling party is well-equipped to deal with this. No wonder why the President appointed a competent Minister of Finance. We see his competence at some point. People are suffering and that is true. If you bring in the aspect of sanctions, we are contradicting ourselves.
The Leader of Government Business said the civil servants were paid in Zimbabwe dollar and they were paid in US dollar and that is a contradiction. We are pushing for the Zimbabwe dollar but we are paying the US dollar. Is that not an admission that the US dollar is supreme? When we talk about pushing the Zimbabwe dollar agenda, why are we paying our civil servants in US dollars? Why can you not pay in Zimbabwe dollars consistently? Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
THE HON. SPEAKER: I thought the point of order raised by Hon. Mliswa did clear issues accordingly. Notwithstanding the sanctions, transformation is taking place. That is what he said. The Hon. Minister says there is light at the end of the tunnel.
HON. MATEWU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My supplementary question to the Leader of Government Business is that just recently, a Monetary Statement was put out by the Hon. Minister for Finance. In that, he basically liberated almost every company to use the US dollar. If we are paying our civil servants and our pensioners in the Zimbabwean dollar, what is Government policy in terms of controlling the fiscus and the money that is going to be given to our civil servants? Basically, you are saying on one hand, all the other companies and entities can now charge their businesses in US dollars yet you continue to pay everyone else in Zimbabwean dollar. The pensioners who are the people struggling in this country are also being paid in Zimbabwean dollars. What is your policy in terms of alleviating and reviewing the terms of payment to our civil servants so that you can liberate to say the Government can now pay their salaries in US dollars? Thank you.
HON. ZIYAMBI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I am sure when the Hon. Member receives his first pay slip, he will notice that there is a US dollar component there. So, it is not correct to say our civil servants are receiving their salaries only in Zimbabwe dollar. We are giving a component in US dollar and another one in Zimbabwe dollar. We are mindful that because of our situation, our currency is the easiest target, hence we decided deliberately as a policy to pay a certain component. I am aware that there are negotiations that are going on in terms of ensuring that we come up with an agreement on a salary structure that will be given. We have already acknowledged that because our currency is under attack, we are giving a certain component as US dollars. Thank you.
HON. CHIBAYA: Thank you very much Hon. Speaker. The issue of cost of living affects both workers in the public sector and private sector. My supplementary question to the Hon. Minister is …
THE HON. SPEAKER: Can you be connected please.
HON. CHIBAYA: Hon. Speaker, the issue of cost of living is affecting employees in the public and private sectors. Why is it that the Government is not revisiting the issue of minimum wage in line with the poverty datum line. I thank you.
HON. ZIYAMBI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Mr. Speaker, I am not aware of a policy shift where we no longer have a minimum wage. I thank you. – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! You were the fourth, Hon. Member to ask the question.
An Hon. Member having raised a point of order – [HON. MEMBERS: Point of order yei Speaker vachitaura.]
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! Hon. Chibaya you will ask your question next time. – [Laughter]-
(v)+HON. E. NYATHI: My question is directed to the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education. What is the policy of Government when increasing university tuition fees?
+THE HON. SPEAKER: Yesterday we requested that the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education brings a statement before the House so that he can present on this question. So we are not going to dwell on that question.
HON. CHIKOMBO: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is directed to the Minister of Local Government, Hon. July Moyo. It is nine years since the consummation of our Constitution but up to now, you have not enacted an enabling Act that enables to effect Provincial Councils, something that is espoused in Chapter 14 and Section 264 of the Constitution. Are you sure you are not in serious violation of the Constitution of the country?
THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS (HON. J. MOYO): Thank you Madam Speaker. I would like to thank the Hon. Member for asking about the Provincial Councils and Administration Act, which is an enabling Act in terms of the Constitution. We are aware that we had submitted a Bill to this august House that Bill – [HON. ZWIZWAI: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order please! Hon. Zwizwai.
HON. J. MOYO: I was explaining to the Hon. Member that Government has submitted a Bill on the implementation of the Constitutional provisions which are in Chapter 14, regarding the Provincial Councils and Administration Act. We then realised that there were necessary Constitutional amendments to be made. Those Constitutional amendments have now been passed, signed by the President and necessitate that we revise what we presented to this august House. We have now submitted those principles which have been accepted by Cabinet and they are now being drafted by the Attorney-General. It takes care of the deficiencies that were there in the amendment of the Constitution of 2013, especially regarding metropolitan councils which had excluded the election of the 10 members who are supposed to be proportional representatives, which was captured in the Provincial Councils Act but not captured in the Metropolitan Councils Act. Now, that has been corrected.
Furthermore, what we had submitted here which we are now amending because of the new Constitutional amendments were that all Members of Parliament were also members of provincial councils or members of metropolitan councils. That has been removed by Amendment Number two of last year 2021. So we have had to put an amendment which takes the new amendments that have been accepted, which are now part of our Constitution. There are consequential amendments that were occasioned by the amendment number two which we have now incorporated and I am sure we will be bringing this Bill to this House once all the drafting has been completed. I thank you. – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections]
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order, Hon. Zwizwai, why are you behaving like that? Please, you have to behave honourably. No, I will send you out if you continue with that behaviour.
HON. P. D. SIBANDA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. My supplementary question is how have you been appropriating and distributing public funds without an enabling piece of legislation? – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order! May the Hon. Minister be heard in silence.
HON. J. MOYO: Madam Speaker, the Constitution, regarding the devolution agenda that is captured in the Constitution of 2013 is in two Chapters. There is Chapter 14 of the Constitution which deals with all the political and administrative set up of the devolution institutions, both at provincial and local authority level. The financial provisions are in Chapter 17 and every time the Minister of Finance comes to this august House, he presents that this House adopts, which is debated and adopted and it is in that Chapter where he has been given the powers to finance devolution funds to provincial and local authorities.
The local authorities and provincial council are there, what has not been there is the metropolitan councils. The Provincial Councils and Administration Act is still not repealed and therefore it is still there. We can make amendments of that Act but it is an Act of Parliament which was passed here, which is called the Provincial Councils and Administration Act. We can amend it as we are doing to comply with the provisions of the Constitution and we are doing exactly that.
HON. T. MLISWA: The law does not work in anticipation because you are changing this law and you do not use it. You use the current law. The law requires you to talk about what is there before it is amended. The point here is, the provincial councils have been set up and Members of Parliament are members of the provincial council. Some are being paid. Why do you pay others and others you do not pay? You have not sworn anybody in. You are totally violating the Constitution. Hon Ziyambi will tell you that the law does not work in anticipation. The current law that we have which has not been changed is very clear that there must be an enabling Act which comes through.
You hate Members of Parliament with a passion and we understand that. It is the law that put them there. You cannot say these other members, you pay and other members you do not. When did you swear in those that you are paying Hon Minister? The question that you have got provincial councilors who are being paid were not sworn in. They are not sitting. You are creating the biggest violation of the Constitution ever.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Mliswa, please, ask your question.
HON. T. MLISWA: My question is that he cannot continue to disburse money to pay other provincial members selectively without the Bill coming here. This is the very same section which got the late President Mugabe out of power – this devolution one. It is one of the reasons why he was removed from power because he was not constitutional. You are putting the President in trouble again. Being a lawyer, I hope he sees that. Hon Ziyambi, advise the President honestly. This is the biggest scam of looting funds. This Minister has been looting funds.
THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS (HON. J. MOYO): I want to say and I want to repeat that Chapter 17 of the Constitution gives the Minister of Finance the right to finance those institutions which are there and the Minister of Finance in the Blue book which your Parliamentary Legal Committee has looked at, is giving provincial councils monies to local authorities. My job as Minister, once that allocation has been made, is to make sure that the monies are used properly. The law that we are using is the Provincial Councils Administration Act; the law we are using for the Rural District Councils is the Rural District Councils Act and the law we are using is the Urban Councils Act. That is what we are doing – [HON T. MLISWA: Arikuba mari mudhara uyu. Jeri rinorwadza wachembera.] - Madam Speaker, I need your protection – [HON MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]-
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon Members to my left side, please behave like Hon Members in Parliament. I will not allow you to continue that behaviour Hon. Members. Hon. Mliswa, you said this old man is stealing money, please withdraw that statement.
HON. T. MLISWA: Madam Speaker, I listen to you very much. There are so many old men in this House. Which old man?
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: The one who was speaking.
HON. T. MLISWA: Does he not have a name? I know him as Sekuru July Moyo. Because I respect you, I withdraw what I said that the old man is stealing some funds.
HON. BITI: My supplementary question…
*HON. TOGAREPI: On a point of order Madam Speaker. Hon. Biti is the one who caused sanctions here in Zimbabwe – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order, order, Hon Members. Tell your Hon. Members to behave and listen.
HON BITI: My supplementary to the esteemed Minister of Local Government is that the distribution of devolution funds is done in terms of Chapter 17 and even in terms of Chapter 17, there must be an Act of Parliament which is regulated in Section 301. It says an Act of Parliament must provide for:
- the equitable allocation of capital grants between provincial and metropolitan councils and local authorities.
- Any other allocation in provinces and local authorities.
Therefore, two laws are required Madam Speaker. The first one is the law that regulates the budget distribution equitably amongst provinces. That law is not there. The second one is in Chapter 14. You are giving money to metropolitan councils which are created in Chapter 14 but there is no enabling Act creating and actualising them. How is this Minister allocating money to a board that has not been created, namely provincial and metropolitan councils? What formula do you use and most importantly, who is he giving the money to because provincial councils are not there? Where is the money going to?
HON. J. MOYO: Madam Speaker, I am very happy that the Hon. Member has cited Chapter 17. This Chapter 17 which the Minister of Finance brings to this august House ends up with an Act of Parliament passed by this House. It is within that Act of Parliament where I know for sure that there is a weighted equitable distribution of those funds. It is in the equitable distribution that the Ministry of Finance has provided, in consultation with me, is that poverty is given 50% weighting, infrastructure 40% and population is given 20% weighting. When he brings these in the Finance Act, that is what you should be asking and that is what Government is doing in order to make sure that we bring forward every person who is left behind, that we bring forward every place which is left behind. We give them a favourable response so that we can alleviate the poverty of people in those remote areas. No matter what shouting can be done, the Government is determined for the first time since this new dispensation, to give equitable distribution of monies to all parts of this country. If anybody has any information that they can prove, then they should bring it to the fore and not to shout about things which are done in order to alleviate the poverty of our people. I thank you.
HON. T. MLISWA: On a point of order Madam Speaker, the Hon. Minister diligently articulated how he is going to bring the Bill here. So why are you bringing the Bill here when you are telling us what you are doing is right? I told you that you cannot bring a Bill here if you are doing the right thing. Minister, this august House must be known to have said no to the disbursement of devolution funds because certain things were not in place. The devolution money is being looted. Central Government is paying directly to companies instead of using a proper structure. Provincial councillors are responsible for monitoring and evaluating of that money. Who is monitoring those funds if the provincial councillors are not there? Minister, you are contradicting yourself. He is disbursing this money willy-nilly for him to benefit and he has been very inconsistent. The Minister must know that we are watching and he has been running away. Tsuro magen’a haaite totomubata chete tsuro wacho. Today we caught the hare. You are here today and until we conclude this issue, nothing is going to happen in this country. The President is being told corruption is there because it is being said we are not doing our oversight role. We are doing our oversight role and this Minister is failing to respond to issues of money which are of a corrupt nature. Jeri haridi makura kudai sekuru munevhudzi rewhite – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, Hon. Zwizwai and Hon. Madzimure, order, please take your seats
Questions Without Notice were interrupted by THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER in terms of Standing Order No. 68.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE
ELECTRIFICATION OF HOUSES IN SPITZKOP NORTH
- HON. MOKONE asked the Minister of Energy and Power Development to inform the House when the electrification of the houses in Spitzkop North and some parts of Garikai in the town of Gwanda will be done, considering that these houses have gone without electricity power since 2004.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER DEVELOPMENT (HON. MUDYIWA): Thank you Madam Speaker. I give the response as follows: getting requisite materials has been the main challenge. Poles have been planted here and there, and we continue to source the other materials. This project and many others have also been included in phase (II) of the Gwanda Energy Group Corporation. So the issue is being attended to. I thank you.
ZESA’S STATE OF PREPAREDNESS TO ATTEND TO RAIN INDUCED FAULTS
- HON. HAMAUSWA asked the Minister of Energy and Power Development to inform the House on the state of preparedness of the power utility personnel to attend to rain induced faults which have seen most parts of Warren Park Constituency going for days without electricity.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER DEVELOPMENT (HON. MUDYIWA): Thank you Madam Speaker. The utility is not fully prepared to handle rain induced and other faults due to the following reasons. Pole suppliers are failing to satisfy our orders and they prioritise external customers that pay in foreign currency. We are engaging the suppliers with a view to net off their ZESA foreign denominated bill with the foreign currency equivalent cost of the poles. The operatives do not have adequate vehicles to attend to the problems that at times depots where we have artisans will be having two vehicles only. We have gone to tender for supply of operational vehicles. We hope the winning bidders will be able to supply and that ZESA will make payments for delivery of the vehicles so that all these faults will be attended to. I thank you.
HON. HAMAUSWA: Thank you Madam Speaker, my supplementary question is that I gave a specific question to Warren Park Constituency - from the response by the Minister, I did not hear the Minister speaking specifically about Warren Park Constituency where we are having residents going for even two weeks being affected by faults - I did not hear the Minister speaking specifically about the area that I have asked and also what the plans are to capacitate the utility to deal with those faults. May the Minister kindly explain how the Ministry intends to capacity the utility? Can the Minister also address the issues that are specific to Warren Park Constituency as is requested in the question?
HON. MUDYIWA: Thank you Madam Speaker, I think the response I gave is in respect to Warren Park specifically because the question is about Warren Park, I did not mention Warren Park in my response because I just started by responding to the question per se. The response covers Warren Park. I do not know what else he wants me to add here. The problems have been stated that the utility, they are having challenges, they do not have vehicles and there is a challenge of poles that they cannot pay for the poles at the moment because suppliers need foreign currency, so for Warren Park and any other places affected, the issue is about foreign currency to get the poles. I stated that we are coming up with arrangements where the suppliers said we will pay them with electricity in exchange for the poles so that the problems will be attended to. The other issue is on shortage of vehicles to attend to faults. I thank you.
HON. MADZIMURE: Thank you Madam Speaker, the Minister referred to the issue of payment in foreign currency. If you go to Wayne Street right now, you will see people waiting outside waiving bundles of RTGS asking for those who would want to pay for electricity to come and buy the RTGS or to have their Ecocash credited with the equivalent. What is the Ministry doing to ensure that because it buys electricity in foreign currency, why can it not receive money in foreign currency?
Secondly Madam Speaker, it is known that we will always have rains in Zimbabwe and the Minister says the utility’s equipment or infrastructure is heavily affected by rains. Why can the Ministry not come up with a solution to a perennial problem? It knows we will always have rains in Zimbabwe, why can we not have the equipment that is capable of withstanding those effects of moisture?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER DEVELOPMENT (HON. MUDYIWA): I will start by responding to the last part of the question. As for the perennial problems, I think we are on record that as ZESA Holdings, we are working flat out to come up with permanent solutions to all those problems. We have had problems in the past, we know the problems that recur come every rainy season and we are looking at ways to solve those problems permanently. Maybe by next year we will not continue to experience the same problems during the rainy season.
Coming to the first part of the Hon. Member’s question about the issue of foreign currency, yes ZESA has got a facility where those who want to pay in foreign currency can pay their bills in foreign currency. I do not know what is happening from what he is saying. I think that is happening outside the premises of ZESA where our security or our loss control officers are not observing that, but I would like to thank the Hon. Member for bringing that to our attention. We will, I think take action to rectify that. I thank you.
ZESA FAILING TO ATTEND TO FAULTS DUE TO SHORTAGE OF VEHICLES
- HON. M. M. MPOFU asked the Minister of Energy and Power Development to inform the House whether there are any compelling reasons for ZESA not to attend to faults, considering that the issue of lack of availability of transport which had been an issue in the past has since been addressed through the provisions of vehicles by the President.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER DEVELOPMENT (HON. MUDYIWA): On the contrary, the issue of transport is not yet fully addressed. Yes, the President has added his weight, making for the provision of vehicles but the utility is not yet fully resourced in terms of transport. We are still working hard to have more vehicles. I think I explained in the preceding question that we are working hard to purchase more vehicles for operations. I thank you.
(v)HON. M. M. MPOFU: Supplementary question Madam Speaker. I hear the Minister say that there is a shortage of vehicles but those vehicles that were supplied by the President are not being used by the operational staff. Those people in operations are asking for transport from customers to help them to attend to faults when the managers are using those cars. Why is it happening?
HON. MUDYIWA: I think those are administrative operational issues which we will have to go down to verify but once vehicles are purchased being specifically for operations, we make sure that they are distributed to operations and are given to those who do the operations. Whereas at every station there are managers, I do not know what really happens. If that is what is happening, I think we will get down to it and find out exactly what is happening.
HON. MADZIMURE: Madam Speaker, if I hear correctly what the Minister is saying, it appears she is saying they do not have problems with the spares, they do not have problems with the transformers but what they have a problem with is transport. So does the Minister infer that we can actually provide transport to ZESA and it can attend to the faults and also where a consumer buys for example cables, does the department provide for the compensation of the money that the consumers would have used to have their cables replaced?
HON. MUDYIWA: The issue of transport is high on our list. The vandalism of transformers and the theft of cables is also an issue. So these are all the problems that we have. I think it was an omission on my part by failing to mention that we do not have enough transformers but efforts are under way, we are receiving a number of transformers so that we attend to the faults and replace the transformers timeously, but the issue of transport is really affecting our operations. It is high on our priority list.
HON. MADZIMURE: The Minister did not attend to the last part of my question where I said, is there a policy where the consumers would have purchased a cable where it would have been stolen. Does the department provide for compensating the consumers because the cable will still remain part of ZESA equipment and in its books, it will reflect that it has those cables but in actual fact the consumer would have replaced that part? So how do you compensate the consumer who would have bought a cable that then belongs to ZESA?
HON. MUDYIWA: Thank you Madam Speaker. Yes, there are cases where the consumer goes on to buy even transformers and cables to replace the ZESA cable that would have been vandalised. The policy is that the consumer will be compensated but the compensation is not in terms of cash as such since the item that has been replaced will become property of ZESA. ZESA will only compensate in terms of electricity units which are equivalent to the amount of the purchase of the item that has been replaced. There is no cash compensation per se because of the difficulties that the utility is going through in terms of their finances. The consumer is compensated but with electricity units. Thank you.
HON. HAMAUSWA: I have a point of order Madam Speaker.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: What is your point of order Hon. Member?
HON. HAMAUSWA: I am a bit worried Madam Speaker Ma’am that when we ask specific questions, we expect that the Ministry would have done a thorough job in investigating what is actually happening on the ground. I want to refer you to the question that I have asked. It is painful that I am asking on behalf of the people of Warren Park. It is an important constituency to this country in the sense that we have the National Sports Stadium, the Heroes Acre and the Museum of African Liberators that is being set up. All those institutions are being affected by continuous faults. The response from the Minister did not adequately answer the specific programmes or responses that the Ministry is going to put in place to ensure that such an important area is adequately powered and there are no interruptions of power. There is an area which they call Ace of Spades, which always affects Cold Comfort, Warren Park D, Warren Park 1 and some parts of Belvedere. However, the Minister never explained about those situations. So it is really worrisome that I gave this question last year maybe before December and the Ministry did not come up with the answer. I am talking about the constituency carrying those important institutions l have mentioned, yet the Hon. Minister comes here and the questions are not adequately answered.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Hamauswa, on your question, it is written Warren Park and you did not mention those places that you are mentioning now. You should have mentioned the specific places.
HON. HAMAUSWA: Madam Speaker Ma’am, my constituency is called Warren Park.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Warren Park is big. I think you should have mentioned the places that are affected so that the technical team would have done some investigations. You can also talk to the Minister and she has noted that down.
EXPLANATION ON ZESA’S PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT TO MINERS
- HON. M. M. MPOFU asked the Minister of Energy and Power Development to explain to the House the emerging trend where some miners who have money resort to paying for services rendered by fully employed ZESA employees, a situation that has led to them getting preference at the expense of essential Government institutions such as clinics, which are not getting due attention.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER DEVELOPMENT (HON. MUDYIWA): Thank you Madam Speaker. I would like to thank the Hon. Member for the question. The policy is that ZESA employees must not directly benefit whenever they offer a service. All payments for services are expected to be receipted by ZESA. We however take note that due to the constraints faced by the utility, reaction to faults can be slow. In such cases, some clients do offer their own transport so that ZESA attends to their problem immediately. That does not mean that Government departments are sidelined. As soon as the station that attends to the area gets transport, they prioritise institutions like hospitals, clinics, schools, et cetera. The practice is whereby priority is given to those who pay ZESA employees is not the policy of the utility and the Ministry at large. Thank you.
TRANSFER OF THE WATER PLANT FROM ZINWA TO GWANDA MUNICIPALITY
HON. MOKONE asked the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement to inform the House what is delaying the transfer of water plant from ZINWA to Gwanda Municipality despite promises in 2021 that this will be expeditiously done.
THE MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES, WATER, CLIMATE AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON. DR. MASUKA): Thank you Madam Speaker. The Hon. Member may wish to know that discussions between ZINWA and Gwanda are ongoing and are at a very advanced stage in terms of the hand-over. The Minister of Local Government and Public Works and myself, two weeks ago met to review progress in the hand-over of this water plant. I am expecting that once the outstanding issues have been resolved, the water plant will be handed over to the municipality. For the benefit of the Hon. Member and my other colleagues, I have tabled the guidelines for hand-over of water and sanitation services infrastructure from ZINWA to local authorities so that they go through and they can share with the local authority and assist them to expedite the process because it is in the interest of the local authority to run the affairs. Thank you Madam Speaker.
PURPOSE
These guidelines shall be used solely for the purpose of handover/takeover of water supply and sanitation infrastructure and operations and maintenance thereof, from ZINWA to Local Authorities, presided over by the ministries responsible for water and local Government.
BACKGROUND
The Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) was established through an Act of Parliament [Chapter 20:25], of 2000, by the amalgamation of the then Department of Water Development (DWD) and the Regional Water Authority (RWA). ZINWA’s main role is to manage and develop water resources on a sound commercial basis. This development was underpinned by the commercialisation of functions of DWD and RWA, coupled with the transfer of assets and personnel to the new entity. Hitherto, the provision of water to the nation was the sole responsibility of the Government of Zimbabwe (GoZ), through the DWD, while the RWA was a small entity which managed water use in the sugar estates of the Lowveld. The Government, over the years, has injected capital, through PSIP, for development of water supply infrastructure and the assets are now under ZINWA.
ZINWA is also mandated to provide potable water supply services to Local Authorities and Government Institutions that are not yet in a position to take on this responsibility. This is in line with one of ZINWA’s functions which stipulate that “the Authority shall encourage and assist local authorities in the discharge of their functions under the Rural District Councils Act [Chapter 29:13] and the Urban Councils Act [Chapter 29:15] with regard to the development and management of water resources in areas under their jurisdiction and in particular, the provision of potable water and the disposal of wastewater.”
The Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement has a policy to handover water supply and sanitation services to local authorities when it is satisfied that the requesting local authority has the capacity to run and maintain the services.
APPLICATION FOR HANDOVER
The local authority wishing to take over the management of potable water supply services from ZINWA shall apply in writing to the Ministry responsible for water through the Ministry responsible for local government;
The Ministry responsible for water, if it finds merit in the application, shall direct ZINWA to initiate the process for assessment and provide recommendations through an assessment report for the Ministry to make a determination on the application. The determination shall be communicated by the Ministry responsible for water to all the affected parties.
GUIDELINES FOR ZINWA
ZINWA shall carry out an assessment, in consultation with the local authority and another approved stakeholder, on the preparedness of the local authority to take over the water supply operations. A report of the assessment shall be presented to the Ministry responsible for water for approval;
The infrastructure to be handed over specified;
Drawings of the specified infrastructure will be handed over;
ZINWA shall consult its stakeholders and regard their views about the handover process;
ZINWA will provide Operation and Maintenance Manuals;
ZINWA will transfer all staff working under the transferred undertakings;
ZINWA will agree with the local authority on transitional period;
ZINWA, as the water authority mandated by the Government of Zimbabwe to manage water resources, shall continue to provide, at an agreed fee, all forms of assistance, including technical assistance, personnel, advisory and training, information and other services to the Local Authority taking over the specified infrastructure.
GUIDELINES FOR THE LOCAL AUTHORITY
The local authority will need a staff complement specified in Annex A;
The local authority shall have a workshop with equipment specified in Annex B;
To meet logistical requirements, the local authority shall own or have access to vehicles specified in Annex C;
The local authority shall produce latest audited accounts showing a sound financial position prior to taking over (as per Public Accounts Management Act);
The local authority shall ring-fence the water account;
The local authority should demonstrate capacity to finance operations for three months;
The local authority shall have a licenced and operational billing system;
The local authority shall consult its stakeholders and regard their views about the takeover;
The local authority shall settle outstanding debts to ZINWA before handover.
MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT
A Memorandum of Agreement shall be signed between the respective parties detailing, amongst other items;
- Assets to be transferred;
- Acknowledgement of debts or deed of settlement;
- Water tariffs;
- Transfer of personnel.
POST HANDOVER
The Zimbabwe National Water Authority will continue to monitor the technical capacity of Local Authorities after handing over infrastructure in line with Part II, Section 5 (e) of the ZINWA Act [Chapter 20:25), which states one of the ZINWA’s functions as, “to encourage and assist local authorities in the discharge of their functions under the Rural District Councils Act [Chapter 29:13] and the Urban Councils Act [Chapter 29:15] with regard to the development and management of water resources in areas under their jurisdiction and in particular, the provision of potable water and the disposal of waste water.”
INTERPRETATIONS
Local authority means a municipal council, town council or a town board declared to be a local authority;
ZINWA means the Zimbabwe National Water Authority established through the Zimbabwe National Water Authority Act [Chapter 20:25)
KEY RELEVANT DOCUMENTS
- Constitution of Zimbabwe
- Zimbabwe National Water Authority Act [Chapter 20:254]
- Water Act [Chapter 20:24
- Urban Councils Act [Chapter 29:15]
- Rural District Councils Act [Chapter 29:13]
- National Water Policy 2013
- Public Finance Management Act
ANNEX A
Staff Complement
Technical Staff
Position |
Qualification |
Experience (Years |
Civil engineer |
Relevant Bachelor’s degree |
5 years’ experience in water supply operations covering water treatment and distribution. Must be a member of the Engineering Council of Zimbabwe |
Civil Engineering Technician |
Diploma |
3 years’ experience in water supply operations covering water treatment and distribution. Must be a Member of the Engineering Council of Zimbabwe. |
Quality Assurance Technician |
Diploma |
3 years’ experience in water supply operations |
Fitter |
Class 1 |
5 years’ experience in installation and maintenance of pumps and ancillaries |
Electrician |
Class 1 |
5 years’ experience in installation and maintenance of motors and starters |
Support Staff
Position |
Qualification |
Experience (Years) |
Accountant |
Degree in Accounts or equivalent |
At least 3 years relevant experience |
Billing officers |
Diploma in Accounts or equivalent |
At least 1 year relevant experience |
ANNEX B
Workshop equipment
- Lathe machine;
- Pedestal Drill;
- Drying oven;
- At least 2 by 48 inch Stillson wrenches;
- At least 4 by 36 Inch Stillson wrenches;
- At least 2 by toolboxes complete;
- At least 2 by working benches with vices/clamps; and
- At least 2 tone and 5 tone chain blocks.
HON. MOKONE: Thank you Madam Speaker. My supplementary question is Hon. Minister, may you kindly inform this House on the timelines as regards to the hand-over of the plant. This has been the talk for a very long time. We have been hearing that the plant will be handed over without anything happening. Thank you.
HON. DR. MASUKA: I thank the Hon. Member for the supplementary question. I cannot give a timeline because it is dependent on Gwanda Municipality and the question ought to be re-directed to Gwanda to say how quickly can they deal with the outstanding issues. Madam Speaker, this is why I have taken the liberty to attach a copy of the issues that need to be attended to. Thank you Madam Speaker.
DRILLING OF NEW BOREHOLES IN WARREN PARK CONSTITUENCY
- HON. HAMAUSWA: asked the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development to inform the House why no new boreholes were drilled in Warren Park Constituency despite the promises made in 2019 that three boreholes will be drilled in the area, a situation which has led to residents resorting to using contaminated water.
THE MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES, WATER AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. DR. MASUKA): Thank you Madam Speaker. My Ministry prioritises borehole drilling in rural areas, as water provision in local authorities is largely the responsibility of the local authority. As you might be aware, the 2019 and 2020 boreholes were centred on drought prone areas in the rural areas which had no sources of water. More recently, however, we note that a borehole drilling project aimed at drilling 200 boreholes has been started.
RESETTLING OFFSPRING OF NEWLY SETTLED FARMERS
- HON. MAYIHLOME asked the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Fisheries and Rural Development to inform the House regarding Government policy on resettling offspring of newly settled farmers in the various resettlement areas.
THE MINISTER OF LANDS AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES, WATER AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT (HON. DR. MASUKA): Thank you Madam Speaker. I would like to thank the Hon. Member for the question and the question is pertinent. I have taken the liberty not to say ‘newly resettled’ but resettled farmers because newly resettled would mean the resettlement programming has been going on for decades. The Land Commission Act, Chapter 29, Section 17 states that the Minister, that is the Minister responsible for lands, with the approval of the President, may lease, sell or otherwise dispose of State land and land that may be leased or alienated to a single individual or a single corporate body; a single household or two or more persons jointly, therefore the offspring of people who are resettled are specifically not covered in terms of the law. However, anyone above 21years is free to apply for land.
May I, at this juncture, try and highlight the thrust of Government in giving land, especially the Second Republic. That land is an economic enabler. Land is not necessarily just for building a homestead. So this land enables people to do a business. When you undertake a business, our expectation as Government is that you will be able to employ your offspring in the business for continuity and succession. Thank you Madam Speaker.
PAYMENT OF ACCOMMODATION AND FOOD BY MARKING TEACHERS
- HON. MASANGO-CHINHAMO asked the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education to inform the House: (a) why teachers are paying for accommodation and food during the period when they are marking public examinations;
(b) How long it takes for a non-teaching staff to be upgraded as a teacher after training and the requisite qualifications.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (HON. E. MOYO): Thank you Mr. Speaker. ZIMSEC markers normally conduct their marking duties close to their areas of residence. They are paid allowance under the unproved option. However, for those who travel to marking centres, away from home. They are given the option to choose either the unproved or full boarding option where ZIMSEC pays the service provider. In almost all cases, markers choose to be paid allowances so that they pay their own accommodation and services.
(b) There is no specific period. Upon attaining the requisite qualification, the non-teaching staff members are obliged to register the same way unemployed college leavers do and wait for their turn. Critical subjects like sciences can, however, give them leverage. I thank you.
ALLOCATION OF FUNDS BY ZINARA FOR REHABILITATION OF ROADS IN DZIVARESEKWA
- HON MUSHORIWA asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to inform the House:a) how much money has been allocated by ZINARA to Dzivarasekwa Constituency under City of Harare in 2018, 2019 and 2020 for rehabilitation of roads in Dzivarasekwa;
b) what measures the Ministry is taking to reduce cases of road accidents along Bulawayo road at a place called Whitehouse in Snake Park;
c) when is the Ministry going to rehabilitate the road from Bulawayo road turning at Glaudina suburb (commonly known as Pamuzinda) passing through Dzivarasekwa Extension and Dzivarasekwa Presidential Guard connecting with Mount Hampden where the new Parliament is being built;
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. MADIRO): For the period 2018 to 2020, City of Harare was doing mainly routine maintenance on Dzivarasekwa roads and the relevant authorities are in the process of compiling the figures for such maintenance. In 2021, Dzivarasekwa Way was allocated ZW$83,664,000 million for rehabilitation and Robert Mugabe Street ZW$8,019,000 million for reseal. Furthermore, mobilisation for Dzivarasekwa Street has begun.
The Ministry is reviewing the junction and looking at ways to reduce speed on that road, thus reducing accidents. Furthermore, the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe has been raising awareness for the public to exercise caution and reduce speed while on that road. In the long term, new designs have been done which will be reviewed and constructed once funding is availed.
For the year 2022, the Ministry of Transport has taken over from City of Harare Kuwadzana Extension Road which is 3.8 kilometres. Tenders have been flighted and a contractor will be appointed in due course.
The road in question is not a gazetted road. The developer has not handed over the road to the City of Harare, hence still classified as private roads. However, the Ministry is in the process of engaging the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works on how best we can move in and take over such roads so that the ordinary citizens can benefit from the ERRP2 programme.
HON. MUSHORIWA: I want to thank the Deputy Minister for his detailed answers. I just want to raise a supplementary question pertaining to the last part of his answer. On the road that links Dzivarasekwa and Dzivarasekwa Extension, there is no private player involved. It is actually the Ministry of Local Government which is involved where the road has to pass through. There is no private player but it is a local government residential area and I just want the Hon Minister to take what they can do to ensure that there is a road between these two places.
HON. MADIRO: With due respect to the Hon Member, we take note of that miss from my officials. I will make sure that my Ministry liaises with the Ministry of Local Government to ensure that concern is taken care of.
BENEFICIARIES OF STANDS IN DZIVARESEKWA
- HON MUSHORIWA asked the Minister of National Housing and Social Amenities to inform the House;a) list of owners of the stands in both Phase 1 and 2 in Dzivarasekwa Extension stating the address and the name of the legal owner;b) measures being taken to settle disputes of double allocation; c) what measures the Ministry is taking to ensure that the roads and sewer system in Phase 1 Dzivarasekwa Extension do comply to City of Harare standards;d) what measures are being taken into consideration to ensure that Dzivarasekwa Phase 2 has sewer and water reticulation;
e) explain when the Ministry will construct water and sewer system in building additional three floor flats in Dzivarasekwa Extension at a place where we have existing floor flats which have no water and sewer system. Could the Ministry explain when the water and sewage system will be operational?
THE MINISTER OF NATIONAL HOUSING AND SOCIAL AMENITIES (HON. GARWE): Thank you Madam Speaker. On the copies of the list of owners for Phase 1 and Phase 2 in Dzivarasekwa, I have a comprehensive list which I will submit.
On part b, the Dzivarasekwa Extension housing project began as a ‘Pay for your House Scheme’ in the mid-1990s. It was a beneficiary funded project where members’ contributions were matched by Government’s contribution on a dollar for dollar basis. The pooled resources would then be used to service and build houses on specific projects throughout the country. Dzivarasekwa Extension was divided into Phase 1 and Phase 2 and in the two phases, all the stands in terms of the master plan were allocated to beneficiaries in 1998.
In Phase 1, construction of water, sewer and electricity reticulation as well as a ring road were carried out by Government. At the turn of the millennium, Government withdrew its contributions towards the project citing funding challenges. This left contributions by beneficiaries as the only source of funding, thus posing projects sustainability challenges. The project stalled in the early 2000 due to the above stated challenges which included the impact of sanctions on the economy and effects of hyperinflation on the local currency. City of Harare could not issue beneficiaries with the certificates of compliance which would have enabled them to build the houses. It is important to note that in terms of the by-laws, a certificate of compliance is only issued in circumstances where onsite infrastructure is provided before construction of houses. The majority of the residents, out of desperation moved on site and erected super structures prior to the provision of roads, water and sewer reticulation and this was in total violation of the by-laws.
Madam Speaker Ma’am, unscrupulous elements took advantage of the withdrawal of funding by Government, forged Ministry document, I am referring to membership forms, offer letters and receipts. They sold stands to unsuspecting home seekers. Those who bought these stands were instructed by the land barons to immediately take occupation, with the bulk of them building full houses. The houses were built without approved plans, without water, sewer and electricity. The same stands unfortunately belonged to original beneficiaries who were waiting for the provisions of onsite infrastructure, issuance of a certificate of compliance and subsequent permission to build from the local authority. The illegal selling of stands by land barons, the double allocations, which is the problem on site right now, the Ministry’s records were never amended, and it contained the names of those allocated in 1998. The matter was reported to police, and culprits were arrested on several occasions and brought before the courts. Unfortunately, the people who illegally bought stands from land barons were reluctant to come to court to testify as witnesses before the courts and as a result, the land barons were acquitted.
Madam Speaker, in 2010, Government decided to service Phase 2 with water, sewer, storm water drains and roads on a cost recovery basis. In order to ensure that the costs were recovered from bona-fide beneficiaries, a verification exercise was conducted on a door to door basis to ascertain the extent of the stands invasions for both Phase 1 and Phase 2. Armed with that data, Government applied for eviction of the illegal settlers and court judgments were handed down in Government’s favour. Unfortunately, that judgment is yet to be operationalised. Ministers responsible then (Mr. Chombo, Mr. Kasukuwere and Hon. July Moyo) had varying opinions on how to implement the court decisions and they were never implemented. To date, Hon. Minister July Moyo is ceased with the matter. We are also part of the decision process Madam Speaker Ma’am. The most obvious decision that we are going to take is to identify alternative land to address the issue, which land is very difficult to come-by even now.
Subsequent to the above stated developments, adverts were floated in the print media with a schedule of names of all beneficiaries instructing them to confirm the authenticity and bring proof to the Ministry. Physical meetings attended by Government officials and beneficiaries were also held on-site to discuss issues concerning allocation of stands, verification and the way forward. This verification exercise started on the beginning of 2010 and ended in 2011. Vacant stands of those who failed to report to confirm ownership of stands were repossessed and reallocated to civil servants in 2012/2013. It is important to point out that there were no reallocations in Phase 1, so the 1998 allocations still remain. However and unfortunately, the land barons did not stop their misdemeanors. They continued to sell even the reallocated stands as long as they were vacant to such an extent that even some of the civil servants had their stands invaded as well. In the majority of cases, beneficiaries who got stands from land barons expeditiously built houses as a way of avoiding further reallocations by the same barons, for instance;
Government in 2012/2013 was allocating stands in Whitecliffe and members who were affected with double allocations were given an option to go to Whitecliffe before the legal battle with Mr. Pfugari. About 100 beneficiaries opted to relocate to Whitecliffe while others refused.
The other option that Government offered beneficiaries was to offer compensation. About 200 original beneficiaries were compensated by illegal settlers and Government effected cessations and updated its records accordingly. However, some invaders rejected that option and they remain defiant up to this date.
The Ministry is not looking for suitable land for housing to allocate to the remaining beneficiaries who are still affected by double allocations.
In the meantime Madam Speaker, a team from my Ministry will be on the ground for yet another door-to-door verification to determine the quantum of the current invasions. The statistics collected will assist in making informed decisions going forward.
On the other sub question, you may wish to know that sewer system in Phase 1 Dzivarasekwa is compliant to the standards of City of Harare. The road systems are still outstanding but there is a ring road in Phase 1. The Ministry is considering lobbying for resources from Treasury to complete the servicing of the roads.
Madam Speaker, Phase 2 which includes the flats was serviced with sewer, tarred roads and storm water drains; these are functional. The pipe work for water reticulation was completed, the only outstanding work is the connection to the main line which was constructed by Nehanda Housing Cooperative and they want compensation from Government before connection is done. Negotiations between the cooperative and the Ministry are still work in progress. Compensation fees and negotiations are ongoing while Government is also trying to mobilise resources for the same. Once the compensation framework is agreed, then the connection is done and the area is compliant. The rationale was to dispense with Phase II which was lagging behind, then move to do the outstanding roads in Phase 1. We are fully cognisant of the fact that all the houses built either by legal or illegal beneficiaries were not approved by City of Harare and they remain illegal. City of Harare will be expected to deal with the issue of compliance of the superstructures once we hand over the project to them on a case by case basis. I thank you.
Questions with Notice were interrupted by the HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER in terms of Standing Order No. 68.
(v) HON. MUSHORIWA: Madam Speaker I would like to ask for an extension of time with 15 minutes.
HON. TEKESHE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: The time was extended with 15 minutes.
(v) HON. MUSHORIWA: Thank you Madam Speaker. I would like to thank the Hon. Minister for answering the question that I posed. I wanted to find out whether the Minister has got a timeframe in terms of the agreement between Government and Nehanda Cooperative in respect to the connection of water, bearing in mind that in Phase 2, they have got 200 square metre stands and on that 200 square metre stand, that is where they have got their wells where they fetch water from. They also have pit latrines and there is a chance of a health disaster. Thank you.
THE MINISTER OF NATIONAL HOUSING AND SOCIAL AMENITIES (HON. GARWE): Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. I would like to thank the Hon. Member for the supplementary question. In terms of timeframe, it is not possible to give the timeframe right now. The whole exercise involves other institutions and ministries and we need to go back to the drawing board and come up with a comprehensive programme which we can give the timeframes. The other issue that the Hon. Member has raised also involves consultations with other ministries like Ministry of Local Government. There are other institutions that are lobbying for the residence which need to be consulted as well including the residents.
WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE
FUNDS PAID FOR HIRING ZUPCO BUSES
- HON. MUSHORIWA asked the Minister of Local Government and Public Works to explain to the House: -
- How much money has been paid for hiring ZUPCO buses and omnibuses for the period ending 31st December, 2021?
- What is the daily rate being paid per bus or vehicle?
- How many litres of fuel are allocated to each hired bus per day.
- How many ZUPCO buses are allocated to commute between Central Business District and Dzivaresekwa segregated into the available routes namely; Dzivaresekwa Mainland; Dzivaresekwa Extension; Glaudina and other surrounding areas?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS (HON. CHOMBO):
- A total of ZW$5 550 000 000 was paid for ZUPCO buses and omnibuses for the year ending 31st December, 2021.
- The daily rate being paid is ZW$34 000 per bus and ZW$10 000 per omnibus.
- The allocation of fuel for hired buses and omnibuses is 75 and 95 litres per bus per day (depending on the route) and 30 litres per omnibus per day.
- ZUPCO buses are allocated to Dzivaresekwa as follows:-
-Dzivaresekwa Mainland – 7 buses and 11 omnibuses;
-Dzivaresekwa Extension 10 buses and 14 omnibuses;
Glaudina and other surrounding areas – Currently serviced by Dzivaresekwa Extension fleet.
LAND ALLOCATED TO YAMURAI PRIMARY SCHOOL
HON. MUSHORIWA asked the Minister of Local Government and Public Works to
explain to the House: -
1. What size of land did the Ministry originally allocated to Yamurayi Government Primary School in Dzivaresekwa Extension?
2. Explain how and why Yamurayi Primary School land has over the years been reduced and is settled by individual and companies?
3. Whether those who occupied the land are illegal or legal settlers and if so, to explain what action is the Government doing to remove them?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS (HON. CHOMBO):
- Yamurayi Primary School was originally allocated 3.6 hectares which is the standard size for a primary school.
- The size of Yamurayi Primary School was not reduced over the years but it is surrounded by residential, churches and crèche stands which are being developed.
- These stands are legal and they on an approved layout plan.
NUMBER OF SITES FOR PUBLIC PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN DZIVARESEKWA
- HON. MUSHORIWA asked the Minister of Local Government and Public Works to inform the House, the number of sites of public primary schools which are available in each of the following residential areas in Dzivaresekwa Extension;
- Phase 1
- Phase 2
- Nehanda
- Federation
- Vision Park and new Settlement and Glaudina area.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT
AND PUBLIC WORKS (HON. CHOMBO): In Dzivaresekwa Extension, there are 11 Public Primary School stands and the breakdown is as follows:-
- Phase 1 1
- Phase 2 -0
- Nehanda -7
- Federation -0
- Vision Park and new Settlement -1
- Glaudina -2
Total 11
NUMBER OF SITES FOR PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN DZIVARESEKWA
- HON. MUSHORIWA asked the Minister of Local Government and Public Works to explain to the House the number of sites of public secondary school which are available in each of the following residential areas in Dzivaresekwa Extension?
- Phase 1
- Phase 2
- Nehanda
- Federation
- Vision Park and new Settlement
- Glaudina area.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS (HON. CHOMBO): In Dzivaresekwa Extension, there are 4 public secondary school stands and the breakdown is as follows:-
- Phase 1 0
- Phase 2 0
- Nehanda 3
- Federation 0
- Vision Park and new Settlement 1
- Glaudina 0
Total 4
NUMBER OF SITES FOR PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN DZIVARESEKWA
- HON. MUSHORIWA asked the Minister of Local Government and Public Works to Inform the House ff private school sites in Dzivaresekwa Extension which have been given to private players in the following areas: -
- Beneficiaries who were given the land and for what period?
- Stand number;
- Size of the land, and
- Consideration paid if any?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS (HON. CHOMBO): The Ministry has 13 stands in Dzivaresekwa Extension comprising of 9 primary schools and 4 secondary school stands. The beneficiaries were allocated stands on a four –year lease period. Out of the 13 school stands in Dzivaresekwa Extension, the Ministry allocated the following organisations and individuals as follows:
Number |
Name of Beneficiary |
Stand Number |
Size of the land |
Payment status |
1 |
Benjamin Chari |
4737 Primary School Stand |
3.5 ha |
No payment, the stand is valued at US$126 216.00 |
2 |
J. S. Gumbochuma |
139 primary school stand |
3.5 ha |
Fully paid land intrinsic values of US487 626.00 |
3 |
M. Dzimati |
6290 primary school stand |
5.3 ha |
Awaiting clearance from the Ministry of Public Service Commission |
4 |
Yamurai Learning centre |
713 secondary school stand |
5 225 ha |
Paid US$6 $2 000.00 balance US$ 113 067.00 |
5 |
Lucia Gunguwo |
4408 secondary school stand |
5 3138 ha |
Paid US4 2 660.00 Balance $152 706.40 |
6 |
Ester Dhliwayo |
5233 Primary School stand |
3 4320 ha |
Paid $100 400.00 Balance $3 376.00 |
7 |
Gladys Pambuka |
4410 primary school stand |
3 284 ha |
Paid US$20 169.20 Balance $80 650.00 |
WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE
COMPLETION OF RWENYA BRIDGE IN NYANGA
- HON. SANYATWE asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Development to inform the House when Government will complete the construction of Rwenya Bridge in Ward 1 in Fombe, Nyanga.
THE DEPUTY MIISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCRE DEVELOPMENT (HON. MADIRO): In terms of the contract with the contractor, the project was supposed to be completed by 29th June 2022. However, works have since been suspended due to the current water levels. We anticipate to resume works end of April or early May and to complete the project speedily.
REHABILITATION OF BRIDGES IN AVILLA WARD
- HON SANYATWE asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Development to inform the House when the Ministry will rehabilitate 3 bridges in Avilla ward that were destroyed by cyclones.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT (HON. MADIRO): We are informed that one bridge that was damaged by the recent cyclone, that being Gairezi Bridge. We have invited contractors for the rehabilitation works and bids have been submitted. Evaluation is ongoing and construction will commence after completion of internal processes.
PLANS TO ASSIST COMMUNITIES FACING HUNGER IN NYANGA
- HON. SANYATWE asked the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare to inform the House what Government plans are in as far as assistance to communities facing acute hunger due to poor rains is concerned in the following areas of Nyanga: Fombe Ward 1, Kazozo Ward 3, Katerera ward 5, Ruwangwe Ward 4, Gotegote ward 7 and 9, Nyatsanga, Nyamahumba, Munemo, Avilla Renzva Wards 2 and 10, Nyadowa, Sabvure and Bariri Ward 11.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND SOCIAL WELFARE (HON. MATUKE): Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. May the House be informed that Government is responding to distress calls made across the country for food assistance and other social protection services like the Public Assistance and the Cash Transfers? This is however done at district level through Drought Relief Committees. The Committees assess the situation in their districts and submit a request for grain to the Ministry.
As you are aware, Nyanga was one of the districts which had a responsible crop over the last season with a prevalence of 15% cereal insecurity during the peak hunger period. This implies that there was a high prevalence of food security. However, this season seems to be bad across the country and we wait for Crop and Livestock second round assessment and the vulnerability assessments (ZimVac) to ascertain areas that are in need of assistance.
All provincial and district Drought Relief Committees have been directed to carry out rapid assessments of the food situation in their areas and submit requests to the Ministry.
Meanwhile, the Ministry is mobilising transport funds to move grain to need areas. Plans are already under way to scale up the food deficit mitigation programme this year and uphold the call by His Excellency the President that no Zimbabwean should die of hunger. I thank you.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. TOGAREPI: Madam Speaker, I move that Orders of the Day Nos 1 to Order No. 7 be stood over until Order No. 8 has been disposed of.
HON. SHAMU: I second.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE ON THE PETITITON BY THE ZIMBABWE ANTI-SANCTIONS TRUST
HON. SHAMU: That this House takes note of the Report of the Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade on the Petition by the Zimbabwe Anti-Sanctions Trust on enacting legislation that criminalises calling for imposition of sanctions on Zimbabwe by individuals/ Organisations.
HON. MAYIHLOME: I second.
HON. SHAMU: 1.0 INTRODUCTION
Pursuant to Section 149 of the Constitution, the Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade received a petition from the Zimbabwe Anti-Sanctions Trust on passing legislation that criminalises calling for imposition of sanctions on Zimbabwe by individuals or organisations. The petitioners noted that, sanctions have caused an insidious ripple effect on the Zimbabwean economy and the enjoyment of fundamental human rights, including the right to health, food, safe drinking water and sanitation. Consequently, they called for Parliament to enact a law that ensures Zimbabweans desist from unpatriotic behaviour that supports imposition of illegal sanctions on their nation to the detriment of its development. Thus, the envisaged law will form a strong legal foundation to penalise unpatriotic behaviour as well as acting as a panacea to curb undesirable acts.
2.0 BACKGROUND
2.1 Zimbabwe has been under the European Union (EU), United
States of America (USA) and their allies’ imposed illegal sanctions for two decades. While the European Union lifted the economic sanctions under Article 96 of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement, the remaining measures on the Zimbabwe Defence Industries and on some of our Service Chiefs continue to affect the image of the country. The USA vehemently continues to progressively tighten its sanctions regime. On 18 October 2021, the US Senate Committee on Appropriations issued a State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill, which maintains the continuation of US sanctions on Zimbabwe in 2022.
2.2 The US further instructed the Secretary of the Treasury to
advise all its Executive Directors of international financial institutions to vote against any loan, credit, grant, or guarantee for Zimbabwe, except to meet basic human needs or to promote democracy, unless the Secretary of State certifies and reports to the Committee on Appropriations that the Government of Zimbabwe was making consistent progress in strengthening democratic institutions and protecting freedom of expression, association, and assembly. Thus, the merciless continuation of the illegal sanctions regime as well as judgment setting of utopian standards for Zimbabwe are callous, vindictive and should not be allowed to continue.
2.3 Zimbabwe, as many other countries, has not been spared
from the malaise of isolated citizens or groupings, co-operating or conniving with certain hostile foreign governments to inflict suffering on its citizens, government and generally its national interests. These self-appointed individuals are not shy to speak with indecent haste against their own country on issues of foreign relations without bothering to verify facts or engage domestic authorities. A substantial number willfully misinform foreign governments in order to gain self favour and discredit the Government.
2.4 Notable incidents such as when the then leader of the main
opposition party appealed to the South African Government to cut electricity supply to Zimbabwe, when some individuals within the opposition leadership, travelled to USA to encourage the American Government to renew sanction laws (ZIDERA) against Zimbabwe in the face of a regional anti-sanctions demonstration having been organised under the auspices of SADC and, planned and timed protests by Government opponents whenever a major international, continental or regional event is to commence. Given the foregoing, it is evident that such citizens would have been working for their self-interest whilst discrediting government efforts to promote and protect the national interests that include Zimbabwe’s foreign relations and policy agenda.
3.0 JUSTIFICATION FOR ENACTMENT OF THE LAW
3.1 The Zimbabwean law is devoid of specific provisions that
prescribe or criminalise the unauthorised communication or negotiation by private citizens with foreign sovereign governments that have a direct or indirect implication on Zimbabwe’s foreign relations and policy. No other law, whether statutory or common law provides for the regulating of this area of citizen endeavor. Our law therefore has a lacuna when it comes to private citizens meddling with foreign relation matters.
3.2 The individuals/groups that engage in unsanctioned self-
serving citizen or private diplomacy and negotiations with foreign sovereign governments not only offend the Constitution but also violate customary international law which forms part and parcel of our law by virtue of Section 326(1) of the Constitution.
3.3 Needless to say, such a gap can be detrimental to the official
position of governmental diplomacy and foreign policy and has the following potential effects: -
- undermining an elected Government;
- creating lack of confidence in the government of the day;
- undermining foreign policy thrust by civilians;
- altering foreign national expectations based on assumptions that are inconsistent with prevailing foreign policy set by the Government;
- alienating the country from the international community and allies; and
- affecting the interests of everyone for the benefit of a few.
Cognizant of the foregoing, the current situation cries out for
implementation of necessary reforms to the law aimed at regulating communications and negotiations with foreign sovereign governments by unauthorised private citizens.
4.0 METHODOLOGY
The Committee held meetings with the Zimbabwe Anti-Sanctions Trust, Ministries of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and analysed various literature on the effects of sanctions on Zimbabwe including, but not limited to, the report by United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Negative Impact of Unilateral Coercive Measures of Enjoyment of Human Rights, Ms. Alena Douhan who visited Zimbabwe in 2021.
5.0 COMMITTEE FINDINGS
5.1 The Committee was informed by Ambassador Manzou, the
Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade that, the envisaged law was not entirely new as other countries such as the US, Australia, Singapore and China already had laws that prohibit communicating messages intended to harm the country’s positive image and its integrity. Also, that, such regressive acts usually result in stiff penalties such as imprisonment.
The Permanent Secretary’s assertion was quantified and qualified further by Mrs P. Dokwani, Law Officer from the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs who briefed the Committee that, the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs was in a process of amending the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act [Chapter 9:23] to incorporate Section 12 of the Constitution as a legal means to address the issues raised by the petitioners.
The Section reads as follows: -
(1) “The foreign policy of Zimbabwe must be based on the following principles; -
- the promotion and protection of the national interests of Zimbabwe;
- respect for international law;
- peaceful co-existence with other nations; and
- the settlement of international disputes by peaceful means.”
- It was evident from the above, that the nation state was at the
epicenter of promotion and protection of its national interests. To qualify further, it is a trite principle of public international law that matters pertaining to foreign relations with other sovereign nations involve the exercise of the power of the State and are not matters to be dealt with by means of self-serving citizens or private diplomacy or negotiations. Therefore, the proposed Bill seeks to promote and protect the national interests of Zimbabwe and to implement the principle of public international law which provides that matters of foreign relations solely fall within the purview of the state as opposed to the prevailing situation.
- Furthermore, the Committee was briefed that, the proposed
law would include the following provisions which criminalize conduct that falls within the following broad categories; -
- Unauthorised private negotiations engaged in by citizens of Zimbabwe with a foreign government which directly or indirectly relates to the country’s foreign relations and policy with other sovereign nations. In this regard, the law should be restricted to private negotiations that impact on ‘the promotion and protection of the national interests of Zimbabwe’, as provided for in Section 12(1)(a) of the Constitution, including its foreign policy agenda but not negotiations by citizens on matters of purely private commercial interests. Also, that its formulation should be carried out in a manner that avoids taking away the rights of individual citizens seeking redress for harm suffered as a result of conduct by a foreign sovereign government, its agents or citizens.
- The making of false statements by any citizens of Zimbabwe with an intention of influencing any dispute or controversy between a foreign government and Zimbabwe.
5.4 International Legal Framework: -
At international law, the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961) only recognises states as legitimate players in foreign relations and negotiations. In this regard Article 2 provides that; –
“The establishment of diplomatic relations between States, and of permanent diplomatic missions, takes place by mutual consent”
Article 3(1) follows by spelling out that “the functions of a diplomatic mission consist, inter alia, in
“(a) Representing the sending State in the receiving State;
- Protecting in the receiving State, the interests of the sending State and of its nationals, within the limits permitted by international law;
- Negotiating with the Government of the receiving State;
- Ascertaining by all lawful means conditions and developments in the receiving State, and reporting thereon to the Government of the sending State;
- Promoting friendly relations between the sending State and the receiving State, and developing their economic, cultural and scientific relations.”
The above provisions further confirm that private players have no business in foreign relations and negotiations between countries.
5.5 The Constitution of Zimbabwe provides for freedom of
expression as enshrined in Section 61, that every person has the right to freedom of expression, which includes, freedom to seek, receive and communicate ideas and other information; freedom of artistic expression and scientific research and creativity. Every person is entitled to freedom of the media, which freedom includes protection of the confidentiality of journalists' sources of information. Broadcasting and other electronic media of communication have freedom of establishment, subject only to State licensing procedures. It is important to note that, these rights have been entrenched in the Constitution and the amendment of the Criminal Code will have no effect to the exercise and enjoyment of these rights.
6.0 Update on the Bill
The principles to the proposed Bill were approved by Cabinet and drafting instructions were then forwarded to the Attorney General’s Office for drafting. The Bill will become law as soon as all the stages of the law making process have been adhered to.
7.0 COMMITTEE RECOMENDATIONS
In light of the foregoing, the Committee recommends that the
Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs should bring the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Amendment Bill to Parliament by 30 November 2022.
8.0 CONCLUSION
The Committee appreciates the proactive role played by the Zimbabwe Anti-Sanctions Trust in unraveling the challenges bedeviling our nation as a result of the lacuna, inherent in our legal instruments in relation to criminalising calling for imposition of sanctions on Zimbabwe. Stakeholders from all walks of life are encouraged to cooperate with Parliament in order to make vision 2030 a reality.
I thank you.
HON. BRG GEN. (RTD) MAYIHLOME: Thank you Madam Speaker. I rise to applaud and support the motion raised by Hon. Shamu on this very important issue of enacting legislation in this House, a motion which is very close to most of our hearts. As enunciate by Hon. Shamu in his report, issues of freedom of expression should not infringe on the rights of other members of society. Furthermore, I just want to emphasize that freedom of expression and association should not threaten national security.
I believe that those who call for sanctions against the nation and infringe on the national interests of this country and also threaten national security of this country, in what way Madam Speaker, by calling for sanctions are weakening the economy. By weakening the economy, you are causing economic upheavals and promoting civil disobedience that might need or threaten the stability of Government. In my view that is a security threat and whichever way one looks at it, calling for sanctions is actually a threat to national security. There has to be legislation to guard against the threat to national security.
Secondly, calling for sanctions infringes on the individual members of society that there are so many people who have been affected by the sanctions in this country and they deserve a right to be compensated for the suffering that they have endured over the years. Look at those who have left jobs, failed to get medical treatment, by right they have a right to seek legal remedy from the individuals that have called for sanction because they have suffered as a result of those sanctions. There is no country or law in the world that allows individuals to take over the responsibility of discussing international relations as alluded to by Hon. Shamu on behalf of the State, it is only left to Government. This is by custom, law and practice that all countries in the world leave international relations or negotiations to governments that are elected and who are authorized to do so. For individuals to go on to threaten his own fellow citizens in his own country, it is treasonous in our view and we really applaud the efforts to bring legislation that will criminalize and also allow for individuals to call for mass legal law suits against those individuals so that the damage that they have suffered is properly restituted. I would say in a nutshell, this Bill is long overdue and we hope that the Attorney General’s Office will bring it to this House without further delay so that this issue of sanctions and the Patriotism Bill is addressed once and for all. I thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. MUNETSI: Thank you Madam Speaker for giving me this opportunity to air my views. I want to thank Hon. Shamu. It takes a brave man to stand up and write and come up with such a script about criminalising someone who calls for sanctions in this country. It takes a brave man and I want to thank you for bringing this important issue to this august House. I want to thank Hon. Mayihlome also for seconding the motion.
Definitely, if one calls for sanctions, that person must be arrested. I call for sanctions for someone, the equal responds is an arrest. I support that. I believe sanctions do a lot of harm to the common people. They infringe on the rights of people, their rights to health, shelter, good education and freedom. All that is tarnished by the implementation of sanctions. It also tarnishes the image of a country, relationships with other countries is tarnished and visits to other countries, trade, tourism and sports. All would be put under sanctions and the country is locked and has nowhere to go. So I wonder what kind of person you are who can stand up to lock your country. You do not want to visit, trade, tour and engage in sports. You want to stay in your country, you want regime change and you want to lead hungry people, you want to lead poor people, you want to lead people with poor education, poor standard of living and you want as Zimbabweans, to just watch you and go. A law must be made that criminalises such kind of people. We support that.
You cannot sit in those big meetings and castigate your country for nothing. That is unheard of. What kind of a father do you want to be? You want to lock your country inside. Now, unfortunately you were very unlucky because our President is a clever one. That is the reason why he introduced some re-engagement methods. He has introduced open for business policies, freedom to all. If you come across anyone in this country from any country, they walk freely. They are not harassed by anyone. It is because our President wants to show the world that even though you call for sanctions, Zimbabweans are hard working people, they will never die. We remain a sovereign State. We are Zimbabweans and we will not change. A law must be made. I thank you.
(v)HON. GANDAWA: Thank you Madam Speaker for giving me the opportunity to debate on this important report which came from Hon. Shamu, seconded by Hon. Mayihlome. I think it raises key issues that came out from the subscribers to the petition that was brought to the Committee on Foreign Affairs. Madam Speaker, you would agree with me that those institutions and individuals who then tend to call for economic sanctions on the country of Zimbabwe, those that did in the past, those that are doing it in the present and those who are going to be doing it in the future, there is no level of witchcraft that can come from a normal Zimbabwean who calls for economic sanctions to be imposed on their own country.
No person in this country, I would want to believe in their normal senses, would choose to call for economic sanctions on their country especially when they think or they dream of one day becoming leaders of this particular country regardless of the level they would like to lead, be it at local level, national or you name it, but the idea of calling for illegal sanctions and to call for sanctions on your country, I would want to think people should be able to reflect on it and say what is the consequence for calling for these sanctions in the present and in the future. We have lost as a country in terms of economic growth; we have seen the freezing of our financial assets outside Zimbabwe, suspension of our technical and aid assistance from international partners. The trade controls that have been put across our economy and as a result of all these ills that we are seeing from the illegal sanctions, the country is now suffering as a result of those illegal sanctions, cancellation and reduction of credit facilities at market rates.
All these ills we are seeing everyday is a consequence of someone who went up to say let us call for illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe just for the purpose of trying to remove a Government in power. I think it is important for people to appreciate that a Government is put in place by people. It is people that vote for us into office. It is not sanctions that are going to remove a Government from power. So it is quite clearly important that what has been raised by the petitioners to say strict measures must be taken against individuals and institutions that call for the imposition of sanctions on Zimbabwe, be it in the past or those that are calling for it in the moment, they must then be barred from taking any active participation in the governance of this country. What benefit do we get as a people of Zimbabwe to wake up tomorrow morning with a ruined State out of sanctions? What leadership do you want to provide to a country like Zimbabwe when you want this country to then be on its knees? Suppose one day you wake up and you are the Member of Parliament for my constituency for instance, what kind of constituency would you want to inherit - a constituency that does not have hospitals, a constituency that cannot maintain its own roads and a constituency that cannot provide basic services to its people because of economic sanctions.
I give thanks to our President for the efforts he has done and he has put so far to ensure that at least as Zimbabwe, we will wither the terrible effects of sanctions that were imposed on us by the western world. I am glad of the diplomatic steps and efforts that have been made with different countries like China, Indonesia and Malaysia. At least they are giving us some space to breathe. We are developing our own import substitution industry, we are diverting our Zimbabwe trade to other trading partners, those that support and see the vision of Zimbabwe. Together we will make a difference if we all come together as Zimbabweans and support our Vision 2030. Pasi nemasanctions! Thank you very much Madam Speaker for giving me this opportunity. I submit.
(v)HON. MUSHORIWA: Thank you Madam Speaker for recognising me. I want to start by just stating that we need to define and say to ourselves who calls for sanctions, how do sanctions get imposed on a country? Can sanctions be imposed without a reason and if so, what could be the rationale?
Madam Speaker, I want to start by saying we have people in our midst that try by all means to play holier than thou, the causers and the people that have actually resulted in sanctions being imposed, the restrictive measures that we call sanctions. When you have got a people
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: You are not audible Hon. Mushoriwa.
HON. T. MOYO: Madam Speaker Ma’am, I wish to add my voice to a motion that has been introduced in this House by Hon. Shamu and seconded by Hon. Mayihlome. It is very important to note that we need to criminalise the actions of calling for sanctions on Zimbabwe. Whoever calls for sanctions, we have seen some of our people in this country calling for sanctions. I will call them enemies of the State and saboteurs who go to foreign lands and the US to call for sanctions to be imposed on Zimbabwe. That is a criminal act. We need to come up with a legal framework so that we come up with laws which will criminalise calling for sanctions and their impositions on Zimbabwe.
I will cite examples from other countries whereby people who sell out their country, are either jailed or sometimes can be killed. I will start with Code S700, the US code whereby simply desecrating the flag or failure to respect an ordinary flag will attract a lot of penalties. I will quote Madam Speaker, “Whoever knowingly defaces or mutilates the flag in the US will be fined for a million dollars or be imprisoned for a period of more than five years or both.”
I will regard these people who commit or sell out their country as having committed espionage. Espionage is a crime of secretly going to another country to say out a lot of falsehoods regarding your own country. I will say that the penalty for espionage to transfer such information if one is convicted of gathering and delivering defence information in order to aid a foreign Government, one could be sentenced to life imprisonment or face a death sentence. This can also be compared to economic espionage when one goes to foreign lands and call for economic sanctions which would hurt the ordinary people. That again, in the US attracts imprisonment of 15 years or a fine of up to US$5 million.
It is a noble idea to have a legal framework to bring a Bill to this House which will criminalise or end up having an Act of Parliament whereby whoever is going to participate or go out and criticize his or her own Government should be penalized through heavy fines or else should be tried and put in prison for the entire life or can be sentenced. In conclusion, this is a good motion whereby people need to be patriotic, nationalists and not to betray one’s motherland. It is important to ensure that such tendencies of people who go out to foreign lands and practice espionage should be sentenced. Thank you.
HON. SHAMU: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. I rise to express my sincere appreciation to the Hon. Members who have contributed to this very important motion, a motion which came about as a result of a petition by the Zimbabwe Anti-Sanctions Trust calling on Government to enact legislation criminalising imposition of sanctions on Zimbabwe by individuals or organisations. On that note Madam Speaker Ma’am, may I therefore move that this motion be adopted.
Motion put and agreed to.
On the motion of HON. TOGAREPI, seconded by HON. TEKESHE, the House adjourned at Three Minutes past Six o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday, 6th April, 2022
The Senate met at Half-past Two O’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON PRESIDENT OF SENATE in the Chair)
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: I move that Order of the Day No. 1 on today’s Order Paper be stood over until the rest of the Orders of the Day have been disposed of.
HON. SEN. CHIRONGOMA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
MEASURES TO RESUSCITATE THE ECONOMY
HON. SEN. A. DUBE: I move the motion standing in my name that this House:
NOTING with dismay the prevailing drought and restrictive economic conditions which are exacerbated by the deadly COVID-19 pandemic;
CONCERNED at the plight of emerging small and medium scale businesses in the country which are failing to break even;
FURTHER CONCERNED at the rapid disappearance of Zimbabwe’s natural resources countrywide;
ACKNOWLEDGING that our natural resources can transform our country and bring about improved economic production, if well utilised, particularly in rural areas where there is still some wildlife and mineral wealth;
NOW, THEREFORE, urges and recommends the following:
(a) that Government, through the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, comes up with measures to resuscitate our economy and rescues small and medium businesses from collapse;
(b) that Government gives maximum support and assists in coordinating and implementing the measures taken by the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, Tourism and Hospitality Industry to preserve our natural resources; and
(c) that Government initiates a nationwide conservation awareness programme.
HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: I second.
+HON. SEN. A. DUBE: Thank you Madam President. My issue is very short, it is all about drought, the current situation which we are in. During this season, we are in the process of harvesting crops, the rains have just gone. People managed to plant but the rains disappeared. We cannot change this but as a country, there should be some measures that we can talk about in order to alleviate the situation. This problem also comes at the wrong time when we had the COVID-19 pandemic. As small enterprises, things were very expensive, the sector is still struggling, they have no food. Madam President, this is going to be a very difficult year because if there is no food, there will always be disputes and criminal activities will increase. In communities all over, they do not have enough food. People had planted crops but they did not get enough rains.
Again looking at small enterprises, people have failed to cope with the situation. Things are at a standstill. They have to start afresh. They should start buying food because there is no food in the country. It is only Elijah who might have stopped the coming of the rains. We cannot do anything, that is not the way of doing things. Therefore Madam President, on our environment, we know that we rely on minerals, trees and animals. We are running out of these things because we are failing to run things properly. Criminals end up stealing our resources by burning the grass and animals dung. Others went to do mining and they mine for their personal benefit without taking proceeds to the national reserve.
We were blessed with good resources. It is this time that these resources could have been most useful so that we can outsource food. We are now over-populated and we should not have people who are dying because of hunger. For this to happen, we should unite as a nation so that we do not waste our resources. Those who are into mining should mine and take the resources to the responsible authorities. We have animals and if we look after our resources properly, run them properly and take whatever proceeds to the national authorities, people can manage to buy food.
This is difficult and criminals take advantage of the situation. They use the poor who are hungry to do things on their behalf and when people are hungry, they can do anything so that they can access food. We will not allow such a situation here in Zimbabwe. If at all we have good crops, criminals will take advantage of our situation that people are in poverty and they will use them to achieve their criminal activities as people try to feed their families. It is a difficult time and the youth will end up being used just like the girls who are asked to do things they are not supposed to do. They end up going into prostitution in order to feed the families at home. This is all because there is nothing for the family to feed on.
Things are very difficult and by the end of the year, the situation will be critical until the next rains. We are grateful that our President has said no one will die of hunger. If it is possible, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development should help the nation with whatever resources that are available to assist the people. They can use the reserve fund to arrest the situation which we are in. I think that will help us as a nation. We can access those contingency funds so that they are channeled towards the drought relief to enable our people to be well fed.
The Government should help the Ministry of Environment with resources for whatever endeavours they are in so that whatever resources we have should not be wasted. If we could put in a very strong law that those who waste resources be persecuted and given relevant sentence, that would help the country. It enables the country to have some money. Be they animals and minerals and whoever is abusing those should be arrested and prosecuted so that it helps the Ministry concerned. It is difficult for them because trees are being cut down and people are selling those trees for their personal benefit when the national coffers are empty.
May the Government put in a strong law so as to help the Ministry of Environment so that they can work in a conducive environment? We are aware that there are computations on teaching rural communities, it is important indeed so that they know how to conserve resources. So there should be computations on awareness on how to conserve their resources so that they know that when those resources are used, they should be put in the national coffers. Most of them do not know that such resources can be used for the benefit of the nation. Let there be awareness on such matters.
Again, our neighbouring countries should be engaged so that they can help us in this situation which we are in. I have highlighted that we have awareness campaigns because people do not have any knowledge and rural communities especially should be taught about the importance of preserving our resources and the dangers of not doing. So they should be informed that hunger is not brought by Government but by nature. Therefore, they should conserve our natural resources since the money that comes from those natural resources will come back to them and it will enable them to educate their children. I thank you Madam President.
*HON. SEN. KOMICHI: Thank you Madam President. I also want to thank the Hon. Senator who raised this important motion that reminds us that this is a difficult year especially when it comes to food security. It is a year where we thought we would get a lot of rainfall. We had a lot of rainfall only for one week and it filled up the dams but up to now there is no rain. The rains stopped when the agricultural produce in the fields still needed water. In areas like Midlands, Manicaland, Matabeleland, they experienced a lot of the dry spell and hence, it has put food security at risk.
It means the Government is now faced with a challenge of ensuring that everyone gets food. Government cannot just sit back and relax when there is such a situation. The development plans that we had are going to be affected. We were focused on road rehabilitation under the Ministry of Transport and it was progressing well but this will be affected because most of the funding will go towards food security. The plans for development and resuscitation that were evident in most parts will not be achieved because of the drought. Even our budget that we had done, it was informed by good rains but it has been affected because we take into consideration the situation that we have now.
We have to take that money and ensure that all people are fed and no one goes hungry. It is something that we will have to look into especially towards the end of the year and this is further exacerbated by the fact that as a country, we have been faced with a lot of economic challenges. We have the majority of Zimbabweans who are living below the Poverty Datum Line and economists say 49% of the population is living under abject poverty.
So in general, Zimbabwe is experiencing challenges because of the drought and it has worsened the situation especially the women and children will bear the brunt of the challenges. They have the responsibility to ensure that there is food in the home. So our grandmothers and our girl children are at risk. Figures show that poverty is at 76% in Zimbabwe over and above the 49% living in abject poverty. What it means is that we do not have jobs in Zimbabwe.
Most youths are not employed and do not have means of sustenance but they are only able to get a little here and there through their innovativeness. If these youths have been employed in the midst of such a drought, it would assist in ensuring that they could provide food for their parents in the rural areas. However, now it is impossible because the little that they get, for those who are employed, is not able to even look after them.
The salary is deplorable especially for teachers, civil servants in general, even us as Parliamentarians. I noticed that last month most Parliamentarians discovered that their salaries had greatly reduced. From that salary, for you to buy a 50kg bag of maize is very difficult. If we had employment, we could then assist those in the rural areas. We therefore urge the Government to look into the issue of drought because it is a major one. There is a lot of hunger, poverty and drought. When people become angry they focus on the Government so that it can assist. Everyone looks up to the Government as it is the father and the population is the children, they look up to the Government.
So the Government is faced with a challenge to feed the children of Zimbabwe. We urge the Government to ensure that when they start looking for food to distribute to rural areas, it should be given to everyone despite political affiliation and there should be no discrimination by religion or class. Everyone should be provided food so that they are able to survive. The Government should put in place systems that ensure that all people in Zimbabwe have food because we now have to survive on hand-outs from the Government. I thank you Madam President.
*HON. SEN. DENGA: Thank you Madam President. I stood to support the motion that was raised by Hon. Sen. Dube on the issue of climate change. Madam President, currently our nation is divided into three in terms of rainfall patterns: there is a region which did not receive much rain such as Mashonaland East, Masvingo and Matebeleland South. This shows that the Government has to step in to ensure that people are provided with food expeditiously. There is also the region which covers Mashonaland Central and Mashonaland West where there was a lot of rainfall such that the crops were destroyed because of excess rainfall which resulted in flooding. Most farmers in Mashonaland Central and West ended up applying fertilizer four times, Compound D and urea three times because of excess rainfall. There are some regions which experienced drought such as Masvingo, Mashonaland East and Matebeleland. There are farmers who obtained loans through Command Agriculture who will not be able to harvest anything and look after their families. They will not be able to repay the loans. So the Government needs to look into this matter and pave the way forward in terms of the loans acquired through the Command Agriculture Scheme.
Madam President, the drought that we have faced shows that the budget that looks into the issue of the welfare of the people need to be revisited. The number of people who are going to need food relief has tripled. The Government should also look at the price of grain for those who would have harvested so that they are able to pay back the loans and look after their families. Those are the few issues that I wanted to highlight in support of the motion raised by Hon. Dube. I thank you.
+HON. SEN. MKWEBU: Thank you Madam President for giving me this opportunity to speak on the motion that was tabled by Hon. Sen. Dube. It is a very pertinent motion indeed as it has come at the most opportune time because we are beginning to feel the effects of drought throughout the country.
People had managed to plant and were not expecting drought this year because of the rains. Unfortunately, that was not to be because we had too much rain that was extremely destructive. Some roads were destroyed and need to be attended to yet again but the rains are brought by the Lord and not by us. These rains managed to fill dams and rivers in some parts of the country but in some places, there are no dams.
Turning to the issue of hunger, we look forward to those drought stricken places having dams as well. We should urge the Government to harvest water so that we do not just let it flow – we need to build dams. When we build dams in those communities, then we would not talk of the drought that we are talking about today. We will reduce the chances and have irrigation systems as we will not rely on rains alone. Yes, hunger changes the demeanor of humanity. You cannot control a nation when the people are hungry. They do as they wish because they are in need.
Those who are engaging in mining should not do so willy-nilly, as farmers continue suffering cattle loss when their cattle fall into the open pits. The Government should stop people from mining yet this is difficult to do since the people are in need. The miners are desperate. We had animals all over but due to hunger, our people are slaughtering four to five cattle to raise resources for their personal benefit. We expect that we have animals like elephants to help the nation. When we sell minerals such as gold, we can realise benefits from there after resources have been channeled to national coffers. It is easy to sustain the nation.
Our budget was already in place before the national budget was formulated. It is unfortunate that people do not acknowledge that the rains come from God. Everyone is looking to the Government and His Excellency the President who is trying by all means to make sure that no one starves. Dams are being constructed, roads are being rehabilitated, and the rains came and destroyed some of these roads. The Government is trying by all means to uplift the lives of the people but some people are not acknowledging all that effort. Hon. Dube stated that people should engage in awareness campaigns and be informed of the arising situation. They may see as if Government is not doing anything. The Government is trying through His Excellency the President, to alleviate the situation but due to the call of nature, we are experiencing poverty which we were not expecting.
It is not easy to help everyone in the country but His Excellency the President said that no one should die of hunger. He will try by all means to work hard to ensure that nobody dies of hunger. As Zimbabweans, we should not just look at him alone but should play our role as well. We should help in our own way to alleviate the situation. When people harvest half of their expectations, they expect Government to fill up the gap. We should not be crybabies. Yes, we are experiencing a drought but His Excellency the President is working hard –he needs our assistance. In the event that there is no dam in your area, let us try to harvest water for irrigation. We should not behave like bird chicks that expect to be fed with everything; we should try to help ourselves. Running a country is not an easy feat. His Excellency the President promised the nation that no one is going to die of hunger. We know that he will try his level best to honour that promise because this year, our silos do not have much.
In my constituency, we have a few dams. We request for a dam so that we can also irrigate and farm. Water is life. Water helps us in times of drought. We irrigate small grains that ripen earlier. If you irrigate maize crop from a borehole, the borehole will quickly dry up before the maize crop ripens. When we plant small grains and irrigate them, they will ripen and people will not die of hunger. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIRONGOMA: Thank you Madam President for giving me this opportunity to add a few words on the motion that was tabled by Hon. Sen. Alice Dube. I stand in support of the motion.
The issue of hunger and also climate change, considering that we did not receive good rains is a matter of concern. Previously, we have suffered because of climate change. Climate change, changes the seasons as well as the different climatic conditions. We come from different areas where we experience such challenges, and they affect us. As a country, we urge the Government to ensure that we have a department that looks into the issue of the welfare, and food security issues of the people.
I remember a few weeks back in this august House, I implored Hon. Mavima, the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare that the economic outlook is a sorry sight throughout the country. It rained but the rains were not evenly distributed. We are saying that God is responsible for distributing rainfall. In areas where we come from such as Mashonaland, it rained but the rain did not give people a break in order for them to cultivate. This is not something that we have control over but is up to God himself.
In areas where there were no rains at all, the Hon. Minister should consider the issue of food relief. As we were in this House during Questions Without Notice session, we posed a lot of questions to the Hon. Minister. He assured us that no one would die of hunger and that we have silos that are full of grain. We also asked the Hon. Minister that because of the hunger that we are experiencing, there was a lot of rain and roads were also destroyed because of the heavy rains. So in terms of road rehabilitation, we requested that this be done to ensure that food relief is transported to the various areas.
In some areas, you will realise that some roads were completely destroyed. So there is need to rehabilitate such roads to ensure that food relief gets to the people. In areas where there was no rainfall, I want to say that God is a just God. If you look at areas like Muzarabani, people depend on mining and in Masvingo, people are depending on Amarula. The youths and the young are relying on mining as a source of livelihood. Let us applaud the President, Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa, the Second Republic as well as the Government, who promised and committed himself that no one will die of hunger. Everyone will get food relief. I do not think we can say it is a total disaster because there are those areas that have received better rainfall.
In other areas where I travelled, they have been able to harvest more than they usually get. Therefore, the issue of hunger is something that affects everyone and we all do not want to experience it. We mourn together with those areas that did not receive much rain and did not get anything. It is important that those who have more harvest should share with those who do not have. Madam President, with these words, I thank you.
HON. SEN. A.DUBE: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MKWEBU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 7th April, 2022.
MOTION
EFFORTS TO CURB CORRUPTION
Third Order read: Adjourned debate on motion to introduce deterrent sentences to those engaging in corrupt activities.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. KAMBIZI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 7th April, 2022.
MOTION
FIRST REPORT OF THE THEMATIC COMMITTEE ON HIV AND AIDS ON THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC LOCKDOWN RESTRICTIONS ON HIV AND AIDS SERVICE DELIVERY SYSTEM IN ZIMBABWE
Fourth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the First Report of the Thematic Committee on HIV and AIDS on the impact of COVID-19 pandemic lockdown restrictions on HIV and AIDS service delivery system.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. KAMBIZI: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday 7th April, 2022.
MOTION
SECOND REPORT OF THE THEMATIC COMMITTEE ON HIV AND AIDS ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ANTIRETROVIRAL THERAPY (ART) ROLL-OUT PROGRAMME IN SELECTED HEALTH INSTITUTIONS IN ZIMBABWE
Fifth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Second Report of the Thematic Committee on HIV and AIDS on the Implementation of the Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) Roll-Out Programme in selected health institutions in Zimbabwe.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. MABIKA: Thank you Madam President. I want to support the motion moved by Sen. Kambizi. When we went on our tours, we realised that most hospitals require face-lifting. They need to be painted and renovated. In some areas, some hospitals did not have doors. It also concerns us that sometimes there are no doctors, no ambulances and other medical services. On the issue of CD4 count machines, we witnessed that most hospitals do not have machines. In areas where they have the machines, after taking CD4 counts, it takes them six months for people to get their results, which is something that we do not expect.
It should just take a day or two for one to get results. We also witnessed that there were some hospitals that had expired drugs yet some of them are not given adequate medication. If possible it would be good for people to be availed medication for a couple of months than for them to expire when people do not have enough tablets. In one of the hospitals, when people come to seek medical attention they pay in RTGs and when the hospitals want to send an ambulance to a referral centre, the fuel is bought in US dollars. So their request was that a law be put in place to be able to charge in US dollars so that they can meet such expenses that require US dollars.
Madam President, there were also other challenges on the issues of cartridges for machines, there were no cartridges. Some of the things should be monitored to check what is available and what is not, some of these things are small items that are easy to get but they are not available. If possible, there is need to look into the issue of ambulances and to allow those who can pay the hospital in foreign currency to do likewise so that the hospital can operate in both RTGs and US dollars. Also looking at the shortage of drugs such as Cotrimoxazole, there are some who revealed that there was also corruption that was taking place because some cannot afford to buy them through the black market or through a middleman, which is what is happening. Thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI: Thank you Madam President for affording me this opportunity to add a few words on the motion that was raised by Hon. Kambizi and the seconder. Madam President, if we look at the background of HIV and AIDS from the time it started, people did not accept it. They were living in denial and most people sought medication in secret but because of the efforts of Government that raised awareness in communities, people have now accepted HIV. What we know is that HIV is still with us but we do not want more infections and a high prevalence rate. This is only possible to ensure that it does not spread if they provide adequate resources to control HIV and AIDS. Let me say if we are to consider the testing machines even in border areas, they should be available because we have vehicles that are coming in and going out. Such congested areas require medical services. Monitoring and evaluation is very important in Government programmes and projects. It ensures that if medicines are distributed in hospitals and clinics, how long should it take for it to be used up.
Madam President, let me say that during lockdown, it was difficult as there were travel restrictions, people had to stay under lockdown and those people living with HIV and AIDS could not travel to go and get their medication regularly because Government was trying to ensure that people are not affected by COVID. This also created more challenges, especially for those who are on treatment who needed to go and get medication. Most of them were not able to get their medication.
As a nation, we should continue to look after people living with HIV and AIDS and they should be able to get their medicine to ensure that their lifespan is increased. We know that the nation has the interest of these people at heart so that they also have a long life. We hope the Government will continue to support our hospitals and clinics and to ensure that adequate resources are available so that our HIV patients do not face challenges. Like what the other Senator said that as a nation we do not look forward to the expiration of drugs yet there are people who are sick. What it reflects is that something is very wrong somewhere in terms of administration. Administration should do its work at the various hospitals. They should investigate why it is happening. Government should be informed by the administration at the hospital. It is a cost to the Government for the drugs to be destroyed because they have expired. I think Government should work hard to monitor the distribution of medicines so that no money is wasted in procuring drugs that end up expiring. That is important for us because drugs require money for us to bring them into this country. So it is an issue that needs to be addressed by the Ministry of Health. I thank you.
+HON. SEN. A. DUBE: Thank you Madam President for giving me this opportunity to share one or two words regarding the report that was presented by Hon. Sen. Kambizi. The report talks of their visit to NAC to ascertain the status of the availability of medication. NAC officials were saying that they have medication but they were waiting for other medication from their suppliers. The Thematic Committee visited different hospitals where there were petitions and patients were saying that they did not have enough medication especially those who are HIV positive.
The Committee found that there were some expired drugs. Not all hospitals were distributing expired drugs but the hospitals confirmed that they were receiving expired drugs. There are no reported cases of side effects of such drugs which means that the expired drugs did not affect them. So the distribution of drugs, especially expired drugs is distributed according to a certain procedure or they can be thrown away. One or two hospitals had such cases. This was a difficult period of lockdowns and people were not able to commute to hospitals. Some were given three months supplies of ARVs and these ARVs were not enough to cater for the patients who were going to hospitals.
This is the biggest challenge that was faced by patients. So some expected to be given six months supply of medication but this was not possible. There was also a shortage of antibiotics like Cotrimoxazole. These were in short supply in hospitals. We noted that in hospitals, CD4 count machines were not working properly and the viral load machines were also in short supply and some were not working properly. So because of their importance, these machines should be in good condition so that when the Ministry of Health is given their allocation from the annual budget, they should be able to cater for such important medication which will be used in ascertaining the status of patients or their general condition because some tablets might not be good for the patient. They might be allergic to the medication.
The other thing is that if there are no machines, you would find patients taking medication without proper diagnosis. This Committee did a very good job because people who are living with HIV are very important. These are people that are found in our society and there are a lot of people who are HIV positive. So for one to live positively with the virus, they have to take their ARVs. It is important that they are given their medication on time even contrimoxazole and other antibiotics which are used by those who live with HIV should be availed.
I believe it is important that health care facilities are given what they need. In every hospital, there are OI clinics which cater for the HIV positive, yet in the past, they used to be served together with other patients and this resulted in them taking a long time before getting assistance. So, what the Ministry of Health and Child Care has done is very good in that those who are HIV positive are also being attended to by a specialised department which checks whether they have any other ailments like tuberculosis.
At Filabusi hospital, we also noted that there is no roof. Patients are exposed to the sun and other weather conditions. So Government should look into that. This is a hospital which has not been renovated in a long time especially the female and male wards. It is demotivating for patients to be admitted at such a hospital where you find dilapidated structures, holes in ceilings.
So Madam President, the devolution fund should be disbursed so that this hospital is renovated. I believe that it has been ignored for a long time. Every Member of the Committee noted with dismay that 42 years after independence, we still have such a hospital. So, even devolution funds Madam President, should be channeled towards the rehabilitation of such wards like the female ward because patients need a healthy environment so that they can have a peace of mind in hospital. With those few words Madam President, I would like to thank the Thematic Committee on HIV and AIDS which moved around the country gathering information regarding different hospitals. I thank you Madam President.
HON. SEN. KAMBIZI: Thank you Madam President. I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MKWEBU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 7th April, 2022.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
Sixth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. KAMBIZI: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 7th April, 2022.
MOTION
CONDOLENCES ON THE DEATH OF HON. SEN. SIMON KHAYA MOYO
Seventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the untimely passing on of the late Senator for Matebeleland South, Hon. Senator Simon Khaya Moyo.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF MAKUMBE: Thank you Madam President. I thought I would add one or two words on the life of Cde. S. K. Moyo. Senator S. K. Moyo was a son of the soil, a child born in Zimbabwe. We are deeply pained because of his untimely departure on 14th November last year. This man was a leader and a man of value.
We understand that he went to Fletcher High School and went to the industry to start working. He was someone dedicated to what he wanted to do. He was able to join the liberation struggle as he worked in the office of PF ZAPU whose leader was Dr. Joshua Nkomo until we attained independence. Cde. Simon Khaya Moyo did not look at the different tribes of the people of Zimbabwe but he knew and embraced all Zimbabweans. As traditional leaders, every time we met him, he would be very respectful to us as traditional leaders, whether young or old, he was a man who deeply recognised and valued our cultural norms and values. He was full of respect. Cde. Moyo’s dedication and hard work was recognised by the leadership and he was promoted to being an ambassador in South Africa before he came back to Zimbabwe to work for the Government. For us, he left a legacy and that legacy is all about honesty, integrity, cadreship and patriotism.
The country experienced a lot of challenges such that most people fell off the radar but Cde. S. K. Moyo continued to soldier on. It is not only the Moyo family that lost a father but Zimbabwe as a whole because from the time of his birth until the time of his untimely departure, he was not a child of the Moyo family but of Zimbabwe. So, we have both lost a son of the soil, a hero among heroes and someone who was dedicated, steady and full of humility.
Most people thought that he never at any given time got angry or questioned issues because he was very humble. He was a man filled with humility and it was easy to tell that he was easygoing and easy to relate with. As we engaged with him, we then later learnt that he was a good man. We are pained and it hurts us that we do not have him in this House. He contributed a lot in terms of the development of the nation and he left us the button stick to ensure that the independence we enjoy today should not regress. So we need to work for our nation. I felt that I could not sit and debate because I knew him when I was still a school going child at Milton Boys High School and I learnt with his nephew. So he is a man that I have known for quite a long time.
I want to say rest in peace Cde. Khaya Moyo; if we are to meet again, we will meet. To the Moyo family, I want to say that we are also deeply pained and have experienced the same loss as you have experienced. I thank you.
HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MKWEBU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 7th April, 2022.
MOTION
PREVALENCE OF DRUG ABUSE BY YOUTHS
Eighth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the prevalence of drug abuse by youths.
Question again proposed.
^^HON. SEN. MOHADI: Thank you Mr. President for giving me this opportunity to debate. Today’s youths are a lost generation because they survive on drugs.
Mr. President, I come from Matabeleland South where we have border areas like Plumtree and Beitbridge. Our youth in these border areas are a lost generation because even an elderly person who is 80 years old cannot be equated to these children. These children that we are talking about do not even know what schools are because of drugs. They are always high on drugs.
Mr. President, it is very painful if we are to talk about these youths. It is said that there are drugs that are called Mutoriro, Musombodhiya and Mbanje. Whenever they are high on these drugs, they are not found to be doing anything. They will be idle for the rest of their time, when they sleep; they are likely to wake up maybe during the evening. If we are to talk about their education, they are unable to further their studies because of these drugs. Even if they are to go to school, teachers always face difficulties trying to get them to be attentive in class.
Coming onto their health, they are not healthy because of these drugs. Every time they take the drugs, they forget that they are supposed to take a bath, eat, and dress in clean clothes. Mr. President, even if these children were to be employed, they do not stay on the job because of the influence of these drugs. This is because no one takes them seriously, thus some of them even fail to secure proper employment and they become problematic to their parents.
If possible Mr. President, we should come up with a policy that will criminalise those who sell drugs. It is done by people who we see and know. What is required is to make sure that stiffer penalties are given to the drug peddlers. For example, they should be given 10 or more than 10 years imprisonment. If we continue to have the drug peddlers not being criminalised, it is not taking us anywhere. We therefore need to see to it that the drug peddlers are criminalised so as to save a future generation. If we continue at the current rate, we will not have any generation to talk of. Today’s future consists of drunkards who do not even know where they reside because they do not even know what they are doing when they are drunk.
We need to be each other’s police to see to it that we get these drug peddlers arrested. The problem is that at times when you report the drug peddlers to our law enforcement officers, in other instances are paid monies in a corrupt manner. Therefore, our efforts go unnoticed. We need to see to it that as parents, we look after our children and see to it that the law enforcement agents are doing their work accordingly. Meanwhile, we parliamentarians need to have a policy that will get the drug traffickers arrested and criminalised and stay in jail. With these few words, I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIEFCHIKWAKA: Thank you Mr. President for allowing me to add my voice to the important motion that was raised by Hon. Dube. Mr. President, I am a custodian of our culture but today we are struggling with the abuse that is done by our children on drugs. There is a singer who said the problem is not the headache but what has caused the headache. We need to look into it and see what has caused the drug abuse. My research has reflected that as parents, we are the cause. Yes, we are coming up with legislation but some of the legislation is what is destroying our children. It is slowly destroying our nation because our children are no longer being brought up in a dignified manner. You cannot reprimand them because of the legislation that protects their rights.
Mr. President, we have legislation that prohibits corporal punishment but when we look at us in this House, most of us are above 50 years but every one of us experienced corporal punishment at some time. We were afraid of taking in beer including what we call seven days. If you came back home late, whether male or female child, you were beaten but nowadays we are faced with the abuse of drugs such as mutoriro and other drugs because if you are to reprimand your child as a parent, especially in terms of the time they come home and his associates, the next day you will be appearing before the courts, charged with the abuse of your own child.
Mr. President, that is appalling. We want to play the blame game but I think we are the cause of what is happening because we are just adopting and making laws that are not in tandem with our culture. Where has our culture gone to? When it comes to disciplining a child, it is not a challenge but as we are in this House, we do not want to break the law. Our children have become rogues, to the extent that they can even use a knife on you. They say whatever they want. In the home, they do whatever they want. For a parent to discipline your child, you are arrested. Police themselves are also parents. The judges are also parents. We continue to emphasise and hammer on that which is destroying our children. Can you imagine what will happen when we are no longer there and these children remain on their own with such legislation? What kind of nation is it going to be? What kind of father is going to be there? Will the country continue to develop as what is happening today with such legislation whereby we cannot discipline our children?
Mr. President, I am deeply pained with the way we are progressing as a nation that we are unable to discipline our children. We are unable to reprimand our children. Children are abusing drugs because that has become their way of life and it is now being seen as the norm. We come here and end up disturbed with what is happening. We want to look at the sustainability of this nation. Look at the cases that they are involved in. There is so much murder and so much violence. People are being killed as if they are chickens because they no longer have fear. Children are sexually abused because of these drugs. This is all because of the laws that we have put in place that have resulted in us failing to control our children.
Mr. President, I am requesting that a nation without laws, a nation without culture is not a nation. I am appealing that we go back to the drawing board and to our culture and ensure that we discipline our children so that they know that taking or abuse of drugs destroys the nation. It will be a nation of strong stuff and all these drugs that are abused. For them to be afraid of such drug abuse, they end up hating you. Mr. President, I am concerned about the children that we have raised. We have caused this because one is knitting while the other one is undoing knit. Can you say the way you were brought up, your parents were cruel. We did not even know how kachasu is brewed and some of these beers they are taking. Our parents used to grow cannabis but we never abused it because we were told that if you were found taking it, you will be disciplined thoroughly. We did not even know it was called mbanje because they had their own name for cannabis because they did not want us to abuse those drugs.
Nowadays, a child cannot sleep in the home without shouting at his parents and without even taking drugs because as a father, you cannot reprimand your child because you are afraid of being imprisoned. Let us go back to the drawing board and relook at our values. We should know where we came from. I thank you.
HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: Mr. President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 7th April, 2022.
On the motion of HON. SEN. MATHUTHU seconded by HON. SEN. MOHADI, the Senate adjourned at Fourteen Minutes past Four O’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 5th April, 2022
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two O’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. SPEAKER in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. SPEAKER
SWEARING IN OF NEW MEMBERS
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have the following announcements:- Parliament received communication from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission on the election of the following members of ZANU PF and Citizens Coalition for Change parties as Members of the National Assembly with effect from the 20th March, 2022. The Members are as follows:
Hon. Biti Laxton Tendai, Harare East; Hon. Chibaya Amos, Mkoba; Hon. Chidziva Happymore, Highfield West; Hon. Chikombo Wellington, Glen Nora; Hon. Chikwinya Settlement, Mbizo; Hon. Chiwetu Jerimiah Z, Marondera; Hon. Hungwe Tasara, Mberengwa South; Hon. Hwende Chalton, Kuwadzana East; Hon. Madzimure Willias, Kambuzuma; Hon. Mahlangu Sichelesile, Pumula; Hon. Makari Zalerah Hazvineyi, Epworth; Hon. Makope Master, Mwenezi East; Hon. Nyasha-Masoka, Murewa South; Hon. Masvisvi Daveson, Gokwe Central; Hon. Matambo Johnson, Kuwadzana; Hon. Matewu Caston, Marondera Central; Hon. Matsunga Susan, Mufakose; Hon. Mugadza Misheck, Mutasa South; Hon. Munengami Fani, Glen View North; Hon. Murai Erick, HIghfield East; Hon. Mutseyami Chapfiwa Prosper, Dangamvura Chikanga; Hon. Ncube Musa, Tsholotsho South; Hon. Phulu Kucaca Ivumile, Nkulumane; Hon. Sibanda Dubeko Prince, Binga North; Hon. Tarusenga Unganai Dickson, St Mary’s; Hon. Tobaiwa Judith, Kwekwe Central; Hon. Zizhou Munyaradzi, Chivi and Hon. Zwizwai Murisi, Harare Central.
The swearing in will take place now, administered by the Clerk of Parliament. We shall have three Members at a time.
HON. CHINOTIMBA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Point of order with the swearing in?
HON. CHINOTIMBA: Mr. Speaker, before you swear in the Members, some of us here are wearing party symbols like this gentleman here. The CCC as you know have their yellow theme with their symbol, but now the gentleman is wearing…
HON. SIKHALA: Are you telling us that woman is wearing a CCC symbol? Mr. Speaker, we need to be serious.
HON. CHINOTIMBA: He is wearing a CCC symbol.
HON. SIKHALA: It is a tie. Even Hon. Paradza is from CCC now – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]-
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order! Hon. Molokela, who told you to be on your feet? Hon. Chinotimba, we note that. Is there anything written CCC on the tie? – [HON. MEMBERS: No!]- No, so it is difficult to decipher. There are some Members also with yellow shirts but they do not belong to CCC, but as much as possible, any visible party regalia will not be allowed into the House.
HON. T. MLISWA: Hon. Speaker Sir, just on a point of clarity.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Did you hear what I said?
HON. T. MLISWA: It is not to do with that, I just want to be schooled by you. I heard you mentioning these names with the title Honourable. Are they Honourable before they are sworn in, I just wanted to know? - [Laughter.] -
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you Hon. Mliswa. They are incoming Hon. Members. You want to get me on technicalities? They are incoming Hon. Members, and that is in order.
NEW MEMBERS SWORN
HON. BITI TENDAI LUCKSON, HON. CHIBAYA AMOS and HON. CHIZIVA HAPPYMORE subscribed to the Oath of Loyalty as required by the Law and took their seats – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
(Hon. Chibaya having raised his finger.)
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Chibaya, you raise your hand not your finger.
HON. T. MOYO: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Can you approach the Chair please because I do not want any more interruptions.
NEW MEMBERS SWORN
HON. CHIKOMBO WELLINGTON, HON. CHIKWINYA SETTLEMENT and HON. CHIWETU JEREMIAH subscribed to the Oath of Loyalty as required by the Law and took their seats – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] -
HON. CHIWETU JEREMIAH Z, HON. HUNGWE TASARA, HON. HWENDE CHALTON, HON. MADZIMURE WILLIAS, HON. MAHLANGU SICHELESILE, HON. MAKARI ZALERAH HAZVINEYI, HON. MAKOPE MASTER…
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! Hon. Member, take your seat. Do not disturb the proceedings.
HON. MASOKA NYASHA and HON. MASVISVI DAVESON subscribed to the Oath of Loyalty as required by law and took their seats - [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections].
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! Hon. Members, this is our first day after the by-elections. Do not force me to take you out of this House. Please, behave.
HON. MATAMBO JOHNSON; HON. MATEWU CASTON; HON. MATSUNGA SUSAN; HON. MUGADZA MISHECK; HON. MUNENGAMI FANI; HON. MURAI ERICK; HON. MUTSEYAMI CHAPFIHWA PROSPER; HON. NCUBE MUSA; HON. PHULU KUCACA IVUMILE; HON. SIBANDA DUBEKO PRINCE; HON TARUSENGA UNGANAI DICKSON; HON TOBAIWA JUDITH; HON. ZIZHOU MUNYARADZI; HON. ZWIZWAI MURISI subscribed to the Oath of Loyalty as required by law and took their seats.
After CCC Members had begun to sing
THE HON. SPEAKER: I do not want any murmuring or singing please. We are in Parliament. I thank you. Hon. Molekela, please go out of the House - out of the House, out of the House!
Hon. Molekela was escorted out of the House.
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have to remind all Hon. Members to put on their masks. I have tolerated to some degree what Hon. Chinotimba raised. From tomorrow, can Hon. Members adhere to the dress code and not be seen in colours that are aligned to party affiliation. Please be advised accordingly.
ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE HON. SPEAKER
PETITION FROM LIMPOPO- ZAMBEZI TRANSPORT COMPANY LIMITED
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have to inform the House that On Wednesday, 23rd March 2022, Parliament of Zimbabwe received a petition from Limpopo- Zambezi Transport Company Limited represented by their Chairperson S. Gwizo, requesting Parliament to initiate the process of the establishment of the Road Accident Fund Institution. The petition has since been referred to the Portfolio Committee on Transport and Infrastructural Development.
NON-ADVERSE REPORTS RECEIVED FROM THE PARLIAMENTARY LEGAL COMMITTEE
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have also received other Non-Adverse Reports from the Parliamentary Legal Committee on the following Bills:-
- Private Voluntary Organisations Bill [H.B. 10, 2021]
- State Universities Statutes Amendment Bill [H.B, 13, 2021] and
- Children’s Bill [H. B 12, 2021].
MEMBERSHIP TO PORTFOLIO COMMITTEES
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have to inform the House that Hon. Tembo has been nominated to serve on the following Portfolio Committees:-
- i) Environment, Climate and Tourism; and
- ii) Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development.
HON. DR. LABODE: Mr. Speaker Sir, I rise on a point of national interest. The UN, World Bank, Parliamentarians for Action are celebrating two huge milestones achieved by Zimbabwe in the control of HIV. The Marriages Bill Act which was passed recently achieved to...
THE HON. SPEAKER: You are muted.
HON. DR. LABODE: Mr. Speaker Sir, I was saying the world is celebrating the two huge milestones that Zimbabwe achieved in the last two weeks through the Marriages Bill. I am holding a letter that came from the UK congratulating Zimbabwe. It says and I will just read one sentence from there it says ‘UNAIDS welcomes Parliament’s decision to repeal the law that criminalises HIV transmission in Zimbabwe.’ The letter came from Geneva; I will pass it on to you Mr. Speaker Sir.
The Marriages Act has achieved two major goals, it criminalises child marriages...
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Dr. Labode can you read your motion.
HON. DR. LABODE: I do not understand.
THE HON. SPEAKER: I called for any other notices of motion.
HON. DR. LABODE Continued to read her point of National Interest.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Dr. Labode. I had called for notices of motion, that is not a notice of motion.
I have been given a list of people who want to raise issues of national interest.
HON. T. MLISWA: I have a point of national interest Mr. Speaker but I do not have a Chief Whip.
THE HON. SPEAKER: I will recognise you but let me first recognise those whose names I have.
HON. DR. LABODE: I rise on a matter of national interest. The world is celebrating our two milestones that we achieved through the Marriages Bill. We successfully criminalised Child Marriages and we also successfully de-criminalised willful transmission of HIV. Mr. Speaker Sir, globally, there are 72 countries at the moment that are still criminalising willful transmission of HIV. Zimbabwe has finally extracted itself from the top ranks of rogue countries that are throwing people in jails for something that they cannot approve of. These countries are Russia, Belarus, USA, Ukraine, Canada, Zimbabwe and Czechoslovakia. Mr. Speaker Sir...
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order the use of the word rogue is unparliamentary; you must say countries that are non-compliant not rogue countries.
HON. DR. LABODE: Zimbabwe has successfully extracted itself from countries that continue or maintain the criminalising of willful transmission and these are mainly Russia, Belarus, USA, Ukraine, Canada, Zimbabwe, Czechoslovakia, United Kingdom, France and Taiwan. We now thank God that Zimbabwe is no longer part of that. I will give you a quote, Justice Cameroon of South Africa, a constitutional judge says ‘HIV criminalisation makes HIV control worse than it is. It is unacceptable and there is no proof as to who infected who and at what stage in a relationship’. It undermines scientific advancement and public health strategies that opened a path to vanquishing HIV by 2030. Dr. Mugurungi, the Director for Diseases Control in the Ministry of Health once said at a meeting that you do not legislate for people to be responsible, people when getting in a relationship should just be responsible. So, on behalf of the champions in Parliament, I want to say thank you for the work you did against all odds.
I also want to thank the Minister of Justice, Hon. Ziyambi for having the courage to bring the Bill here. It was very controversial indeed and I want to thank the CSOs for capacitating the Members of Parliament to come to where we are. Finally, I want to thank Zimbabwe for ascending to these laws under very difficult political, cultural and religious pressure. You were hearing people saying this is not a party position but against all odds, he appended his signature.
I now want to ask the President of Zimbabwe to take a further step in this regard to now please use his powers, I do not know whatever name they call it, when he normally declares for amnesty to release every prisoner who is in jail serving a 15 to 20-year term in jail for having been alleged to have willful transmitted HIV to be released. Also, can His Excellency the President also consider those who are waiting judgment like Samukeliso Moyo whose husband of 7 years claimed that she had given him HIV and she is awaiting judgment. I thank you Hon. Speaker.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you Hon. Dr. Labode. Switch off your microphone. You raised some valid points that a law has been put in place accented to by His Excellency the President, so those who were affected prior will have to perhaps look into your suggestion by bringing it to the attention of His Excellency the President.
HON. T. MLISWA: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir and a very good afternoon to you. Mr. Speaker Sir, let me begin by congratulating the Hon. Members of this august House who have joined us and to just say there is quite a lot. Make sure that we move with national issues and many other issues which I think affect our people, basically hands on deck. That is what we have to do so that we really represent the people effectively. I wish you well in your tenure.
Mr. Speaker Sir, let me also bring to your attention the issue of public hearings, namely one which was conducted by the Health Committee which was attended by one person in Chinhoyi. Secondly, the other one again by Finance and Budget which was chaired by Hon. Nyashanu where in Chinhoyi, if my reading was correct, no one attended. In Bulawayo, only one person attended. It is quite a concern in terms of the amount of resources that go into us moving, staying in hotels and so forth. I think it is an issue that requires to be looked into or else, again, we shall be blamed for wasting tax payer’s money.
On the other issue Mr. Speaker Sir…
THE HON. SPEAKER: You can only raise one issue of national importance.
HON. T. MLISWA: Yes it is part of it. They are not different. Issue two, Members of Parliament attending some of these hearings and participating. It is also difficult for them not to have allowances paid when they travel. I think if Members are travelling outside the country and are given foreign currency which is difficult, what about us who are travelling locally and local currency is available? So it also makes it difficult for them to participate because they are really incapacitated, Mr. Speaker Sir. I wish their allowances could be given before they travel. I seek your indulgence in that matter. Thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you very much Hon. Mliswa. We do announce venues, times and dates for the hearings and also by radio, and it is important that Members of Parliament in the given areas also sensitize people to attend because it is part of their representation role. That one or two people attended is most unfortunate. We will try other means of ensuring that the general public attend the public hearings so that the laws that we make have the imprimatur of the public in terms of their contribution to the law making process or any other policy issue that maybe canvassed through public participation.
On allowances, all Members are paid their allowances after - post facto, and you present yourselves you will be paid accordingly.
HON. CHIKWINYA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. I rise on a matter of national importance in terms of Section 62 of our Standing Rules and Orders. Hon. Speaker, my matter of national importance emanates from the time under which we are with regards to tertiary students in the various universities. Hon. Speaker, they have been given notice to register for their examinations but the notice is short and the fees are a bit exorbitant for them to be able to raise the required amounts of registration fees in the given time.
My concern Hon. Speaker, and it is a concern borne out of consultation, being that if one fails to register, they defer examinations which is a departure from the norm where previously students were allowed to make a payment plan or at least sit for examinations and then fail to obtain results until they have paid for those examinations.
So Hon. Speaker, I rise to move that if the Hon. Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education can come to Parliament at least with a Ministerial Statement as to why the rules have changed and, as Parliament, can have a national discourse around finding a solution which allows the students to be able to pursue their educational careers without disturbance. I thank you Hon. Speaker.
THE HON. SPEAKER: We will try to inform the Honourable Minister but you could raise the issue tomorrow during question time since the matter is hot and we hope that the Hon. Minister will be able to explain.
HON. BITI: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. I rise on a matter of national importance in terms of Standing Order 62 of the esteemed Orders of our august House.
Hon. Speaker, I raise the issue of the importance of protecting national institutions and there are two national institutions which I think need to be strengthened and their independence needs to be protected. The first one is clearly the judiciary. The judiciary is so key for it serves an important role in preventing self-redress amongst citizens and ensuring that there is justice amongst women and women, there is justice among men and men and I hope that the Executive can address the salaries of Members of the Judiciary so that the officers, judges, magistrates and prosecutors can execute their jobs without interference and without the fear of bribes and other undue influences.
Hon. Speaker, I come to this institution, Parliament. Parliament is so important and in the Constitution, the doctrine of separation of powers is entrenched. Parliament derives its power from the people and Parliament derives its authority from the people. Hon. Speaker, only a few minutes ago, at least 28 new Members of Parliament were sworn in. The majority were sworn in arising out of unnecessary and illegal recalls. It is my respectful contention Hon. Speaker Sir, that...
THE HON. SPEAKER: Unnecessary what?
HON. BITI: Unnecessary recalls. My contention Hon. Speaker, is…
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order.
HON. BITI: I said contested Hon. Speaker.
THE HON. SPEAKER: I accept the first one. May I not allow you to proceed with the second one and I will explain why.
HON. BITI: Can I just conclude?
THE HON. SPEAKER: No, I have heard you – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
HON. BITI: Can I just conclude Hon. Speaker. I have not made my point. My point is about protecting institutions.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Yes, yes, yes. Can you sit down? I will tell you – [HON. TOGAREPI: Inaudible interjection.] – Wait a minute Hon. Chief Whip. When you refer to the recalls and say Parliament is not empowered.
HON. BITI: I did not say that.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Yes, you said Parliament must be empowered – [HON. MEMBERS: Protected.] – What I was going to suggest is, on that one referring to the recalls, am I right?
HON. BITI: It was in the context that institutions, Parliament and the Judiciary must be protected as is the position in the Constitution of Zimbabwe. That is my point.
THE HON. SPEAKER: In what terms?
HON. BITI: If I can just finish Hon. Speaker, you will get my point.
THE HON. SPEAKER: I will indulge you.
HON. BITI: Thank you. Mr. Speaker Sir, it is important to protect the integrity of Parliament. It is important to protect the independence of Parliament. Parliament has a key oversight role spelt out in Sections 114 and 119 of the Constitution. Parliament exists to make laws for the good order of the citizens of Zimbabwe. In that respect Hon. Speaker, if there is to be any change in the composition of Parliament, there is only one person who can make that decision. It is the people of Zimbabwe, who donate through the process of representative democracy for people in Parliament to stand for them. Any process that obviates and undermines the people is undemocratic Hon. Speaker. This Parliament must protect itself against processes that are undemocratic and undermine people. Thank you very much Hon. Speaker – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order. Any requirement for amendment to the Constitution to empower the Parliament is stated in the Constitution very clearly. That route should be followed and once the gaps have been identified where you think Parliament is not empowered, then you will refer to that constitutional process for empowering Parliament. That is the route and I am sure as a lawyer, you will agree with me that you have to follow the due process of empowering Parliament in that regard.
HON. T. MLISWA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir.
THE HON. SPEAKER: In what regard?
HON. T. MLISWA: Mr. Speaker Sir, in regard to the recalling of Parliamentarians that it is very constitutional. I moved a motion in this House where Members of Parliament were to contribute and they never contributed to it. I find it quite sad that when I moved that motion, that Section 129 (1) (k) of the Constitution which empowers your political parties …
THE HON. SPEAKER: You are not connected and some Hon. Members online cannot hear you.
HON. T. MLISWA: My point of order is very clear Hon. Speaker. The Constitution is from the people. Section 129 (1) (k), which your political parties assented to, gives the power to the political party to recall you. I moved a motion here for all of you guys to contribute and only Hon. Mushoriwa …
THE HON. SPEAKER: You call them Hon. Members, not guys.
HON. T. MLISWA: I moved a motion for all Hon. Members to contribute. I am quite sad that you ignored it and you see it fit to say Parliament must be empowered. The Constitution is very clear. Only Hon. Mushoriwa contributed because once again, you are all whipped. The Constitution must be amended so that you are not whipped. Let us change the laws for the betterment of the people. That clause is painful because you have gone through it. I have gone through it, so I now know how to master it. I have decided to be independent because it is hard when you belong to political parties. Good luck! It is either you are in those political parties or you stay out of the political parties.
I took the Hon. Speaker to court and the Constitutional Court was very clear that this is the law you made. The Speaker has no power over this law, so let us not sound as if we are not educated. The law is very clear. May you join me in debating so that we amend the Constitution accordingly? Otherwise, we are all wasting time. If we want the Constitution to be amended so that the people must have the power, let us do that together. I shall be ensuring that it is restored on the Order Paper so that you join me. Hon. Biti, join me in the debate. Thank you very much.
THE HON. SPEAKER: As I said and has been reinforced by Hon. Mliswa, if you are unhappy with Section 129, you know the route to follow in terms of constitutional processes. It was well explained, beyond what was said by Hon. Mliswa. Thank you very much Hon. Mliswa.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. TOGAREPI: Hon. Speaker, I move that Orders of the Day, Numbers 1 to 13 be stood over until Order of the Day, Number 14 has been disposed of.
HON. TEKESHE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
HON. JOSIAH SITHOLE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I move the motion standing in my name that this House;
ACKNOWLEDGING that sections 3, 6, 22, 56 and 83 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe provide for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities;
INSPIRED by Government initiatives over the years to implement and fulfill the provisions of Section 19 of the Constitution;
COGNISANT that the Government of Zimbabwe is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD);
MINDFUL that achievements gained following the enactment of the Disabled Persons Act of 1992, the adoption of the National Disability Policy in 2021, signing of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Persons with Disabilities in 2013 and the subsequent enactment of the 2013 Constitution of Zimbabwe are threatened with imminent reversal should the Government fail to expeditiously implement the provisions of the domestic and international
protocols that Zimbabwe has agreed to be bound to;
ACKNOWLEDGING that programmes relating to persons with disabilities should always be prioritised by all ministries and coordinated by the Department of Disability Affairs in the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare.
DISMAYED that the parent Ministry is ill-funded to prioritise and handle programmes on disability within Government ministries.
CONCERNED that Persons with disabilities experience diverse vulnerabilities as they are prone to abuse and exposure to various forms of unfavourable socioeconomic conditions throughout the country:
NOW, THEREFORE, requests for the establishment of a Parliamentary Caucus that deals directly with issues affecting persons with disabilities from a comprehensive and holistic perspective.
HON. MPARIWA: I second.
HON. JOSIAH SITHOLE: Mr. Speaker Sir, Zimbabwe has made remarkable strides towards recognising the rights of persons with disabilities. The following are some of the steps achieved towards that cause.
- Enactment of the Disabled Persons Act [Chapter 17:01 (1992);
- Becoming a signatory to the United Nation’s Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities in 2007;
- The signing into law of the Constitution of Zimbabwe in 2013;
- The recent launch of the National Disability Policy by His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa on 9th June, 2021 and
- The Education Amendment Act: 2020.
Perhaps the major catalyst now towards realising the rights of persons with disabilities is the Constitution of Zimbabwe as outlined in the following sections. Section (3), which talks about recognition of the inherent dignity of each human being; Section 3 (f), which talks of the recognition of equality of all human beings; Section 6 (iv), the State must promote and advance the use of all languages, used in Zimbabwe, including Sign Language and must create conditions for the development of those languages.
Section 56 (1 to 6) talks about equality and non-discrimination, while Section 83 has a lot about the rights of persons with disabilities. However, all these great achievements should not be left out in the cold. They must be supported, improved on and implemented accordingly. Thus the purpose of this motion is to advocate for the establishment of a Parliamentary Caucus on persons with disabilities, as a key strategy towards responding to matters on disability in Zimbabwe.
A simple but relevant definition of a caucus in its context is one which says ‘a caucus is a group of people united to promote an agreed upon course’. Thus a Parliamentary caucus on persons with disabilities tackles disability as a human rights issue and aims to accelerate solutions to the challenges faced by persons with disabilities. Provisions of the recently launched disability policy must be implemented.
The formation of a Parliamentary Caucus aims to give greater impetus to the needs of the disadvantaged or marginalised group. This Parliament established the Parliamentary Caucus on Women and also on the rights on children. Thus a Parliamentary Caucus on persons with disabilities is also a much dismissed initiative. Furthermore, disability is a cross-cutting issue because there is no segregated sector that does not speak about this disability in one way or another.
Therefore, disability issues should no longer remain on the advocacy agenda but should form part and parcel of the day to day running of all activities and Government programmes. Inclusion must be the watch word as we navigate towards Vision 2030, persons with disabilities should not be left behind. As of today, persons with disabilities suffer low representation in most organisations, including Government Ministries. Even in our local communities. Today, our Parliament just has a slot for two Senators representing persons with disabilities and their constituency is the whole of Zimbabwe.
The Disabled Persons Bill, which is supposed to amend the Disabled Persons Act, Chapter 17:01 (1992) to align it to the Constitution of Zimbabwe has been lying in stage. Domestication of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is still in its journey. Disasters like COVID -19 accelerate challenges faced by persons with disabilities. The inclusive education policy is still lying in stage. The Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare is not adequately funded to meet the needs of persons with disabilities within Ministries. It is clear that persons with disabilities have diverse types of disability.
The convention on the rights of persons with disabilities defines persons with disabilities as those who have long term, physical, mental and intellectual or sensory impairment, which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their effective potential. Thus the need for resources is paramount if the needs of persons with disabilities are to be met. Above all, among persons with disabilities are the already disadvantaged groups like children, women and veterans of liberation struggle. It is estimated that 15% of the world’s population or close to one billion people experience some form of disability.
In Zimbabwe, we have not yet been able to establish accurate disaggregated data on persons with disabilities. Many children with disabilities do not have access to education because of the numerous barriers in our communities. Those who are not disabled today, may be disabled tomorrow. One of our popular musicians, Oliver Mkudzi ‘may his soul rest in peace’ sang a song seka urema wafa, which is a stern warning to the seemingly able bodied people. Therefore, we have to create as Parliament, an enabling environment for persons with disabilities in order to support the road map done by the Second Republic and the establishment of a Parliamentary Caucus for persons with disabilities as an answer to that clarion call. So I submit Madam Speaker Ma’am.
HON. MPARIWA: Thank you Madam Speaker. I want to begin by thanking the mover of the motion Hon. Sithole who has presented this motion in a very passionate way that he appeals and recognises that at the end of it all, we are all close to disability in one way or the other. As I stood up you saw me limping somehow, each day we are close to disability just like each day we are close to our death, lest we forget that.
Persons with disabilities have had a number of challenges and many a times people speak on their behalf without them. I would want to believe and emphasise the need to also have them represent themselves. His Excellency the President has gone out of his way to appoint a person who is housed in his office, that is Hon Senator Malinga, who actually advises on disability issues. I also want to recognise and appreciate the ratification of the United Nations Convention on Persons with Disabilities. What has remained therefore, is the domestication of that particular convention so that we get to have our own laws even if we are to amend laws without actually domesticating them to the effects of the United Nations Convention; we may not be able to attain the goal that we intend to attain.
My call is to have collective efforts to sing together with the various ministries and Permanent Secretaries to have the UN Convention domesticated. Why am I saying Ministers and Permanent Secretaries - you find that persons with disabilities are all over and by the very nature that they are everywhere, with the mention by Hon Sithole that we do not have the proper statistics in terms of how many people do we have and which category do you place them. Therefore, there is need to have all the ministries to have awareness to work together as a team so that we actually create a better law that every Ministry understands.
If you go the Ministry of Youth, there are youths who are disabled - if you go to the Ministry of Women Affairs, it is the same and if you go to the Ministry of Labour where we tend to throw every problem to social welfare, I do not believe so because if this is a shared responsibility, then we have to decentralise disability issues in the various ministries so that everyone plays his or her number in a particular Ministry. That way, we will have catered for them.
In this day and age, you find that we still have buildings which cannot be accessed by persons with disabilities. There are no ramps for persons with disabilities. Again at this juncture, you will find that we do not have a centralised position or a referral point where you can point to say a person with disability can have assistive devices like wheelchairs, sticks and glasses. If one was asked as a Member of Parliament, you start scratching your head because you are not sure. You just end up saying just go to Compensation House or Ministry of Public Service. It is time that we treat this category of people with the dignity that they deserve because disability is not inability. They are part of the nation and we need to actually harmonise them to be part of the society.
We need also to take an inclusive approach in terms even of the schools that they participate or attend. We need these children to be treated in the same manner as those without disability. Hon. Sithole talked about the budget allocation which is not enough because this problem has just been thrown into a particular Ministry and nothing else has been done. We need to go further and say there has to be enough budget allocation for this particular problem or for this particular category of people so that they are catered for from medication to everywhere. It is my humble submission and appeal that the Ministry of Finance has to find the money because people will end up saying what is it that they are doing at the Ministry. It is like a husband who tells his wife that when I come back I want you to cook rice for me, when he has not bought the rice. Where do you expect the wife to find the rice from? We need to do more in terms of facilitating a budget that is sufficient enough to cater for persons with disability.
On access to facilities, we need to make it mandatory because in 1995 there was a target of having 10% of every house allocated that they have to be accessed by persons with disabilities. Right now, I am not very sure as to whether we still entrust contractors to actually put mechanisms in terms of access by persons with disabilities to go into the buildings or we leave them out. I watch people at Post Offices and several buildings and it is pathetic, they cannot access those buildings and I do not think it is fair for a society which wants to be inclusive because when we have ratified this convention, it means we agree and we are going to do it. So our to-do should be practical, our to-do should be inclusive, our to-do should be thoughtful in terms of recognition that if I were part of them, what would we expect if people treat us that way.
Half of the Members of Parliament here wear spectacles, which means we are towards getting to be blind. If you get to a doctor and they say I see some kind of trachoma, it means one way or the other you might be blind one day. By the very reason that we are wearing spectacles, it means we cannot see without them. Once I remove my spectacles, I cannot read what I have written. We need to be considerate whenever we make laws, whenever we treat society and approach a problem. Persons with disabilities are actually clear about what they want: ‘nothing for us without us’ and if we consult and walk with them, we will be able to take them on board and actually achieve very much.
Madam Speaker, if you read the last paragraph of the motion it says, ‘now therefore, request for the establishment of a Parliamentary Caucus that deals directly with issues affecting persons with disabilities from a comprehensive and holistic perspective’. There is nothing which states more than what this motion is intended to do. In the past, we have set so many caucuses because one might say there are so many caucuses but I do not want to believe that setting a disability caucus would actually increase the number of caucuses that are here at Parliament. If the people are there who are willing and can work across the board with persons with disabilities, this is the rightful call, demand and recommendation that Parliament needs to be persuaded.
I am calling upon all Members across the political divide that this is the way to go that the sooner we establish this caucus of persons with disabilities, the better for everyone. As women, it is very painful to have a disabled child, parents or relatives who are disabled and the treatment is different when they get to a certain level. So, let us treat everyone equally. By speaking here without the Parliamentary Caucus of such kind of target group, we may miss something but with a caucus, you are directly involved and actually discuss relevant issues guided by relevant information coming from the particular constituency. So Madam Speaker, I am persuading my fellow Parliamentarians here to accept and support that we have a caucus for people with disabilities. I thank you Madam Speaker,
HON. T. MLISWA: Hon. Speaker, I am so excited and want to commend Hon. Sithole for bringing this motion to this august House which was seconded by none other than the Leader of Government Business of the opposition, Hon. Mpariwa. This is not the first time that this motion has been moved in this august House. It talks about our insincerity towards something which we are not good at but we live with. I personally always say we owe these people an apology.
Madam Speaker, I also want to mention that I am the patron for National Council of Disabled Persons of Zimbabwe. I organised a meeting with the Speaker and I am glad that the Speaker entertained them but unfortunately, the President passed on and it took time for her to be replaced. However, Hon. Shiri who was part of this House is now in that seat and I am hoping that the caucus will happen. One of the issues was to have a caucus and we were to meet to ensure that we advocate for this. Madam Speaker, we are guilty as charged. First of all, let us go to the Constitution of this country, on Section 83 which talks of persons with disabilities. It is important that we read and people listen to this - the State must take appropriate measures within the limits of resources, oh Man! How can you say within the limits of resources when being disabled is not a choice? How do we as legislators live with this law? Is it a choice to be disabled that we go to the extent of saying if funds permitting? God created people like that and we cannot say funds permitting. Because of that, they cannot do anything with the resources available to them to ensure that people with disabilities realise their full mental and physical potential including measures. All these measures mean nothing when you talk about resources permitting.
Let me go to Section 81 of the Constitution which is different because it says every child, boy/girl under the age of 18 years has the right, so why do you not also say those who are disabled have the right? We are sitting here yet these sections in the Constitution are different. Why do we not push for the amendment of this? We are wasting time because if it is your right, you can challenge it in court. If you go to court under Section 83, the court will say we hear you but Government says we have no money and they walk scot free. Why have we allowed that as a people? Zimbabwe was the first and one of the few countries in 1992 to come up with the Disabled Act and everybody said here is a nation which has a vision. In 1992, people looked forward to a lot of changes to come through but it was never the case. Up to now, we are still struggling in terms of how best we can comply. The esteemed Hon Sithole mentioned a lot in terms of the percentage of 10 to 15%. Madam Speaker, may this House move a law that even in this House, may we get 10 to 15 people who are disabled representing the disabled. Do not be hypocrites, who amongst yourselves is prepared to surrender their seat for the disabled? How can you talk about the disabled when you are not one? We use them when it comes to votes and that is when you are seen. Do not be in this caucus if you are not sincere.
If you just go to the disabled to look for votes, God will punish you. Politicians have the tendency to want to be seen around the disabled but the agenda will be looking for votes. I am looking for a politician who is prepared to stand down their position and campaign to expose hypocrisy. Is there 10% of sixty, which is six? I want the Women’s Caucus, Hon Mpariwa you were here, to first act and not talk. Go and recall other members and replace them with the disabled. Let us talk business and let us not come here and debate when you are not prepared to also make a move. I challenge the Women’s Caucus of 60 to have six standing down for those who are disabled or else let us not come here and debate for the purposes of hypocrisy. Hon Sithole is correct and I am waiting to see the Women’s Caucus sitting down.
You have 40% of the Councillors and when they met the President in Victoria Falls, it was agreed this percentage should go to women. For youths, we have 10 but how many are for the disabled? In our own Senate, if I am not mistaken I see two. Is that fair when they have no choice to be disabled and you are not doing anything to amend. How many are in the boards, or in your parties? Madam Speaker, the truth must be said and that is, charity begins at home. In your own political parties, you are not prepared to accommodate them and you want to come here and debate, the time for debate is over. Hon. Sithole is saying, ‘Can we act?’ The time for debate is over. This motion has been in this House many times and Madam Speaker, may it be the last - it is accepted in this House until we act.
I am personally going to mobilise all those who are disabled that any party that does not give you 15% - do not vote for it. I know I can do it but you cannot, and you know I can do it. I am moving that to them that whichever political party does not accommodate you as 15% must not be in power because you will continue suffering. The amenities, the schools, the toilets, the public transport – which ZUPCO bus have you ever seen that accommodates the disabled? They are left behind Madam Speaker, vanosiiwa kunge mhuka. No one is prepared kubatsira but their pride – we are destroying their pride every day. We are making them feel as if they are not human beings – we are guilty as charged.
Why do we not also come up with their own ZUPCO bus for the disabled? I implore the Government to come up with buses for the disabled – which are clearly indicated, ‘Disabled.’ I implore the Government to come with schools for the disabled where they can get teachers. I implore that there be a teachers’ training centre for teachers who will teach the disabled in sport, and in everything. We have sporting facilities. Where are they for the disabled? Nothing is there Madam Speaker.
The Land Reform Programme, how many disabled people have benefited from land? Nhasi ndagarwa! How many have benefited from land Madam Speaker? None. How can they go on a wheelchair in a queue? First of all, they cannot get there. The Land Reform Programme was very clear but did we accommodate those who we know could not walk? How do you expect somebody kunoita jambanja, iye ari mu wheelchair? Why did we not set aside some land for them? Do they also not want to make money? Do they also not want to contribute to the fiscus of the country? Disability is not inability but in this country and in the way we behave. We have not been able to respond to that clarion call.
Madam Speaker, there were rehabilitation facilities for the war veterans during the struggle. There was one in Ruwa because people who went to war needed rehabilitation Madam Speaker. How many rehabilitation centers can we talk about today? Today, the war veterans and freedom fighters of this country are a laughing stock. The struggle was not easy – psychologically, they were affected and traumatised. Some with broken bones, injuries from the bullets but we still do not have decent rehabilitation centres that they can go to. Vanenge vachisekwa nevanhu kunzi, ava vanopenga nenyaya yekuhondo. Akaenda kuhondo and so forth. Iwewe wakapihwa freedom nemunhu akaenda kuhondo.
At times we do not have to reinvent the wheel. Can we go back? Jairos Jiri Centres, why is Government not putting money into those centres? In St. Faith there is one, Mukuwapasi Centre, we used to go there and visit my grandmother at St. Faith. We knew there was Jairos Jiri. Why have we not taken that on board and ensure we include these institutions? We do not have to build new institutions; we can rehabilitate these centres at the end of the day.
Madam Speaker, there have been brilliant minds in this country. I will tell you of John Makumbe who was an albino, and a brilliant legal mind. Madam Speaker, there was a lawyer called Pearson Nherera who was blind but went to Cambridge University. We are all able to do things here but how many of us have gone to Cambridge University? They do not even know it and some people cannot even imagine setting foot there. A blind person, who was disabled, went to Cambridge University, Pearson Nherera.
There was Paul Matavire, the singer. He made us become better people by listening to his music. Music is soothing. Today, what have we done for them? What are we doing to make sure that their legacy lives on? Hon. Sithole spoke about Oliver Mutukudzi singing the song the singers have been singing. When he sang the song, Paul Matavire, there is no song that he sang which attacked us the able bodied. If anything, we were inspired by his songs, by a disabled person. All these three – may their souls rest in peace. If we believe we are a nation of recognition, may we start taking corrective measures, it is allowed. It is not late. Even the Bible says that we can be forgiven anytime – go before God. We need to recognise that we have been erring in this sector of the disabled. It is about time we act on it.
Madam Speaker Ma’am, you will realise that Parliament has tried to accommodate the disabled. I see there are ways that they can come in. I hope that the new Parliament will be advanced in terms of all this. Where, instead of them finding it difficult to even contribute but there are gadgets that can ensure that they contribute at the end of the day. If we have a Parliament with Members of Parliament who are disabled, and they do not have the ability to communicate at the end of the day, it is important that we facilitate them. Parliament, itself, with the vision that I am talking about, if we have Members of Parliament who are disabled, once in a while, they must be accommodated. They must be given time to speak.
Madam Speaker, I also want to say that, the Parliamentary Caucus that Hon. Sithole is talking about; may I warn politicians, do not support it for the sake of politicking munopanishwa naMwari, musauye kuzotsvaga ma votes…
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Mliswa, you are left with Five Minutes.
HON. T. MLISWA: Do not come looking for votes. Some of us do not have to tell you what you have done for the disabled. Madam Speaker, I got them land in my constituency, where they are going to have their own school and clinic. I sunk a borehole there for them and I keep speaking to the corporate world. There must be incentives for the corporate world that a company that is contributing to the welfare of the disabled must be given a certain tax incentive then we move forward.
The aspect of the plight of the disabled is not a joke Madam Speaker. We have a singer in Norton, Talent. She is on a wheelchair. She uses her feet. She sings and plays instruments using her feet. She holds her daughter using her feet and has no hands. You say to yourself, ‘Boy, what more can we do?’ The only thing that we can do is to make them live well and better so that they feel loved – so that we care for them. It is not money when you care for people. It is not money when you love people. May we be sincere as a country? May I implore the political parties to take this seriously?
One day, with God’s will, a president can be a disabled person. God’s time is God’s time and Romans 13:1 talks about all the leaders being put by God. We do not want to be a nation that is educated but is insensitive to this plight that we all know we must do something. I implore Hon. Members of Parliament that even with the CDF that you get, contribute at least 10 to 15% to those. Wheelchairs, Madam Speaker as I close, must not be bought. Why are we proud of giving somebody a wheelchair? Government must give them for free, from today, may we move and may we contribute to the budget the same way that we did with sanitary wear Madam Speaker. Which we were also involved and passionate about – it is only that you cannot debate again Madam Speaker but I would have liked to see you pushing that again for those who are disabled to get free wheelchairs. How many are they?
Let us make sure that wheelchairs are given to them for free but may we also make sure that they participate in corridors of power in boards, parastatals where Government controls. There must be no debate and may this be the last time that we debate on this. May we be known as Members of Parliament who did what we will do what we did for the girl child in terms of sanitary, for the disabled as well? I thank you.
(v)HON. NDUNA: Thank Mr. Speaker Sir, I will be very brief today, it is unlike me but I just want to add my voice to the motion by Hon. Sithole, seconded by Hon. Mpariwa. I want to start with the prayer that a Caucus has to be established for people living with disability in Parliament. I agree fully Madam Speaker because I also come from a constituency that has old people that are living with the disabled. The rate of population living with disabilities is 15%, I actually second the prayer.
Madam Speaker, I also want to say if you may ask administration to mute everyone who is not contributing because I can hardly hear myself.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Members, can we have order please. Hon. Member, can you mute your gadgets please; you are interfering with the Hon. Member who is debating.
(v)HON. NDUNA: Hon. T. Mliswa is not muted Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. T. MLISWA: Sorry for that, I am now muted.
(v) HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir for your protection. As Hon. T. Mliswa alluded to, that disability is not inability, I sit in a class where we have someone by the name Elisha Gumbo who does not have arms but he is in the same Law class with us - he is going to attain the same degree as us, the able-bodied. I ask and pray that all institutions, Government and private must have equipment for people living with disability in order that they attain the same credibility and credentials as those who are able-bodied. Having said that, I also want to talk about the Constitutional Amendment No. 2 Bill which is now law that spoke to the 30% representation of women in local authorities; it also speaks of one seat per each province when it talks about youth representation. The same amendment spoke about the elongation or the increase of the period of our representation to 2033 by a further 10 years. I asked that we change the law and make a constitutional amendment that also speaks about 15% representation in Parliament for people living with disabilities. For starters, Hon. R. Mpofu is not a representative of people living with disabilities. She is one of the members who came in as proportional representative for the 60 women. I ask that you make a clarion call to that, may they separate empowerment tool or representative tool that speaks to and about the people living with disability that also come into the National Assembly.
As has been alluded to by the previous speakers, there should be nothing about us without us. I think the people living with disabilities need to actually be represented in Parliament by the like-minded. I have spoken to Constitutional Amendment No. 2 in the same way that we have renewable energy in the creation of our smart cities. I ask that all the housing development projects that are going to take route should also take care of people with disability. Those houses should have passage ways, and institutions that have the credibility to actually accommodate people living with disabilities assuming as well as hospitals. The hospitals need to have beds for maternity which can accommodate people living with disability. When we talk of people living with disability, we need to harmonize our laws. According to the Birth and Registration Act, parents must get documents within 42 days after the birth of their children and that must apply to the disabled also. We know how difficult it is for them to access maternal health. It should be incumbent upon Government to make sure there are laws for the good order and governance of all people in Zimbabwe, including the 15% living with disabilities.
Section 327 speaks to domestication of our laws and we have domesticated the laws of the African Union and the United Nations Charter that speaks to and about people living with disabilities. So the laws of the country need to be aligned to the Constitution in order that the people that are living with disability are also taken on board Mr. Speaker.
The issues to do with property rights also need to reside with disabled people, nine times out of ten disabled people do not inherit any property. They get to be disinherited when the property have title deeds. I come from a place which has a lot of old locations and some a lot of our old people live in those places but they do not have title deeds. The issue to do with title deeds of properties also resides with the people living with disabilities. Hon. Adv. J. Mudenda sitting in that Chair, not so long ago received a petition that speaks to and about establishment of an Accident Victims Fund that speaks to alleviation of the plight of people that are actually involved in accidents and the compensation thereof. Statutory Instrument 45 of 2005 speaks to the remittance of 12 ½% of monies to Traffic Safety Council.
Mr. Speaker Sir, 43 people are injured due to road carnage each day and everyone in Parliament and otherwise is 30 minutes away from disability or death due to road carnage. So it is my hope and view that some of this money that has been given to Traffic Safety Council and by the way, because of the vehicle population that we have in the country or when yours truly was still Chairman of the Transport Committee, there are monies going to third party insurance, about US$100 million annually and 10% or 12.5% of that annually is US10 million. It is my clarion call and view that some of this money be taken from there in order that it can alleviate the plight of those that are involved in road traffic accidents so that they might not be permanently disabled or if they are, there is need for them to get crutches and equipment that can alleviate their plight after a road traffic accident. As I have said, we are all three minutes away from disability due to road carnage. So I ask Mr. Speaker Sir, that this issue be viewed with the seriousness that it deserves.
As I conclude Mr. Speaker Sir, I ask that we have permanently in the National Assembly, a serious prophet that is going to pray for people that are sick, those that have been involved in accidents and those that are potentially going to be disabled people, according to Isaiah 53:5 so that no one gets to be disabled, no one gets to be blind because of sugar diabetes or blood pressure. There is need to have serous prophets other than to have pretenders who disappear during covideous times and appear only after COVID has gone away. Some of this disability is because we do not have serious prophets; it is because we have gold diggers and people that are no longer going by the word.
John 10:10 says the devil comes only to kill, to steal and to destroy. Mr. Speaker Sir, we now need to reinvigorate the issue of an institution of the Holy Bible because according to Psalms 34:17 it says, ‘izinceku ziyakhala uJehova uyezwa’ and he also says in Jeremiah 33:3, ‘call unto me and I will show you great and mighty things which thou nowest not’. All these verses can actually make sure that we have and we can reduce the issue of disability in this nation.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the last issue that I want to touch on is the issue of pensions and insurance. The pensions are now being given at a rate of $50 or $65 to pensioners per month. It is my clarion call because a lot of pensioners are dying before they enjoy their monies due to disability. I ask that they be allowed to access, on the strength of this motion, their monies, in particular Mr. Green of Chegutu West Constituency. He has his money tied up in Old Mutual and other money insurance and pension funds. I ask that these monies be untied or be loosened so that the pensioners can access their money and make sure that their lives are bettered before they die due to ailments that cause them to be disabled.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I thank you for giving me this opportunity to vociferously, effectively and efficiently contribute to this motion by Hon. Sithole in the same way that the people of Chegutu West Constituency would have wanted me to contribute. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir and God bless you.
(v)HON. S. BANDA: Good afternoon to you Mr. Speaker. Thank you for also giving me this opportunity to contribute to this debate which was raised by Hon. Sithole, seconded by Hon. Mpariwa.
Hon. Speaker Sir, the first thing to note is the two Members who contributed first were also members of the Disability Caucus. I am also part of the Disability Caucus and I am not interested in any money. What we need to do is to save so that those people with disabilities get a chance to be equal to other people.
Mr. Speaker Sir, my debate today will be more philosophical and theoretical than any other thing and it will also be oriented to the education sector. Why, because for any person with a disability, if they do not go to school from the word go, then their life is almost tantamount to hell. So we need to resolve this issue that comes first, which is the education of anyone whether they have got a disability or they have got no disability.
Mr. Speaker Sir, according to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, they say that countries must make sure that people with disabilities can access all services inclusive of quality and free primary and secondary education on an equal basis in all communities in which they live. While some of this free primary and secondary education is going to people with disabilities, you find that it is not necessarily everywhere. If you go to rural areas, to poor homes, you find that there are people with disabilities who are not going to school because there are a number of issues when we look at people with disabilities.
People with disabilities are viewed in five philosophical ways. Firstly, there is what you call attitudinal access. We look at them as if they are not able to do anything whereas like Hon. Nduna was speaking a moment ago, he is in class with a brilliant person who has a disability and they will also be graduating. That is the Zimbabwe we want. That is the world that we want, where everybody is given an equal chance.
Mr. Speaker Sir, there is also an issue of organisational accessibility or systemic accessibility whereby people with disabilities are shut out. They are completely shut out from processes. They are shut out from buildings, they are shut out from life, and they are shut out from education. So we really need to make sure that we change that. There are also architectural or physical accessibility issues that people with disabilities face. Some of these refer to buildings. You go to a building, some have got no lifts; they have got steps and it is just basic. These people with disabilities are not being considered at all. Even when they are going to school, you may find that if the class happens by accident to have a ramp, the toilet they are going to use is not accessible and does not have suitable facilities for them. So that demeans the education of people with disabilities.
There is also an issue of information. People with disabilities lack access to information. They lack access on support from BEAM in their education. Most people with disabilities do not know about it. So there is information gap which we as Parliament, the fourth estate, the media have to come in and help.
There is also the issue of access to technology Mr. Speaker Sir. Some people with disabilities who have got different types of abilities which I am going to mention in a few minutes may not be able to access the greatest technology that we have. Why, it is because of the forms of disability that they have. Research shows that the types of disabilities that most students face, there is what we call attention deficit or hyperactive disorder (ADHD). This is because of the attitude that we give to them when they come to school or society makes them to go backwards, to withdraw into a shell and then they have got this disorder. We need to come up with solutions that make sure that we do not look down upon anyone, whether they have got a disability or not. We need to promote each other.
The other students’ disabilities include dyscalculia, visual motor deficit, dyslexia, hearing loss, traumatic brain injury, autism and structural disorder, language processing disorder. Those are some of the challenges that the teachers that are being trained in our higher education institutions today need to be taught so that when a teacher is going to school, he is able to teach people with special disorders or any kind of disabilities. We need Education 5.0 to say, yes while we are promoting business, we also need to look at how to empower lecturers so that they are able to impart their knowledge to those who may not have all abilities as they may have.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I also want to call on even political parties to say, this 15% that we are talking about – this is also a message to the census that is coming up. We hear that a census is going to be taken for people with disabilities, which has never happened before. So far, nobody really knows what percentage of disability we have in Zimbabwe or in the whole world. It is just a rule of the thumb to say, I think 15% of the people are disabled. We need to come up with a census that says in Zimbabwe we have got so many people who have disability. Once we know how many they are, the policy that Parliament is going to come up with as we approach 2023 is that whatever party that exist that is going to run in that election, if it does not have a minimum of that percentage that has come up from the census, then it is not allowed to participate in the election. We need to ensure that the difference between students with disabilities and those without is removed. That way, we will not have many people on the roads who will be begging. When they beg, we look down upon them and we do not assist them, so we need to change all that.
Mr. Speaker Sir, as I conclude, all people with special needs need to be helped. The free secondary education that we have, let it not be just for show but let it be effective. Let it be seen to be happening. It should not end there Mr. Speaker. Let it even go to higher education because there are very few students in higher education, so we want that trend to be cut. I want to thank you Mr. Speaker Sir for giving me this opportunity.
(v)HON. MOKONE: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. I would like to thank the mover of the motion, Hon. Sithole and the seconder, Hon. Mpariwa. Hon. Sithole brought up a very pertinent topic today when he spoke about the rights of the disabled. Mr. Speaker Sir, as I begin this debate, let me start by saying that there is need to observe the rights of the disabled as enshrined by the UN article.
The Constitution of Zimbabwe is also clear on that. I think the Hon. Members who have debated before me have hammered on that. They have highlighted that Section 83 speaks about the rights of the disabled people. The disabled people have the right to food, shelter, education, political space and any form of economic emancipation that may be available in the nation. Mr. Speaker Sir, let me rather say that they also have a right to information as the speaker who has just spoken before me has highlighted. We actually need experts who are trained in various categories according to the disabled levels of the people in Zimbabwe so that they can help the people who are disabled to move in tandem with others in terms of getting information.
Mr. Speaker Sir, let me say that it is quite sad that some people have said that disability is synonimous to poverty. This statement is not correct. They are saying that because Government is failing to capacitate the people who are living with disabilities, therefore disabled people cannot look after themselves. We have seen the emergence of women banks and banks that cater for the youths. It is high time that we also see emergence of banks that cater for the disabled where the disabled can actually walk in and get loans without even asking for collateral so that they can be emancipated.
Mr. Speaker Sir, already there is a caucus for women in Parliament. Let us be accommodative and have a caucus for the disabled so that their issues are also heard. If we continue to exclude the disabled people from the space in Zimbabwe, I see this as injustice for them because it means that we are not regarding them as people who are trying to live together with us. There is need to see them as normal people and as people who should be treated the same manner that a normal person is treated. They need a disability friendly environment.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I remember when I was doing my Form Four, I used to learn with some people who were disabled as they were visually impaired. I would like to thank the school because it managed to cater for those children who were visually impaired. They provided the necessary equipment that was needed for those children. Right now, I am at a certain university and there are quite a number of students who are disabled. It is quite sad that they are finding it hard to carry out their studies because of the barrier that exists in the education sector between the normal person and the person who is disabled.
Mr. Speaker Sir, let me say that in Zimbabwe, we have seen that there is the Ministry of Women’s Affairs. Let me suggest that there is need to also have a standalone Ministry that caters for the people with disabilities. It is my belief that the Public Service Ministry is overloaded. There are so many issues that are being referred to the Ministry so there is need for us to separate Public Service Ministry and the Disability Ministry so that the needs of the disabled are met.
Let me also highlight that we have seen that in politics, there is the PR system that caters for women. Recently, there was Amendment 2 that saw the inclusion of the youths in the political space. Mr. Speaker Sir, there is need for a legislative framework that speaks about the need to include the disabled people in the political space.
Mr. Speaker Sir, as I listened to the mover of the motion, Hon. Sithole, he was praying for Parliament to establish a Parliamentary Caucus. I am in support of his prayer because unless we establish a Parliamentary Caucus, we are not going to see the needs of the disabled people to fruition. I am again praying for a standalone Ministry for the people living with disability. With these few words, I thank you.
(v)HON. MOLOKELA-TSIYE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I rise in support of the motion for the setting up of a Parliamentary Caucus on Disability raised by Hon. Sithole and Hon. Mpariwa. I am so excited that Parliament is showing leadership when it comes to issues of disability. For too long in Zimbabwe, we have had a lot of rhetoric but I see that as Parliament, we are taking a clear stance that it is enough. We need to make sure that issues of disability take the centre stage at the national level. This Parliamentary Caucus is most welcome and I am one of the Hon. Members who has fully supported and looks forward to actively participate in it. As we speak about issues of disability, we have to acknowledge that last year a progressive a step was achieved by Zimbabwe when we adopted the National Disability Policy. It was indeed a very important step in making sure that issues of disability are taken seriously in this country but the policy on its own is not enough. So we look forward to using this caucus to engage all stakeholders to support this sector.
Some of the key issues we will be working on randomly include the fact that the Disabled Persons Act (1992) has become outdated and anachronistic. So there is need for a new disability law in Zimbabwe, which will be very comprehensive….
THE HON. SPEAKER: Order, order! Hon. Molokela, I am made to understand that you were asked to leave the House. How is it that you are still in the House? The fact that you are connected to the internet and now contributing means you are actually violating the directive of the Speaker.
(v)HON. MOLOKELA-TSIYE: I thought I was asked to leave the Chamber but being allowed to participate.
THE HON. SPEAKER: No, sorry for all that Hon. Member.
(v) HON. MAPHOSA: Thank you very much Hon. Speaker Sir. I rise to support the motion that was raised by Hon. Sithole, seconded by Hon. Mpariwa on the enactment of a Parliamentary Caucus for persons with disabilities. I know a lot of issues have been raised around what is challenges or barriers faced by people living with disabilities in this age. My worry is, having attained our independence about 20 years ago, we are still speaking on issues of accessibility whereby we still have institutions of Government with buildings that are not perfect to people living with disabilities. It is actually embarrassing as a country and even us as law makers...
(v)HON. NDUNA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir. I just want to write the wrongs on the Hon. Member’s speech. We attained our independence 40 years ago not 20, not 10, not 5 but 40, which is closer to the mark. The 20 that she speaks to and about is both wrong, unjust and not allowed and should not be called for.
(v)HON. MAPHOSA: Thank you Hon. Nduna for that correction, though it was a slip of the tongue and I apologise. I was speaking about issues to do with accessibility, that we still have buildings and places in institutions, especially in institutions of higher learning where I actually chair, we go around these institutions seeing places of learning, lecture rooms, dining rooms which are not accessible to people living with disabilities.
Before I was interrupted, I was saying that as Parliament, with Parliamentarians coming and going and all over years, issues to do with persons with disability was a thorn in the flesh to the country because we are the law makers. We are people who have got the power to change the status quo. So, I really agree with the motion of Hon. Sithole to say we need a Parliamentary Caucus that is going to focus on issues to do with people with disabilities.
I know that we now have a lot of Parliamentary Caucuses and may be some may argue that we are labouring or we are giving a lot of budgetary allocations to Parliament to say we continuously speak of enacting Parliamentary caucuses but I think this one is very important. It shows that we have ignored or we have let go these issues and relegated ourselves to issues of no importance at all. It really pains that we afford these workshops and meetings yet to date, after all these years of attaining independence, we are still reminded of taking people with disabilities as a part of us while of course they are actually a part of us.
People living with disabilities are not less human. They are more human and they are just like us, it is only that they have some challenges. So we must desist from this attitude of wanting to be sorry and wanting to patronize people with disabilities. Each time we speak about them, it is like we are feeling sorry for them. We must be taking action to make people living with disabilities more human - in fact, they are human but we make them feel like they are less human.
Speaking on issues of education, we were in a meeting and we were told that there is no one with hearing impairment who has ever attained a degree in the institute of learning or may be furthering their education because of barriers of not getting things that they should be using. Issues of employment, because if you are not well educated, obviously you cannot be employed, that is why we see a lot of people with disability on the roadside vending. That is the only thing that they have been relegated to as a country, to see disabled persons as vendors. It is normal with us; we live our daily lives and think that life is okay.
If we give them 20 bond we think we have helped them but that is not what they want. What they want is for the Government of Zimbabwe to enact laws that are going to make them do things on their own. That will enable them to learn on their own and be employed, to apply for business and enjoy whatever other Zimbabweans are enjoying. I totally support the enactment of a Parliamentary Caucus that will focus on disability issues and that will make sure that laws that are there that need to be aligned or amended, it is done With those few words, I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. SHAMU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I rise to add my voice to the debate that is ongoing following the presentation of a motion by Hon. Sithole, seconded by Hon. Mpariwa. I would want on the onset, to state that this indeed is a noble motion. There is indeed the need for the establishment of a parliamentary caucus that would be dedicated to looking into the issues that concern people that live with disability.
As Parliament, we are indeed the legislators. It is through Parliament that Budgets are passed and funds allocated for use by different ministries for different purposes. Therefore, the call by this motion that there be a caucus is aimed at strengthening the oversight role of Parliament on an area that affects many of our people. It broadens the base for better understanding of a given area of oversight and thus, the need for a caucus is indeed necessary to be met.
If you look into society and follow on what happens every day, there are still many people in this day and age who hide their children because they have been born with disability. I could go on and on to give examples of various cases which need attention, which need to be followed up, which need to be resolved by making sure that necessary measures are taken for us to bring sanity within our own culture. Thus, the need for a caucus is indeed a way of wanting to create conditions that will enable Parliament to delve into these issues in a much more serious manner.
Challenges of financial resources have been mentioned. The challenges are not only bedeviling Government but they also affect individuals and different families who are finding it very difficult to be able to take their own children for medical attention and especially when they suffer from disability which calls for expert medical attention and that costs a lot of money. Therefore, for us to resource ourselves in a manner that meets this area of serious concern, we need to create conditions that are favourable for us to debate, discuss and analyse situations in a manner that renders us to come up with solutions that effectively deal with challenges of this nature.
Therefore Mr. Speaker Sir, I have stood up in order for me to underscore the need for the establishment of a caucus within Parliament that will be there to support all areas that have anything to do with the people that are living with disabilities. I thank you.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: I certainly appreciate your contribution Hon. Shamu because you dwelt on the motion. The motion is actually requesting for the setting up of a parliamentary caucus, not so much about what is being contributed. For me, this is quite a sensitive constituency because it does not have people who can actually talk on their behalf. So, I was leaving it the way Hon Members were contributing. I certainly appreciate. Thank you very much because you really hammered home the point that the mover of the motion requested that there be a parliamentary caucus. Thank you very much Hon. Shamu.
(V)HON. MUSARURWA: Let me thank Hon. Sithole and Hon. Mpariwa for raising this motion. I do agree that there is need for a disability parliamentary caucus. This is a constituency we have been abandoning for a long time. There is need for this caucus which will advocate and cater for the people living with disability especially in prisons. We have quite a number of inmates who are in prison and are living with disability. The conditions that they live in are not safe for human beings.
I also want to add my voice that we need to look into our tourism sector as we look into this parliamentary caucus for disability. Our conditions are not catering for our tourists and the people that want to visit our country in terms of our hotels that we have here in Zimbabwe. I do submit and do concur that we really need this parliamentary caucus for disability which will continue to push and advocate for the people that are living with disability. I submit Mr. Speaker Sir.
(v)HON. NDEBELE: Hon. Speaker, I intend to speak for less than a minute. This is a motion I totally agree with as well as all the points that have been raised by all Hon. Members. However, let me hasten to be cautious. As a Parliament, we need to arrest wanton gullibility when it comes to allocation of leadership positions of that caucus in line with the maxim ‘nothing for us without us’. In other words, I am advocating for a position where that parliamentary caucus should be led effectively by Members of Parliament living with disability. I am saying this right at the beginning because in society as a whole, we have seen that issues to do with people living with disability are usually hijacked by able bodied people who purport to speak for those who live with disability. There is no way you can effectively speak for people living with a particular condition when you do not have that condition. The Chinese have a saying that in order to understand how I feel, where I come from, you must do a mine in my boot. It is certainly possible for us able bodied persons to then purport to champion that cause, leaving out those Members of Parliament amongst us who are living with disabilities.
I just want to give you one example. Government recently appointed a National Coordinator for people living with disabilities but that person is not living with any form of disability.
HON. GONESE: On a point of correction Mr Speaker Sir. Just a small correction to my learned brother who is debating. In terms of sensitivity, people with disabilities are not very comfortable when people say they are living with disability. The correct terminology which has now been adopted is ‘people with disabilities’ and not ‘people living with disabilities’. Let my learned friend take note of that.
(v)HON A. NDEBELE: As my learned brother has indicated, I am a lawyer and I am aware of that but that also buttresses the fact that as an able bodied person, I tend to forget some of these things and it puts more weight to my argument that these people lead that Parliamentary Caucus. With that I rest my submission
HON. JOSIAH SITHOLE: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. I am so much delighted by the level of debate and level of interest in this motion where you find there is good concurrence in as far as the need for the establishment of a Parliament Caucus on persons with disabilities is concerned. I find it very enlightening, especially seeing the likes of Hon. Mpariwa participating, Hon. Mliswa. Hon. Banda, Hon. Mokone, Hon. Maphosa, Hon. Shamu, Hon. Musarurwa and finally Hon. Ndebele. It is very important that people are realising the plight of persons with disabilities. I also like the fact that people were learning as they were debating issues like terminology being used that we talk about children, women and persons with disabilities and not disabled people. It is a way of showing that even our Parliamentarians are still learning certain things to do with disability. Having heard and listened to these good debates, I move for the adoption of this motion.
Motion put and agreed to.
On the motion of HON. T. MOYO seconded by HON. TEKESHE, the House adjourned at Twenty-Two Minutes past Five o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 5 April, 2022
The Senate met at Half-past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON PRESIDENT OF SENATE in the Chair)
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: How are you Hon. Senators? I was about to complain because the House was almost empty. Now I can see Hon. Senators walking in, where are the other Senators? – [HON. SEN. MOHADI: Some are out on Committee business] – What about those who are not attending to Committee business? I think last time we reminded each other that you cannot start by being on virtual, you have to check whether the House is full or not. Anyway, I think we need to improve. I think the Chief Whips should see that the situation has improved.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: I move that Order of the Day No. 1 on today’s Order Paper be stood over until the rest of the Orders of the Day have been disposed of.
HON. SEN. CHIRONGOMA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
EFFORTS TO CURB CORRUPTION
Second Order read: Adjourned debate on motion to introduce deterrent sentences to those engaging in corrupt activities.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI: Thank you Madam President for giving me the opportunity to second the motion that was moved by Hon. Sen. Tongogara. Hon. Sen. Tongogara brought a pertinent motion to this august House which will benefit us in that if we deliberate on it, it will address a number of issues including corruption which is a cancer that affects development. There is no development that can happen if there is corruption. Hon. Sen. Tongogara did a good thing and I would like to appreciate the New Dispensation for putting in place an Anti-Corruption Commission which has a task of addressing corruption in Zimbabwe.
For the Commission to succeed, as Hon. Members, we need to fight corruption. We cannot leave this to the Anti-Corruption Commission only. After identifying corrupt activities, we need to communicate so that Zimbabwe develops. Our Government is doing a good job in developing various sectors of the economy. This is evident in that the New Dispensation is bringing out development. So if there is corruption, development will be hindered. I believe that the Commission should be capacitated with enough funding for the Commission to succeed in rooting out corruption. Without funding, they are not able to discharge their duties with fortitude.
Corruption is not for a single individual but there is need for looking at various players in corrupt activities - those who initiate and those who receive. We need to analyse even the prohibitive and punitive laws that can be applied to corruption because with lighter sentences, corruption cannot be addressed. If we have tough laws with punitive penalties, corruption will be addressed and it will be dealt with forthwith. This does not portray a good image that we find people who want to succeed through corrupt activities. I would like to thank Hon. Sen. Tongogara for her view especially identifying that corruption is bad for the country. Let us support this motion. I thank you Madam President.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: Thank you Madam President for giving me this opportunity to say a few words on the motion that was moved by Hon. Sen. Tongogara. When we talk about corruption, there is not much difference with this disease that we are having at the moment, which is cancer. This is because corruption has destroyed our beloved country which we all are proud of. We like it so much but there is a lot of corruption. I just want to thank our President who has put it in a clean plate saying “No to Corruption”. That is a very strong word to us all to adhere to, to minimise corruption. It is our duty, all of us, that if we see any corrupt activities taking place, we need to assist wherever possible because if we love Zimbabwe, we should protect Zimbabwe as well so that it does not get into destruction.
Madam President, if we look at our borders, they are porous. So many activities are happening and they are not even worried even if the borders are not opened because they know that the corrupt people have opened their own borders. Let me tell you that apart from getting goods especially from South Africa, they can even get cars crossing under those undesignated places. Last year, just about 30 kilometers out of Beitbridge, there was a roadblock. They intercepted three cars just around the Dumba area and they had already crossed into Zimbabwe.
As a result, our Government suffers because if at all those goods and cars were being channeled through the border officially, we would be having a lot of money in order to do our duties that we are supposed to do as Government - but all that money goes under water. It enriches one person if not two. What are we saying about it? We deploy so many people to go and work there but at the end of the day, they are also corrupted. So we have to avoid that by all possible means.
We have a Commission called ZACC that takes care of this corruption. I would urge the Government to give them an adequate budget because they are doing an excellent job at the moment. Once they fail to have resources, they are also going to be corrupted. So, we need to look after them so that they do their job effectively. If we look at the issue of bribes, there is nothing that we can do before they engage in chiwoko muhomwe. Let us desist from doing that because some people do not realise that by doing chiwoko muhomwe, we are destroying our country. Our country will never move forward or to the final destination. Let us not forget that we have not gotten to our final destination, that is to bring growth to the economy of our country which we look at through the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS 1) so that we fulfill it by 2030. However, if we continue doing this, I do not think we can get there soon. We have to try by all means to see to it that we assist our Government. Let us all be policemen, let us provide security services for our country to guard it jealously against corruption. With these few words Madam President, I thank you.
^^HON. SEN. NYATHI: I would like to thank you President of the Senate for giving me this opportunity to debate on the motion that was raised by Hon. Sen. Tongogara regarding corruption. This is a good motion for us as Zimbabweans because corruption is not a good thing. It does not build and there is no progress when there is corruption. So the corruption that we are talking about is not a new thing but every year we speak about it.
The Zimbabwe Anti Corruption Commission should be doing something about corruption. What is their role? If they were doing their work, then things will go on well. Since we started talking about corruption, there is nothing tangible, yet yesterday evening I was watching news and there was a prison inmate who said that ‘I was used to commit a crime and was incarcerated and those who used me are free and roaming the streets.’ What we are saying is everyone who participates in a crime should be incarcerated so that it is clear that whoever assigns someone to commit a crime should be prosecuted as alluded to by Hon. Senators that he who gives a bribe or takes a bribe should equally face the law.
When we talk about corruption and general things that are happening out there, you will find people condemning it to say, ‘who are you, who do you think you are?’ So, my point is that as the Senate and Upper House, let us come together because we are the Government. Let us promulgate laws which are going to prohibit corrupt activities. You will discover that a lot of people are facing challenges because of corruption. At times you find that those who accept corrupt proceeds are viewed as good people. With corruption, when someone does a bad thing and is punished, this will set a good example so that we build our country. If we just talk and this just remains as lip service, we will always be talking about it. We talked about it in 2014 and even today we are still talking about it but there is nothing tangible. We are not going anywhere. So as the Upper House, we need to come together with the Lower House to discuss about these issues so that corrupt individuals are prosecuted. Some are in jail but are innocent, yet there are corrupt people that are roaming the streets. They continue to use and abuse other people.
Madam President, this is what we do not accept. I thank Hon. Sen. Tongogara for moving this motion because corruption is affecting hospitals and other different sectors. As Senate, we need to come together and come up with punitive laws which are going to be applied to corrupt activities. I thank you.
HON. SEN. CHIEF MAKUMBE: Thank you Madam President for giving me this opportunity to debate the motion on corruption. I believe that people have seen me debating or talking on television. As chiefs and elders, it is our responsibility to demonstrate what should be emulated by young people. It is our responsibility to demonstrate to the youths that corruption is expensive, not only to individuals but to the nation. At the moment, I can attest to the fact that I came across corruption at the mortuary. You cannot get your papers processed if you do not pay USD100 as a bribe. You do not find a doctor or documents from the Home Affairs Department and police but you have to pay a bribe to have your papers processed.
My belief is that those who were given the task by His Excellency the President, should do their duties without taking bribes and the Commission should be capacitated so that it addresses this scourge of corruption. This will ensure that things are done properly. Corruption is like rape, it is like someone who rapes the economy. We need to work together and join hands so that Zimbabwe develops. We must not be selfish, just accumulating wealth as individuals, how about others? If we are leaders, then we are leading other people also and we need to do away with corruption. As an individual, I do not like corruption. Whatever we talk about when we discuss as chiefs, we need to do our things in a transparent manner instead of taking bribes. Those who are responsible for employment of people should employ on merit. Whenever you find corruption, you find that it does not add well. Service delivery is affected and the revenue for that particular organisation is diminished. Those who were given the task or the job will not be performing well.
As Zimbabweans, we need to understand that we are the ones who are responsible for building our country, not through corruption but we need to urge each other so that we have a mantra as leaders that, corruption does not work. This is going to benefit our nation if we eliminate corruption. When you go to the Passport Offices, you will discover that there is a big improvement, you do not wait for more than 15 minutes. This is the way to go and it is good for Zimbabwe. We know that it was a place where corruption was rife. As Zimbabweans, when we identify corruption, let us report it so that it is addressed by responsible authorities for the sake of the development of Zimbabwe. I just wanted to add these few words to the motion that corruption is bad, it is not part of our culture and we do not want it. I thank you Madam President.
+HON. SEN.MKWEBU: Thank you Hon. Madam President for giving me this opportunity to also contribute towards the motion that was moved by Hon. Sen. Tongogara, seconded by Hon. Chief Ngungumbane.
Madam President, the issue of corruption in this country has gone too far. Everyone is talking about corruption, and nothing is being done about it. In order for something to happen, first corruption has to happen – even disputes in mines. They remain before the courts for a long time with the lawyers being changed. When people heard that ZACC was now in place, people in the mines were overjoyed, thinking that pending matters were going to be finalised. It is sad to note that matters before the courts are still pending.
We were anticipating Government to encourage ZACC to look at the courts as to why some matters have gone for a long time without being finalised. Even when people are in possession of the relevant mining documents, some people are mining on claims that do not belong to them. Upon the arrest of the perpetrators, the arresting officers release them immediately after and share the spoils. We request, therefore, that corruption be curbed because it is now our song here in Parliament and even in the communities. It has to be stopped because we have spoken about it a lot.
ZACC should be allowed to deal with burning issues that are affecting people in communities. Some of these matters we read about them in the media and they lose value. These issues are also prevalent amongst communities. It is only the rich who manage to engage lawyers and their matters are finalised. Therefore, Madam President, communities are worried that as Government put ZACC in place – then ZACC should be allowed to carry out its mandate to eradicate corruption in Zimbabwe.
Again Madam President, a person is arrested after committing murder after having been hired to do so. The murder suspect is arrested and someone bails them out. Once they are out, they quickly disappear into South Africa. They are murdering people and removing body parts. It is a hurtful thing. Bail was paid for a murder suspect in Gwanda, and the suspect disappeared to South Africa. ZACC should look into such matters. Bail was paid for the murder suspect in order to destroy all evidence against the perpetrator. We do not know where this bail was paid but those who had the victim murdered are still here. We are looking at the accused person but the one who hired them is no longer around. He has already skipped the boarder. This issue of corruption is very painful Madam President. With these few words, I thank you.
∞HON. SEN. CHIEF SIANSALI: Thank you Madam President. I want to thank Hon. Sen. Tongogara for moving this motion, and also to thank the Hon. Sen. who seconded it.
Hon. Madam President, this issue of corruption is a topical one because it is the main issue that we should address as a nation. It would be pointless if we just continue debating in this House without taking action. I wish we could adopt the Chinese policy on criminalisation of corrupt people. The Chinese Government is anti-corruption because when you are arrested for corruption, you are taken for life imprisonment.
Ironically here, Madam President, we are good at talking and debating without implementation of what we discuss. For how long are we going to continue debating on this issue without taking action? Then there is this issue where we have people who have been arrested for corruption or summoned by the police for corruption but have not been convicted? We read about them in the newspapers on headlines but the following day, we see them in the communities – a practice that we call, catch and release.
This is like we are watering the bad seed of corruption. It is like we are promoting corruption because it is no longer threatening or no longer illegal. This is the reason we now see that corruption has cascaded down to the garden boy because everyone now believes that for him/her to live well, they have to be corrupt. Even the builders of bridges have now tended to be corrupt, if they are given 10 bags of cement; they take five to their homes.
You heard the Hon. Chief here complaining that in other areas, for someone to get good medication; he has to bribe the nurse, failure to do so will result in you being given paracetamol. Madam President, it is my wish that we come up with a law that criminalises corruption. Whoever is arrested for corruption should be imprisoned for life, if we continue turning a blind eye, we are not helping our nation. We will not eradicate corruption and will just be talking every day.
I also recommend that you, Madam President, since you are closer to His Excellency the President, kindly inform him that we should enact a law to criminalise corruption and imprison perpetrators for life. We need the State to criminalise corruption in order for us to have a corruption free country. Thank you very much for the opportunity that you have given me, I thought it wise to add my voice on this motion today in my mother language. I thank you.
HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 6th April, 2022.
MOTION
FIRST REPORT OF THE THEMATIC COMMITTEE ON HIV AND AIDS ON THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC LOCKDOWN RESTRICTIONS ON HIV AND AIDS SERVICE DELIVERY SYSTEM
Third Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the First Report of the Thematic Committee on HIV and AIDS on the impact of COVID-19 pandemic lockdown restrictions on HIV and AIDS service delivery system.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 6th April, 2022.
MOTION
SECOND REPORT OF THE THEMATIC COMMITTEE ON HIV AND AIDS ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ANTIRETROVIRAL THERAPY (ART) ROLL-OUT PROGRAMME IN SELECTED HEALTH INSTITUTIONS IN ZIMBABWE
Fourth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Second Report of the Thematic Committee on HIV and AIDS on the Implementation of the Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) Roll-Out Programme in selected health institutions in Zimbabwe.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. DUBE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 6th April, 2022.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
Fifth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. CHIRONGOMA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 6th April, 2022.
MOTION
CONDOLENCES ON THE DEATH OF HON. SEN. SIMON KHAYA MOYO
Sixth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the untimely passing on of the late Senator for Matabeleland South, Hon. Sen. Simon Khaya Moyo.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. CHIRONGOMA: Thank you Madam President. I would like to express my condolences on the loss of the late Sen. S. K. Moyo. He was one of many who did a great job in Zimbabwe. I had known Hon. Sen. S. K. Moyo in 1963 during the ZAPU era. He was a hard worker from his young age. He worked in the political office and politics Madam President, was meant to unite people so that we attain independence through the experiences that we went through during the imperialist era when the white man was taking advantage of black people, but we eventually attained independence. During the process, the late Sen. S. K. Moyo was promoted and he was given a task of being the Press Secretary of the late Vice President Dr. Joshua Nkomo, writing different speeches and other duties that were given by the late Vice President. As time went on, ZAPU and ZANU united.
I remember during those days it was difficult to leave ZAPU, it was considered to be a bad thing, and eventually there was an exodus of people from ZAPU forming ZANU under the leadership of the late Ndabaningi Sithole. This continued until such a time that Zimbabwe was in the right trajectory. In 1987, after sitting down, different political parties decided to unite and this gave birth to the Unity Accord. Hon. Sen. S. K. Moyo was part of that process and there was unity between ZANU and PF ZAPU which became a party which was called ZANU PF, indeed people were united.
The late Senator used to talk about unity saying that unity is good for the development of the country. He used to sing a song called Asibambaneni. When he sang the song, all people were motivated and were very happy. Indeed, unity was achieved, which made things to go well. I would like to thank the Moyo family for giving us a man of valour; he was a happy and free person. We normally talk about him; looking at his deeds, he is irreplaceable. He would start by cracking jokes and communicating with people in a jovial manner. The late Senator S. K. Moyo was promoted and he was given different positions in ministries. I cannot mention the dates but the previous speakers chronicled his journey, mentioning the dates.
He was given different ministries and he worked with fortitude, wholeheartedly. The late Hon. S. K. Moyo was a representative of Matabeleland South; he was also given an ambassadorial position in South Africa. He went there and worked whole-heartedly. He was a member of the Politburo of the ruling party ZANU PF. He also gave himself whole-heartedly in that responsibility. He was an Hon. Senator in this august House and he would contribute like other Hon. Senators. At times you would find that because of ill health, it ends up affecting people - I remember the late Sen. S. K. Moyo when he came back from sick leave, he was not feeling well and when he sat next to Hon. Sen. Dr. Parirenyatwa, I asked him how he was feeling, he said ‘look at me, how do I look?’ then I said ‘you look fit’. He laughed and said ‘I have been getting medical attention and I am recovering’. I did not know that those were his last days but he was a jovial person indeed. In a few days later, the late Senator Moyo passed away but we would like to thank him for his commitment. As fellow Senators we appreciate because we had a good time with him. We lost a man of valour.
With these words Madam President, I would like to say that Hon. S. K. Moyo, go well son of the soil, you did a good job; you have done your part. I would like to say rest in peace, go well.
VHON. SEN. CHIFAMBA: Thank you Madam President. I would like to thank the Hon. Senator who moved this motion. I do not have much to say but I would like to thank the late Sen. S. K. Moyo who fought for the liberation of Zimbabwe. He is a man who sacrificed his life and family going to participate in the struggle so that he would fight for the independence of Zimbabwe. As black people, we were being persecuted by the white imperialists. So now we have an independent Zimbabwe. I do not have much to say but I just wanted to appreciate the late Hon. Sen. I thank you.
* (v) HON. SEN. SIPANI- HUNGWE: Thank you Madam President. I would like to debate on the motion on the passing on of the late Hon. Sen. S. K. Moyo. We worked with Ambassador S. K. Moyo and he was a member of the Politburo. He was a man who used to go with the late Vice President Joshua Nkomo as his protective detail. When there was the Unity Accord, he was also part of the process. He did a lot of work for this country, at one point he was a National Chairman. I cannot say all the things that he did but...
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF SENATE (HON. MOHADI): Your network is very poor, we can hardly hear what you are saying.
(v) *HON. SEN. SIPANI-HUNGWE: I was saying I was not around when he died and that is why I did not attend his funeral. I am talking about a man of high calibre. The late Hon. Sen. S. K. Moyo served in various capacities before independence and after independence in the 1st and the 2nd dispensation. He was a very loyal cadre. I would like to say that we lost a man of high stature. We mourn together with the Moyo family. I would like to say may his soul rest in peace. As friends in ZANU PF and in this august House in the Senate, we would like to say may God be with his soul. Thank you Madam President for giving me this opportunity. I thank you.
HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. A. DUBE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 6th April, 2022.
MOTION
PREVALENCE OF DRUG ABUSE BY YOUTHS
Seventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the devastating effects of drug abuse by youths.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: Thank you Madam President. I would like to thank you for giving me the opportunity to debate this important motion on the prevalence of drug abuse by our youths that was tabled in this august House by Hon. Sen. A. Dube. These dangerous drugs are sold along the streets and in most cases, by the people that are known. I propose that our Government must craft laws that can account for all those involved in selling these drugs. The culprits must be given stiff penalties.
If we are not careful, we will leave this country in the hands of these already condemned youths. The youth are the future leaders of tomorrow and we have to find ways and means to serve these young souls from going to hell alive. A broad strategy is needed to educate our people about the dangers of taking these drugs, for example, at churches, schools and any gatherings. Leaders should take the opportunity to talk about the effects of these drugs. There is need for rehabilitation centres at every province as this is now a national problem. These drugs have destroyed the well being of our children.
Madam President, most of these youths that are taking these drugs or ART medication end up defaulting because they will not remember when to visit health facilities to collect their medicines. Also taking of these drugs weakens their immune system. Lastly, I would like to applaud the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa for coming up with an Inter-Ministerial Committee to look into their bills on drugs in the country and recommend to the Government on measures to be taken to fight this drug abuse. Thank you Madam President.
*HON. SEN. CHIRONGOMA: Thank you Madam President. I would like to add my voice on the motion that was moved by Hon. Sen. Alice Dube regarding the abuse of drugs by our youths. This is something that we never saw during our days when we were growing up. Things like musombodiya and other illicit brews were never heard of.
When you meet these young people, you will observe that they are in the world of their own. Our children are being rebellious; they are losing their values because of such drugs. Madam President, I would like to implore the Government and different arms of Government like Parliament, Senate and National Assembly so that we take this word to the people, that drugs are not right. Those who peddle drugs, we recommend that the Government should prosecute them and they should be publicised so that people know where they come from and who they are so that we can understand how drugs are coming into the country and who is brewing such illicit substances. In that regard, I would like to appreciate and commend the previous speakers.
The President of the Second Dispensation, Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa explained clearly at a certain gathering where there were young people that drugs are destroying the lives of people and the nation. These are young people who are future leaders and carry the future of the country. Can we then hand over the country to such young people who are engaging in disruptive behaviour? This issue is a serious one and those who will be found partaking in illegal substances should be removed from the society. They must be incarcerated and there should be punitive laws and fines so that they understand the nature of drugs. Those who sell drugs should also be investigated.
I would like to thank the Ministerial Committee which was set up by His Excellency. We are looking forward to seeing results being produced by this Ministerial Committee. This issue of drugs is not a good thing, it is destroying our young people, and they grow up with disruptive behaviours and minds. Even teachers in schools should investigate cases of drug abuse and if they find such cases, then perpetrators should be punished. Whether there are gatherings or churches in different social groupings, they should take part in the fight against drug abuse because drugs are affecting our young people and the nation at large. In meetings, there will be no order because when someone is intoxicated, their behaviour becomes irrational.
We need to stand up and speak with a strong voice so that this issue is addressed for the sake of posterity and the future of our children. Wherever these drugs are coming from, provinces or urban areas, we need to be very vigilant so that our children are not seen to be involved in that. I would like to thank you Madam President for giving me this opportunity.
HON. SEN. A. DUBE: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MKHWEBU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 6th April, 2022.
On the motion of HON. SEN. MATHUTHU, seconded by HON. SEN. CHIRONGOMA, the Senate adjourned at Twelve Minutes to Four o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Thursday, 17th March, 2022
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two O’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER in the Chair)
(v)HON. WATSON: Good afternoon Madam Speaker and thank you for acknowledging me for a point of national importance. The point I want to raise is to do with the artisanal mining that has been allowed to take place in river catchment areas. This is particularly affecting Bulawayo again. Bulawayo’s water position is always precarious and will be until the completion of the Gwayi/Shangani Dam and main supplier dams. Upper Ncema and Umzingwani Dams received minimal influence. The rainy season was not very good and there was very little rain, particularly in Umzingwane Dam which is now going to be decommissioned despite being one of Bulawayo’s key supplier dams. What I would like to hear at some point from the ministries concerned, Ministry of Agriculture, Lands, Fisheries and Water Development, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Environment is what they are going to do about the artisanal mining in these areas, particularly in order to secure water sources for Zimbabwe? I thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: The Ministry of Environment is the one in charge of the environment being degraded by the artisanal miners. I think you will have to separate the issues here.
HON. WATSON: Thank you Madam Speaker but on a point of direction, it is also incumbent on the ZRP and the Ministry of Home Affairs to ensure that once the Ministry of Environment has said this is the problem, it should be resolved. It is also incumbent on the Ministry of Lands and Water to secure water sources and make sure that those to be provided with water from these sources are provided.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: That is why I am saying I think you should separate the issues because the Ministry of Water is responsible for giving clean water and the Ministry of Environment is responsible for maintaining the environment while the Ministry of Home Affairs is responsible for enforcing the laws that will protect land degradation.
HON. WATSON: Thank you Madam Speaker I stand guided. Does it then mean I must do it again on another day for each Ministry or will each Ministry take note of the problem?
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: There is a petition which was received by Parliament which is asking Parliament to see to it that environment is being protected, so I think on that debate, that is when you can bring up your issues.
HON. T. MLISWA: Madam Speaker, I rise to bring an issue of concern, where Ministers who are tasked to bring Ministerial Statements do not bring them. Yesterday, I applauded the Minister of Finance that when asked to bring a Ministerial Statement, he always does that.
However, we have got outstanding Ministerial Statement from the Ministry of Local Government, Public works and National Housing on the provincial councillors who are being paid while Members of Parliament who are part of it are not being paid. Madam Speaker Maam, you actually ordered for that to come through.
The second one is on the Pomona Energy Agreement which last week again you said the Hon. Minister must bring a Ministerial Statement. May I implore your good office to also encourage all Ministers when they travel out of this country using tax payers’ money to the Dubai Expo for example, to come and give Ministerial Statements on what it was because that is tax payers’ money. We must know exactly what the trip was about because we must account for that because it is this very same House that puts a Vote for them to get that money.
The Minister of Agriculture went there; we need to know what were the achievements, challenges and what business opportunities came through. Most of the times they are absent travelling but we never get any feedback from them. They can report to Cabinet but this Parliament’s role is oversight, we must exercise our oversight. I think it is quite in order that we get reports from them pertaining to their international trips on business because it is the Government business that we must know how well it is going.
The Dubai Expo, the President went there, which is excellent - even the Minister of Environment is bringing the report from Cop 26 and the President was there, he is bringing it again. I know that because I think he was waiting for the Portfolio Committee to submit its report. Every Minister must do that - that will be a good practice at the end of the day.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Mliswa, you are saying every Minister who travelled out of the country must bring a Ministerial Statement?
HON. T. MLISWA: Ministers leave this country on Government business for trade, for example. It is also important for this Parliament to know how well the business went because it is tax payers’ money. How do we account for the growth when we do not have business coming through? We must then see if these trips are worth it or not when supporting the budget. If there is nothing coming from these trips and we are busy allowing money to go out, what is the point? So, the Dubai Expo for example is a well known. They went there to do business, so what business connections did they come up with which boost the country’s economy?
I did not say every trip but especially the Dubai Expo is a business trip which helps the country’s trade and economy. So each Minister who went there, how did it help the country?
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Mliswa, I think on Ministerial Statements, the Members of Parliament can ask Hon. Ministers to bring them to this House regarding issues that they want to know, especially when they are policy issues.
On the reports on business where Executive would have travelled outside the country, they will report to the Committee when they give the Portfolio Committee their quarterly budget reports.
I am also being told that Portfolio Committee on Agriculture had already invited the Minister to report on the issues regarding the Dubai Expo.
HON. T. MLISWA: With regards to the one that I have spoken about Hon. Chombo, if you go through the Hansard, you already gave her the directive to bring them here. If I go through the Hansard, I can clearly pick it up. It is not that I am asking now when she is not here, that was asked of her and Madam Speaker, you ruled that she must bring it here. The Pomona Energy one which was done and the Ministerial Statement on why provincial councillors, some of them are paid and some are not paid.
We also did not get the Ministerial Statement on the state of agriculture. Members of Parliament are going out to the people, what will they say, yet the Hon. Speaker had ruled that there must be a Ministerial Statement. Therefore, it is my appeal for you to remind them that they must bring these statements.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I think we can always remind the Hon. Ministers to bring Ministerial Statements.
On the issue about Hon. Chombo, were you saying that the Hon. Minister promised to bring the Ministerial Statement and she failed to honour the promise, yes Madam Speaker, it was you who ruled, I can go to the Hansard and it is now three weeks, she has not brought the statement. The Members requested for a Ministerial Statement, you then said she must bring it, she said yes I will bring it and she has not brought the two reports. Without specifically talking about them, there are there in the Hansard. So she must respect this House by bringing those reports, it is three weeks and now we are closing and things are overtaken by events and it becomes a useless Ministerial Statement when it is overtaken by events. That is all I was saying that can Ministers make sure that when there is a ruling for Ministerial Statements, it must be made. Just like Hon. Minister Prof. Ncube did, the Speaker ruled on a Ministerial Statement on the state of stabilising the economy when the fuel prices went up; he was here to do it but others do not do it. Why not when a ruling has been made?
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: I hear you Hon. Mliswa, you are raising a very valid point. I think we must always remind them to bring the Ministerial Statements and we can also do follow ups on the Ministerial Statements. I am sure the Secretariat has also taken note of that, that there is need for follow-ups so that Ministers give Ministerial Statements if they promised to do that.
(v)HON. NDUNA: Thank you Madam Speaker, my point of national importance borders on the issue of home ownerships or houses that are paid for hire purchases or in local authorities. If it pleases you Madam Speaker, I ask that the Minister of Local Government comes to this House and brings a catalogue or an inventory of local authorities, for homes owned by local authorities. I say this because the issue that was raised by His Excellency for people to get title deeds has opened a Pandora box.
Madam Speaker, it would seem that in the urban authorities, the management and the councillors have amassed those properties to be their own, unknown to the unsuspecting innocent citizens of those local authorities. If it pleases you Madam Speaker Ma’am, can we have a catalogue or an inventory and the names of the people that are registered with the local authority to own those properties before the title deeds are issued, otherwise they are enriching the management and the councillors in local authorities in the Opposition led councils. Thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: On that one, I will advise you to write a question requesting the Hon. Minister to bring the catalogue to this House of all what you are saying because the Minister will need to do some investigations. If you put it in writing, the technocrats at the Ministry will do some investigations and the Minister will bring it to the House. Thank you.
(v)HON. CHIDAKWA: I want to talk about the issue of school going children on the issue of CALA because they are being marked at schools and some teachers are writing these CALA examinations for school children. What is the position in protecting children from being exposed to such corrupt activities of teachers writing on behalf of children?
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Chidakwa, if you can put that question in writing so that the Minister can reply.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. TOGAREPI: I move that the rest of the Orders of the Day be stood over until Order of the Day No. 24 has been disposed of.
HON. TEKESHE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
UNETHICAL PRACTICES BY FORCES OF IMPERIALISM
Twenty-Fourth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on reparations of colonial injustices perpetrated on Zimbabwe.
Question again proposed.
HON. TOGAREPI: Thank you Madam Speaker. I would like to thank the Members of this House who debated on this motion where we are demanding reparations from the British who colonised our country and had our resources reaped. I would like to thank the Hon. Members for the unity they showed in this debate and their unequivocal demand for reparation. We debated across the political divide strongly in support of Zimbabwe to be compensated by our former colonial masters. Madam Speaker, I would like to pray that our authorities, now that we have debated and represented our people throughout the country, initiate the demands for reparation from Britain. The British Ambassador, if that is the route, The British Prime Minister or the Queen if that is the route must be told that the people of Zimbabwe would like them to pay for the evil they perpetrated on our people. I therefore move for the adoption of the motion.
Motion that this House:
MINDFUL that at the attainment of Zimbabwe`s independence in 1980, the Government of the First Republic extended an olive branch of peace as an endeavour to show its unwavering commitment to reconciliation with the erstwhile enemies as a way of fostering peace, tranquillity and lasting unity;
DISTURBED that the imperialists and their surrogates deliberately sought to undermine such noble gestures by Government and resorted to diabolic strategies at the instigation of their paymasters and embarked on a smear campaign meant to vilify all noble efforts to achieve everlasting peace for the First Republic and its generations to come;
COGNISANT that the same forces of imperialism supported by their kith and kin have always been at the forefront of the under develop campaign of our motherland and have shamelessly perpetrated the most heinous crimes ever on the black majority since the inception of colonialism;
CONDEMNING IN THE STRONGEST OF TERMS the unethical practice by our former colonizers who de-cultured our people and portrayed our land as that of uncivilized and poverty stricken tribesmen all in the quest to entrench their hegemony and to grab the land for their personal aggrandisement, with no form of reparation to the dispossessed black majority, the rightful owners of the land;
NOTING WITH DISDAIN that more than four decades after the attainment of our independence there are some die hard imperialists who still suffer from nostalgia and dream of repossessing our land, our heritage, through spurious and unfounded arguments that they deserve reparation from our Government for the land that was rightfully repossessed and handed over to its owners, the people of Zimbabwe,
NOW, THEREFORE, in view of the foregoing,
- Calls upon our citizens to stand firm in solidarity and thwart any attempts by forces of imperialism to even raise in any for issues to do with any form of compensation to such misguided malcontents;
- Demand restitution from the countries that caused untold sufferings to the Black majority and unduly benefitted from the economic resources of our land;
- Demand reparation for each of the years that the country laboured under the bondage of colonialism; and
Strongly condemn the imposition of sanctions on Zimbabwe for repossessing its land from imperialists, put and agreed to.
MOTION
RESTORATION OF THE MOTION ON THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES ON THE ORDER PAPER
HON. JOSIAH SITHOLE: Madam Speaker Ma’am, I move that the debate on the motion on the right of persons with disabilities which was superseded by the end of the Third Session of the Ninth Parliament be restored on the Order Paper in terms of the Standing Order No. 77 Thank you Hon. Speaker Ma’am.
HON. MPARIWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMITTEE ON CHALLENGES FACED BY THE AUDITOR GENERAL
HON. B. DUBE: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. I move the motion standing in my name that this House considers and adopts the Report of the Public Accounts Committee on challenges faced by the Auditor General.
HON. MUSHORIWA: I second.
HON. B. DUBE:
- Introduction
1.1 Section 10 (1) (a) of the Audit Office Act provides for the preparation and presentation of the Auditor-General’s Annual Reports. It states the following:
“The Comptroller and Auditor-General, after examining the accounts transmitted to him or her in terms of section 35(6) and (7) of the Public Finance Management Act [Chapter 22:19], and the accounts of any public entity, designated corporate body or statutory fund, and after signing a certificate recording the result of his or her examination, shall—
(a) prepare and submit to the Minister, not later than the 30th of June in each year, a report on the outcome of his or her examination and audit of the accounts referred to him or her in terms of section 6(1).”
1.2 For the past five years from 2018 going backwards, the Auditor-General has been meeting her statutory deadline. This has enabled the Public Accounts Committee to examine the reports and compile its own reports with recommendations aimed at addressing the anomalies raised. The 2019 Auditor-General’s Reports were however tabled in the National Assembly on 18 June in 2021, almost a year after the prescribed timeframe. The 2020 Reports have not been completed and their tabling will also be belated since the expected time for completion of their preparation is the second week of December 2021. The effect of the late preparation and tabling has the effect of rendering the examination of reports an academic exercise as the effects of the malpractices will not be addressed in good time.
1.3 Concerned about the current delays, the Public Accounts Committee resolved to enquire into the causes of the delays with a view to proposing remedial action. To get an insight into the challenges the Audit Office is facing resulting in the late preparation and tabling of the reports, the Public Accounts Committee resolved to engage the Auditor-General. The Auditor-General made her submissions to the Committee whose contents were useful in coming up with this report.
- Committee’s Findings
In analysing the challenges affecting the timely preparation of the Auditor-General’s Report, the Committee divided these into two categories, those beyond the Audit Offices’ control and those within their control. Blow is a summary of the challenges noted by the Committee.
EXTERNAL CHALLENGES
2.1 COVID-19 pandemic
2.1.1 The Audit Office was not spared by the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic whose outbreak in Zimbabwe in early 2020 brought about serious disruptions to the people’s way of life. With regards to the operations of the Audit Office, the Committee gathered that at the onset of COVID-19, the Public Service Commission (PSC) issued Circular Number 1, dated January 5, 2020 directing ministries, government departments and agencies to reduce staff to 30% of their complements. This was followed by a total lockdown countrywide of 21 days in which only workers who provided essential services were allowed to report for work as per PSC Circular Number 4, dated March 27, 2020. Circular Number 6, dated April 20, 2020 extended the lockdown to 3 May, 2020. The Audit Office did not fall in the category of essential services. As such, staff from the Office could not report for duty.
2.1.2 The Auditor-General submitted that during this time, Ministries had started submitting their financial statements for audit. However, no audits for the 2019 financial year had been conducted from March to May which is the normal peak period before the Office sends its Reports to Printflow for printing. It was only when the lockdown was relaxed on 20 May, 2020 that skeletal staff was allowed to attend work to provide essential services that the audits began in earnest. This was practically late for the Office to meet the June 30 deadline.
2.1.3 The Committee leant that in 2021 during the period of the second wave, the Public Service Commission issued Circular Number 2 dated January 20, 2021 directing ministries, departments and agencies to reduce staff for the period January 21, 2021 to February 3, 2021 from 30% to 10%. In February 2021, Circular Number 9 dated February 16, 2021 was issued directing ministries, departments and agencies to increase staff from 10% to 25%. As a result of these restrictions, audit coverage was reported to have been very limited as the auditees in ministries and departments were equally affected and attendance was erratic.
2.1.4 The Auditor-General indicated that when the third wave began, the number of officers reporting for duty was maintained at 25% through PSC Circular Number 21 dated July, 2021. She submitted that a review of this percentage came in September through PSC Circular Number 23 dated September 8, 2021 which allowed ministries, departments and agencies to increase staff coming to work from 25% to 50%. While the limited numbers were reporting for work, visits to work stations (where the audit work is executed from) were minimised to avoid face to face contact in line with COVID-19 containment measures. The Office operated by requesting documents to be submitted to the Office by clients and this method did not match the face to face audits in terms of speed because of the erratic attendance of work by client and staff. Ultimately, the Reports had only been completed and tabling finally done on 8 June 2021.
2.2. Sick Staff
2.2.1 The Committee was informed that members of staff in the Audit Office were not spared from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Auditor-General submitted that a number of her staff were infected with the virus and had to isolate themselves at home. The Committee learnt that in July 2020, the Office had completely shut down for two weeks because the level of infection on staff had been too high with the highest figure being 23 officers. Although none succumbed to the pandemic, some staff lost their close acquaintances. The Committee was encouraged by the report indicating that most of the staff are now vaccinated, the remainder are being encouraged to do so as this is now a requirement for all Government workers as they are deemed to be frontline workers.
2.3. Limited Time for Auditing Due to Transport Challenges
2.3.1 The Committee gathered that most of the staff in the Audit Office rely on the Public Service Commission buses for commuting to and from work as the Office does not have its own transport system. Some of the staff was reported to arrive rather late for work around 9.00am since some of them are picked up on the second trips. Thereafter, they have to go to their clients and auditees at various ministries and state enterprises where they may arrive around 10:00 am. In the afternoon, the first trips were reported to leave around 3:15pm and so for staff to catch the buses, they in turn have to leave the clients’ premises around 2:30pm, effectively leaving them with about four (4) hours per day to carry out audits. This obviously takes a huge toll on the audit progress as the pace is delayed considerably.
2.4. Limited Numbers of Staff
2.4.1 The Committee acknowledges Government’s efforts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. The recent Public Service Commission Circular which allows numbers to increase to 50% is a welcome development which will somewhat expedite the progress of audits. The numbers, however, remain a real challenge to the progress of audits.
2.5. Audit Coverage
2.5.1 Due to the pandemic, audit coverage was severely affected. The Committee learnt that the Audit Office staff was not able to visit stations outside Harare as planned and thus delayed finalisation of the audits. This greatly affected some ministries which are decentralised.
2.6. Staff Turnover
2.6.1 The Committee gathered that the Audit Office continues to lose experienced staff due to low salaries, leaving a lot of vacancies. Out of an establishment of 381, the Office was operating with 120 vacant posts which were proving difficult to fill because of the unattractive salaries. The effect of vacant posts was reported to be putting a strain on the remaining employees and retarding the progress of the audits.
- INTERNAL CHALLENGES
3.1. Tools of Trade
3.1.1 Most of the laptops used by the staff were reported to be old having since outlived their useful lives. In addition, staff was reported to be sharing laptops when the ideal situation is for each auditor to have his/her own laptop to work from. This definitely negatively affects audit progress.
3.2. Audit Software
3.2.1 The Committee was informed that the audit processes were still manual and therefore, it was difficult to audit remotely without being physically present at the client or auditee. Due to the highly contagious nature of the pandemic, the Public Service Commission, through Circular Number 1 of 2021, banned physical meetings and selection interviews making physical audits a serious challenge.
SOLUTIONS
4.0 Short-term
4.1. Transport Challenges
4.1.1 With the relaxation of the lockdown measures which include the increasing of manpower to 50%, it is hoped that significant groundwork will be covered. To capitalise on this window, the Audit Office indicated that it is now in the process of trying to hire buses that will transport some of its staff to and from work. This arrangement will enable staff to work up to 5:00pm and beyond after making necessary arrangements with the auditees. This would enable the Office to expedite the completion of audits. The Office indicated its plans to acquire staff buses on a permanent basis to ferry staff to work stations.
4.2 Limited Staff Numbers
The Committee was informed that salaries for staff in the Audit Office had been reviewed upwards in September 2021. It is the Committee’s hope that this development will bring about stability in staff turnover and that the Office will be able to attract staff into the Office with interviews already lined up for the week beginning 4 October 2021 in order to fill the vacant posts. The new recruits will assist in the final audits but they are expected to be more effective after receiving training which will be held after the finalisation of the 2020 audits.
5.0 Long-term Solutions
5.1 Audit Software
5.1.1 The Committee was advised that the Audit Office had made arrangements with AFROSAI-E to help it to install an auditing software and to train the staff in the use of the software. Staff from AFROSAI-E were reported to have committed themselves to coming into the country to physically train the Audit Office staff once the current lockdown measures are eased in the countries with individuals that have signaled their willingness to assist in the use of this software. This programme is expected to be implemented in 2022. The digitalisation project mentioned below would automate the rest of the Office processes. Financial resources to train staff, as well as to acquire laptops is required.
5.2. Audit Coverage, Partly Manual Systems
5.2.1 The Committee was also advised that the Audit Office had submitted to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, requirements regarding IT equipment which entails computerisation of all its Office processes including auditing. This is expected to be financed through a provision in the 2022 National budget. It is believed that when the digitalisation process has been completed, the Office will be able to carry out audits remotely thereby reducing paperwork and manual processes. The project is expected to take two or three years to complete.
5.2.2 Government was reported to be in the process of trying to digitalise the processes, and when this has been done, auditors will be able to interrogate auditees’ data remotely and should the pandemic continue for some time, audits will be done in time.
5.3. Tools of Trade
5.3.1 The Audit Office informed the Committee that it had floated a tender for the purchase of 200 laptops. The adjudication papers and other relevant documents were reported to have been sent for the attention of (SPOC) Special Procurement Oversight Committee and feedback from the Procurement Regulatory Association of Zimbabwe was expected any time before proceeding to award the tender to the winning bidder. However, as mentioned earlier, funds would always be required to replace the laptops periodically as their life span is generally short.
- RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE EXECUTIVE
6.1. Digitalization of Government Financial Processes
6.1.1 The Committee recommends that the Executive, through the Ministry of Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services, expedites and achieves the digitalisation of Government accounts by June 2022 so as to complement and facilitate audit efforts when conducting audits remotely.
7.2. Availability of Financial Resources
7.2.1 The Committee also recommends that the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development releases financial resources for the smooth functioning of the Audit Office as it has fully committed to support the Office in digitalisation and other requirements.
8.0 CONCLUSION
8.1 The Committee commends the Audit Office for its sterling efforts in preparing Annual Audits under the difficult circumstances. The Committee notes that the Office managed to undertake two special audits on COVID-19 and Cyclone Idai. The Audit Office requires all the support that will enable it to do its work as mandated by the laws of the country. The Auditor-General’s work and that of the Public Accounts Committee assists the Executive to be accountable so that the people of Zimbabwe who are the owners of the resources have confidence in the manner in which the resources are utilised for their benefit. I thank you.
(v)HON. MUSHORIWA: Thank you Madam Speaker for giving me the opportunity to second the motion by Hon. B. Dube, the Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee in respect to the operations of the Auditor-General’s Office. Madam Speaker, the AG is mandated by the Act of Parliament, Audit Office Act Chapter 22:18 and it is also mandated by our supreme law which is the Constitution. The Auditor-General’s mission is to examine, audit and report to us Parliament on the management of public resources of Zimbabwe through committed and motivated staff, with the aim of improving accountability and good corporate governance. I state this mission and also let me just state the vision which is to be the centre of excellence in the provision of auditing service. The reason why I state the mission and vision of the AG and also the Constitution and the relevant statutes that resulted in this office being created is to just put on the centre stage the importance of this office. The AG’s office audits all Government ministries, all state enterprises and all local authorities throughout the country. Apart from doing the annual audits, this office also does forensic reports and forensic audits as requested by line ministries, Parliament or other relevant authorities. They also do special value for money audits and other various activities that this office does in line with the mandate that we gave them.
Now, when you have got an office that you superintend and does audit every part of the Government fiscus, to me that office becomes an essential office and the staff members that work in that office deserve to be listed under essential services. I think should the COVID-19 infections spike, it is crucial and important that this office needs to be given that special dispensation.
The Hon. Chairperson has indicated in the report that the Auditor-General, because of COVID is now behind her schedule. You may be aware that only last week, the Minister of Finance laid before us the Auditor-General Report for the year ended 31 December, 2020 which reports were supposed to have been done by 30 June, 2021.
However, I would like to thank the Auditor-General and her staff because despite the challenges, they have done a splendid job in doing these two reports; the 2018 and 2020 reports. Hopefully, the 2021 Auditor-General reports may possibly come earlier probably close to the 30 June deadline.
Most auditing offices across the region and in the world are allocated 1% of the budget. That percentage makes your audit office to be professional, to be able to retain critical staff. We have a situation at the moment where our audit office is lagging behind because it becomes a training ground for professionals and auditors. Once they would have reached the peak, they then leave and we continue training. In my view and the Committee’s view, it is important that when we do budget debates, we should urge the Minister of Finance to ensure that a sizeable budget is given.
The Hon. Chairperson indicated that if you look even at the challenges under COVID, we have auditors who do not have their laptops and that is unbelievable. We need every auditor not only to have a laptop but also to have top of the range phones so that they will be in a position to work off site and be able to even communicate with those that are in the office.
We also need our auditors to visit some of the areas, imagine you have got the Auditor-General’s office having to travel to Zvishavane, Mberengwa for tour audits.
It is also our view that the audit office needs quality vehicles. One of the things that you find is that you have got workers that come to work late or who use the Public Service Commission Buses which sometimes arrives around 8 to 9 am. So by the time they reach the offices, she would have to first report to her office and by the time she moves from the office to go to, for example, the Ministry of Transport for an audit, she will arrive there at around 12 pm and break for lunch at 1300hrs. At 1500hrs, she has to come back so that she goes to the PSC buses to board the bus back home. This compromises the quality of work that the AG’s will be doing.
In that regard, I stand here to support the recommendations that your Committee have put up and urge all the Members of this august House to offer their support to this Committee’s recommendations. I thank you.
HON. MPARIWA: Thank you Madam Speaker for giving me this opportunity to debate on this very important motion which has been tabled by Hon. Dube the Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee where I also happen to be a Committee Member.
The motion is ‘challenges faced by the Auditor-General’. To those who may not know where the AG’s office is situated, it is just next to ZIMRA, corner George Silundika and Fourth Street, Burroughs House, a very small house, with water spillages because of sewer and broken pipes. On the 1st to the 5th floor, you will find the offices of the AG whom we are talking about with broken furniture, non-functioning lift for so many years. Again with demoralised staff because of the several issues that have been touched by both the Chairperson who is the mover and the seconder of the motion Hon. Mushoriwa.
Madam Speaker, you will realise that when one is actually asked to perform a duty or a responsibility; there has to be what we call the tools of the trade so that you have better results. When one is actually doing the work like what Hon. Mushoriwa has cited, the role of the AG as per the Constitution, the expectation of the nation is high in terms of the work that will be produced after money has been put or invested in a particular programme.
I will not hesitate to think of the fight that was put across in Victoria Falls by both Members of the Public Accounts Committee and also by Members of Parliament from the other Committees in support of the AG’s office to be properly funded but to this end, it has not happened.
I want to pay tribute to Madam Chiri who is our Auditor-General and her team, who even in the absence of what we are talking about as problems and challenges, they have continued to excel and work beyond the capacity that they could have renegade their responsibilities and the appeal has been made.
Madam Speaker, you will realise that when a department is not prioritised for example during the era of the peak of the COVID pandemic, the AG’s office was put aside; they could not come to work because it was not a priority. When actually in this very House, we requested because as per the Constitution, the AG’S reports have got to be tabled in Parliament at a specified period of time and how that would have happened when that particular department has been sidelined as not being an essential service boggles the mind.
We call upon the various Government apparatus that evaluate and see the priority departments of Government to also slot in the AG’s office because it is one critical department that we cannot operate without especially the Public Accounts Committee. We rely on the reports and timeous submission of those reports because they might expire. When they expire without being tabled in Parliament, it means the Public Accounts Committee will not have any effective role to play because money will be going down the drain without actually us coming to this Chamber to report on problems that will have been faced in the various departments of Government and state-owned enterprises.
I will move on to staff retention. I know that the Chairperson has touched on the staff in the Office of the AG, we have had cases from the AGs Office where the majority of staff have actually left but they have not gone out of the country. They have joined state owned enterprises or the private sector for greener pastures, for simple things that could be done in terms of getting: buying them vehicles, laptops et cetera so that at least we are equating them with those professionals where they are actually relocating to.
Madam Speaker, poor salaries remains a challenge. When one can compare and contrast the difference, therefore, there is skills flight in the AGs office and we appeal to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development and the Public Service Commission to improve the conditions of service that also touches on salaries. This will enable us to have staff retention in the AGs Office and continue to benefit as a country in terms of the evaluation, reports and even skills because those people are qualified. When we lose them we are taking the work of the AG for granted and we are demoralising the AG and the other staff members. Housing issue came to my mind when I was looking at the conditions of service so that at least there is some kind of attraction. In the state owned enterprises people get houses. In the private sector, people get houses, they get stands et cetera, why are we not just accelerating our attraction package.
I think I need to emphasise that the loss of confidence in terms the organisation depends on how we view and value it. If we put importance in a certain organisation, it means there is confidence even amongst the staff, but where there is loss of confidence, even the work will be substandard. Madam Speaker, I do not think we would want to go that way. I am appealing that the recommendations and the findings of the report to be adopted by this particular House. I have paid tribute already to the AG Madam Chiri, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development and the Public Service Commission so that they can improve the conditions of service and also what was promised by the Minister in order to address the problems that have been highlighted in this report in Victoria Falls. I appeal for these to be implemented.
As I conclude Madam Speaker, we need these recommendations to be adopted by the House because then we can improve efficiency and effectiveness of the AGs Office. It is my humble submission and appeal that I think this report, though it has come late but it is never too late if adopted and we implement so that the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service Commission actually run with some of the recommendations so that come the following year, we will be able to reap some results in a better way. Otherwise, I want to salute the workers in the AGs Office and the AG herself to say hats off, under very difficult circumstances, they have managed to be part of those that can be counted even within the SADC region, I thank you.
HON. R. R. NYATHI: Good afternoon Hon. Speaker Ma’am.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Good afternoon.
HON. R. R. NYATHI: I want to add my voice to the motion that has been moved by Hon. Dube, seconded by Hon. Mushoriwa. Hon. Speaker Ma’am, everyone has got one life to live. It is common knowledge that a person spends one-third of his life where he works. It is also presumed that one-third of your life, it is where you sleep and one-third of your life is when you socialise and do other things. From the report that I have just heard from the Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee, it shows that our employees that are employed at the AGs Office the work conditions are not favourable.
Madam Speaker, I want to support the idea that there must be properly equipped in order for them to be motivated to work, I also want to mention the fact that it is very difficult for a manager to have new employees coming to the department every time. You will be going through a process of training and training without any production because much of our employees in the AGs Office, once they are trained, they get a reasonable experience, they leave. I am glad that the Hon. Member that has just spoken said some of the employees are employed somewhere in Zimbabwe, which is better but if these people are going outside the country then it is not good for the country, you know that the country invests a lot of resources in training people from pre-school up to one gets a degree. The Government puts in a lot of money, a lot of training and when one is trained, he does not give the training to grow his own country he goes to another country and production is done in another country. That becomes a challenge to us which means that we need to improve the working conditions to reduce the plight of these employees.
I also want to mention that you also noticed that at the AGs Office, we have been told that there are vacancies which are over 132 members and some of them are quite specialized. The question is why are people not taking up these positions, it is because of the remunerations that are very poor and the working conditions. You will also realise that your Committees in this Parliament rely heavily on the reports of the AGs Office for us to perform our oversight duties. I see that this Department of Government is very important and it must be properly resourced. I felt that with these few comments Hon. Speaker Ma’am, if this Ministry is properly resourced it will help us to improve the conditions of how our Government Ministries are working, how Parliament works and with all the training that the AGs Office is doing, it is also good for us to those that are within the country and are also improving on the audits in our various sectors it will also improve the conditions and the economy of our country. I thank you.
HON. T. MLISWA: Madam Speaker, I want to recognise the tabling of the report by the able Chairperson Hon. Dube…
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: You are not connected Hon. Mliswa.
HON. T. MLISWA: Madam Speaker, I want to recognise this report tabled by our able Chairperson Hon. Dube, seconded by Hon. Mushoriwa and also other Hon. Members who have contributed to this motion which I believe is more important than anything else in this country – accountability and transparency.
Madam Speaker, they have been kind but this office is first of all, headed by a woman who is God-fearing, who is passionate about this country and fearless. The reports that she has produced in exposing the corruption, misappropriation and unaccountability of funds from the State; it can only be God protecting her. She still insists to want to do this job for the country. There is nothing that is in it for her from a remuneration point of view. This is probably the poorest job but the most demanding and important for the country but yet you are paid nothing. That goes also to her subordinates, who are equally committed. You cannot compromise such an office by underpaying them. When you underpay them, then the corrupt are then able to capture them and equally give them money so that they do not expose them. However, under her leadership, nothing like that has happened despite the number of attempts and threats on the work she does.
At times I say to myself, if I was in her position, where you are working for the country and there is no support, why would you continue? This Committee has taken it upon itself to say that people must understand that there is somebody who is looking out for our money out there, for public money and tax payers’ money. Where is it going and how is it being spent? Madam Speaker, you know that each time reports come here from her office, there is panic within the system and within ministries because there are people who are gifted to go and steal money in these ministries, they do not do anything. There is also somebody, God has sent to go and watch them still and expose them. The problem is that when God sends you to expose the thief and the devil and no one does anything about it, what then do you do? This is what has been happening with this office, they have done everything to expose corruption.
First of all, you award them by making sure that people who are exposed are incarcerated, by making sure that recommendations coming from the Auditor-General’s Office are implemented. How many recommendations have come through from each Portfolio Committee, from her finding things which should be implemented? Why is Parliament passing budgets when the Auditor-General’s Office is saying this Ministry is misappropriating funds?
As Members of Parliament, it comes to us and we stand here and pass budgets on ministries where the Auditor-General is saying there is theft on that ministry but we continue to pass those Votes to a Government department that is stealing money. She has done her job and now it is up to us. We are failing her because most of the ministries are not supposed to be getting money because they are not accounting for their money.
You saw the Public Accounts Report on Command Agriculture, the Ministry did not even know that they were given $2.5 billion until a Mr. Mberikwazvo Chitando from Sakunda then said no, we were not given $3.6 billion, we were given $1.1 billion. $2.5 billion was given to the Ministry. We are sitting in a Committee and GMB who were given the money were asked, where you given the money? They did not know. $2.5 billion given to a parastatal to pay for maize and for small grains, they did not know. To me, we have people in Government who cannot account for money and why are we still giving them money and passing money? Basically this money is going to waste.
Madam Speaker, you will see that essential services – when COVID-19 hit hard, they were not at work. Do you know what it was? It is somebody within the system who realised that when the cat is away, the mice will play, that is when a lot of money payakabiwa nekuti katsi yanga isipo- (was stolen because the cat was away) - saka makonzo anga akungoenda kwese-kwese- (so the mice were spreading everywhere) - mari yakabiwa paya-paya - (Money was stolen during that period). You can see even from COVID reports kuti mari yakafamba sei- (how money was transacted) -pane zvaiitika nekuti ziso riya rinoona mari ranga risipo, (something was happening because the eye that guards the money was missing.)
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Mliswa, please may you use one language.
HON. T. MLISWA: It is a passionate appeal in Shona at times Madam Speaker, so I will always do that and some Ndebele, I will put in when necessary but thank you Madam Speaker, I stand guided by you. So, Madam Speaker, we know the situation where essential services were not there. Why was the goalkeeper not there? – when the money now which was coming through from COVID did not pass through Parliament, Parliament was closed and they have got that right to go and spend money, seek condonation later. They did not come to seek condonation, they used that money. The accountability of the COVID money through your office, you can see that there was something missing. They are an essential service and how can they not be giving the service? Later on, after a thought, you said they must be there because you realise that accountability is needed.
Madam Speaker, the most important person in any institution is the internal auditor who should see if the system is being followed, are things being done properly. Without the internal auditor, then you are basically not at all going to be able to account for the money. In terms of monitoring and evaluation which most ministries have not done, they also go in to do that, they monitor, evaluate every programme on behalf of people who were supposed to be working there.
When we talk about 1% of the budget going towards them, it does not mean much, that is the truth of the matter. It is therefore important without any further delay or any debate that this 1% be given to this department because it is the one that is looking after the people’s money. Madam Speaker, you cannot allow them to be compromised in any situation at all. This compromised situation is something which requires us as a people to look at it and say, for how long are we going to have a compromised people?
Mr. Speaker Sir, it only leaves us to look at ourselves and say those civil servants working hard for the good of the country, how do we reward them so that they are not compromised? It is how you incentivise them at the end of the day through simple basic programmes like a national housing scheme where you give them accommodation, where you make sure that their children get good schooling and they have good transport. This has got to be extended to such people who serve the nation because that, which they are serving, means a lot in terms of us as a country achieving what we want. We cannot achieve anything without accountability being there.
Mr. Speaker Sir, we talk about there not being enough money to employ, here comes the catch, where is the money to outsource other chartered firms when that money can be used to pay the workers? There is money to outsource private companies to go and do work on their behalf. First of all, we have a problem in this House already on the NSSA Report. The NSSA Report has been challenged because a private company was outsourced and when you are outsourcing a private company and you are responsible for the accountability and transparency of taxpayers’ money, it becomes difficult. There are certain jobs that you cannot outsource because accountability and transparency is internal. The moment Mr. Speaker Sir, you outsource, you are compromised, information leaks and now you are not in control of it. That is why most of the reports are now being challenged in the courts. Yet the Report from the Auditor General’s Office which she does with the team have never been challenged but we are prepared to pay for that private company, yet we are not prepared to remunerate the already existing staff in the Auditor General’s Office. Why are we saying there is no money to pay them? How do they work?
Mr. Speaker Sir, they get demotivated. Vana venyu vanopera power kuti sei mari iri kuenda kune vamwe vanhu isu tiri muno. Mari yemaprivate Chartered Accountant Companies iripo,asi yekuti tivandudze team yedu haipo. Vanopera power. Mr. Speaker Sir, it is important that you look after your own first before you go out there. Still they go and clean up the mess. We want to calculate how much money has gone into outsourcing the other companies and how much is needed for them to be fully kitted in terms of the vacancies. You heard that 132 vacancies have not been taken up, who is giving them less money to employ these people but at the same time keeping money for outsourcing. Who is doing that?
You have got to see that the Minister of Finance is also a culprit. We must call a spade a spade. The Minister of Finance, though he is a responsible Minister, the accountability leaves a lot to be desired. They have failed to hold most ministries accountable for the monies that they give to them. First of all, it starts with the parent ministry giving money to the other line ministries. How are you spending the money? How are you spending the money? Unfortunately, the chief accounting officers of the ministries in this country, the permanent secretaries, a lot leaves to be desired in terms of their understanding of corporate governance. They need to go for an induction for a good year of corporate governance.
They need to be put in a military school for corporate governance. That will get them to understand that corporate governance is not debatable. Corporate governance is corporate governance and because of that Mr. Speaker Sir, the Ministers themselves and the Deputy Ministers now do not understand. Most of the Ministers who come to Parliament, when you ask them questions, they are a bit in the dark because they have not been well briefed by the permanent secretary who is the chief accounting officer. What are they chief accounting when there is misappropriation of funds? There is corruption.
How many reports has Public Accounts brought before here where we hear that cars have been paid for but they did not see the cars. The cars never came and people walk away. They are not arrested. Nothing happens. You have got somebody who is there to open doors for those for those who are able to benefit in an unfair way and we allow that to happen. 132 vacancies, how much does it cost the country for us to have a supreme office which will ensure that the money from tax payers is taken care of? The Auditor General’s Office has been able to follow money, not only Government parastatals and local authorities but money where Government has spent, even in the private sector. They have been able to fish out and say that this is how the money was spent, it was not spent properly. The 75% of the recommendations in the reports that have come through have been very adverse in terms of how money has been spent in all these ministries.
All that needs to be done that needs to be done is to motivate them by giving them better incentives. What is really needed in terms of an incentive at the end of the day Mr. Speaker Sir? I say this because Madam Chiri has got to go down in the history of this world as a woman who fearlessly has done her job. May the good Lord keep protecting her because I am telling you, even men that I know are not able to do that job and expose what has been happening. She has received threats left, right and centre but she keeps doing her job. She has no protection, she has nothing. If there is anybody who was supposed to be protected in this country, munhu anofumura mbavha dzinobira nyika but she has never requested for any extra security. She has never requested for anything. This must be a tribute to her.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order, Hon. Member you are left with five minutes to go.
HON. T. MLISWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. It is important that these five minutes I dedicate to this woman who has done an extremely great job. Any young girl who is growing up must aspire for that office because she has shown that there are people who can work for the country without getting anything but remain in position without fear or favour. Without fear or favour, she has exposed reports which have put us in good line internationally and the international standard has been set by a Government Department which most are not able to do at the end of the day.
She has been a model. She has been an inspiration. She has been an example of how one conducts their job but more importantly Madam Speaker, she is not loud, she is full of humility and very calm. You do not see her angry, even when she presents this before us, you say but what more can we do as a Committee. This Committee has had time with her. This Committee is the Public Accounts Committee which is able to chase after tax payers’ money. What we recommend must have no debate but must be supported by everybody because it is for the good of the country.
In conclusion Mr. Speaker Sir, there is no nation that can prosper without people selflessly dedicating themselves. Unfortunately those who selflessly dedicate themselves are never recognised. For me, if I was an award giving person, I would have given her an award year in year out because of the work that she does for this country and the team that she leads. Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to say that God hear my prayer that the Auditor General’s Office be given what they want so that we remain effective, we remain a nation which is able to account for our resources at the end of the day.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to thank Hon. Dube, the chairperson who raised issue at a time when we must be looking forward to the Budget and say where should we put our money. I appeal to you all Members of Parliament for your support that may the 1% of the Budget go towards this Office for it does a good job for us. The way they summaries issues, the way they conduct themselves is professional despite them not being well remunerated. I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. May God protect her and bless her as she continues to work for the country. Madam Chiri, I attribute this to you. Thank you.
(v)HON. NYOKANHETE: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. Let me add my voice to the report presented by Hon. Dube and seconded by Hon. Mushoriwa for the challenges faced by the Office of the Auditor General. Mr. Speaker Sir, Zimbabwe has been hit by brain drain of professionals over the past years with the major pushing factors including the low remuneration, low job satisfaction, collapse of funding and also the decline in exchange regimes. Mr. Speaker Sir, our external auditors have faced the above challenges similar to other professions. Remuneration is a key issue.
In Kenya the Government Auditor gets about US$1 095. In South Africa, a Government Auditor gets about US$1 088. We cannot over-emphasise the importance of the Office of the Office of the Auditor General Mr. Speaker Sir. For us to be doing proper oversight as Parliament we depend on Auditor General Reports. Our Auditor General and even our Parliament staff are much underpaid and this is directly affecting our work. We cannot do oversight when we are working with staff that is very much demotivated. We have the demotivated staff from the Auditor-General’s office and also our technical staff from the Parliament of Zimbabwe is very much underpaid. As also highlighted by Hon. Dube, the Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee, the 2020 Auditor-General reports were tabled a few weeks back after a long delay because the AG’s office was facing some big challenges.
Ladies and gentlemen, let us call a spade a spade. Government workers are earning peanuts. Right now we have a situation where there is a promise or something which is being said that there is a 20% increment on their salaries and the big question is, is the 20% an increment of what? It is something that is increased from nothing – from some few dollars and you are saying we are giving these workers a 20% increase. It is 20% of what Mr. Speaker? Let us call a spade a spade. Our Government workers are suffering because of this issue of remuneration. We will not talk of the issue of the Parliamentarians because today we need to dwell on the Government workers. We want them to be professionals and discharge their duties professionally but a hungry person is a very demotivated person. We are talking of a chartered accountant who is needed worldwide. Some few weeks back, I was talking to a colleague of mine who used to work in the AG’s office. He is now in the USA and he openly said I cannot die whilst I am alive because of being remunerated poorly. They are not here to be demotivated. There are pull factors for people to move to greener pastures which are attractive salaries and other opportunities that arise outside. They have families to raise and school fees to pay for their children. Let these push and pull factors be addressed, otherwise Zimbabwe will remain a training ground for many professionals. The last time we were just hearing the issue of staff who work in the health sector leaving to go and work in other countries. Inasmuch as you put some restrictions for them not to leave, they still can go there because no one wants to die seeing his/her children suffering, not being able to pay school fees or rent. These issues need to be addressed. Why am I saying that? If a demotivated person continues to work, the quality of work is affected and it can be compromised. When it comes to corruption, a person who is investigating many issues concerning the corrupt activities being done by different people and that same person is given a few dollars, this can trigger corruption because you cannot investigate a case to do with millions of dollars whilst you are going home with less than $200. So, inasmuch as we may want to arrest corruption, let us fight it by first giving all these professionals a respectable remuneration which earns them respect from their spouses and make his/her family happy.
Mr. Speaker Sir, we have our AG, Mrs. Chiri who is a very professional and competent person. However, she also needs to lead a team of motivated people. Let the AG’s office be given their disbursements in time and please review their salaries and that of other Government workers.
Let me conclude by speaking on the transport challenge being faced by the workers. My greatest appeal to solve the transport challenge is for Government to consider the AG’s office by acquiring new buses for them which are separate from the ones allocated to the Public Service Commission. Let the office of the AG be supported by the budget. Also let the disbursement come in time and not for the disbursement to come during the final quarter of the year when most people will have gone outside the country or they are leaving work. We need to support our Auditor-General by making sure that she is going to lead motivated staff and she leads people who are happy and not people who are complaining and crying over poor remuneration. I thank you.
(v)HON. SANSOLE: Thank you Mr. Speaker for allowing me to also add my voice to this debate on the report presented by the Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee, seconded by Hon. Mushoriwa. The AG’s office is the watch dog of Government finances. It is the office that ensures that all revenues that we are supposed to collect as a nation has been collected; It is the office that also ensures that all revenue is properly accounted for and that all expenditure is properly incurred as well as looking after the nation’s assets. It is the enforcer of transparency and accountability. Mr. Speaker, it therefore boggles the mind that at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the office was not classified as essential service. One wonders then what the definition of essential service is.
Secondly, on the issue of transport, it is unfortunate that due to transport constraints, the audit staff were only able to put in four hours of work per day, which is half the amount of time they were supposed to put in per day. I think it is absolutely essential that these people are assisted to acquire their own vehicles rather than rely on public service buses. I know that there is a recommendation to improve the bus service but I think it will be more effective to give them loans to acquire their own vehicles and also assist them to bring in duty free vehicles.
The audit failed because of poor salaries and this is worrying. Accountants do not come cheap Mr. Speaker, and it is important as alluded to by the previous speakers to ensure that attractive salaries are paid to these officers in order to retain their services. It should not only be attractive salaries but also benefits that go with the job.
Finally, I just want to speak on the release of funds by Treasury. It appears that Treasury is in the habit of micro managing the budget of Government departments. There is no need to micro-manage the budget of the AG’s office, give them their money and let them manage their own budget. I think the recommendations by the Committee for the budget, that every quarter, money should be released, I would support that and it should be followed through. I thank you.
(v)HON. MOLOKELE-TSIYE: I rise in support of the report that has been presented by the Committee through its Chairperson Hon. Dube, seconded by Hon. Mushoriwa. I am in full support of the recommendations of the Committee.
Practically speaking, there is nothing new in terms of the issues and observations that have been raised in the report. A few days ago, we listened to another Committee Report focusing on the Zimbabwe Republic Police; we listened also to another report focusing on the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation. So, there is a list of institutions that are in the same situation that the Auditor-General’s office is facing.
What is common is that the challenges that they are facing are universal, as one of the Hon. Members has already mentioned. In general, all civil servants are facing similar situations. We are aware that the teachers under the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education have been on strike for almost two years now. We also know that in the Ministry of Health and Child Care, we have situations with regards to healthcare workers who have also been having some actions concerning their conditions of employment and they are still concerned about some of these issues.
We also know as a country and as Parliament that Zimbabwe is losing a lot of these skilled professionals to South Africa, Botswana and other countries in the region not to mention those in Europe, America and others. I think it is important to realise that at the end of the day, someone has to make a decision in terms of policies, laws that make sure that not only do we stop having this brain drain but also that we make sure that whoever we train in this country does not necessarily leave the country.
Therefore, at the end of the day, the only thing that needs to be done is to make sure that the conditions in terms of employment are clearly upgraded.
Yesterday, we listened to the Minister of Finance and Economic Development Hon. Prof M. Ncube. However, there was no clear commitment from his side as far as I remember, with regards to the improvement of the conditions of service for those in public service. I think it is the responsibility of Parliament to make sure that the Ministry that is responsible for the public servants and indeed the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Hon. Prof. M. Ncube is held accountable.
We cannot continue like this as a country. I, personally would be happy if a vote of no confidence motion can be moved against the Finance to show the people of Zimbabwe that we are serious in addressing the issue that they are facing and that we are serious in stopping this brain drain.
Essentially, a lot of resources that we are investing in is the same human capital that we are losing. There is no need to train accountants, auditors, doctors, nurses only for them to leave the country and benefit other countries. , As a Parliament of Zimbabwe, we need to take a strong position. We need to make sure that when the budget is being announced, the public servants of this country get an allocation that improves their terms and conditions of service.
In particular, it has been cited that the AG’s office should receive 1% of the budget. As Parliamentarians, we do not need to talk about it, we need to take a strong position and make sure that when it comes to voting for the budget and approving it, we can take a public position and say as Members of Parliament, we are refusing to pass the budget until the 1% is fully allocated to the AG’s office. Then we would have proved that we do not just talk but walk the talk.
Therefore, I am challenging us as Parliamentarians that next time around, we should take a public position that we will not pass the new budget for the next year until that 1% is allocated to the AG’s office with an emphasis that it is not just allocation but timeous disbursement so that we make sure the AG’s office functions effectively for the good of this country.
We talk about fighting corruption in Zimbabwe, how can we fight corruption when we are not funding the AG’s office? How can we win the battle against corruption when the AG’s office is losing a lot of its skilled and experienced staff? We need to make sure that the AG’s office is properly financed and also that it is properly staffed.
I will also echo the sentiments raised by some Hon. Members that we also need to make sure that the AG’s office is an essential service, whether there is COVID or any other emergency, we must make sure that the AG’s office is allowed to function as much as possible because they play a watchdog role in terms of national resources and public administration of resources. I thank you.
HON. TOGAREPI: I would like to thank Hon. Dube for this report which I think has very pertinent issues that affect the Auditor-General’s office. Chief among them is the funding of the AG’s office; nobody can dispute that such a critical office needs to have adequate funding for it to function at its optimum. We can only get enough information if those who are working in the AG’s office are well resourced.
As the Second Republic, the emphasis has been to fight corruption, to ensure that we have proper use of public funds in the public sector. His Excellency, the President has been encouraging the whole populace to fight corruption. However, the best source of information for us to fight corruption is from an informed position like the AG’s office. So, I agree that the AG’s office needs the 1% proposed funding.
The Auditor-General’s office is recognised by our Constitution to do its work without bias, undue influence from anybody and I think Madam Chiri is doing her job and working very well, following what the leadership of this country is pushing. She is exposing malpractices within our ministries and other institutions that are related to
Government which I think is critical.
My area of worry Mr. Speaker is that most of these audit reports come too late. They come too late for any action to be taken and sometimes they would have been overtaken by events, and you cannot do anything. I think it is because of incapacitation in terms of expertise in the Auditor-General’s Office or there is resistance to change within the same department. We should not just look at the Auditor-General’s Office as very disadvantaged, no. It is disadvantaged yes, like any other Government institution. Incomes are not there because we need to eat what we have killed.
We cannot give the Auditor-General everything that we have because it is the Auditor-General, no. We should look at that equitably; looking at the teachers, doctors and people who work in the agricultural sector. Whatever is going to be given to the Auditor-General must have a relationship with what we can afford as a Government but I am not saying we should not give them enough resources. Enough resources is not just salaries. There should be tools of trade. Do they have vehicles to do their visits, enough office accommodation and staff? I think that is where we should start. Incomes, surely if we were to single out just an individual department or group of people and pay them better than everybody else - I think we are creating a challenge for ourselves and we would appear as not serving our people equally.
So, the Auditor-General’s office should stick to the constitutional provisions. They should be independent and all they are exposing is good news for us. As Parliament, what are we doing? How are we reacting or acting on that information that we get from the Auditor-General? Are we making enough follow-ups to ensure that we defend our people from those who are corrupt within Government systems? Are we doing anything or those reports are just for our information? So as Parliament, I think we need to support. That is another resource that the Auditor-General would definitely want that as Parliament, we support their activities and here in Parliament, that is where budgets are allocated. We cannot cry now after the budget has already been passed.
We need to ensure them that when we do the 2022/23 Budget, we ensure that the Auditor-General is well financed but surely, to start crying now is not going to be helpful. My main call Mr. Speaker is to ensure that they are well resourced. We cannot talk about money paid to us even as Members of Parliament or teachers without relating it to the budget of the country, the income of the country. So, where do we get these huge figures that we are dreaming about? Yes, resources that make them work is what then extends to the incomes they get in relation to what the same professions are getting in the market; so be it.
Definitely, there is an Hon. Member who mentioned the issue of brain-drain; yes, it is subjective for me. We have so many educated people in Zimbabwe, very educated people in Zimbabwe and many people can take the same job but when somebody is doing a job, there is nothing wrong in that person being well remunerated but he cannot be remunerated because it is Hon. Togarepi or Hon. Nyathi. The same audit will tell us that you are over-paying these people when we compare with our pot.
So I really encourage that as we go forward, let us ensure that the budget for the Auditor-General’s office is enough to cover the very important job they are doing for this country. That is something that we should insist on as Parliament but again, let us be informed. We need equity in whatever we do. Someone will tell you that the judges who will deal with cases that come from the Auditor-General’s office need to be paid. The MPs who allocate the funds from the budget need to be paid, so everyone needs to be paid but tools of trade, number of employees at the Auditor-General’s office must be at their optimal. The computers they use must be the best in the market. They should have enough vehicles and everything that will help their job to be done efficiently should be availed.
Mr. Speaker, the Auditor-General’s office is critical and it is working well with our present push as a country. Our Government led by our President, Cde E.D. Mnangagwa is pushing to kill the animal or devil called corruption and our Auditor-General’s office is exposing that daily and what are we doing as Parliament to support what the Auditor-General’s office is doing? The Committee should really start devising more ways to deal with the audit results and see that when we allocate future funds, are they not going to fall in the hands of the same people who are corrupt or corrupt activities that have been identified by the Auditor are not repeated while we come here to mourn. What have we done as parliamentarians to deal with the issues that have been identified by the Auditor-General? I thank you.
(v)HON. MARKHAM: Hon. Speaker, I would just like to bring up and highlight some points. My first point is the issue of salaries. The whole issue of the Auditor-General’s report as put in front of us by the Chairman of the PAC, Hon. Dube, seconded by Hon. Mushoriwa states categorically that we should be putting one percent of the budget towards the Auditor-General’s office. One percent is a very balanced way of putting it because if it is a good and there is lots of revenue, one percent is one percent of lots of revenue. If it is very little revenue it is still one percent of very little but if it much than they are given at the moment, they cannot function with the current budget. They do not have tools of trade, they do not have the salary. We are a training ground of expatriates in our neighbouring countries when it comes to auditors. The biggest issue we have is the 1% which was mooted in this budget determination in December. All along we ask for 1% for the Auditor General’s office. The same happened a year before. I cannot remember one recommendation given by the House, any Parliamentarian’s recommendation, not one was taken in this budget. We have the one on $50 on the cell-phone, we have 30%, that was the issue of withholding tax and we have 1% for this office, and not one was taken on by the Ministry of Finance. This leads us to a problem. When we ask about the budget we try to ask you the history of last year’s budget. We have the Ministry of Agriculture overspending by 200%. We have the Ministry of Housing getting 17% of their allocated budget. What is the use of a budget if it is not going to be adhered to? What is the use of Parliament if we are not going to have oversight on the budget? We have this anomaly in our budget on unallocated reserve. That unallocated reserve is bigger than the budget and we in Parliament do nothing about it. It is absolutely essential if the Minister of Finance and the Government, if they are serious about corruption, they will fund the tool that has proved itself to highlight corruption and that is this office. By not funding it, it is quite obvious that you do not want to stop the corruption. I thank you.
HON. MOKONE: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. I am not going to be long, most of the issues that I wanted to highlight have been spoken by the Hon. Members who spoke before me. Let me start by thanking the Hon. Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee, Hon. B. Dube and the seconder of the report, Hon. Mushoriwa. The report that was presented before this House is very crucial. The Auditor General’s office is a crucial office in the country and the problems that Hon. B. Dube highlighted in his report are actually a cause of concern. They indicate that all is not well in our loved nation of Zimbabwe. If the office is not capacitated, then how do you expect the lower officers to be capacitated? It has to start with the Auditor General’s office, then it cascades down to the other offices.
What we are witnessing as a nation emanates from the problems that are in the Auditor General’ office. Basically all the departments in Zimbabwe are incapacitated. We see teachers complaining that they are incapacitated. We have seen nurses complaining that they are incapacitated. Generally, all the civil servants are incapacitated, including us the Members of Parliament and the Parliament staff.
Mr. Speaker, the report indicates that if the teachers are now opting to do the red cross nurse aid certificate – which is actually a shame to our country Zimbabwe, because this certificate will enable them to get a better job outside Zimbabwe; to become nurse aides outside Zimbabwe because of the situation that they are actually exposed to. Let me highlight that when someone goes to work, they expect a salary. They do not expect an incentive. You cannot incentivise someone that you are failing to pay. For instance, the teachers are saying that they can give them duty free certificates. If you give them the duty free certificates, where are they going to get the money to buy those cars?
Let me indicate that there is need to actually capacitate the office of the Auditor General and there is need to also raise their salaries and improve their conditions of service. In short, I just wanted to support the report and support the recommendations that they brought forward. I thank you.
HON. TOGAREPI: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. R. R. NYATHI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 5th April, 2022.
On the motion of HON. TOGAREPI, seconded by HON. TEKESHE, the House adjourned at Twenty-Eight Minutes to Five O’clock p. m, until 5th April, 2022.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Thursday, 17th March, 2015.
The Senate met at Half-past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF SENATE in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF SENATE
APOLOGIES RECEIVED FROM MINISTERS
THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF SENATE (HON. SEN. CHIEF CHARUMBIRA): Before we proceed to Questions Without Notice, let me announce that a number of Ministers have sent in their apologies and this includes the Hon. Rtd Gen. Dr. Chiwenga, Vice President and Minister of Health and Child Care; Hon. Prof. Murwira, Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education; Hon. Muchinguri, Minister of Defence; Hon. Karoro and Hon. Haritatos, Deputy Ministers of Lands; Hon. Chitando, Deputy Minister of Mines; Hon. Machingura, Deputy Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education; Hon. Coventry, Minister of Sports; Hon. Paradza, Deputy Minister of Information and Publicity; Hon. Kambamura, Deputy Minister of Mines. Those here present, I am happy to say despite that long list of Minister who are unable to attend, you are here.
ORAL ANSWER TO QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
*HON. SEN. CHIEF CHUNDU: Thank you Mr. President my question is directed to the Minister of Transport. We have noted that our trains are now mobile and there are no warning signs and lights, people think that there are no trains. Yesterday, I noticed that someone almost had a close collision with the train. What measures are being taken so that motorists are warned of railway crossing?
*THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. MHONA): Thank you Mr. President of the Senate, I would like to thank the Hon. Chief Hon. Sen. Chundu for raising such a pertinent question. Indeed, it is very true we are transforming our nation, especially our infrastructure which has been lying idle for quite some time. The pertinent issue regarding accidents where railway lines and roads cross; in the past, we had electrical connections for such warnings but because of the pilfering of such facilities, now we do not have what we used to have. In the past, when a train was approaching, there were adequate warnings. I believe that at the moment the National Railways of Zimbabwe which is responsible for this job is going to be empowered in such a way that it warns motorists. This is one thing that we are going to see happening, road signs and railway crossings are going to be put in place. This will be done in line with the rehabilitation of the rail infrastructure.
As motorists, it is mandatory that you exercise caution when crossing railroad intersections. So we need to pause and observe the law by stopping at rail road crossing. I thank you Hon. President.
*HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI: Thank you Mr. President for affording me this opportunity. My question is directed to the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development, Hon. Mhona. What does the law say on the age limit for public transport drivers?
*THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. MHONA): Thank you Mr. President. We are aware that we were facing challenges of young people who were driving public transport. The age limit is 25 years and above for driving vehicles that transport the public. If you find someone below 25 years driving public transport, it means they are breaking the law. We are really serious about this and the police must see that this is being followed on road blocks.
*HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: Thank you Mr. President. My question is directed to the Minister of Transport. I would like to find out Government plans in educating motorists to observe the railroad and pedestrian crossings. Sometimes motorists hoot at pedestrians at Zebra crossings yet they are aware that they should exercise caution.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. MHONA): It is indeed true our motorists are no longer observing the law. The Hon. Senator mentioned zebra crossings. It is not only the zebra crossing which is not being observed by motorists but we have noticed that as we drive around town we find motorists not observing such regulations. The Traffic Safety Council is there to teach motorists on what is expected of them in relation to pedestrians and even those who are passengers on public transport, but this is not what is happening, despite the clarity in the law. So eventually we need to have police officers manning roads so that they can fine offenders. In other countries it is not allowed and it is an offence not to observe zebra crossings without allowing pedestrians to pass.
On the same issue, Mr. President Sir, there are some people who do not observe where they are supposed to be. They do not respect their respective lanes. You find them straddling lanes. So my response is that we are going to continue working towards the observance of the law. I thank you.
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI. On a point of order Mr. President, Sir. I am worried that we have only three Ministers present in this House. It is now more than 20 minutes since this august Senate convened. Are we then condoning the fact that Ministers do not come for the question and answer segment? You mentioned that they gave their apologies but the Ministers can attend the Senate through the zoom facility that we have here.
The Ministers must make an effort to attend the Senate and we should be free to ask questions. There are a number of issues that we would like to pose questions to our Hon. Ministers. There are some who have not been in this august House since the last session. They do not come and there is nothing that is being done to make sure that Parliament takes corrective measures.
Mr. President it is your responsibility. We cannot go on debating motions that pertain to issues that affect their Ministries. When a debate that falls under a line Ministry, it should be addressed by the responsible Minister. Here we have so few Ministers while we have over 20 Ministers in Cabinet. These Ministers present here today do not even make up 25% of Cabinet.
My point of order is that, Mr. President, please tell us what is supposed to happen because Ministers are not coming to this august House. I thank you.
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF SENATE (HON. SEN. CHIEF CHARUMBIRA): Thank you Hon. Sen. Mudzuri for the point of order and the call for Ministers to attend. We have been joined by two Deputy Ministers, Hon. Kambamura, Deputy Minister of Mines and Mining Development and Hon. Maboyi, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage. I see walking in the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs. Leader of the House, I know Hon. Minister Sen. Mutsvangwa is not here but she is usually the Leader of Government Business in the Senate, but you are the overall leader of both Houses.
Just before you came in Hon. Sen. Mudzuri raised an issue with the low attendance of Ministers. I think it is an issue that has to be taken to upper levels, but with the representation here, the attendance, we have two Cabinet Ministers and three Deputy Ministers. I was going to say something but since you are here Minster, can I give you the opportunity to respond to that.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Mr. President and I have noted. I will relay to the respective Ministers the President impressed upon us to attend Parliament. I think all the Ministers are aware of that position. My apologies that they are not here. The only one that I can speak for, I think is the Minister of Foreign Affairs as he accompanied the President to Zambia. As you know, we lost the former President of Zambia, His Excellency, Rupia Banda. Thank you Mr. President.
THE ACTING PRESIDENT OFSENATE: Minister, in your quest to address the issue, some did sent in apologies and we take note of them. Others have not, so I think you ought also to attend to those issues of all those who have sent in apologies, the Vice President himself, Hon. Chiwenga, the Minister of Health. The others Hon. Murwira, Hon. Muchinguri, Hon. Karoro, Hon. Haritatos, Hon. Chitando, Hon. Machingura as deputy, Hon. Mutsvangwa, Hon. Coventry and Hon. Paradza sent apologies. You can see that this is only 30% of the number of Ministers. Others do not bother even to send an apology, which means they look down upon your Parliament of which you are the Leader of Parliamentary Business.
I think you have to take note and see what you can do. May be being in the Chair, I think what I want to introduce is a register, like on a Question Day like this, we introduce a register of Ministers who come to answer questions, which is always displayed somehow and sent to the President. Some Ministers will go for two months without even showing up and no apology. I think we are in the New Dispensation and we want to show a more serious culture of work.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF NGEZI: Thank you Mr. President. I wanted to address my question to the Deputy Minister of Mines about a person who owns a lot of mines which is not different from how the Whites acquired property. You will find that one company has so many claims in the country. The Government supports that the mines should be given to the majority of the people but there are a lot of areas which are pegged and not being used and belong to one person. What is the Government policy on that?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF MINES AND MINING DEVELOPMENT (HON. KAMBAMURA): Thank you Mr. President. I would like to thank Hon. Sen. Chief Ngezi for the question concerning the EPOs. We had so many EPOs which had covered the greater part of our land starting from 2005 up to the ushering in of the New Dispensation. A lot of EPOs were not being processed, about 90%, for people to get access to them. After investigation, we noticed where the challenge was. So we cancelled all the EPOs that were done, that had been applied before and opened up for new applications. What is left now is only to inform the people which EPOs were not approved, so that those who peg will start pegging. However, for those who were allocated EPOs in 2018, there were conditions that those who have EPOs should allow the small scale miners to peg those mines and also each and every year, they should give us back those places they would have utilised and surrender it to Government. The issue that the chief has raised is very pertinent and the Government is working on it. We turned off all the mining claims that were applied in 2005 because we are not sure whether they still have the money. If they still want, they make new applications. What is left is only to tell the nation which EPOs are open. Thank you.
HON. SEN. KOMICHI: Thank you Mr. President. My question is directed to the Minister of Finance. The question is civil servants’ salaries in Zimbabwe are quite deplorable. On average, a civil servant earns less than US$400. Comparing this set up with the SADC countries, Zimbabweans are living in abject poverty. Our neighbours earn far much more than one thousand a month. This has put Zimbabweans under severe pressure. It has contributed to massive corruption. What is the Government policy to ensure that civil servants salaries are competitive within SADC?
THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I am not sure whether this question should go to finance but if the Minister of Finance feels he has the muscle, no problem.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHIDUWA): Thank you Mr. President. Thank you Hon. Sen. Komichi for the question. As the President rightly said, this is an issue that is managed by the Joint Negotiating Council and it is also discussed by the Tripartite Negotiating Forum but in general, what I can say is as Treasury or Ministry of Finance or as Government, the trajectory is very clear in terms of where we are going as a country. We are guided by the policy. The policy is saying we want Zimbabwe to be an upper middle income economy by 2030.
Surely as we move towards that vision, the salary levels would move in tandem with the vision. We are having transitory problems - the problems are there because we are still at reforming stage and we are now in growth phase. If you check prior to 2017, more than 95% of our Budget was recurrent budget. Only 5% or less was devoted to development, but with the coming in of the Second Republic, you look at the proportion that we are allocating to development versus recurrent expenditure, at least 60% of the Budget is targeted towards development. For that reason, we have this balancing act that we are having.
What I can assure Hon Senators is that we have the commitment to ensure that we improve the conditions of service for our people. This is an issue that we are dealing with on a daily basis. Just this month you will see that there will be some changes. As I have said, the real authority is with the Joint Negotiation Council. I thank you.
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: My supplementary question to the Minister is that we did our budget at the end of the year and it was approved when the rate was at US$1:ZW$81. At present the bank rate is at US$1:ZW$134 and the black market rate is now at US$250 to US$300. Is there a formula which you have prepared to ensure that civil servants and all your workers are cushioned because there is so much corruption in the public service that needs to be nipped but you cannot nip it when people are earning peanuts? Is there a formula which you have put to adjust the salary as the dollar is running in terms of its value?
HON. CHIDUWA: Thank Hon. Sen. Mudzuri for the follow up question which again is anchored on the extent we are alive to the needs of our civil servants. We are equally worried with the movement in the exchange rate. We have said this before that the movement in the exchange rate, especially on the parallel market is not linked to fundamentals. The fundamentals that we look at that determine the movement in the exchange rate, we are looking at the external balance. Our current account is in surplus.
You look at Government expenditure vis-à-vis the revenue that we are generating as Treasury. Since November 2018 we have not borrowed from the Central Bank. We live within our means. We run a cash budget. The release of resources follow a programme based budgeting. We have got liquidity management committee. You go to the monetary authorities, as I speak now the targeted reserve money growth is at 7.5% and it is really meant to squeeze all the liquidity that is in the market. These are the economic fundamentals that are supposed to determine the exchange rate.
What really is driving the black market rate? These are behavioral legacy issues to say we encountered this in 2008 and we are using the US$ as a store of value. The moment someone gets Z$, they immediately change to US$. People are saying the moment I get money I should convert it to US$ but because of benchmark pricing it has filtered to pricing models in the shops where you see that the pricing model is now following the parallel market rate. As a result of that, it is now affecting the livelihoods of our people. What are we doing as a Government? We have said in order to cushion our people as we try to get long term solutions, we have come up with the payment that we are now giving to civil servants in US$. There is the US$100 and the US$75 and the remaining part is paid in bond notes. This again is meant to manage the impact of the runaway parallel rate.
We also have got non monetary benefits. I am sure you have heard that civil servants, those who qualify, are allowed to import vehicles duty free. We have also come up with a housing scheme where civil servants are targeted to get houses and now we are offering transport and also the fees that we pay for qualifying civil servants. All those are measures that are meant to cushion our civil servants as we try to get a lasting solution to this problem. I thank you.
HON. SEN. DR. MAVETERA: My supplementary question to the Minister is that we appreciate the efforts that Government is trying to cushion civil servants. Is it not that our Government is also one of the drivers of inflation by causing uncertainty within the market. It seems our Government does not have confidence in the Zimbabwe dollar, why should we continue to give piecemeal US$ to our civil servants? It is driving the market because the owners who are supposed to give confidence to our currency are the Government, but it is jittery. Right now we also have quasi-government institutions like local authorities. We have heard that they want to change debts of residents into US$. What is Government doing and when is it going to arrest that behaviour because we believe that Government is behind this, that is why it is not being controlled. I thank you.
HON. CHIDUWA: Thank you Hon Senator for the question where you are raising the issue of uncertainty which is according to your observations is coming from the Government. One area where we cannot have the luxury of prevaricating is the issue of policy consistency. As a Government we are very clear in terms of where we are going. You cannot run a country without a monetary leg. The proper management of a country in terms of economic management requires both fiscal and monetary policy.
We can manage monetary policy as long as we have got our own currency and that is not debatable. The policy trajectory is whatever problems we are going to have as a country, there is no going back to the use of the US$. There is clarity on that. With regards to why we appear to be using the USD here and there, if you remember when we introduced the USD, it was part of the convenience that we introduced because of COVID measures. The dual currency came into effect during COVID and it was part of the measures that were introduced. In terms of where we are going, we have said in cases where we are using the USD, we also need to abide by the law. The laws that were passed by this august House are, whenever you pay for something, duty and taxes are payable using the currency of trade. This is a policy which was passed by this august House and we are just following that. At the moment, if you check in terms of the monetary policy statement that came out, we are now promoting the use of the Zim Dollar and this is what we are doing. Even the collection of taxes at borders, we are saying let us try to use our Zim Dollar. There is clarity in terms of where we are going and we are not confusing the market and the policy will remain like that. Thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF NECHOMBO: Thank you Mr. President for giving me this opportunity which is directed to the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare. Even though the question is going to touch on education, I will direct the question to the Leader of the House. My question is that in rural areas in the districts that we come from, we have a challenge of students who are going to work whilst they are under age and they are less than 16 years. There are so many children who are doing different jobs and some are doing gold panning and some are employed at such a tender age. We also have some young children who are involved in prostitution. What is Government planning to do to stop child labour?
*THE MINISTER OF JUSTIOCE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): I would like to thank you Mr. President and I would like to thank Hon. Sen. Chief Nechombo for asking such a pertinent question which relates to child labour, whether it is in mines or tobacco farms. My response is that as Government, we have laws which prohibit child labour even the employment of under age children who are supposed to be going to school. What we have to do is for us to work together and apprehend the offenders so that they are prosecuted because this is a bad culture which is not only illegal, but which violates the children’s rights who are supposed to be going to school. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIFAMBA: Thank you Mr. President. My question is directed to the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs. We have a problem of the killing of women and their mutilation. What is Government planning to do regarding the stopping of such perpetrators of such a crime? I thank you.
*THE MINISTER OF JUSTIOCE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Let me thank you Mr. President Sir. I would like to thank Hon. Sen. Chifamba for her pertinent question. In 2013, we went to the people gathering their views regarding the Constitution of Zimbabwe. The Constitution allows that those who are involved in killing in cold blood can be given death sentence. However, we discussed that those who are women are exempted but the laws are clear for those who murder people in cold blood that when they are caught, our courts are empowered to give punitive judgements. In the past week, there is a parent who killed his own child who was put on death row. I believe that when such perpetrators are caught, they should be given punitive penalties. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHISOROCHENGWE: My question is directed to the Minister of Mines. What is Government policy which can be applied in preventing those who pan from digging along main roads?
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF MINES AND MINERALS DEVELOPMENT (HON. KAMBAMURA): Thank you Mr. President. I would like to thank the Hon. Senator for her question. The Mines and Minerals Act does not allow people to dig on roads. This is a criminal offence. So our plea is that if there is such unruly behaviour, then the Hon. Senator should inform the Ministry so that we take action so that the perpetrators stop forthwith. We also work with the Ministry of Environment. We would come with the Ministry of Environment so that we stop such errand behaviour. I thank you.
HON. SEN. DR. MAVETERA: Thank you Mr. President for giving me this opportunity to ask my question. My question goes to the Minister of Transport. We applaud your intervention to try to rehabilitate our national roads but we have witnessed Minister, that the quality of the roads leaves a lot to be desired. Some of them are actually depleting as soon as they are rehabilitated. Does the Government have a guarantee from the constructors and for how long are they supposed to maintain those roads? Who is going to meet the costs of this early depletion of roads? We know that when we tar a road, it will take time of about 15 to 20 years but the current contractors, their product is lasting less than a year. I thank you Mr. President.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. MHONA): Thank you Mr. President. I want to thank Hon. Sen. Dr. Mavetera for that very important question which then allows me to elaborate on the issues that have been bedeviling the people of Zimbabwe. Mr. President Sir, I am sure the last session, I tried to explain how we construct and rehabilitate our roads, this has been a topical issue where in the public domain, you will find that if you rehabilitate a road, whether you have reconstructed, just rehabilitated or pothole patched, to a lay person it is called rehabilitation which then gives problems in the manner that the road is viewed after a period of time. This is precisely what we have experienced, given the state of our roads that are in a sorry state. We have witnessed that there are sections that were just patched and not rehabilitated. So there the scope of work becomes difficult to judge after a year. After patching those sections, you then do what we call fog spraying and if you spray that means you have covered the whole surface. One would not tell the sections that have been patched and the sections that have been rehabilitated.
If you go to roads that have been reconstructed, we are not witnessing what Hon. Sen. Dr. Mavetera was talking about. The challenges were seen in those sections because if you go to the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme, we had phased our stages in terms of how we were going to approach - of which year 1 and 2, we were focusing on just patching and sometimes re-gravelling which was not necessarily the reconstruction of roads. I assure the august Senate that where we have reconstructed, we are not witnessing such anomalies.
We have got a monitoring and evaluation department in the Ministry and this subject has been topical again Mr. President. I want to assure the Hon. Senators that if you have got such cases, let us also see and I have had a number of roads that were being referred to in that sorry state. If you listened to the way that I have actually alluded to earlier in my explanation, you will see that that road was not rehabilitated completely. Also to allay the fears that we are no longer just paying if we give a contractor which I also need to concur with Hon. Sen. Dr. Mavetera that in terms of the time frame, according to the statutes that we have now - we have got a guarantee for a year where a contractor is supposed to superintend over the road for a year.
Surely, for a road to get a guarantee for a year is nothing and it has been advocated that we need to change so that we have to get a longer timeframe so that we do not have recurrences of such anomalies in the event that we pay a contractor and after a year we see such developments. So I totally agree with you that in terms of the current status quo where our contracts are actually accommodating a year, we then need to move with speed and try to see that we amend to accommodate quite a number of years so that one becomes responsible for his and her works, I agree on that one. To say the roads that we are constructing are depleting or collapsing within a year, Mr. President Sir, we do not have such roads. The roads that were pothole patched, definitely after rains you will see the potholes coming up. It is not a desired model that we want, we want to totally reconstruct a road or section so that we know even if we are doing less kilometers, we know we have rehabilitated our roads. I thank you Mr. President.
THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Amongst the outstanding ones now we have Hon. Sen. Mwonzora, Hon. Sen. Muronzwi, Hon. Sen. Chief Makumbe and Hon. Sen. Chief Chundu. Looking at the time, I think it will be tricky if we cover all unless there is an extension. I will move in that order so that you are certain of what is going to happen.
HON. SEN. MWONZORA: Thank you very much Hon. President, my question is directed to the Minister of Home Affairs or the Minister of State Security.
THE ACTING PRESIDENT: Home Affairs Minister is here.
HON. SEN. MWONZORA: Hon. Minister is it Government policy that whenever the State President has an activity in a province then other political parties cannot address political gatherings in that province? The second part of the question: is the Government aware of the rallies in cases of alleged torture and harassing people of political activists? What is the Government doing about it?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS AND CULTURAL HERITAGE (HON. MABOYI): Thank you Hon. Senator, I will attempt to answer the first question. I do not think that people are being refused to address. The fact that His Excellency is addressing a meeting let us say in Harare and they are not going to share that ground with the other party, I think there is no problem, I have not heard about that as a policewoman I have not heard of that problem. Now let me go to the second one of harassment, one cannot guarantee that any other person is being harassed but the person who is going to be harassed reports that to the police because people may not know whether I am being harassed unless if I go and report. So those who are being harassed whether they are ZANU PF activists, MDC activists or CCC activists, must report to the police immediately.
HON. SEN. MWONZORA: Hon. Minister, thank you very much for the answers but the allegations that are there all over the social media is torture by the state agents. The question is, what is the Government doing about it? Is the Government doing something or anything about that?
HON. MABOYI: We cannot work on social media because social media is where I can go and state something which is not correct. I will again say to you Hon. Senator, please, those who are being harassed should go to the police immediately. Let us not work from social media reports, because social media can distort information, social media can say anything in order to confuse the Government. Let us do away with social media. Let us read, yes, we are going to read those items, the issues but we cannot conclude because it is social media. Let us go and report whatever we come across. Thank you Mr. President.
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Let me take this liberty of being in the Chair to comment on social media. We passed a Bill in this Chamber, the Marriages Bill. It stayed for more than a year and the key reason why we took long was we were trying to agree among other two or three clauses. One was on lobola and the contention was that we were saying it has to be very clear that under customary law, a person is obliged to pay lobola. The Chiefs led that debate and the Bill was passed, sounding very clearly that lobola shall be paid in customary law marriages.
Upon passage through this House, you saw what social media did. They turned it around and started saying the law says there shall be no more lobola in Zimbabwe and all of you have received, social media messages which are incorrect, total lies. The law is there in black and white and it says pay lobola, but they are saying no, the law says no lobola in Zimbabwe. It shows just how messy this social media thing can be.
Questions Without Notice were interrupted by THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF SENATE in terms of Standing Order No. 67
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: I propose that we extend question time by 15 minutes.
HON. SEN. CHIEF CHIKWAKA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
*HON. SEN. MURONZI: My question is directed to the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs. I want to know Minister, what does the law say referring to the police on the roadblock? If they stop a car and the car does not stop, do they chase the car or do they take the number plate?
*THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Why do you not direct the question to the Deputy Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage?
*HON. SEN. MURONZI: Thank you Mr. President. I am redirecting the question to the Deputy Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage.
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS AND CULTURAL AFFAIRS (HON. MABOYI): Mr. President, people should not run away. After being stopped by the police, they should stop. Why do they run? If they do not stop, the police are supposed to chase them but normally they will not be having a car, but we are encouraging people not to run away. Even if you are at fault, you wait and hear where the problem is. They do not chase them as such, but we are encouraging people to stop.
As Hon. Senators, we should engage our communities because what is bad is to peddle falsehoods about the police. When it is good, the police are not good; when it is not good, the police are good. So let us tell our communities that they should stop. At times the police cannot note the number plates because they will be stopping the car. If they had cars, I think they should chase them because why are they running away? It means their papers are not in order. Thank you.
HON. SEN. CHIEF MAKUMBE: Thank you Mr. President. My question is directed to the Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation. Soccer is a popular sport which unites the people of Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe was banned from participating in international sports because of the interference of Government in sporting activities after noting that there were corrupt activities by individuals at ZIFA. So what is the Government planning to do to correct this situation so that Zimbabwe could participate in international sports and at the same time prosecuting perpetrators of crime? I thank you.
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF YOUTH, SPORT, ARTS AND RECREATION (HON. MACHAKARIKA): Thank you Mr. President Sir for such a pertinent question which was posed by Sen. Chief Makumbe. Let me start by saying that as Government, it is our desire that we encourage our citizens to participate in sporting activities. However, we cannot be found to be supporting corruption in the sporting fraternity and activities which are against our values and norms as Zimbabweans. Let me give an example of the crimes that were being alleged to have been done by officials at ZIFA. The issue of sexual harassment is a serious issue. So we believe that it was the right thing to take corrective measures because as Government, we are there to ensure that we make it a point that we are found to be participating in international sports. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF CHUNDU:I would like to request the Hon. Minister to explain why perpetrators of such crimes were not arrested, instead or seeing corrective action being taken by FIFA of suspending Zimbabwe?
* HON. MACHAKARIKA: Thank you Hon. Senator. As Zimbabwe, we are not empowered to take the law into our hands but as far as I know, these issues are in the courts regarding arresting of such perpetrators, I believe that the law will take its course. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. KAMBIZI: Thank you Mr. President. I heard the Hon. Minister explaining clearly that it is clear that Government is not allowed to interfere in sporting activities like what happened. However, Government cannot allow crimes to be committed without taking any action. So what is Government going to do, regarding the restoration of Zimbabwe in sporting activities so that we find our sportsmen and women participating in such global activities? As a Ministry, what are you doing right now? We would be glad for an explanation regarding this issue. I thank you.
*HON. MACHAKARIKA: Thank you Mr. President. We desire as Government of Zimbabwe, that we restore our sport on the global arena but we are behind regarding sporting activities. We are taking some steps but please bear with us so that you give us time to deal with the issue, then we will come to this august House and give you a Ministerial Statement, regarding what is happening. It is your right as this august House to get feedback from the Executive.
THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Thank you Hon. Minister. Please come on 5th April, 2022 with a Ministerial Statement. I will explain later why I said that. Take note Hon. Minister. Come with your Ministerial Statement to this House.
*HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: Thank you Hon. President. My question is directed to the Deputy Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage. Can the Minister assist this House by explaining what measures the Government has, through her Ministry, to ensure security of people during the coming bye-elections? I thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS AND CULTURAL HERITAGE (HON. MABOYI): Thank you Hon. President. I would like to thank Hon. Sen. Tongogara. We are prepared to make sure that security is there. You know where we are talking of security, we do not cover all the spaces but we are prepared for the bye-elections. As we are preparing now to look after you people well, we have had problems - we are dealing with human beings but we will try by all means. Thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF CHUNDU: Thank you Mr. President. My question is directed to the Minister of Agriculture. In his absence, I will direct it to the Leader of the House. In the rural areas where we come from, this is the time for people to take their tobacco to auction floors. You find that there are some farmers who have not been paid last year’s dues. There are companies which were contracted by TIMB, they are not doing well in paying these farmers. What is the Government policy when it comes to investigating these companies? How can these farmers get help because they do not know TIMB? They only know the agricultural extension officers and the TIMB, how does it give the contracts to these companies?
*THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Mr. President. The question that was asked by the chief is of a contract between the farmer and a company which is not a Government entity. Government, by law, does not interfere in the contract that two people had entered into unless that contract breaks the law of the country.
They can go and get help from the Ministry of Agriculture, not that there is a law binding but as the Ministry which is interested in the growing of tobacco. There is no law that the Government should intervene in the contract between two people.
THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF SENATE: There are two aspects. He said there are those who have not been paid, who is supposed to pay them? So, the Minister is giving a full answer.
Questions without Notice were interrupted by the ACTING PRESIDENT OF SENATE in terms of Standing Order No. 67.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE
NUMBER OF OFFICERS IN CHARGE WITHIN ZRP
- HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI asked the Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage to inform the House, the number of male and female Officers-in-Charge that are present in the police force in the country.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS AND CULTURAL HERITAGE (HON. MABOYI): Thank you Hon. Sen. Chimbudzi for the question. This question cannot be answered because we are looking at the security of the police force. We cannot say five are directors and whatever their ranks. It is not allowed according to the Security Act.
THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Thank you Minister. Basically you are not prepared.
HON. MABOYI: Not really prepared.
THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF SENATE: You did not come prepared for the question.
HON MABOYI: Yes.
THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF SENATE: So you come back some other day.
HON. MABOYI: But I had said we cannot say we have so many police officers’ who are women and are manning these police stations and so forth because that is a security issue. I will only do so when my Minister and the Commissioner General have sat down and discussed on this one. This is how I am taking it.
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: On a point of order. Hon Minister, I think it is not proper. I do not know what clause you can read in the Act or Constitution which will tell you that when Parliament asks for certain figures, then you say it is a security issue because those numbers are managed by Parliament. Parliament cannot be refused to have that knowledge on what sort of police are in the country. There is also a Committee that plays an oversight on police which should be able to question anyone in the country about certain things especially numbers of people. We must know who is employed and who is not. This is Parliament and it cannot be refused information unless you have a specific constitutional provision that says this becomes a security issue to Parliament.
HON. MABOYI: Thank you very much for reminding me on some of these issues. Let me come back probably within the next two weeks. I will bring the numbers. I withdraw if I have encroached on some areas. I know I am dealing with lawyers and every time they want to scrutinise. I will bring the numbers.
THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF SENATE: This one is a good Minister because she is flexible. When you see that you are leading us astray, you say I am sorry I will come back. Some would have wanted to argue until sunset just because they do not want to admit that they do not know. The practice is that usually with these Questions With Notice - they actually come with a written paper which has been researched. On this note, we have come to the end of time for Questions with Notice. Being a Thursday afternoon, it is only fair that we adjourn.
HON. SEN. ENG. MUDZURI: Before you adjourn. I wanted to ask if I could be allowed to hand this paper which I got from Zimbabwe Pensions and Insurance Rights Trust for the Pension Bill to the Minister so that he can look at it before we go to the Committee Stage. There are a few comments and some of them might not be very fair.
THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Is it a petition or what? That Bill is still under consideration by the Senate. We are moving to the Committee Stage. We have not concluded that Bill. It would be unprocedural for you to stand and say as a matter of record, you are handing over to the Minister. But when we adjourn, you can run to the Minister and hand the paper over.
If you want to prepare amendments, you can do it but it would be unprocedural if you did it in this manner. We still have an opportunity at Committee Stage as Senate to propose amendments. Those people can mobilise amendments through a Senator. Thank you very much.
On the motion of THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON CHIDUWA), the Senate adjourned at Four o’clock p.m. until Tuesday, 5th April 2022.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday, 16th March, 2022
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two O’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER
APOLOGIES RECEIVED FROM MINISTERS
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon Members, I am being advised that Cabinet meeting is on today and that is the reason why we do not have Hon. Ministers in the House except for the Leader of Government business. I have a list of Hon. Ministers and Deputy Ministers who have sought leave of absence from the House:
Hon. Dr. C. D. G. N. Chiwenga, Vice President and Minister of Health and Child Care; and
Hon. Prof. P. Mavima, Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
HON. DR. MURIRE: Thank you Madam Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of Information, Communication, Technology, Postal and Courier Services. What is Government policy on cellular service providers with regards to their transmission of marketing messages at the cost of recipients, for example news releases by Financial Gazette that are transmitted to subscribers without their consent and at the cost of those subscribers?
+THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF INFORMATION, COMMUNICATION, TECHNOLOGY, POSTAL AND COURIER SERVICES (HON. D. PHUTI): I would like to thank Hon. Murire for his question regarding those who send unsolicited messages to the general people who are using their data for that. Currently, there is no law to prohibit such transmission of messages. However, as a Ministry, we are going to sit down and map a way forward in order to protect the ordinary people using their own data to download such.
However, from the advice that I got, we need to take the matter seriously and craft laws that prohibit such sending of information.
*HON. MASENDA: Thank you Madam Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare. There is a very big problem of hunger because of the little rains that we received this season. The rains came late and we lost the rains earlier than expected. We are not looking at a bumper harvest- it is a very bad situation. In some areas within the country, they last received rains in January. What measures has the Government taken to avert the hunger that we are facing as a nation?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND SOCIAL WELFARE (HON. MATUKE): Thank you very much Hon. Speaker. We all know that we received little rainfall than anticipated. Firstly, allow me to say that it is our duty as the Government to make sure that we attend to situations such as hunger. It is our duty that we intervene as Government to make sure that we attend to situations such as hunger. Government intervenes by assisting with food. The problem that we have currently is that we had people who were on the list of those receiving food aid. Government’s intention was to stop giving food aid this March, to these people. Looking at the situation now, some people will not have any meaningful harvest, so the Government will carry on assisting people until the end of this year.
Government will list all those people who have been affected by lack of rains this year. The number of people who were getting food aid from the Government will increase this year depending on the areas they are coming from and the nature or effect of hunger. I would like to assure the Hon. Member that Government is working round the clock to assist people, especially those whose names are listed and already receiving aid; Government will continue to assist those people.
Coming to schools, the programme will go on, it will continue for those who are finding it difficult to pay for their education. It could be the hunger that you are referring to in some areas but I think you are not referring to maize only. Government has started a programme where it is assisting people with money. It is up to those who receive the money to decide what to buy. The first programme is to assist with maize and the second programme is to assist with money so that they are able to buy whatever they want. Thank you very much Madam Speaker.
*HON. NYABANI: Madam Speaker, what is Government policy on assisting those who are disabled and the elderly? Deserving people are not getting anything but those undeserving are the ones who are getting the aid. What is Government position with regard to that situation?
*HON. MATUKE: I would like to thank the Hon. Member from Mashonaland Central for that question. In response to what the Hon. Member asked, it is our responsibility as legislators from the areas that we are coming from to assist in the selection of who deserves to get aid. We should work together so that we are successful in implementing the programme. Those who are undeserving should be removed from getting aid but we need to be assisted by the legislators.
(v)HON. SEWERA: Thank you Madam Speaker. This money that the Hon. Minister mentioned that is being given to assist people, is it being accessed from the banks or it is hard cash? I want to know the mode of disbursement. Are they going to work for the money or it will be food for work? Also, I want to know the amount being given to these people as a way of assisting them?
*HON. MATUKE: They are regarded as people who are in need of assistance, so they will not work for the money. If ever we need people to work for the money, they will be notified. One thousand five hundred was given to these people but it was being affected by the fluctuating rates. So we wrote to the Ministry of Finance notifying them of the change in value of the money that we are disbursing. We are waiting for a revised figure so that people can be assisted accordingly. The Government will disburse the money to those who are in need and they are not going to work for the money. If ever there is a change in the situation on how we are going to be distributing and disbursing the money, we will notify you. It is an issue which will be brought to this House so that people will know. The money that they were being given was eroded by the fluctuating exchange rate - $1 500. However, the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare has since written to the Minister of Finance and Economic Development to notify him that the buying power of the allocated money has been eroded by inflation. Therefore, we are waiting for a response so that the money can be revised upwards.
HON. MPARIWA: Let me thank the Hon. Minister for his responses in terms of what has been asked by the Hon. Member in wanting to find out where and how it works. My humble submission Hon. Speaker; we will spend the whole day when every Hon. Member stands up to ask on whether, where and how. My submission is: can we get the Minister to table a report called Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee (ZimVAC) Report, which reflects everywhere, whether there is drought, food deficit, how many people and their ages in every district and every ward? That will answer everyone’s question to their satisfaction. That is my humble request, thank you Hon. Speaker.
THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND SOCIAL WELFARE (HON. PROF. MAVIMA): Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. Let me thank the Hon. Member for that important submission. Let me say to this august House, we have just received the first report, the Urban Vulnerability Report and we are now waiting for the Rural Vulnerability…
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Minister, you are not connected.
HON. PROF. MAVIMA: We are now waiting for the Rural Vulnerability Report which we hope to get maybe by May. However, there are a lot of other things that are happening as well, including the fact that the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement is also doing crop assessments which will indicate to us areas of transitory vulnerability because of the bad season that we have had. All this information will then go into our programme to assist Zimbabweans.
As far as the urban areas are concerned, that Urban Vulnerability Report is going to be the main source of information that we are going to use. We will add to our roles but we always have those social welfare rolls; people with disabilities, with chronic diseases, child-headed households whom we always support. However, these reports are for purposes of making sure that we have a comprehensive analysis of the poverty levels as well as the vulnerability levels as they come. Thank you Hon. Speaker.
(v)HON. NDIWENI: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. My supplementary –is on distribution. Sometime last year, we were promised that there was a rolling out of supplementary food distribution to urban wards, but it has not really materialised in areas like Karoi. How far have you gone in terms of supplementary distribution of food in urban wards?
HON. PROF. MAVIMA: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. I beg your indulgence; I could hardly hear…
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Supplementary food distribution to urban wards.
HON. PROF. MAVIMA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. As far as supplementary food distribution to urban wards is concerned, it is actually informed by the same Vulnerability Report that I referred to. We are now analysing that information. The mode of distribution mainly for urban areas is through cash transfers and we also work with our development partners like World Food Programme who also subcontract some of the non-profit making organisations that are operating in our urban areas.
So, that is a programme that is definitely coming. Like I said, in the rural areas, we continue now with our traditional social welfare role. However, as new information comes, we will increase our distribution. I thank you Hon. Speaker.
HON. NDEBELE: Good afternoon and thank you Madam Speaker. I have a question for the Hon. Prof. Mavima. Has Government policy changed from negotiating labour disputes with its employees through the National Joint Negotiating Council, (NJNC)? If it has not, is there consideration to reverse the illegal suspension of teachers that is making a mockery of our education sector and also painting our Second Republic as heavy handed in dealing with labour disputes?
THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND SOCIAL WELFARE (HON. PROF. MAVIMA) Thank you Hon. Speaker. There has not been any policy change as far as the negotiating platform of the NJNC is concerned. The Hon. Member would acknowledge that we recently had negotiations leading to the signing of an agreement between the Government team and the workers team. However, there is a different matter that he has referred to which is the issue of the non-appearance at work stations by some of our teachers over a period of time, which led the appropriate Ministry, which is the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, working together with the Public Service Commission, to institute what is known as the no work, no pay principle but at the same time also to deal with some in the administration of our education system such as headmasters and deputy headmasters who had been promoting the non appearance of teachers at their workstations through suspension. That suspension is according to the regulations of the Public Service Commission. Anyone who has been affected by it knows the specific recourse that they can use in order to deal with that suspension. Indeed, there are people who have been suspended but I know that the majority of our teachers are back at work. As of today, we have been told that 96% of the teachers are now back at work, rendering the services that they are supposed to render. Thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. NDEBELE: Madam Speaker, I want to ask the learned Prof. if the no work, no pay principle that he is referring to is not offending against the provisions of our Constitution, specifically Section 203 as well as Statutory Instrument Number 1 of 2000? While at that, could the Minister favour this House as well as the nation as to what practical measures have been put in place to replace the suspended teachers, because we have children who will be sitting for examinations as early as June and the three months of suspension lapses in June. Thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. PROF. MAVIMA: Thank you Madam Speaker. I cannot belabour the point that 96% of our teachers are now back at work as a result of the negotiations that I referred to which resulted in major improvements in the conditions of service of not just teachers but also the civil servants. The reference to the Constitution is a reference that says there is a right to job action but there is also in the statement of the Hon. Member, an indication of the importance of education in the development of this nation and that we should never lose time as far as the education of our learners is concerned. This is the principle that has led to the institution of no work, no pay in order for us to preserve the educational standards of this nation.
You will also realise that even as late as Sunday, an additional 1600 teachers were recruited and the Ministry has compliance of the Treasury to recruit a total of about 5000 more teachers up to June. This is not just done in order to avert the adverse effects of these suspensions which are by the way being reviewed. Some of these people will be reinstated. It is also in order to just address the shortages that have already been there in the teaching field. In addition also, the fact that requirements for COVID-19 say classes should be smaller, therefore we need more teachers. In fact, initially the Ministry had asked for about 50 thousand more teachers according to the requirements of COVID-19. That is not practical, given the numbers of trained teachers that we have but also looking at the budget, everything is being done in order to make sure that our education standards remain high and we have adequate teachers for our learners. I thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. T. MLISWA: Thank you Madam Speaker. I have no problems with the suspension of the teachers if they have violated any labour regulation or their terms of reference. My concern to the Minister is the criteria used - the source of information to have these teachers suspended. These were parents, SDCs – was that a reliable source? After thought, would that be the best way to suspend teachers on the basis of parents who at times have issues with the teachers? I say so because, for example in my constituency, Vimbayi Primary School has got Mr. Shamu who is a good headmaster who has done well for the community but he was suspended. I felt the source and the credibility of the people giving information was not credible because they also had issues to do with headmasters who were tough. This was an opportunity for them to seize on that tough headmaster so that he could be exited from the system. . How credible was the source?
HON. PROF. MAVIMA: Thank you Madam Speaker. The Hon. Member raised an important question regarding the manner or the information basis for effecting the suspensions. I would not have information on the specific case that he referred to but we have a system of management of the education sector which starts from head office. The technical team is headed by the permanent secretary, the directors and the provincial education directors who are helped at that level by deputy directors as well as inspectors. It is the same at the district level, the director, DSI as well as inspectors. This becomes the supervisory system that we have in our education system and this is the main source of information. There could have been additional sources of information but like I said, anyone who has been suspended on spurious grounds has an opportunity to then present their own case and say this was not true; I was there, I did not participate and I was encouraging my teachers to be at the school. So there is recourse. Where false information was used, I think we have a system that can confirm that. I thank you Madam Speaker.
HON. NDEBELE: Thank you Madam Speaker. In the past, after asking questions you have allowed us to rise on a point of suggestion. I am going to suggest...
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: No, no.
HON. NDEBELE: Yes, precedence has been set. That is what the Speaker does. I am requesting you to put and table a suggestion for the ministers. What is wrong with that? It has been done before by some other people. Every time I rise in this House, somebody has a problem with me. I am doing my job and I insist on making a suggestion because it has been done several times here.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: No Hon Ndebele, maybe a point of clarification.
HON. NDEBELE: A point of recommendation Madam Speaker. It has happened here and Government Chief Whip, you should also be defending me. Minister, people have risen here to raise recommendations. Every time I want to speak munondirambidza why?
THE HON DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon Ndebele, please take your seat.
HON NDEBELE: If it makes you very happy Madam Speaker, I will take my seat.
THE HON DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you.
*HON. TEKESHE: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. My supplementary question is - it has been long since we have been experiencing problems with teachers and they are running away to South Africa and other surrounding countries. Does the Ministry go to surrounding countries to do benchmarks and investigate why teachers are going there whilst we continue experiencing the same problems? Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am.
HON. PROF. MAVIMA: Hon. Speaker, I would like to thank the Hon. Member for the question. We are an economy that had been in the doldrums for almost two decades and the causes of it among other things, were the illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe. We have started to see an uptake in our economy and we have started to use the proceeds from that uptake to improve the conditions of service of our civil servants and not just teachers. With time, we will see a situation where we are not going to deliberately lose our human capital to other countries but we will deliberately export like we are just about to do to Rwanda under the MOU that we signed. Indeed, there has been a problem but it is one that we are getting over right now and we have seen considerable improvement with the recent package that was sanctioned by His Excellency for the entirety of our civil service. We hope that as the economy continues to pick up, things will be better and we can match the pull factors in other countries that have caused our teachers and other professions to move to those countries. I thank you Hon. Speaker.
HON. T. MLISWA: On a point of order Madam Speaker. Moving forward, it is important that the Chief Whip remains in his position as Chief Whip not of the Chair. It is not good for him to constantly be interchanging with us thereby causing some of us to get emotional and end up behaving in a barbaric manner and we are then chucked out. He does provoke despite him being a very senior person, the Government Chief Whip. His office requires him to be calm, orderly and respectful. When he interchanges with other MPs at his level, it is kind of narky. Integrity and dignity is important for his office. Moving forward, can there be a ministerial statement from the Minister because Hon. Mpariwa asked this from a holistic point of view of the civil servants that - what is going on and a report on the brain drain and how much it will cost the country. We need to put figures to this and I think the Hon. Minister of Finance will agree that there is a lot of money that is spent in training any trained person. How do we recover such costs? The ministerial statement should have figures accompanying it so that we understand how much money we are losing as a country.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: So Hon. Mliswa, you are asking for the ministerial statement from which Ministry?
HON. T. MLISWA: From the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, a comprehensive statement on the civil servants as a whole on the brain drain and the cost to this country on the brain drain. Hon. Mpariwa asked for the statement two weeks ago but the Minister did not come. Maybe he did not get the message but that would help us to assess how bad it is and how much money Government is losing.
HON. PROF. MAVIMA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. It is a possibility we could do that ministerial statement but just to indicate that it is a thing that is wider than just the civil service. It is a much wider national issue of the brain drain and would require cooperation I think from the Treasury, to help us come up with that. Let me also take this opportunity to say that to some extent, this is a result of the successes that we had in the education sector starting in the 1980s and we have become a fishing pond for big nations whom we cannot compete with as far as remuneration is concerned. So, we need to do it as a much broader statement. I thank you Hon. Speaker.
(v)HON. NDUNA: My question is directed to the Minister of Local Government. His Excellency the President has just been to Chegutu and spoke about policy relating to issuance of title deeds for home ownership, houses on hire purchase and for houses that are formerly qualified by BHBBZ plus ZMDC. How can the Ministry of Local Government’s policy help in expediting the issuance of title deeds in so far as it relates to the houses for hire purchase, home ownership and council houses that have been paid for, for the past 25 years as enunciated by His Excellency the President, Cde. E. D. Mnangagwa? How can the Ministry expedite that process in making sure that local authorities can issue the title deeds without any further ado or delay. I thank you.
HON. MLISWA: That question was well answered by Hon. Garwe. He even spoke about the geo-spatial where the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education is mapping. He articulated it so well that if he goes back to the Hansard, it is there. There was no better answer than what was given last week. The Cabinet Minister did a sterling job on that. Unless I am wrong, I stand to be corrected.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Nduna, I am being advised that that question was asked last week and it was well answered by the Minister of Housing. So you can as well check in the Hansard. I thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC WORKS AND NATIONAL HOUSING (HON. CHOMBO): Thank you very much Hon. Speaker and Hon. Nduna for that very pertinent question. Of course, we heard the announcement that was made by the President at Chegutu but as a Ministry, we are working on the modalities of how we can put that into motion.
It was a statement but we have procedures that we have to follow whenever such statements are made by the Head of State. We took note of it and we are consulting with the relevant local authorities and all their different schemes in all the local authorities and we have to interrogate all the different schemes making sure that we also have legislation that takes care of that. I thank you.
HON. NDUNA: What are the time lines for this policy implementation?
HON. CHOMBO: I do not think I am able to give a time scale because there is a lot of consultation that needs to be done to make sure we do everything according to the law. We cannot just quicken the process; we have to make sure that we have done it legitimately because tomorrow, we will end up in trouble if we do not follow procedures.
So, be rest assured that it is an agenda within my Ministry and we are going to address that.
*HON. TOGAREPI: My question is directed to the Minister of Public Service. We are aware that there are teachers who did their teacher training more than 10 years ago but they are not yet employed, yet those who completed their training after are being recruited first. Do we have a policy or register that shows which year the teachers graduated and they should be recruited in chronological order of graduation?
Right now they are almost getting to retirement age; some of them are now 50 years of age without jobs.
THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND SOCIAL WELFARE (HON. PROF. MAVIMA): Thank you Hon. Madam Speaker for the question raised by Hon. Togarepi that concerns teacher recruitment. Most of the processes are done by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education. They are the ones who have the information on vacancies available as well as the teachers required with the specific qualifications such as ECD, general primary school teachers or secondary school teachers with specific subjects. That is the recruitment criteria but they also consider the year the teacher graduated. For example, if there are two teachers required for mathematics at a Chitungwiza school, one graduated in 2016, the other one in 2020, they will recruit the one who graduated in 2016 first, that is my understanding.
So, the teachers that were on high demand of late, according to my understanding, are the ECD teachers but the majority of those who were not recruited quickly are general primary teachers. They constitute the majority yet the vacancies are limited.
For secondary school teachers, the ones who specialised in subjects like Shona, English and religious studies et cetera are also too many and their recruitment is very slow. Some of the teachers that I know who have not been recruited for a long time are physical education teachers. The ones who are recruited much faster are science and mathematics and other science subjects. It is easy for the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education to recruit teachers who studied science and mathematics subjects. They do that at their headquarters and they use electronic system to select teachers. They follow procedures to recruit teachers at their head office.
HON. BRIG. GEN. (RTD.) MAYIHLOME: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. My supplementary question follows from what the Hon. Minister just said about centralized recruitment of teachers. We are going towards devolution and everybody is talking about decentralization. Why can you not put measures to do away with corruption at local level instead of centralizing everything to Harare? The system that is there in place now does not work; it deprives the local leadership of district education officers the flexibility of getting people that are suitable for the post, personnel are just being imposed on the districts. We should put safeguards to minimize corruption instead of centralising everything to Harare. Thank you.
HON. PROF. MAVIMA: Thank you Madam Speaker, it is a very pertinent question. Indeed Madam Speaker, we have seen the unintended consequences of the centralisation programme. Let me give you an example. Binga wants a geography teacher, they recruit someone at the national level, this person goes to Binga and teaches for two semesters and then seeks transfer back to some better place yet there could be a geography person who is local who may want to work in their home area. We have seen unintended consequences and we have seen serious problems in places like Binga, Gokwe and some other remote areas. We need to look for a special dispensation where we can allow localities to recruit teachers who may then show commitment to their specific areas and then we can minimize some of the problems we are facing in those areas. Areas for example Nyaminyami District, it is also affected in the same manner.
Madam Speaker, that is a good suggestion and we need to consider that.
HON. T. MLISWA: On a point of order Madam Speaker. Hardly do you get the Minister conceding to a valid point like that unintended consequences and then he humbles himself and admits that there have been problems, then we will look into them. A Minister like that is a Minister for the country, is a Minister for the people. Most would actually be stubborn, I would like to applaud the Minister and other Ministers to also follow suit; that was a good lesson.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Thank you Hon. Mliswa.
HON. T. MLISWA: Thank you Madam Speaker. My question is directed to the Leader of Government Business. It seems it was premature for us to go for elections because the environment seems not to be conducive because of many shenanigans going on, putting us in bad publicity. In your own understanding and assessment, was the environment conducive for elections?
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Madam Speaker, the Constitution does not give us a leeway to assess the environment whether it is conducive or not, but it gives us timelines. The Constitution simply says where a vacancy arises this is what you have to do. Admittedly, we were supposed to have held these by-elections a long time ago but at that particular juncture, we had COVID and we decided to prioritise life over holding elections and we had invoked our laws which allowed us to do that. However, when conditions started to be okay and we relaxed those regulations, we did not have any other choice but to go for elections. I thank you.
HON. T. MLISWA: The Minister was very fair in saying that he had referred to the Constitution and the Constitution gives him three months to announce but he then explained that, the reason why I am asking this question is, the opposition is being stopped from having rallies while the ruling party is having rallies. How can they be known as credible, free and fair elections? The credibility and fairness of the elections is then thrown away because you have this party having rallies and the other party cannot have rallies. That is why I said - is it conducive because there is no equilibrium in terms of that aspect of giving others opportunities?
HON. ZIYAMBI: Thank you Madam Speaker. When we approach elections, there are processes that need to be followed and I would defer that question. It is an operational issue where if you want to have a public gathering, according to the Maintenance of Peace and Order Act you inform the Police and you have to satisfy certain requirements. In terms of policy, we have laws and regulations that allow everyone upon application to hold the rallies. If there are issues that then arose, those are now very specific that I would request the Hon. Member to refer to the relevant Ministry so that they can explain the actions that were taken by the police. I thank you.
HON. MUSHORIWA: Thank you Madam Speaker. My supplementary question is to the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs. He alluded, in his response to Hon. Mliswa, that the application is based on the Maintenance of Peace and Order Act (MOPA). My question therefore is to say; when the political party has the requirements of MOPA and the police has given in writing and then makes a subsequent U-turn on the eleventh hour, what police directive would that be; that a law has been adhered to but all of a sudden police then makes a U-turn at the last minute?
HON. ZIYAMBI: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. What Hon. Mushoriwa is asking me to comment on is not a policy issue. Once you have laws, laws have remedies and if people do not follow the laws, one of the recourse is to go to the courts. You do not make a policy statement when laws have been broken. I thank you.
(v)HON. SIKHALA: Thank you very much. Hon. Minister, my supplementary question is; if an applicant, in terms of MOPA complies with all the requirements and is still not given the go ahead to proceed with the public meeting – I have heard you talking about the remedies, the remedy in terms of MOPA is to approach a Magistrate’s court to get redress. How would an application be made to a Magistrate’s court when in most cases courts are closed during the weekend and why should those people who would have complied totally with the requirements of MOPA on how applications should be done, not be granted the right to go ahead with their public meetings? That is my question Madam Speaker. Thank you very much.
(v)*HON. CHINOTIMBA: Point of order Madam Speaker. I think we are wasting time asking the Hon. Leader of Government Business because he has already said that we must ask the relevant person, meaning that the Minister of Home Affairs is the one responsible for the police. So we are just asking him things which should be responded to by the Minister of Home Affairs. Why are we wasting time whilst the Minister of Home Affairs is there?
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you Hon. Chinotimba. They are able to ask the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs since he is also the Leader of Government Business. He can respond on behalf of the Minister of Home Affairs.
(v)*HON. CHINOTIMBA: But he indicated earlier on that your questions should be directed to the Minister of Home Affairs, meaning that he was unable to respond.
HON. ZIYAMBI: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. Hon. Members are raising issues which ordinarily are supposed, when an election is called, to be raised at the relevant forum with the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and JSC, they set up the electoral courts and the Hon. Member is fully aware of all those processes. What I found very difficult is that he wants me to make a pronouncement on issues that are fully covered by our laws and specific issues that he wants to make reference to can be addressed at the relevant forum in terms of our laws or with the police who are the regulators where the applications are made.
(v)*HON. HAMAUSWA: On a point of order Madam Speaker. The Hon. Minister is dodging the issues at hand. The behaviour of the police is damaging the image of our country Zimbabwe and this should trigger the Minister to say something concerning this election time. The Minister should be transparent and come out to make a statement when police bar people who would have been cleared to hold their rally to say the laws of Zimbabwe do not allow that to happen. The Minister should be clear in order to portray a good image even internationally that in Zimbabwe, there is a Minister of Justice – [AN HON. MEMBER: Point of order.] – Why is he avoiding talking about this issue and to indicate that what the police are doing is tarnishing the image of Zimbabwe. It is an issue that he can rectify as the Leader of Business in this House. This issue should be taken seriously.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you.
(v)*HON. HAMAUSWA: This issue is tarnishing the image of Zimbabwe and your Honourable Chair Madam Speaker Ma’am. It would seem as if Parliament is not working as police do their work tarnishing the image of Zimbabwe…
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you Hon. Hamauswa. The issue that you are talking about is the one which Hon. Chinotimba has helped you with when he indicated that you should ask the Minister of Home Affairs and not the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs. So, you are forcing the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs to answer the question which is not relevant to his Ministry. I hope you understand where the issue is emanating from. Three supplementary questions that you have asked are enough and we are closing this issue and move on to the other question. You have been advised.
*HON. ZIYAMBI: Madam Speaker Ma’am, Hon. Hamauswa is implying that I know that there is a party that was given an approval document to carry out their meeting but I do not know that there is a document to begin with. Secondly, I said if election time comes, there are courts that are put in place which makes investigations on issues to do with elections. There is an organisation which is responsible for electoral issues and also investigates such issues. There is the police, which is the regulator, which also investigate to an extent that if meetings are being carried out, they give approval when in their discretion, no potential violence is bound to happen. However, they want me to agree to the things that I have no information about to say the police gave out a document which I did not see. Madam Speaker, the issue of issued documents is not a policy question, it is an operational issue. I cannot predict or guess what would have happened in Government.
A lot of things happen across ministries within Government, even to say political parties holding rallies in different communities, I might not know it. Let us follow the Constitution of this country. Let us not spread falsehoods in this country that act A was done in a certain community when nothing happened. Let us not spread falsehoods.
HON. T. MLISWA: Madam Speaker, as the originator of the question, I think Hon. Ziyambi took a fair position and the questioner has also a fair position. May we get a Ministerial Statement from the Minister of Home Affairs? I think that ends the case because he is very clear. It is an operational issue which requires the Minister of Home Affairs to issue a statement, getting details from his subordinates as to why this is happening. I think that will bring sanity to the country and the world will see that we are trying to have free, fair and credible elections. Without that ministerial statement, it does not help the Minister of Finance to raise money anywhere else. The issue of elections is important. May I seek, with your indulgence Madam Speaker, for a Ministerial Statement from the Minister of Home Affairs immediately, to talk about the state of law and order pertaining to these by-elections?
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you Hon. Mliswa. I am sure the Leader of Government Business has taken note of that and he will relay the message to the Minister of Home Affairs. Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, I am sure you have also taken note of that.
*HON. NYABANI: Thank you Madam Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of ICT. What is Government policy with regards to rural areas where there are no more post offices or ZimPost facilities for banking or paying for car insurances. People have to travel from the borders and other distant areas to go to towns such as Bindura for banking. In the past, there were post offices that were nearer that could offer banking services. How can people get access to post offices or banks nearer to them? I thank you.
>THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF INFORMATION, COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY, POSTAL AND COURIER SERVICES (HON. PHUTI): Thank you Madam Speaker. May I kindly request to respond to the question in English, Ndebele or Kalanga. I would like to thank the Hon. Member, Hon. Nyabani for the question – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order. Can we have order in the House please?
>THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF INFORMATION, COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY, POSTAL AND COURIER SERVICES (HON. PHUTI): Hon. Nyabani asked a pertinent question. He said the post office no longer operates the way it used to operate in the past. I would like to inform Hon. Nyabani that His Excellency, President E. D. Mnangagwa, when he launched NDS1, emphasised that the economy of the country should lean upon today’s knowledge, considering technology. I want the Hon. Member to know that the post office is different from what it was in the past. Fiscal issues are under the Finance and Economic Development Ministry. The post office is a responsible digital inclusion which implies that everything is covered by technological development, then the post office is at the moment establishing information centres around the country. We also have a reliable network which would assist people in accessing the post office. We also clarified that the post office of the earlier days where people were writing letters is different from what is happening now. Nowadays we are moving with technology. There are a lot of things that are happening technologically like post office money and other technological developments which are in line with what is happening. The RBZ is guiding the process. I thank you.
*HON. NYABANI: Madam Speaker, maybe the question can only be responded to by the Minister of Finance. People are suffering in the rural areas and they are failing to understand which Ministry they can approach. May the Ministry of Finance tell us what the people in rural areas that used to get assistance from these facilities can do? People are travelling long distances to go and withdraw very little salaries. I thank you Madam Speaker.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. M. NCUBE): This question is a continuation of the previous question but more broadly, it is a financial inclusion issue: which access to financial points in the rural areas to use. Certainly, it is true that the POSB is no longer fully operational in all the corners of Zimbabwe but also, it is fair to say that the banking system has evolved very rapidly. We now have mobile banking, which basically means you are able to transact from any corner of Zimbabwe where you have connectivity and transact through your mobile phone. The three network operators are able to provide those services. I am acutely aware that where there is need for cash transactions in Zimbabwe dollars, there may not be enough cash but they have the leeway to transact in hard currency since we have allowed the use of other currencies. However, the disappearance of POSB across the country has to do with the evolution of banking as banks try to reduce the cost of their operations. I must let you know that we have every intention not to leave anyone behind and we will look at other ways to support our citizens in the rural areas to access financial services. I thank you.
(v)*HON. HAMAUSWA: On a point of order. I was amazed to hear that the Minister of ICT who superintend over ZIMPOST together with the Minister of Finance are not aware that ZIMPOST has a bank that it used to transact funds similar to ecocash, which is ZIMPOST money. I thought the Ministers would elaborate that to us.
THE TEMPORY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Member. Your question may be pertinent but it is not a supplementary question to the question posed to the Minister of ICT, unless you want to ask a new question.
(v)HON. HAMAUSWA: Mr. Speaker, this is not a new question.
(v)+HON. MOKONE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is directed to the Minister of Information Communication Technology. The Deputy Minister of ICT talked about the digital economy but in other areas there is no network, especially in Gwanda South. How then does the Minister intend to make sure the digital service is implemented to its fullest?
+HON. PHUTI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I first want to correct Hon. Hamauswa for asking a question which shows he does not understand my submission between our Ministry and that of Ministry of Finance. We are saying we have post money. I was not going to end on post money without answering the question about the roles of the Post Office as asked by Hon. Nyabani.
May I respond to the question by Hon. Mokone on no network in Gwanda South? It is true that in other areas there are network challenges mainly because of network machines and in some cases it is because these machines cannot deliver network as far as they are supposed to. We are however looking forward to having 3G, 4G and 5G which should ensure people have network. Government is also looking forward to seeing all rural areas accessing network. This year as I alluded to the last time I was in this House, there is a programme that will bring network to more than 335 areas which will lead to most areas being network connected. There is also the programme of network service fund which will look into the areas with no network accessibility. The universal service plan will ensure that whether there is money or not, the network providers access those areas.
(v)+HON. MBONGENI: Thank you Hon. Speaker. There are some network boosters that were pledged in the previous year. I want to ask the Deputy Minister of ICT when some network boosters that were supposed to be officially commissioned will be commissioned?
++HON. PHUTI: Thank you Hon Speaker. I also want to thank Hon. Mbongeni for his question on the programmes started by the Government Ministry more than five years ago but they are still incomplete. I want to remind him that maybe he is saying where they were supposed to be put at a base station in Lupane East, the company that was assigned to do the work left it incomplete at Netone; I want to remind him of a programme that we commissioned in Chatumbama in Chipinge at Sasindwe in Binga, Matopo North. We also want to remind him of the programme we officially opened at Siyalima in Guruve and the one that we opened in Hwedza. These are some of the programmes that were incomplete so that he can appreciate what was done in his neighborhood. The machine in Modzola; they finally completed the programme.
Therefore, Netone will now have to complete the assignment as it was supposed to be done in other areas like Chiredzi.
HON. T. MLISWA: Have you not opened up other avenues for money transactions like Mukuru, electronic banking and all that to also dispose of just cash? Is the POSB important in that aspect of going electronic at the end of the day? Is it not an outdated way of transacting?
HON. PHUTI: I want to recognise Hon. Mliswa’s question, pertinent as it is because it touches on something that I think is a game changer. The Hon. Minister of Finance and Economic Development touched on such aspect but because the question has been shifted to my Ministry, I want to remind the House that when we talk about a digital economy, there is no way we cannot promote financial inclusion. As such, there are various means of making everyone involved.
I was shocked with the statistics yesterday that in the world, about 2,5 billion people do not have bank accounts but it does not mean that they are excluded financially because the antiquated methods of using bank accounts should rightfully, like Hon. Mliswa said, be replaced by methods that are commensurate with today’s environment.
As such, my mentioning of post money was amongst attempts by my Ministry to try and get involved in ensuring that there is financial inclusion in our society.
However, I may not want to delve much into financial issues lest I mutilate but truth be told, there is need to expand the scale on which we are allowing our people to access finance. The only thing that I can do is to humbly submit that he raised a pertinent question that rightfully my Ministry, jointly with the Ministry of Finance should together work on.
HON. BRIG. GEN. (RTD.) MAYIHLOME: My supplementary question relates to the earlier response by the Hon. Deputy Minister of ICT, Postal and Courier Services regarding the installation of base stations.
I want to find out from the Minister of ICT and the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, since they are both present in the House. The challenge; has it been the technology or the capacity or the availability of finance? If so, would it not be prudent for them to consider allowing devolution funds to be used for that purpose? In other words, where people think that their priorities lie in network infrastructure because we know that private sector, Telone, Econet and so forth, only go where there is likely to be profit. If there is not going to be any profit like in sparsely populated areas, they will not install these boosters.
So, can these two ministries here present be clear as to what the challenge is because private sector will not go there fast enough. I thank you.
HON. PHUTI: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank Hon. Mayihlome for a pertinent follow up question. Before I answer to Hon. Mayihlome’s question, let me promise this House, all Hon. Members who are here and those following virtually, that we are going to replace construction of base stations in almost every constituency. This is a project that was launched late last year by His Excellency the President. The equipment is here and for those who may want to know, it is at the NetOne work station close to Chikurubi.
However, in response to the question, I do not think it is an issue of finance, neither is it an issue of lack of technology at this juncture. It is a project that, as I promised, is running and rolling out. I think a lot of Hon. Members here will attest to a reality that they have been visited by a team of engineers doing their scoping so that they know where they should site those base stations.
A good example that I can make mention of is a place called Bethany in Manicaland, Mutasa District where people confirmed that they had seen NetOne engineers coming to do that same work. I think in a nutshell, the mobile broadband phase 3 that I made mention of earlier is a living reality and I am only requesting for a grace period from Hon. Members to witness it unroll so that we can talk about another story a few months later.
HON. T. MLISWA: On a point of order. My point of order is to appreciate the responses by Hon. Phuti. He was very articulate and clear in what he was saying. I think it does give us hope. He said everything is in place, you can go to the NetOne workstation, everything is ready. That is quite assuring. Thank you for your responses.
*HON MPAME: My question is directed to the Leader of the House. What is Government policy with regards to contractors who win tenders to construct roads, sometimes they do not have the capacity, their equipment breaks down after a few days and they park it? People are concerned about that, what is Government policy on that?
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. M. NCUBE): I want to thank the Hon. Member for that very important question. In awarding contracts, there is the normal practice which is practiced by the Ministry, which is to assess the capacity of the contractor. I think that assessment was made and found to be satisfactory. Certainly, it is surprising that then upon being awarded the tender and being told you can proceed with the job, then they are unable to do the job because of the quality of equipment. Going forward, we need to be more strict in our selection criteria for the contractors to make sure that these fly-by-night type of contractors never get contracts ever again. What we are doing is our engineers go around the country assessing the quality of the roads and making sure the contractor sticks to the stipulated standards, be they international, local or regional. Those who are not doing their job, their contracts are being cancelled. I am aware of a few that have been cancelled.
As Minister of Finance, I am not happy of the fact that contractors ask for a lot of money, then they do a shoddy job, It is unacceptable and we are taking action through the Minister of Transport. I thank you.
Questions Without Notice were interrupted by the Temporary Speaker in terms of Standing Order Number 68.
HON. T. MLISWA: I move that Questions Without Notice time be extended.
HON. MPARIWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
*HON. MPAME: I want to thank the Hon. Minister for the answer but to my surprise, it takes two to three months with nothing being done, what will the responsible authority be doing? Why is it that Government is not supervising these contractors? Do we not have engineers to monitor them? After one year, that is when you will see a new contractor and that new contractor will do the same. Mr. Speaker, may I ask the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to come and give a Ministerial Statement. This is a very pertinent issue. There is no progress taking place in most all of the roads in rural areas. Thank you – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] -
HON. PROF. M. NCUBE: Mr. Speaker Sir, I concur with the request from the Hon. Member that the Minister of Transport appear before this House and give a Ministerial Statement. The Minister will give the state of issues in terms of our road construction programme to make sure that we get value for money and we get good quality contractors to develop our roads. I think that is a fair request and I think he will be able to acquit himself in this regard.
(v)HON. MUSHORIWA: The statement should include information on whether rules and regulations are being followed.
HON. PROF. M. NCUBE: I thank the Hon. Member for that follow up question. Yes, indeed the statement will contain information and clarification as to whether the recommended processes are being followed to the dot or not and also just to make sure that all procedures are being followed. That will be made clearer.
HON. MARKHAM: My question is directed to the Minister of Finance and Economic Development. I am fully aware and it has been discussed today, the effects of the season we have had agriculturally. This is going to leave the farmers in quite a sticky situation. I would like to know from the Minister of Finance and Economic Development what is Government policy for the farmers as most of them are going to be left with quite a bit of debt. What is Government policy on the debt? Farmers are going to be in a quandary with the issues going on internationally. We have had massive spike in fuel prices. With the war in Europe, we are going to have a massive increase over and above the increase we have already had in fertilizer, particularly because Belarus and Russia are manufacturers of agricultural fertilizer.
On drought relief, both grains and wheat have shot up substantially. Has Government considered a policy to help with the mitigation of these factors, particularly pertaining to the farmers? I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. M. NCUBE): I thank Hon. Markham for the very important question which pertains to agricultural sector. Yes, indeed as Government, we have noticed that the oil prices have spiked quite substantially, which has led to an increase in the domestic fuel prices through the FOB aspect of the pricing model. Also, there has been a spike in fertilizer and so forth because of the costs of certain inputs into fertilizer manufacturing which are sourced from some of the countries that are involved in conflict. This will impact our agricultural sector, it is squeezing the margins and the profitability for the farmers. This clear enough, as a Government, we have been analyzing this issue trying to understand the exact issue on farmers. I think when we are clear, we will be able to support the farmers accordingly. I think it is too early for us to make a policy pronouncement without full understanding. However, we are waiting to fully understand the quality of the crop, we are waiting for the second crop assessment from the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement and with that clarity, we will be able to intervene accordingly. We want our farmers to be able to go back to the land and not be discouraged by this external shock which is beyond anyone’s control, and certainly not in our control as Zimbabweans. We will make every possible effort to support them to make sure that they go back to the land and not be squeezed by these shocks in terms of their profitability and ability to pay back the loans from the banking sector. I thank you.
HON. MARKHAM: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My supplementary follows on: would the Hon. Minister, as a policy, not consider pre-producer farmer prices in United States Dollars (USDs), particularly with the sliding, slowly but surely of the ZW$? The major impact on farmers is that at the end of the year when they get paid particularly for grains, it is normally delayed and it is half the value of when it was announced. If we stabilise this as the Ministry has done on numerous products including fuel, why can it not happen with something like food security? I thank you.
HON. PROF. M. NCUBE: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. I thank Hon. Markham for the follow-up question on paying farmers in USDs; we are not yet there. We are not ready for that, we have our own domestic currency and we want to set all these agriculture sector prices in domestic currency and also to promote the use of our own currency. However, there are farmers who are receiving payments in USDs because they are producing crops which are export oriented such as tobacco, cotton - even cotton is in part USDs, that is understandable because those crops earn foreign currency but not for crops which do not earn foreign currency. We are not there yet in terms of pricing these in foreign currency, but we will look at other measures to support the farmer and we will be creative. I can assure you that we will be creative to make sure that they are able to go back onto the land and not squeezed by the banks because of shocks that are beyond their control such as the oil and fuel prices and that of fertilizer. I thank you.
Questions Without Notice were interrupted by THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER in terms of Standing Order No. 68.
MINISTERIAL STATEMENT
MEASURES TO STABILISE THE ECONOMY
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. M. NCUBE): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Mr. Speaker Sir, I was requested by this august House last week to give a Ministerial Statement on measures to stabilise the economy. The global tensions that have developed, especially in Eastern Europe have compounded the global economic conditions at a time when economies were starting to recover from the effects of COVID-19 pandemic. Shocks are rising from higher commodity prices of energy, minerals and agricultural commodities are fueling global inflation which passes through effects on domestic prices of goods and services.
Mr. Speaker Sir, as is well known, both the countries of Russia and Ukraine are major exporters of metals, energy and agricultural commodities and disruptions in supply of these commodities have led to food prices increasing to a 14 year high. Fertilizer prices continue to increase as Russia, a major low-cost exporter of the product to the global market has curtailed exports.
Additionally, oil prices have surged to their highest level since 2008 on fears of supply constraints. Brent crude oil prices have increased to as high as USD129 per barrel from around USD77 per barrel in December, 2021. Inevitably, domestic prices of fuel have been increasing and now stand at USD1.67 per litre from USD1.41 in January, 2021.
The rise in international prices of several metals, including gold due to its position as a safe haven and nickel due to supply concerns is however, expected to positively impact on the country’s export receipts from mineral products.
On the domestic front, both the fiscal and monetary authorities continue to implement and fine-tune policy measures that are meant to stabilise the currency and lower inflation, including, among other things, fiscal consolidation and restrained reserve money growth.
Government has maintained near balanced budgets since 2019. Avoiding excessive spending and recourse to the Central Bank overdraft facility has reduced pressures on inflation, and created buffers that have been deployed to mitigate exigencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic that has adversely impacted on the economy and livelihoods whilst also allowing the private sector access resources for productive economic activity and employment generation.
On the monetary front, the Central Bank has instituted the necessary monetary reforms to curtail money supply growth, including strengthening the foreign currency auction system that has enabled access to foreign currency by the productive sectors for importation of critical raw materials and capital equipment.
The interventions have, to some extent, worked to restore stability on the exchange rate and ultimately, relative price stability. Inflation declined from a peak of 837.5% in July, 2020 to current levels of 66.1% as at February, 2022.
However, inflationary pressures still persist mainly due to benchmarking or indexation of prices of goods and services at parallel market exchange rates as well as responses to global price increases. In addition, negative perceptions among our people and business are also driving the unjustified exchange rate and price increases.
The pressures to inflation have necessitated Government to implement further policy measures to ensure stability of the local currency and prices is restored. Measures to increase demand for the local currency through taxes were announced by Treasury on 4th February 2022 as follows:
All mining royalties are now payable in Zimbabwe dollars up to a limit of 50% of royalties due.
All duties and taxes on importation of designated motor vehicles are now payable in Zimbabwe dollars, again up to a 50% of the duties and taxes payable.
All domestic taxes due from exporters on their export receipts are now payable in both foreign and local currency in direct proportion to the approved export retention levels. As an example, an exporter who receives foreign currency of say US$1 00 at a 40% surrender ratio (60% retention) will pay taxes on the 40% in Zimbabwe dollars and the 60% in foreign currency.
The Central Bank, through the Monetary Policy Statement of 7 February 2022, introduced complementary measures to bring stability. These include the following:
- Lowering reserve money growth target to 7.5% per quarter.
- Maintain lending rates to about 60% to curtail speculative lending which was driving parallel exchange rate and inflation.
The Central Bank is continuously fine-tuning the exchange rate policy to ensure exchange rate flexibility, promotion of external competitiveness as well as tackling rent-seeking behaviour. These include ensuring allotment of foreign currency on the basis of available foreign exchange, strict adherence to and enforcement of the Know Your Customer (KYC) and Customer Due Diligence (CCD) principles by banks when processing forex bids and intra-bank transfers on behalf of their customers. The bank is also exploring measures to ensure the huge foreign currency balances held by banks is transparently traded;
Increase foreign currency retention for tobacco and cotton farmers to 75% and to 100% for hotel and tour operators, exporters in the manufacturing, horticulture and cross border transport sub-sectors shall be eligible to retain 100% of the incremental portion of their export receipts; and
Increase in the limit on mobile banking transactions from ZWL$20 thousand to ZWL$25 thousand per transaction with a maximum limit of ZW$100 thousand per week for person to business, person to person from ZWL$5 thousand to ZWL$10 thousand per transaction with a limit of ZWL$70 thousand per week and increase the cash withdrawal limit for the banking public from ZWL$2 thousand to ZWL$5 thousand per week.
The liquidity Management Committee is being strengthened to coordinate and synchronise Government liquidity injections and withdrawals in order to minimise impact on the market.
In an effort to cushion the general public and businesses against increases in the price of fuel, for example Government reduced strategic reserve levy on domestic fuel price from US$12.7 cents to current levels of US$8.7 cents/litre beginning January 2022 through SI 31 of 2022. Government is looking into additional policy measures to address the situation.
Furthermore, Government is prioritising the domestication of value chains. In response to bread prices, Government, through the winter wheat programmes, is supporting wheat farmers, targeting 75 thousand hectares expected to produce 350 thousand mt. This will significantly reduce reliance on wheat imports.
With regards to fertilizer, Government is facilitating access to foreign currency by local manufacturers for importation of critical raw materials as well as providing guarantees for access to finance for working capital requirements.
As part of measures to reduce the adverse impact of these shocks to the most vulnerable members of our society, Treasury will prioritise disbursements to beneficiaries under the various social assistance programmes.
In conclusion, the theme on the 2022 Budget, which is already underway, is “Reinforcing Sustainable Economic Recovery and Resilience”. This will enable us to focus on bolstering resilience to shocks and support economic recovery. Government economic policy will therefore continue to support this objective which will result in positive economic growth for the year 2022. I thank you.
(v)HON. GANDAWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, I did not hear the Minister clearly on his intervention in terms of reviewing taxes and levies that are associated with procurement of fuel which I would want to think are quite high, currently at $1.68 and $1,67. Could the Minister please clarify the position?
HON. T. MLISWA: My point of clarity to the Minister of Finance is: thank you very much for that Ministerial Statement. I must applaud the Minister for probably being one of the few who responds to these Ministerial Statements. Some ministers do not even respond. We have been asking the Minister of Agriculture to give us a Ministerial Statement but he still has not given us. It is equally important for the Ministry of Finance in terms of the state of agriculture so that they can put their figures together. More important is the stabilisation matrix which the minister brought up and spoke about fertilizers going up because of what has happened in terms of the Russia/Ukraine impasse but more importantly, fuel as well. Already our rate and our inflation have gone haywire. What measures has the Minister put in place to stabilise things or is he going to allow things to flow and allow the markets to just dictate and hope for sanity to prevail? That is a point of clarity I would want from the Minister because what has happened right now is totally beyond his control and that being the case, I do not see any economy that can control what is going on right now, unless you are the USA who more or less hedge on the gold and the fuel that they have. Any other country, especially in Africa, finds it very difficult because fuel has gone up. It moved from $1, 41 to $1, 79. The barrel from $77 in December 2021 has also gone up to $129. Those are astronomical figures in terms of a rise. The Minister also must be able to clarify on the effect that the current agriculture season has again in terms of money. Where is he going to get the money? Does the Hon. Minister intend to come to this august House with a supplementary budget to support everything that is going on because there is no other way of sustaining the economy other than a supplementary budget? All Ministries come to your office to ask for money because it seems all the time they say there are no resources but the question is, do they ever approach you and ask for money so you can come to this Parliament for a supplementary budget? Those are my points of clarity.
(v)*HON. NYABANI: I want to find out from the Minister that, since fuel prices went up, it means everything that will be used by industries will also increase in price. Since you are anticipating to see our industries’ resuscitated, do you envisage the flourishing of industries because most of the industries were using fuel for production. Does it mean that our industries are on their way to getting broke or do you have any plans in place to ensure that despite the fuel price increase, they can still break even in their businesses?
HON. MUTAMBISI: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the Minister of Finance for his presentation. Hon Minister, when we visit other countries like Mozambique, Kenya, Uganda, etcetera, we note that they are very strict in terms of using their own currency. Can you please clarify why here in Zimbabwe it is very difficult to enforce the use of the Zimbabwe dollar as a local currency?
(v)HON. NDIWENI: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the Hon. Minister of Finance for his presentation. My question to him could be rhetorical. He has set out to try and spell out measures to stabilise the economy for a long time but as it is, things are really going bad day by day. More-so, I refer to the black market availability of finance. How is he going to stop the black market trading because I for one personally think it is the only thing that is messing up the economy? Is there going to be an end to the black market trade?
HON. TEKESHE: I also want to thank the Hon Minister for the Ministerial Statement. I heard the Minister talking about bank limits and the like but I did not hear him talking about when banks will start giving interest to depositors. History tells us people used to go with their savings books to get their interest entered into their accounts but now it is always debits after debits from the banks. You deposit money today and after six months, you find there is no money in your account,. instead of finding your balance increased with interest. When are we going to see a review in this area? We cannot have banks taking people’s money all the time. We need to build confidence in our currency and that depends on the banking system. That is why people are keeping money in their pillows and under their beds because the banks are just there to take people’s money. I thank you.
HON. MUDARIKWA: I also rise to thank the Hon Minister for the Ministerial Statement. My concern is what is happening at the auction floors. Fuel companies are getting money at the auction rates which are very cheap but the same fuel companies go out there and start selling that fuel in US dollars. What has gone wrong, why do we not have fuel being sold in Zimbabwe dollars? Let me give an example, I am producing maize and I will be paid for the maize in RTGs but for me to access fuel, I must pay USD, hence this element of failing to control people who have been allocated money. You hardly get any fuel in Zimbabwe being sold in RTGS, all of it is in USD.
The other thing that we must realise that there is something wrong happening in the fuel sector; go to Harare you find that at every corner now there is a new service station. It shows that people are making a killing. I once travelled from Harare to Zvishavane, on the way there were 32 new service stations which show there is a lot of illegality. The challenges we are facing in terms of foreign currency are being caused by the fuel dealers. I want to therefore, appeal to the Minister to make a thorough investigation on this situation.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. M. NCUBE): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I thank the Hon. Members for those questions, following my Ministerial Statement. The first questions pertain to the levels on fuel.
We have responded as a Government and Ministry of Finance, working with the Ministry of Energy to reduce the levy on fuel. We have reduced it from 12.7 cents to 8.7 cents, we have already acted and it is helping us curb the rise in fuel prices. We will continue to act, and if there is need to lower it further again, we will look at it accordingly and see if that is rightful decision to make but we stand ready and flexible in terms of cushioning the public.
We recall this levy has gone a long way in assisting the Government through Treasury to service loans that were contracted in the past for the importation of fuel, well before 2018. We have owed some legacy loans that we are still servicing. However, we structured the interest charges service mechanism, so it is helping us solve a problem that in a sense we inherited as a Second Republic. So we need these resources.
I now turn on to Hon. Mliswa who referred to two areas: one is in the stabilisation of fertilizer prices and what we are doing about that. I talked about our import substitution strategies, for example where we are capacitating fertilizer companies to import critical raw materials to manufacture fertilizers locally.
If you are talking about importation of ammonium gas, those prices have gone up again. So while it will make the fertilizers more available, it may not necessarily reduce the price but the second strategy we are employing for fertilizer is to import it early for the summer programme. We have noticed that fertilizer prices are highest during the European winter because of the gas prices which are high during winter. So, if you buy fertilizer from November onwards into January, prices will be too high. Therefore, the best time to procure input for fertilizer is during the middle of the year, that is when the prices are lowest globally and this year we want to make use of that knowledge.
On the issue of fuel, I have talked about dealing with the issue of lowering the levy which we have already lowered from 12,7 cents to 8,7 cents. We have another strategy which is to work with all companies who import fuel into this country to switch to a different way of procuring fuel.
Currently, most of them tend to procure fuel on the back of sport prices, so when the price spikes for fuel then there is trouble and they have to buy those highway prices, selling it into the local market at high fuel prices where everyone is unhappy with that.
Therefore, the best way is to shift those contracts to what is called the M-1 type contract, which means that the price of fuel is based on the average price for the previous months. So literary, you take the daily prices of fuel in the previous months and then average out. The average price is what then you use as a contracting price for the month of March, for example.
This cushions us from volatility in the fuel price which volatility is problematic and then we know where we stand. These companies too will benefit because then they are clearer as to what prices they are going to face as buyers of fuel globally. We will be clear as well as ordinary Zimbabweans who consume this fuel, it helps everyone. Most countries around the world are on this type of formula that I have described and we are engaging the fuel companies to move towards this approach so that we have less volatility in the market.
I agree with Hon. Mliswa that with all these pressures, it may be necessary to bring a supplementary budget to this Parliament and why not during the Mid-Term Review, but we will assess the situation. Indeed, the pressures are mounting and I will be very happy to receive the assistance of the House in passing such a supplementary budget.
I move on to Hon. Nyabani, obviously the increase in prices generally which is affecting industries, this is true. It is affecting industry via the increased costs of logistics. Some of them are using fuel in terms of generators to run their businesses, so the oil products are inputs to various raw materials. It is squeezing the margin. So they have no choice but to maintain margins to keep the jobs profitable. They have no choice but to pass on that cost to consumers and then it shows up as increased inflation. That is what is really going on and that is how inflation gets transmitted and we are dealing with it. I am also hopeful that this is a passing phase. I have been watching the oil price, it went up as high as 132, 135 United States dollars per barrel early last week but it has come down as of yesterday. I have not checked this morning, we have been rushing around with Cabinet, but it had come down to about 109, 108 United States dollars per barrel. That was actually earlier in the week as it was last Friday and Monday. Today it is closer to a 100 United States dollars per barrel. This is pleasing, so it is turning downwards. This again should translate to reducing the costs for industry. It is going in the right direction and it is coming down because of these discussions around more peace in Eastern Europe and also increase in supply from other sources of fuel such as Saudi Arabia, perhaps Venezuela; who knows but all that would be welcome.
There is an Hon. Member who asked why we are allowing for the use of foreign currency in the economy yet other countries are not allowing that, they only use domestic currency in their countries. Zimbabwe is in a perculiar situation, perculiar in the sense that it cannot access normal credit lines. We are also in arrears with our payments. We have started paying and of course things are improving. So, we do not have what we call balance of payment support but we did notice that we do have US dollars splashing around in the economy but also our diaspora, last year they send an email record of US$1.4 billion and as Government, we sat back and said you know what we need, that is some kind of surrogate credit line or just another source of credit lines.
Part of the reason why we created the auction was as a mechanism of harnessing the foreign currency that is already here and that is also coming in and then redirecting it to those in need of that foreign currency including the industry, was to substitute for the absence of credit lines. In other words, it has become the source of the credit lines that are missing. That is a very perculiar construction that we have put in place in Zimbabwe which dictates that the US dollar should be allowed to circulate for some time until we resolve the credit lines issue. So, it is a transition but I bet a necessary one, one day mono currency in countries like South Africa, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Kenya and others, it will happen but we are going through phases. We are going through a transition and a necessary one.
The other question was, Hon. Minister, will we ever kill the black market? My answer is, as long as we are going through this transition which is caused by the peculiarity of the economy, there will be some form of the black market. As you know, most currencies around the world have some kind of parallel market. If you have received a US dollar in other countries, there is a parallel market for it. Most currencies will have this and that is the reason for illicit behaviour and illicit trades and that causes different and parallel exchange rates. We never completely eliminated that because we are in this transition and we expect the parallel market to be around for sometime as we go through this transition. It is our hope that when we introduce the mono currency at the right moment where you cannot hold on to foreign currency for longer than 30 days, you would convert, then that moment the black market would fizzle out and hopefully completely die.
The other question is - when will banks start paying interest to attract depositors into the banks? Banks have begun paying interests and it is by law because I issued a Statutory Instrument back in 2020 to compel banks to pay interest. It took time figuring out how to comply, now they have just started complying but I think the real issue is on bank charges, which is on one hand, you receive an interest and on the other, you have bank charges versus the interest; it is the issue for the customers. I think the issue that we need to work with the banks is the issue of bank charges and we will continue with the policy of moral suasion to make sure the bank charges are managed by the banks and are not too excessive, otherwise depositors will not find it attractive to put their money in there. Also, that the deposits in hard currency in the nostros should also attract a healthy interest rate and that again is a subject of moral suasion that we are aware of and we have been engaging the banks on this.
The question asked by the Hon. Member on this is that the fuel companies that access foreign currency from the auction then claim that they will sell the fuel in Zimbabwe dollars but then they go on to sell it in US dollars. We are aware of this and we have changed the system. What we are doing now is, we have said that any designated companies and service stations that wish to sell fuel in Zim. dollars and we have carefully chosen these will be supported through a different system rather than the auction. You will be supported through letters of credit that are arranged through the Central Bank and through NOIC; that will allow them to access foreign currency through a special facility backed by the letters of credit at the back of which we then sell the fuel in Zim dollars. That is the new system to deal with the issue that the Hon. Member has mentioned. We have also realised there was this problem. So, we are dealing with it.
Hon. O. Sibanda, his question was disturbed by connectivity, so he did not quite complete his question.
(V)*HON. CHINOTIMBA: I would like to ask the Hon. Minister of Finance that long ago, we used to have fuel stations for Government which was later changed by Mr. Mangoma to Petro Trade. Government is responsible for selling fuel on black market because the vendors are from the Government. What if the Government builds its fuel stations for the people? People must have access to fuel with good prices. What are you doing with the issue of fuel so that the people may access fuel easily like they used to do long ago before the black market intervention, Hon. Minister of Finance, where are you in terms of filling stations that sell in local currency? We are seeing the Zimbabwe United Passenger Company (ZUPCO) doing so, this is what we want.
(v)+HON. M. MPOFU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question to the Minister is: what causes fuel to be expensive in Zimbabwe compared to other neighbouring countries? We export fuel to Zambia but you find that fuel in Zambia is cheaper than it is in Zimbabwe? My second question is, what is being done by the law enforcement agencies pertaining to the issue of trucks that come with fuel to Zimbabwe and empty it and then ferry water? What is the Minister doing about this issue?
(v)*HON. NYAMUDEZA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question to the Minister of Finance and Economic Development is: how long will it take to have fuel selling in RTGS? Is it not possible to publicise those who are getting foreign currency on the auction floors so that the nation would know that this month, so and so got money on the foreign currency auction floors?
(v)*HON. MASENDA: My question is the prices of agricultural products that we produce are already set using RTGS, for instance the price of maize and small grains, using the rate that was existing then, now the rate has escalated. This means that the foreign currency that farmers were expecting on a tonne of maize then is not the same currently. By the time we sell our maize, we do not know what price it will fetch. My question is, is the Minister seized with the matter of revising the prices of agricultural products so that they will be in sync with the existing rates when we finally sell our maize at the Grain Marketing Board (GMB)?
(v)HON. TOFFA: Hon. Toffa too Hon. Speaker Sir.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Toffa, I am not seeing you but I can recognise you later after this, thank you.
(v)+HON. MOKONE: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. My question to the Minister is, since the price of fuel has gone up, this means that even prices in the shops are going to escalate. What plans have you in place to assist the workers since the prices have gone up? This will ensure that they can be able to buy their basic commodities and the pensioners can also survive because the pension that they are getting has been eroded by inflation.
HON. I. NYONI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is on bank charges which are going up all the time. If you leave some money in the bank, say about $10 000, in one year’s time, you find the whole account wiped out. What measures are there to ensure that it becomes attractive to bank money instead of keeping it at home?
HON. TOFFA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question to the Hon. Minister through you Mr. Speaker Sir, is the Minister considering the fact that Zimbabweans earn ZW$, what measures are in place to make sure that the citizens get access to fuel? Would it not be a good suggestion that the Hon. Minister considers at least giving each citizen an allowance of $20 litres per week so that they can go to work and take children to school? This can be controlled by way of registration books. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
(v)HON. MUSHORIWA: The first question relates to the answer that the Minister gave in terms of the fuel taxes. Hon. Minister, in terms of our taxation on our fuel, we have got the duty that you said you will reduce from 11cents to 8 cents but you are aware that you also have ZINARA levy, the Carbon tax, the Strategic reserve levy and also the debt redemption levy, implying that we are out of the cost of a list of fuel cost, almost 49 cents goes to the tax. I want the Hon. Minister to advise what his Ministry is going to do in terms of ensuring that there is a reduction or review of those levies and taxes so that fuel can be affordable to the majority of Zimbabweans.
The second question relates to the pronouncement by the Minister that the banks – [Technical glitch] - My question is two-fold, the first one is, what are the conditions pertaining to the on-lending of the USDs to avoid a situation where we have got banks using the RTGS lending rates? Are there any regulations pertaining to that? Related to that, what measures or guarantee does the Minister give, that we are not going to have a situation where the Central Bank may not end up raiding the forex reserves within the bank assuming that there is a law on on-lending activities by the bank?
The third and last question, Hon. Minister, in your response pertaining to the efforts that your Ministry is doing in terms of stabilising, I did not hear you speaking when you talked about your Liquidity Management Committees and the question of the usage of the Government in terms of borrowing from RBZ used as TBs? I did not hear you speaking pertaining to the FBR in terms of how much has actually been utilised so far in terms of how much is outstanding because we do not seem to feel the impact of the inflow of the FBR. What percentage, because the last time you said you have used about 311 million and we want to find out the remainder there as the reserve currency or the money has been utilised somehow because we need to find out what measures are being put in place to make sure there is actual stability within the economy.
The last thing, why do we continue to have this huge gap between the auction rate and the parallel rate which is skyrocketing? Moreso, given the fact that in your previous pronouncement and especially when you did the budget you had said that one of the key objectives or key deliverables of the Ministry was to ensure that there was going to be stability of the foreign exchange. Why is it that the market does not seem to be following or taking a cue from the activities of Government? I thank you.
HON. R. R. NYATHI: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. My question to the Hon. Minister of Finance is - what measures is he employing in the short term to encourage our people to bank money in our financial banking system? We know that without our people banking money, it means our industry will not grow but once everybody is motivated to bank money, it means that the economy will increase, industries will operate and the economy will improve. That is my question to the Hon. Minister.
(v)HON. KASHIRI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question to the Minister of Finance and Economic Development is, we seem to have foreign direct investment coming through the mining sector quite a lot, which is good. However, if you look at the manufacturing industry, it seems nothing is really happening there – what are you doing as a Ministry to make the environment conducive for companies to come and invest in Zimbabwe so that we do not become a consumptive economy? I thank you.
(v)HON. GANDAWA: I would like to know from the Minister of Finance – it would appear as if when there is a global spike in fuel prices we tend to have an instantaneous increase of fuel here in Zimbabwe. I wanted to know what our import cover in terms of our fuel is because we do not seem to see an instantaneous reduction in the price of fuel, suppose the price per barrel has gone down. Thank you.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. M. NCUBE): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I thank the Hon. Members for their contributions, questions, comments and request for clarification. I will start with Hon. Chinotimba. His plea was, why Government does not have dedicated petrol/fuel stations that will sell fuel in Z$ and make it more accessible to ordinary Zimbabweans. This is exactly what we are doing and intend to do by making sure that certain resources in the form of letters of credit through NOIC and structured by the Reserve Bank are available for designated petrol stations and companies to access foreign currency and sell the subsequent fuel in Z$. That is exactly what we are doing; Petrotrade is one of those companies and we will expand the programme.
Hon. J. Mpofu asked why fuel is so expensive in Zimbabwe when the other countries are subsidizing their fuel. For us fuel has been largely unsubsidized, except in the last few months because of the current fuel spike. We have been subsidizing that through this reduction of the fuel levy. We will continue to do more and look at other ways of cushioning our citizens. We are aware that countries in the region are subsidizing their fuel but those that also cost our country, cost port tend to have lower fuel crisis because they have a lower cost of logistics. We have to truck our fuel, send it by rail or pipe it by pipeline and that adds to the fuel cost, but others do not have those costs.
You also talked about some of the shenanigans around smuggling fuel, claiming that fuel is being taken across neighbouring countries but when you open up the trucks you find that there is just water and so forth. We are catching these individuals who are involved in this kind of illicit activity. I think you have seen that ZIMRA has been very proactive and active in catching them and anyone caught in this kind of smuggling activities, their truck gets confiscated and they are fined accordingly. We are discouraging this kind of activity but we are also making sure that our GL-tracking and fuel marking technologies are working. Of course, people do get around those things and that is why they are called crooks - that is why they are called crooked people. They do that but we make sure that is minimised. There will be use of appropriate technology and also just plain good policing by both ZIMRA and the police.
There was a comment about how long it will take for fuel in Z$ to be available. We are putting these letters of credit in place. Some fuel is already available in Z$ at designated service stations. It might be a good idea to publish to the public and let them know which companies and which service stations are selling fuel in Z$. I will encourage the Minister of Energy to make this public.
There is a comment on prices of crops being charged in Z$ and the exchange rate because of the parallel market bouncing around, which means that some of these producer prices should be revised upwards. I think that was the implication of the question. From time to time Government has reviewed the price upwards in response to market conditions and we always stand ready to do this. I must say that in reviewing these prices, we are not just driven by parallel market rates, exchange rates and so forth. There is a whole pricing formula which looks into the input cost – what goes into the production of a specific commodity. There is electricity, fuel, and there is also the optimal hectarage – is the person producing at an average of four and half hectares and is it higher or lower. We usually use anywhere between four and half or five hectares and that is the average hectarage that we ought to use for maize and wheat and varied from year to year. There is also the cost of financing; for those who are borrowing, it also becomes a factor. So there is a long list of factors that impact the cost of production, that cost build up model that we use as Government for determining the prices. We are also further refining our price mechanism making sure that this cost of production driven model becomes basically what we call the minimum reserve price so that if prices then go above that, the seller ought to participate on the upside while knowing that there is a minimum and there is a flow which is due to them but we will still make sure that they break even. So, we are getting more and more creative around this issue to make sure that we maximize value and reward for the farmer.
Hon. Mokone, if I got the name right, talked about the support for workers due to increase in price of fuel and inflation. That is exactly what we have been doing in terms of this in the last few weeks. We announced an adjustment in salaries for civil servants, the 20% increase from January and also introducing an additional US dollars cash payment which started this month in March. This also applies to pensioners; this is in addition to the 75US dollars that we are already paying under the COVID-19 allowance programme. Civil servants will receive at least US$175 in hard currency and the remainder will be in domestic currency. If we walk back and say where were we beginning of 2018? The average salary for a civil servant was actually about US$275 because the exchange rate was about 1:2. I often hear an argument being made that it was something like US$500 or so but effectively, it was not that figure. It was that figure divided by two because of the exchange rate then which was not one to one.
If you take the US$175 now plus the Zimbabwe dollar component, you will find that the civil servants are actually, in terms of position, they are in a good position as they were in 2019 if not better this time around. I am very happy to show you the calculations. Specifically, how we have done it, certainly the situation is much better than before. For specific categories, we have not just extended the monetary benefit, but we have also given the non-monetary benefit which is school fees support up to 2 /3 children for a teacher at a Government school or the school where they teach. That also applies to private schools. There is a 20 000 RTGS per child in terms of support from Government if they are at private schools and for Government schools, it is basically free because the school fees are not at the level of 20 000RTGS. We are rolling out accommodation at various schools and then support in terms of transportation. This also applies to the nurses as well, the health workers; they have their own non-monetary benefits. It applies to teachers as well, which include duty free importation of cars and so forth, the risk allowances for the health workers and other allowances for night duty and so forth. There is just so much that we are providing in terms of non-monetary benefits to supplement the monetary benefits. I could go on and on but we are happy to supply any document that gives this kind of detail.
This also extends to our pensioners, our retirees who worked very hard to support us; the war veterans will also be receiving this US dollars component as part of their salary. Mr. Speaker Sir, you recall that the salaries of war veterans turned to be linked to active and serving members within the military. There is a formula where those salaries are linked to a certain level. So any increase for the military will always impact positively on the pensions for war veterans.
On the issue of bank charges which was raised by an Hon. Member, which is to discourage deposits, I agree with him and I talked about it earlier that the bank charges continue to discourage depositors even in the face of an increase in deposits rate and we appreciate that the banks have started paying interest on deposits but the bank charges work against that positive move. We really urge the banks to work hard to lower the bank charges so as to promote more deposits. This is not just in Zimbabwe dollars deposits but in hard currency deposits as well in the nostro accounts.
There was a question on access to fuel in Zim dollars that perhaps we should support every citizen by giving them a fuel allowance for taking children to school and so forth. It sounds like a very complex system. Often if a Government feels that ordinary citizens who are not employees of Government typically feel that they need to be supported, they institute what we call cash transfers as opposed to ...
(v)HON. TOFFA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
(v)HON. TOFFA: My point of order is that the Hon. Minister did not quite understand my question. I said is it not possible for Government to allow citizens to get access to fuel by allowing them at least 20 litres a week in Zimbabwean dollars. It is not an allowance by Government but allowing them access the Zim Dollar fuel.
HON. PROF. M. NCUBE: I thank the Hon. Member for clarifying that question which has been asked many times that we should give citizens’ access to Zim dollar fuel. That is exactly what we are working on, providing letters of credit through a special window, through NOIC working with the Reserve Bank. So, certain designated fuel stations and companies can then sell the fuel in Zimbabwe dollars and I did say that perhaps I will encourage the Minister of Energy and Power Development to publicise which companies are selling fuel in Zimbabwe dollars, where their service stations are located. I think that will be very useful information to citizens. I thank the Hon. Member for that important question again.
Hon. Mushoriwa, there are many levies on fuel and so forth. What we have done is that we have now amalgamated all these various levies on fuel into the one strategic fuel level of 12.7 cents that I talked about. Most of those levies have disappeared, including levies around servicing old debts through the old NOCZIM and so forth. All that has been amalgamated into the strategic levy of 12.7 cents which I have said they have now been lowered to 8.7 cents due to our need to curb the increase in fuel price for the benefit of citizens. So we have cleaned that up and now we are able to control those taxes. We know exactly where the money is going.
The forex deposits in the banking system - do we have conditions on how the money is extended to companies in the form of loans. These are loans, so the banks know what to do. When they extend loans to customers, they lend out in US dollars and they expect repayments in US dollars and not in Zim dollars. That is what we understand them to be doing. They charge interest rates and that is a good thing, which means that now we are putting these US dollars to good use and suspect that they are lending to companies that are earning US dollars as well so that they can service the loans. This is a good thing and there is nothing untoward here. I am not sure if we need any rules as long as they lend in US dollars and receive the payments in US dollars.
The possibility of raiding foreign deposits is a no, no. We do not do that. We are not interested in those US dollar deposits, it is theirs to do what they please with those US dollars and that was very clear in the past. Then the SDRs, the SDRs are being used to support the normal budget programmes and in the budget for 2022, I presented before this House which areas the SDRs will be used in, in supporting the socio-economic sector, health, education cash transfers. How we will then support the productive sector which is agriculture in terms of irrigation export revolving fund, the mining sector in terms of support for artisanal miners especially in the gold sector and then funding some infrastructure developments and then reserving some of them to help stabilise our currency. As I speak, we have something to the order of US$700 million worth of SDRs that are in a bank account which are a part of our foreign reserves and therefore go towards the stabilisation of our currency. So they are playing both roles. There is the budgetary aspect which I described and then there is the reserve element which supports stability. There is no problem here.
He talked about why there is this gap between the parallel market and the official rate. Look, when there is a parallel market official rate, there will be a gap and we have been dealing with this gap in many ways. As I said, one of the ways has been to promote the use of the Zimbabwean dollar. That was in my statement and the other is to fine tune the auction, the way the RBZ has been announcing from time to time and third is to eliminate the backlog on payments in the auction market. So there are different ways in which we have been dealing with the efficacy of the auction market so as to deal with this gap.
I think you will notice that in the last, I would say two months, that gap has not really been widening as before. It just shows that some of the measures here are working but of course the gap was already wide, but it has not really widened very much between the auction and the parallel rate. That is why now we are saying that the real source of inflation is imported inflation through the fuel sector, but also raw materials that we require to do some manufacturing locally and through finished goods because of this sharp rise in global inflation and global fuel prices.
Hon. Nyathi on short term measures to encourage people to bank money; again, I have tried to deal with this issue. The banks, by law, have introduced interest rates for Zimbabwean dollars but then the issue has been the bank charges which I think are still high and I suspect over time, they will be sensitive enough to lower those bank charges, but also the Central Bank is now saying that an individual can access more cash from their bank account per week. All this is good that you are able to deposit your money, earn an interest and then you are able to cash out more from the bank on a weekly or monthly basis.
Hon. Kashiri, we said we have witnessed growth or increase in foreign direct investment (FDI) into the mining sector but perhaps not much into the manufacturing sector. I tell you what, in the mining sector that is where you really need FDI. Why, because mining is expensive business. Explanation - buying equipment then eventually you prove the resource, you go into the digging of a hole into the ground if you have to. It is an expensive business so it always needs foreign direct investment because really, our financial sector is too small to support these kinds of expensive ventures and that is a good thing, but when it comes to manufacturing, things are different. This is a less expensive business and what has been happening is that our manufacturing sector has actually been reinvesting. A lot of companies have retooled. The new companies have come on to the market and are manufacturing these myriad products that you see on our shelves that are locally produced. So again there is reinvestment in the manufacturing sector by the companies that are already on the ground and in the country and then new companies have also entered the market, but this does not require as much investment as the mining sector.
Finally, there is a question on the global spikes in fuel prices and other prices which is a direct translation into Zimbabwe. Why is this and how can this be ameliorated? Again, I tried to explain this even in my presentation to say, if it is fear for example, one way is to enter into contracts where the prices depend on the average price for the previous month. This will smooth over the spikes and troughs and create certainty on the prices for the following month, both for the companies themselves that procure the fuel as well as for citizens locally, domestically, who then will be clear as to what price will prevail from time to time. So that is one way, but of course there could be other ways to do this. They are hedging mechanisms and it is the companies which should be doing the hedging not the Government but we hope to see more hedging strategies being implemented going forward as the market becomes more and more sophisticated. I thank you.
(v)HON. G. DUBE: Thank you Mr. Speaker. As a follow up to our answers from the Minister, this is especially on the issue of civil servants. I am sure it is incorrect for the Minister to say civil servants are doing better than they were before. It is better for him to say we are trying to improve the bad working conditions of the civil servants. It does not make sense to give someone 10% when you do not pay it. So I think the statement on civil servants is not correct and everyone is not able to do anything including these workers you are looking at now at Parliament and everyone in the civil service…
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: You are breaking up Hon. Dube
(v)HON. G. DUBE: Business is actually pegging prices at a rate of 250 to 300 to the United States dollar and you are crediting salaries at a rate of 120. What are you doing to solve this problem? It affects the ordinary person?
HON. R. R. NYATHI: Mr. Speaker Sir, I have a follow up question on banking. What guarantee does our Minister give to the nation that those people who are having forex in their homes, that is the US Dollar and other currencies to be encouraged to bank their money with the guarantee that they will get their money back in the future?
(v)*HON. RAIDZA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My point of clarification to the Minister is on the increasing fuel prices and we are not getting it in some fuel stations. I suspect that they are holding it in anticipation of another price increase. What is Government policy to ensure that the fuel that is in the country is sold at the prevailing prices at the time of importing the fuel? That can affect development in the country. Also, Government should be exposing such business malpractices. I thank you – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] –
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: It is not the Minister saying so. You know we have got other businesses that we want to attend to. I think we have given this Statement enough time for your questions. I now give the floor to the Hon. Minister to respond to clarifications.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. M. NCUBE): Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. Let me start with the question from Hon. Nyathi. Basically, he wanted guarantee and as the Minister of Finance, I cannot give a guarantee that if you put your money in a specific bank, you will get it out. So many things happen with banks. They have got different charges. They have different interest rates and they may even fail, for that matter. However, for that we have got the Deposit Protection Corporation. A Minister cannot give those kind of specific guarantees but we can pronounce on policy to say we have a policy where over time, we will increase the amount that you can access as a depositor in a specific bank. We have a policy that banks should pay interest but also we cannot force individuals to bank in the first place. We have allowed you in terms of policy to keep your money under your mattress and that is okay. We have not made it illegal and I think that is the kind of flexibility that we want in our economy.
(v)+HON. S. K. MGUNI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir for allowing me to make a follow up question. I have not heard the Minister addressing to the communicating of the parallel rate that is being done by the illegal forex traders. How are they being controlled and how is the Government going to apprehend them? They are the people giving us trouble as a nation. It seems we do not have a signed resolution to control them.
The other question is on fuel. The citizens of Zimbabwe are now suffering. Fuel is being sold in foreign currency which is not within the reach of the citizens. I have not heard the Minister addressing a sound solution on the fuel issue. Only a few individuals are affording to buy fuel because it is sold in foreign currency. Only a few individuals are able to get the foreign currency. The civil servants earn little salaries, therefore they are not able to buy fuel. I am appealing to the Government to come up with a sound resolution that could protect illicit financial flows and also control the illegal forex trading.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. M. NCUBE): Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. Let me begin by answering the question from Hon. Raidza. He asked a very important question about service stations that are holding fuel for speculative reasons, hoping that prices will go up. I know that prices are coming down rather than going up. So I do not know how they will handle that.
Secondly, we cannot force companies to sell fuel that they have bought using their own resources. They have not used Government resources, they have used their own resources and they are in business. Let us then see how they square the books - where they do not sell the fuel and then the prices start coming down. Some of these things will be sorted out by the market forces and they will start offloading when prices go down, that is if they go down. We cannot as Government force companies to sell fuel that they have accessed through their own resources.
This behaviour speaks to the volatile nature of the market which will cause this kind of behaviour and I did explain that one way to handle this going forward is to average out prices over the previous months and then use those as contracting prices for future purchase of fuel by companies which then translates to more stable prices for the domestic market.
The question from the Hon. Member that there is so much fuel in forex, actually we need more fuel in Zimbabwe dollars and deal with those who are breaking the law in this regard. I have already dealt with that to say we have special facilities, letters of credit which if you access your US Dollars that way, you can only sell in Zimbabwean dollars and there is enforcement. The ZERA, the Financial Intelligence Unit and the Central Bank are enforcing this kind of programme. The idea is to expand it so that more citizens can access the fuel in Zimbabwe dollars. He also referred to the issue of dealing with the foreign currency traders and we have been arresting them. We have been fining them and the companies. I am very pleased with the work that the financial intelligence unit is doing. We have capacitated them further and they are beginning to have teeth and also we are putting the laws to enable them to act. We had S.I. 127 whose aspects were also incorporated into the Finance Bill for this year. We are pleased with the legal framework for dealing with such errant behaviour. We will not stop. We will continue to do this kind of work to discourage illicit activities.
On the motion of THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. M. NCUBE), the House adjourned at Six Minutes past Six o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday, 16th March, 2022
The Senate met at Half-past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE
APPOINTMENT TO THEMATIC COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I have to inform the Senate that Hon. Sen. Nicholas Nkomo has been appointed to serve in the Thematic Committee on Peace and Security and the Thematic Committee on Human Rights.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE SENATE
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR MASHONALAND CENTRAL PROVINCE (HON. SEN. MAVHUNGA): Mr. President Sir, I move that Order of the Day No. 1 on today’s Order Paper be stood over until the rest of the Orders of the Day have been disposed of.
HON. SEN. SIPANI-HUNGWE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
EFFOTS TO CURB CORRUPTION
HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: Mr. President Sir, I move the motion standing in my name that –
MINDFUL that Government established the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) to deal with challenges of corruption in the country;
DISBURBED that despite such noble endeavour by Government, incidents of corruption continue to proliferate unabated as if to make a mockery of the measures put in place;
NOTING with concern that this scourge needs to be tackled and nipped in the bud before it disturbs our everyday lives as it continues to rear its head among our societies;
CONCERNED that at times even those tasked with the responsibility of preserving our law and order do end up being caught on the wrong side of the law as they fail to wrest the effects of corruption which continues to spread like fire;
NOW, THEREFORE, this Senate –
- Calls upon the Executive to introduce deterrent measures for those engaging in corrupt activities;
- Calls upon the Judiciary to fast track all cases of corruption through spread courts that will be established to deal with such nefarious activities.
HON. SEN. CHIEF NGUNGUMBANE: I second.
HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: Thank your Mr. President. Despite the work being done by the Government of Zimbabwe, academics and activists, Anti-Corruption Reformers and development agencies, there are still more questions than answers. In Zimbabwe anti-corruption strategies have been undertaken as part of broad public sector reform aimed at creating a leaner, more efficient, motivated and productive civil service to facilitate service delivery. However, the results are not impressive.
Zimbabwe scored 24 points out of 100 and ranked 157 out of 180 countries in Transparency International 2020 Corruption Perceptions Index. Corruption has risen to high levels in Zimbabwe. In fact, Zimbabwe is amongst the world’s top 25 most corrupt countries. Zimbabwe over the years has experienced surge in the level of corruption with various reports defining corruption as a cancer eating Zimbabwe and Zimbabwe’s man made tragedy. The Zimbabwe’s Constitution aspires for equality and corruption makes this aspiration difficult to achieve because it makes the environment unbalanced and it is in favour of those with financial resources.
Whenever a public office is abused, a public function or objective is set aside and compromised. The fight against corruption is an effective means of combating poverty in Zimbabwe where corruption is the major obstacle to the social and economic development. Corruption has a disproportionate effect on the poor and most vulnerable, increasing costs, reducing access to services including health, education and justice. Corruption in the procurement of drugs and medical equipment drives up costs and can lead to substandard and harmful products. In a report by Transparency International in 2019, Zimbabwe is losing at least US$1 billion annually to corruption. Corruption has reached levels that make those in public positions fail to take decisions with the interest of society in mind. Poor people and economically strapped businesses have few economic alternatives and serious corruption is the norm. They are even more vulnerable to exploitation. Levels of corruption are adding another layer of the cost of doing business in the country which reputes any potential investors. At the very least, corruption compromises the Government and its parastatals the ability to deliver an array of public services, including health, education, electricity, water and welfare which are all essential for realization of economic, social and cultural rights as enshrined in the Constitution.
Bureaucratic corruption is tolling high and poses major threats to the success of NDS1 and Vision 2030 and the sustainable development goals which are goal number 1- no poverty, goal number 3 good health and wellbeing, goal number 6 clean water and sanitation and goal 16 peace, justice and strong institutions.
Corruption is increasing poverty by reducing the potential income earnings of the poor. Alternatively, poverty which is usually indicated by low income, low education and health, vulnerability and powerlessness invites corruption. Therefore, if the situation remains unchanged and without new methods of dealing with corruption the success of the NDS1 remains in question. It can be noted that greed, poverty, income disparities, inadequate civil servants remuneration, lack of accountability and transparency are major causes of corruption in Zimbabwe. Low wages in the civil service relative to wages in the private sector are a source of high level corruption. When civil service pay is too low, civil servants may be obliged to use their positions to collect bribes as a way of making ends meet, particularly when the expected cost of being caught is low.
Lack of professional ethics and deficient laws regulating corruption as a criminal offence and the prosecution and sanctioning of it are also an important cause for the emergence and spread of corruption. A great influence comes also from the ineffectiveness sanctioning of corruption which only increases the possibility of continuing the corruptive actions of those involved, creating at the same time a strong likelihood that others will join in the corruption due to this insufficient sanctioning. Corruption jeopardises success of the long term initiative in every area of development.
The slow adoption of technology especially in the public service is also speeding corruption. Technology cuts the red tape through automation of bureaucratic processes. Complex procedures which are cumbersome and typically lay the ground for corruption with no opportunities for face to face interactions between citizens and public offices, digital processes substantially may reduce the opportunities for soliciting or accepting bribes.
Mr. President, keeping that in mind, I therefore call the Government to offer supportive civil service conditions, decent working and living conditions for the servants of the public consisting of sufficient job security, opportunities for promotion and fair remuneration or social appreciation; they will have chances of reducing corruption.
The Government through the anti corruption courts must enforce stiffer and higher penalties on corruption as a mechanism of promoting restrain against public officials. All cases of corruption regardless of form must be treated as high level criminal cases, thus attracting longer and deterrent court sentences. We need to enforce legislation which provides for witness protection and victims of corruption. Absence of such legislation hampers prosecution of corruption.
In most instances, the identity of witnesses is known and eventually they fear to come and testify in court because there is a risk of intimidation, loss of employment and harassment afterwards.
There is need to speed up technology adoption in public service. This will also be coupled with equipping the civil service personnel with the skills to use it. Public officials may also need to undergo training in the dimension of corruption and the negative impact of systemic corruption on the well-being of the public.
If officers are trained or equipped with knowledge on how corruption can be reduced, public enterprises performance and integrity can be improved. The public needs to be educated on the advantages of good governance and participate in promoting it. The public itself bears a large share of responsibility for insisting on honesty and integrity in Government business. The public needs to learn that they must not pay bribes themselves but must report incidents of corruption to the authorities and to teach their children the right values.
Mr. President, contrary to sentiments that corruption is inherent in Zimbabwe - the country has not always been corrupt as it is today and there is potential for the country to aspire or even surpass its record low of 43 in 1998. The country has taken measures to try and curb corruption. At the centre of Zimbabwe’s anti corruption efforts, is the Zimbabwe Anti Corruption Commission. The Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 20), Act of 2013 established ZACC and the National Prosecuting Authority and special anti corruption unit and specialised anti corruption courts as the main institutions mandated to counter corruption in the country.
These institutions must be used effectively to counter corruption in Zimbabwe which is spreading poverty. We cannot win the war against poverty without first winning the battle against corruption. Fighting corruption is not just a moral issue, but it is also an effective means of combating poverty. I thank you Mr. President.
HON. SEN. CHIEF NGUNGUMBANE: Thank you Mr. President for giving me this opportunity to debate this very important motion raised by Hon. Sen. Tongogara. The issue of corruption is not a new case before this House. We have received motions about corruption in the past. We have laws that have been enacted, I do not know since when. They seem not to be addressing the problem. So, it means there is a fundamental and structural problem that as this august House, we really need to look into.
Mr. President, you will agree with me that laws alone cannot end corruption. If laws could end corruption, then this society could be corrupt less but it illustrates that more needs to be done in curbing this cancer called corruption. Corruption is not practiced by the poor but it is practiced by the rich, the educated and the clever. So we need to be vigilant and be cleverer than them in addressing corruption. Looking at a layman’s definition, corruption is a source of corruption in itself. It says ‘it is the use of public resources for private gain’. The question is - what measures have we put as a country to safeguard those resources and if those measures are there, what are we doing to ensure that we safeguard public resources?
To me this definition is inadequate. One issue that comes to mind is the issue of conflict of interests. We remember when we started this session; we were called to declare our assets. To say I have this much, these are the things that I have but are we extending that to all sectors of Government? If yes, are we doing it effectively? I doubt. Mr. President, institutions that deal with corruption, in my own view, are very weak and compromised. Why am I saying this? If you look at the police, as part of the criminal justice system, they are poorly remunerated. Their tools of trade leave a lot to be desired. If you go to any police station today, you would find perhaps one vehicle servicing a population of 10 000 to 30 000 people. In most cases, you would find that the one vehicle is used by the Officer in Charge for his/her personal errands.
If I look at the National Prosecuting Authority, are we remunerating our prosecutors very well to an extent that they can resist a bribe when it is offered to them? The answer is no. Imagine you are a prosecutor, you deal with a high profile case and in the evening, you have to board a kombi to go home. Obviously you are already exposed and you are vulnerable to corrupt tendencies by those that practice corruption.
I look at our magistrates, are we remunerating them very well? The answer is no. Therefore, I call on players in the criminal justice system regardless of the position that they hold – indeed all civil servants, we are not saying it is only in the criminal justice system where we find corruption but everywhere people should be motivated to come to work and work diligently.
It also calls that as Parliament, we must ensure that the players in the criminal justice system receive adequate budgets when the Minister of Finance brings in the budget at the end of the year. There should also be timeous distribution of this budget to the concerned parties. This will enable institutional empowerment of its bodies, when fully resourced, they are able to carry out their duties independently without fear or favour.
Mr. President, there is a tendency to glorify corruption. In society you would find that people we take as role models; some of them have acquired that money through unpleasant means. When our children see these people, they would admire and say I want to start a business. I want to be rich as so and so. Little do they know that the person is under investigation or has become a fugitive because of corrupt allegations that they tend to see.
Let us not only look at the corruption that is practiced under public eye. Corruption that is allegedly practiced by the police, VID and all other people that are public servants, that in a way does not affect our economy. Their corruption, yes it affects but it is insignificant. Thrust should be put on those people who make a killing; a fortune out of corruption. If you go to South Africa, being a tenderpreneur has become big business. I have been following the Zondo Commission proceedings and you will find most of these tenderpreneurs are people that get these tenders through unscrupulous ways like bribing. So, we need to find ways of curtailing that and as I said before, we are dealing with very intelligentophisticated people, who can kill in order to safeguard their practices.
One thing that comes to mind is our criminal justice system. I am not a lawyer but I feel the law of criminal evidence should be looked into because we have a poorly remunerated prosecutor, magistrate and police officer having to deal with evidence. Collection of evidence is very key in a corruption case. Once you distort that evidence, you have destroyed the case and that person will go scot free. I feel our officers should measure up to the level of these criminals. We need to review our law of criminal evidence. How do we gather evidence, are we using sophisticated technology, are the police, judiciary, NPA and ZACC moving with technological advancements that are taking place globally? The answer is yes but we are moving at a very slow pace.
There is this notion which is says in the courts, one is innocent until they are proven guilty. At times because of the bungling in the criminal justice system, we have witnessed people going scot free because the court failed to establish a prima facie case against the accused. Let us not look at establishing a case beyond reasonable doubt. I feel our courts should go a step further in addressing this case. It is also important whether somebody is acquitted of corruption cases but we should look at the ethical considerations. If it is a public servant, they should not go back to work because ethically, he has done something wrong. As a chief, I do not know which comes first, the issue of ethics, morality and the actual crime because we have people who say I am innocent until I am proven guilty but ethically it is well known that this person has done something wrong. Like what Hon. Sen. Tongogara alluded to, there is need to enforce ethical behaviour and considerations both in the public and private sectors.
Let me conclude by saying we cannot address the issue of corruption in this country if we do not look at where we are coming as a people. Our values of ubuntu, hunhu, humanity – the highest stage of corruption is an indication that our moral fabric has been torn into pieces. People cannot differentiate what is correct and what is not, what is morally wrong and right. To them, as long as I am able to make quick money, show off, drive a fancy vehicle which we idolise so much, but you do not know how that person got that money, my appeal is that let us re-enforce values and principles of ubuntu. ‘I am because you are’ but when you deal with corruption, it becomes a cartel. It is you and the other person and we ignore the interest of society at large. With those few words, I would want to second the motion raised by Hon. Sen. Tongogara.
HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 17th March 2022.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR MASHONALAND CENTRAL PROVINCE (HON. SEN. MAVHUNGA): I move that we revert to Order of the Day Number 1 on today’s Oder Paper.
Motion put and agreed to.
SECOND READING
PENSIONS AND PROVIDENT FUNDS BILL [H. B. 17A, 2019]
First Order read: Second Reading: Pensions and Provident Funds Bill [H. B. 17A, 2019]
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. KOMICHI: Thank Hon. Minister for bringing this Bill on pension fund. The Bill on pension funds is welcome to everyone who is about to go on pension and those who are young because pension is about the life of a retired person. When people have grown old, they need security so that they live well because they cannot run around like what they used to do when they were young. These days, people are afraid of going on retirement. Even if you have a good job, you know that going for retirement is a death sentence.
If you look at the records, many people who are dying are those who would have gone on retirement. This is so because of the paltry pensions that people are getting. Instead of living on them, they are stressed. The monies that they get are used for bus fare. Old men and women are given US$30 and if we look at the cost of living these days, what does US$30 do? A few weeks ago in the social media, the issue was about teachers getting $58 000 which is a lump sum of money which they get when they retire. Hon. President, you are killing people. Long back you would distinguish pensioners from their lifestyle. In the rural areas, that is where tea was drunk and they were noticeable in the society because it was good. People could survive when they retire but these days it is very difficult.
This Bill is trying to rectify the challenges that were there in the system, which is a noble thing to give power to the insurance bodies and make sure that corruption is curbed. The challenge that we have is that at the moment, how are pensioners surviving? The challenge that we have is the calculations because when you are being given a pension, you are given peanuts. The challenge that is being faced by pensioners is that the calculations that you are using do not help the pensioners but they benefit the pension houses.
A person should be happy when they are going for retirement but at the moment the calculations that are being used are not working. If you see a teacher who has worked for 50 years and they are given $58 000 as a package that they should go and retire at home, what can they do? Long back we know that when someone has been given their pension, they can go and develop their homes, buy cars, open shops and live well in the rural areas.
These days if a teacher retires, he/she cannot even buy groceries for two weeks with the money that they are given. The other thing that pensioners are crying about is that the money that they are given and the money that remains with the Pension Board is too much, which is used for the calculations of the pension. The cost is very high and it is painful. I think that is what the Bill should have covered and everyone would have been happy. You once said that consultations were made but the Bill did not capture the input from the people, their contributions and that is the immediate thing that needs to be done.
The Bill is not shedding any light on when things will be better because right now the pensioners are not living well and they need help. The cry of the pensioners is that what they submitted was not covered by the Bill. The Minister is focusing on giving powers but you are not focusing on how we should get our money. So, the aim is very good but I think you should look at the pensioners before it is signed. I think we should hold another hearing to find out where the issues are, especially on the calculations. Thank you Hon. President.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF CHARUMBIRA: Thank you Mr. President and thank you Hon. Minister. The Minister did well by giving his statement yesterday. Yesterday I debated on the pensions that when you are bringing a law like this to Parliament, the lawyers would say what the mischief we would want to rectify is. I have seen a lot of things that he wants to rectify. He wants to protect corporate governance, issues of transparency and that they should be obeyed which are arbitrated. Such issues on all the pension funds - that corporate governance should be good, I have seen it and there are a lot of them. According to the law, when we get to the Committee Stage when we are doing the actual amendments, I see that the Hon. Minister said we have challenges but you are not really clear about the issues that are affecting people.
When we come to Committee Stage we will be articulating on that people should invest outside the country, off-shore investments and we can see that. The problem that we have which I think you would add on this Bill is that we work with people. The problems that they have are that people have worked in local authority or NRZ. Now they are in the rural areas and NSSA is a culprit. For them to get their funds, it is not possible. I have a lot of people per year who come to me seeking for advice. I investigate to find out who is the head of the local pension fund. I phone them and they say yes, but we do not have the money. So I want your Bill to address that.
People have been contributing the whole of their life and they were told that after working they will be given such an amount of money. I remember there was someone who had been promised $28 000. After three or four years now they are sick and they want medical help but they cannot access that money.
Their school going children are in boarding schools and now do not have money, so the children no longer continue with their education but their money is there at the pension fund, they cannot access it. I was thinking that this law was going to address that. Some are getting to the point of dying without getting their money. I have made a follow-up on some of them; some will get after two months and they will get probably $14 000 and that will be the end.
I remember another case where the person ended up going to South Africa for medical attention. I thought you were going to address the issue of access to pension by pensioners because they are no longer at work and they have relocated to Murewa or Plumtree but they used to work in Harare. They are asked to come to Harare where they do not have anywhere to stay. So what should be done if someone leaves their employment so that they get help? This Commission of Pensions where does it come in because I have not seen anywhere where it helps people. It has to get money but why does it not help people? This Commission is living on pensioners’ funds, why does it not help the pensioners? If the law says if someone retires they must be given their pensions and when people retire, they do not get their pension, I think there should be a law which makes sure people are given their pensions. The money that you are given, let us say after two years, if you are not paid in time, it would have lost value. They must give timeframes that pension must be paid within three months from the month of retiring. If they take long to pay, they should factor in the issue of inflation and when they are then given the money, it will still be at the same value. At the end of the day, the money is being eroded by inflation like the money from NSSA. I heard someone saying that they took long to pay them and when they eventually got paid, the money was equivalent to US$60.
The money that people are getting is meaningless and for someone to get their pension fast, you have to engage in people with power or to pay bribe so that you can access your pension quickly. Why should we not pay people their pensions in time? The law is not addressing that but it is addressing issues on investment and corporate governance. No plans have been put in place to look at the plight of pensioners. The companies will have collected monthly contributions in the form of pensions but now they do not want to give pensioners their money, why? I thank you Mr. President.
*HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: Thank you Mr. President for according me this opportunity to add my voice on this Bill which was brought in by the Minister. There are some things that he has rectified. Do pensioners who have migrated to the rural areas still have to look for bus fare to come and access their money in town? The pension which they receive is not even enough to pay for bus fare back home. The pensioners are in a sorry state and a Bill like this must address these issues. When people work, they must know that they will get a reasonable pension but working people do not know their future now. Do you make a follow up on pensioners to see what is happening when people retire?
On Section 6 (v) that is referring to the Commission, I do not know if this Commission does help to make sure that pensioners have their pension and that their rights are being met. Are there any plans in place to improve the plight of pensioners? Government must see to it that pensioners get their money in time so the people work and look forward to a retirement package that will help them in their old age. They cannot struggle to get their pensions; we want this rectified. They must have money from their pensions to pay for bus fare.
*HON. SEN. MABIKA: Thank you Mr. President. I would like to know whether in this Bill, there are some issues that can be changed regarding age. If someone is 40 or below, they are told that they can only get their pensions after 60 years and you are now allowed to take your pension before the age of 60. Is the Bill addressing the age issue that speaks to that? At the moment, you are told to wait until you reach retirement age. During this period, before attaining 60, what would the pensioner be using to survive? I thank you.
+HON. SEN. N. KHUMALO: Thank you Mr. President for this opportunity that you have given me. Growing up here in Zimbabwe looks like a crime. One works very hard in their youthful days and money will be deducted from their salary, which is money that one is supposed to use once they have retired. In other countries, when one has reached retirement age, the money that he gets is enough for them to pay rent and they make a living from it. They get most things that those that are working cannot afford but here in Zimbabwe, once one has retired, their retirement is a crime and they are supposed to die just because they have retired.
The lump sum that is given to people that are pensioners is so disappointing and what they get monthly does not even suffice. Right now, NSSA is giving people something like RTGS 2000 and pensioners are failing to fend for their families on that. Most of the people that get pensions go to stay in the rural areas and there are no banks in these rural areas. They are forced to board buses to go to towns to access banks. They have to borrow money for them to board those buses to maybe Bulawayo and when they get there, they realise that their money is not yet in. In cases where they get their money, once they get that money, they pay back for the bus fare and the money they are left with is not enough to buy anything for their families. It is so difficult. What I am asking is, may the Government look into this.
One other issue that is troubling me is that NSSA is buying quite a number of properties yet the profit that they get from these properties is not directed to the same pensioners who have contributed to the money they use to buy properties. The corruption that we are busy debating here is supposed to be directed to the NSSA people because they are stealing from people that do not have any other means of going back to work.
In our culture we say they are like birds that take other bird’s feathers to build their nests. Minister, my appeal is let us craft a law that will protect pensioners. Yes, I understand you once spoke about offshore investment but is it going to help us because right now these properties that NSSA is buying are failing to help people? I appeal that let us have a law in place to protect people and the money that they have been contributing since they were young. I thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Hon. Minister, have you managed to capture the issues she raised?
THE DEPUTY MINISISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHIDUWA): Partially.
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Do you want someone to help you?
HON. CHIDUWA: I think my team has captured it.
* HON. CHIDUWA: Mr. President, let me start by responding to questions that were raised by Sen. Komichi who spoke about the importance of pensions. He also said that pensions were good in the past but now people fear being pensioners because when you become a pensioner, it means your days are reduced here on earth. In the past, it was really good to be a pensioner.
This is what we want to fix using this Bill, Hon. Senator, like what was said by Sen. Chief Charumbira that when we amend laws - coming up with new Bills, it is because we are trying to cure these challenges.
You also said that in the first issue, inputs which were raised by people during consultations are not recorded in the Bill. Indeed, I agree with you, but the issue is that we have the pension fund for civil servants. The Civil Service Pension Fund is not regulated by this Bill, so you will discover some issues which were raised during consultations were not recorded but they were captured in the Civil Service Pension Fund. So that is where these issues are going to be addressed.
I would also like to respond to the NSSA issue. NSSA is not covered by IPEC, so such issues relating to NSSA are not covered under this Bill. This is the response that I can give to the question. He also raised other issues like pension calculations for instance, that these should be corrected forthwith. The Bill, when it becomes an Act of Parliament, will have to stand the test of time. I know we desire to have a response right now but looking into the Bill, there is a section which is titled revaluations of assets and liabilities. We also spoke about conversion of foreign currency.
In that particular section, that is where we help each other on how we calculate the money that is apportioned to a pensioner. We also spoke about actuaries. For you to be an actuary, it means you need to have some qualifications which are vetted according to your profession. Actuaries would assist us in that whatever they come up with will be credible. These assist us in calculating pensions. So if there is any surplus that we alluded to, that must be included in the Bill.
We also spoke about surplus money which should be declared. The Bill captures all the issues that were raised. So we are looking forward to these issues being addressed. When you look at all the sections they are there, but I want to clarify that NSSA is not regulated by this Bill.
Let me also move to what was raised by Senator Chief Charumbira that when we amend laws and come up with new Bills is because we are trying to cure these challenges. Problems that are being addressed by this Bill are that a person can make contributions for the whole life but will not realise all that effort. We said when we go to depositors, we have the Depositors’ Fund. For pensions we want to have Pensions Protection Fund. This will assist even if our economy changes downwards, pensioners will be protected.
If we follow all that is mentioned in the Pension Protection Fund, they will be protected. You also talked about timely disbursements and loss of value. Timely disbursements, if our Bill passes, there are issues which will come from regulatory guidelines, which will address all that. There are certain issues which are not coming out of the Act which will be addressed by the regulator in the regulatory guidelines. Timelines will come out later but every time when we disburse funds, they should consider loss of value. It should not take long when one goes on pension, for one to get his/her pension.
You also mentioned about problems on calculation of pension, you want it to be rectified right now. When our Bill becomes an Act, it will stand the test of time. I know that we want to get the answer as soon as possible. When we look in this Bill, we have a section which talks of assets and liabilities. We also talked of conversion of foreign currency, but the details will come out in the regulatory framework.
On what was raised by Hon. Sen.Tongogara on the issue of pensioners getting their money without trouble, as we speak, Government has a policy on financial inclusion. This policy states that in line with the policy thrust of Government, which says leaving no one and no place behind - .people from where they are should get financial products. At banks which belong to Government - POSB, AFC, our policy is that at growth points where people live, these banks should be found. With our policy on digitalisation, which is one of the pillars of NDS1, we want for there to be 100% coverage in the country on the issue of mobile networks. Even pensioners can get their money over the phone. POSB on their strategic plan want to increase their banks. Our banks like POSB will continue going closer to people.
We have other banks which do mobile banking. Not all banks are doing that, but it is helping some of our pensioners.
She talked of Section 65, I agree that there was no protection which is clear except for Service Level Agreements which were there. So, the Mischief which we want to correct on Section 65 is that there should be a Pensions Protection Fund. There is an issue raised by Hon. Sen. Mabika that if one reaches 55 years but the law on pension says I will get my pension after 65 years, how will I survive. We have different types of pension schemes. Private pension funds, many of them if you reach 55 years you will qualify. If you retire you will get you money. You will get this in the regulation, not in this Act. Those in NSSA, it will be a little bit different.
Hon. Sen. Khumalo, I am not sure whether I get you. My team should assist me so that I address the issues that were raised by Hon. Sen. Khumalo. So, this is the response that I am giving to the issues that have been raised. The most important thing is that NSSA is not covered by this Bill but the Deposit Protection Fund should assist our pensioners. I move that the Bill be now read a second time.
Motion put and agreed to.
Bill read a second time.
Committee Stage: Thursday, 17th March 2022.
MOTION
FIRST REPORT OF THE THEMATIC COMMITTEE ON HIV AND AIDS ON THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC LOCKDOWN RESTRICTIONS ON HIV AND AIDS SERVICE DELIVERY SYSEM IN ZIMBABWE
Third Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the impact of COVID-19 pandemic lockdown restrictions on HIV and AIDS service delivery system.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: Thank you Mr. President for giving me the opportunity to support the report that was tabled in this august House by Hon Sen. Kambizi. I would like to thank the Committee on HIV and AIDS in coming up with a very detailed First Report of the Thematic Committee on HIV and AIDS on the impact of COVID-19 pandemic during lockdown restrictions on HIV and AIDS service delivery system in Zimbabwe.
It is very important to add a few words in seconding this very important report. It has got everything and I hope the responsible Ministry will take note of the recommendations from the Committee and implement them in order for Government to achieve the UN target of the three-90s. During the visit to NatPharm, we wanted to understand how the ART roll-out programme was progressing in the country and to understand the supply chain in our health institutions. Of importance was to find out what happens to expired ARVs. As a Committee, we were worried that maybe they end up being sold on the streets. We were informed that they are withdrawn from service following the same supply chain. In other words, for accountability, it follows the reverse procedure until they reach NatPharm. They are then disposed of under very strict conditions and supervised by various departments. They are disposed of through incineration.
At NatPharm, we were also informed about the procurement and distribution of ARVs. Of concern to the Committee was the delay for ARVs to reach the final end of the distribution supply chain. We were told that sometimes the health institutions delay in submitting their request for restocks and end up being delayed along the supply chain.
We also had the opportunity to meet with the National Aids Council of Zimbabwe (NAC). NAC came to being through the enactment of the National Aids Council of Zimbabwe Act. The report highlighted in detail the mandate of NAC and the funding through the Aids Levy and the development partners. We heard about the programmes and the activities of NAC. Of Interest to the Committee were challenges that NAC was facing, access of foreign currency to procure ARVs. We heard that NAC was priority number one for the RBZ but what they were getting was not enough.
We were also told that 85% of the HIV funding came from donors. The Committee felt that as a country, we have to prepare ourselves on what will happen when donors pull out in terms of HIV funding. The number of people in formal employment has gone down and this has affected the flow of AIDS levy. The Government has no legal framework to collect tax from those in the informal sector. The programme faced a number of challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic that were highlighted in the report. Those who knew their HIV status for the first time were becoming fewer because of the challenges in accessing, testing and counselling services.
As a Committee, we were impressed with the programmes and activities of NAC. A visit to selected health institutions proved that most institutions were experiencing shortages of second line drugs and cotramoxazole which were funded by our Government through the AIDS levy.
Lastly, most issues have been highlighted in the report. As a Committee, we hope our observations and recommendations will be taken care of and implemented. I thank you Mr. President.
*HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: Thank you Mr. President for affording me this opportunity to add my voice on the report which was brought by Hon. Sen. Kambizi, a report from HIV/AIDs Thematic Committee. The pandemic of HIV/AIDS has caused havoc. In the first days, we lost many lives - right now people understand that HIV/AIDS is not a death sentence. Government is trying by all means for people to receive their treatment so that they can live.
Still on that issue, there is a problem because when we thought that we were moving forward on reducing the transmission of HIV/AIDS and people were taking their medication on time, there were hindrances and problems here and there. The COVID-19 pandemic came and it caused a lot of problems to all programmes which were meant to fight HIV/AIDS. COVID-19 caused more problems to the patients who used to go to different health centres to collect medication due to lockdowns which has been mentioned in the report. People were struggling in their homes without food and medication.
There were major strides which were done to see how best we can eliminate HIV/AIDS but due to COVID-19, all the progress which had been made became void because many people defaulted because of circumstances beyond their control. There was a time when people were told to go and request for letters from the police officers to be allowed to go to the nearest health facility to access medication. It became a problem because some of the officers were demanding more information, hence there was no confidentiality from the police officers. Many people ended up not going to request for these letters because they did not want to divulge their status and they ended up defaulting on medication.
I also heard that these ARVs were now scarce because they are not produced here in Zimbabwe. We also have a pharmaceutical company, Varichem which used to produce these medications but due to different reasons, the company is no longer producing. There are a lot of things which have been mentioned in the report that this company must resume the production of this medication.
I want to thank the Minister of Health and Child Care who managed to visit Varichem Company to see how best they can assist them to resume the production of ARVs. When he visited, what he saw was not pleasing and their plans have not materialised. We are still waiting for the report from the Minister of Health who is the Vice President who went and assessed the situation at Varichem. I want to thank NAC for the job which they are doing on HIV/AIDS. They worked very hard during lockdown by helping those who are living with HIV/AIDS to see how best they can get help. We know there are problems but with the little that they managed to do, we want to thank them for their efforts because they managed to work hard to see how people can get help and access their drugs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
If people work together for people to get help, it will be good. I want to conclude by saying there are recommendations which have been put in the report. When the Committee went to different areas assessing the situation, those recommendations were raised and will help us a lot if they are accepted and see how best these problems can be solved which people who are living with HIV/AIDS are facing so that their health can be improved. I thank you.
+HON. SEN. A. DUBE: Thank you Mr. President for the opportunity provided to support the report that was presented by Hon. Sen. Kambizi on the Thematic Committee on HIV/AIDS. This is the report which looked more into the challenges that were brought about by the COVID-19 lockdown which made work become difficult to those that get HIV treatment. I am grateful for this report because it is important and I would like to thank this Committee which made it possible to go to these patients who are receiving HIV treatment looking at issues of how they are receiving their ARVs. During this tour, they indicated that they realised that in 2018 they could not get enough ARVs, way before the COVID-19 lockdowns. In the report it was indicated that some people got their three months supply and some, areas were not accessible due to lockdown measures. This Committee also went to NATPHARM to get an understanding of how ARVs are being distributed to these people if ever they are there or they are in short supply.
However, they indicated that NATPHARM was facing challenges of getting enough resources to get things that they need to get enough ARVs. This Committee also managed to get an understanding from the Minister on how NAC and NATPHARM are working and they indicated that NAC was talking of 1.4 million people that are living with HIV/AIDS. This Committee also realised that work was going on which was focusing on 90/90 as we move towards to 2030. NAC also indicated that in 2019 they were closer to reaching their vision of getting everyone knowing their status regarding HIV/AIDS so that everyone who is affected will be able to receive treatment. They indicated that there are 87.36% of people who are in the 90/90.
I would also like to thank this Committee for the tour that they made to almost all the districts and quite a number of them were covered. They visited a number of hospitals to figure out what challenges they are facing, where it was indicated that some ARVs had expired and in other hospitals they were in short supply. Some indicated that first line drugs were in short supply as well. Some other challenges that were encountered were to do with second line drugs like Cotrimoxazole which were in short supply, the drugs were supposed to be bought by our Government through AIDS levy. It appeared Cotrimoxazole was in short supply. Hospitals also indicated that corruption was affecting them quite a lot where they were being made to pay monies like US$5 for them to get ARVs.
For their monthly supply they were made to pay US$3, the charges would vary according to the supply that one was supposed to get. Mr. President, Mpilo Hospital put it on record that they had about 200 patients who had been given expired ARV drugs and the hospital was questioned on whether this was good or not but the hospital indicated that to those that received this medication none of them came back to show side effects. In other hospitals, they indicated that they never faced such challenges, especially in Matabeleland South Hospital which indicated that they never had expired drugs. If they get expired drugs there is a policy and a way that they use to get rid of that batch; we realised that in other areas all was well.
We also realised that in Filabusi in Matebeleland South, there was no hospital because the structure that is there as a hospital is in bad shape, it is not habitable. If a patient gets to such hospitals they get to suffer more because they are likely to feel lost by being taken to a place that is not good for human habitation. There was shortage of CD4 count machines. In one of the hospitals that we visited, there is a shortage of second line drugs for children. The Ministry should buy ARVs for HIV patients to get help. Enough funds should be provided because this Ministry is doing a great job for people living with HIV and AIDS. Mr. President, there should be a way for these drugs to be accessible to all patients because most of these patients, especially those in rural areas, are the ones that are facing more challenges in accessing them.
I would like to thank the Committee for this tour which made us realise that Filabusi in Matabeleland South is just as good as not having a hospital. The place that they call a hospital is dilapidated and not fit for humans. Even if you take a patient to such a place, they are not likely to recover because of the state of the hospital.
In my view, looking at the way Government is trying to upgrade different districts in our country, it is also prudent that an face-lift is given to Filabusi Hospital because everyone who was part of the tour to this hospital is not happy about the state of affairs in this institution.
Mr. President, I would like to thank the Thematic Committee on HIV and AIDS on the great job they did because the time that they carried out this tour was a difficult time where COVID-19 cases were increasing but they committed themselves to the task. Therefore, without further ado, I would like to say thank you Mr. President and I would like to thank Senator Kambizi for this great report which is all encompassing. Thank you Mr. President
HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: Thank you Mr. President. I now move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 17th March, 2022.
MOTION
SECOND REPORT OF THE THEMATIC ON HIV AND AIDS ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ANTIRETROVIRAL THERAPY (ART) ROLL-OUT PROGRAMME
Fourth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the implementation of the Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) Roll Out Programme.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: I move that the debate do now adjourned.
HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 17th March, 2022.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
Fifth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 17th March, 2022.
MOTION
CONDOLENCES ON THE DEATH OF HON. SEN. SIMON KHAYA MOYO
Sixth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the untimely passing on of the late Senator for Matabeleland South, Hon. Sen. Simon Khaya Moyo.
Question again proposed.
+HON. SEN. MKHWEBU: Thank you President of the Senate for giving me this opportunity to share a few words about the life of our departed Hon. Sen. S. K. Moyo. Hon. Moyo worked so hard before the country attained independence until independent Zimbabwe. Therefore, we are grateful for the work that he did for this country.
In 1980, he first worked in Government as a Deputy Minister in Home Affairs. He displayed so much professionalism in the call of duty. What we remember him for in this post is spearheading the construction of the R.G. Mugabe Airport which had gone for years without any rehabilitation. Therefore, we really appreciate this great work.
In 1995 to 1997, he was Bulilima-Mangwe South Member of Parliament, representing the people and he worked for them for quite a number of years. He was appointed Minister of Mines and Tourism, where he majored in the Ministry of Mines, Tourism and Environment so that these ministries work together because those in mines and environment needed to work together closely. As a professional person, it was easy for him to carry out all this duties.
In 2001, he was appointed Zimbabwean Ambassador to South Africa, Lesotho and Mauritius. He helped Zimbabweans who would cross to South Africa without proper documentation to get permits.
Whilst as an Ambassador, he helped in the country’s sovereignty during the land reform programme in Zimbabwe. In 2013, he was Senator for Mangwe Constituency and in 2017, he was appointed Minister of Information where he displayed excellence in his work in information dissemination.
Mr. President, Hon Late S. K. Moyo is remembered again by his book titled ‘Mr. Speaker’, which he wrote. Many in Zimbabwe will remember him through this book. Those in academia have read and understood it. Therefore Mr. President, we are indeed thankful for the work done by the late S. K. Moyo. He was an ever smiling person. Each time he came into this august House, he would say, Aaa! you are in here heroine and I will say I am in here father. It will be difficult for me to forget this. . In addition to this, we worked together during the liberation struggle. I would also like to thank the President of the country who conferred him the hero status which we as the people of Matebeleland are grateful for. He has been laid to rest at the National Shrine. May his soul rest in peace, hero of the heroes. Thank you.
HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 17th March, 2022.
MOTION
PREVALENCE OF DRUG ABUSE BY YOUTHS
Seventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the
devastating effects of drugs on youths.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. A. DUBE: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. TONGOGARA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 17th March, 2022.
MOTION
CURBING GENDER BASED VIOLENCE AMONG COMMUNITIES
Eighth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the increase
of Gender based violence during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI: Thank you Mr. President. I would
like to wind up the motion by thanking all Senators who contributed to this motion. COVID 19 was quite a challenging situation which culminated in a situation of lockdowns where most people were not able to move around. They spent most of their time at home. Those who were used to visiting friends and going to watch football and other activities like going to work did not do that because of lockdowns as a result of COVID-19. This resulted in high prevalence of domestic violence.
You know that domestic violence is not a good thing but the fact that domestic violence is still happening in different households, these are issues which are not being spoken about. People keep quiet about such issues because of our culture which does not permit people to go around talking about what is happening behind closed doors. Domestic violence separates families. It destroys marriages. It also results in other people being disabled because of violence.
I would like to appreciate that Government is doing its best through the enactment of laws which intend to stop domestic violence. However, people do not accept such but we need to unite and educate people regarding domestic violence.
We need peace and we are aware that domestic violence does not bring peace. I now move for the adoption of the motion that;
NOTING with concern that since the outbreak of COVID-19 there has been a sharp increase of gender-based violence (GBV), especially domestic violence in the country;
AWARE that Zimbabwe is a signatory of UN international and regional treaties and protocols against GBV, amongst them CEDAW, SADC Protocol on Gender and Development;
ACKNOWLEDGING the United Nations Secretary-General’s UNiTE by 2030 to End Violence against Women campaign (UNiTE campaign) that calls for global actions to increase awareness, galvanize advocacy efforts, to end GBV;
Aware that this year’s theme for 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, which will run from 25 November to 10 December 2021, is “Orange the world: End violence against women now!”;
RECOGNISING the efforts that the government has been taking to curb the scourge of GBV through policies and activities in provinces and districts;
WORRIED that if urgent measures are not taken to reduce the prevalence of GBV, there is real risk that GBV will be a real pandemic within the COVID-19 crisis;
NOW, THEREFORE, CALLS upon the Executive to do more to curb GBV among communities by, among others, deploying more GBV mobile services in districts and provinces; and building more safe houses put and agreed to.
On the motion of HON. SEN. MATHUTHU, seconded by HON. SEN. TONGOGARA the Senate adjourned at Seventeen Minutes to Five o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 15th March, 2022
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two O’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER in the Chair)
+HON. MATHE: Thank you Madam Speaker, for affording me this opportunity to rise on a point of privilege. Madam Speaker, when you travel in our rural areas, it is so disturbing that you fail to speak out or even to greet the people when you pass by the road. The first phase fields which were planted in early November have all withered. This is the situation in all fields regardless of how many vehicles you have in your yard or how special one is. Everyone is facing the same challenge in the field. Those who planted late have almost the same story.
HON. T MLISWA: On a point of order Madam Speaker. I think it is rude for people to talk when somebody is speaking. Everybody is making noise in the various corners. It is disrespectful yet the issue she is bringing up is a very important matter of national interest. What more do you come for here? If you want to gossip, go outside and gossip. Some of us come here for serious business. May you respect the House or you go out. I thank you.
+HON. MATHE: Thank you Madam Speaker for allowing me to continue. May I also thank Hon. Mliswa for taking note of how important this point of privilege is to this House? The crops that were planted late could not get rains after application of Compound D fertilizer. That became the end of the crops. It is not easy for a Member of Parliament to go around in the nearby fields because there is no hope that people will harvest a little. Madam Speaker, there are a lot of challenges out there. We may recall that we have World Vision and World Food Programme trying to assist people but they choose each other by raising a hand. This year it does not need such a selection criterion but it should be upon this House to come up with a strategy of how we are going to assist the residents of Zimbabwe. How are we going to take care of them to avoid deaths? There is not even sugar cane, which is a sign that drought is upon us. This is what I thought I should table for this House to take note of. Let us sit down as MPs and come up with ways of helping our people. I thank you.
+THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you Hon. Mathe. The issue that you raised is very important. It is very true that this year there is a drought, although the smart agriculture programme inputs were distributed. We received rains but many people will not be able to harvest.
However, I encourage you to pose that question to the relevant Minister tomorrow, Wednesday, 16th March,2022 during Question Time so that the Minister responds as to how they are going to assist.
HON. T. MLISWA: Madam Speaker, if you have been following the events in Parliament, for the past three weeks, the Minister of Agriculture has been here. Last week, I moved that a Ministerial Statement must be issued by the Minister of Agriculture to talk about the hectarage that was done and how much was lost due to a lot of rainfall. That would give us an indicator of where we are going as a nation and the mitigating measures he is going to take.
The Minister must speak on the issue of those farmers who took loans from the financial institutions, how are they going to pay back when this drought is not a human issue.
So Madam Speaker, if you were following events, that Ministerial Statement was supposed to have been here. The Ministers have a tendency of not coming with these Ministerial Statements. I have been waiting for him for the past three weeks and the Speaker then gave the task to the Leader of Government Business to ensure that the Ministerial Statement is presented. I thank you.
Thank you Hon. Mliswa. Your point of order is very valid, I am sure the Government Chief Whip has taken note of that.
HON. MASENDA: On a point of priviledge! Thank you Madam Speaker Maam. My point of priviledge is on the funeral of the late former Member of Parliament for Hurungwe East, Sarah Mahoka.
I stand here to put the record straight. I read from the Hansard sentiments that no one went there to represent Parliament. However, as a Member of Parliament for Hurungwe East, I would like to correct that impression.
On the day before the burial which was on a Sunday, I led a delegation of 20 people mostly from my party ZANU PF, including two Central Committee members, 6 provincial members, three councillors and just the ordinary people. I also saw the Chairperson for the Women’s Caucus in Parliament at the funeral, Hon. Kwaramba.
So I went to the funeral on three capacities, firstly, to represent Parliament, secondly, to represent my party ZANU PF and to represent myself as a Member of Parliament for that constituency.
When we went to the funeral, it was for the purposes of paying our last respects to the late former Member of Parliament. However, as we were going around, we were at one point humiliated because we were denied on three occasions, entry to pay our last respect in the room that the body lay in state. Only on the fourth attempt were we allowed to go in. We did pay our last respects and came back for the burial on a Monday where we faced another humiliation in that at most funerals that I have attended in the constituency, there will be recognition of the presence of the Member of Parliament, Councillors of which that was not done at this funeral. We stayed on until the burial proceedings were completed.
I wish to thank you Madam Speaker for giving me the chance to put the record straight.
HON. T. MLISWA: On a point of order! I brought the issue that Hon. Masenda has spoken about. If you recall Madam Speaker, I was saying to the Speaker, can the Parliament send a delegation and the Speaker responded accurately saying the Standing Order Rules do not allow us to do that.
So, it was from a Parliament’s point of view when I brought it up that can Parliament have a culture of sending delegations to former Members when there is a funeral. The Speaker was right in saying unfortunately, the Standing Order Rules do not allow us unless it is amended. So I also wanted to correct the Hon. Member by saying that he cannot represent Parliament but his constituency. He must limit himself to Hurungwe East and not beyond. I thank you.
HON. NDEBELE: Thank you Madam Speaker and good afternoon. Thank you very much for this opportunity. I am so pleased that the Minister of Education just walked in because what I am going to raise touches her Ministry. Madam Speaker, I have been doing constituency development work in my Constituency and had the occasion to visit all the schools in my Constituency. Madam Speaker, I must express, for the record, that morale amongst our teachers is at its lowest level.
It is not just in my Constituency Madam Speaker. I express dismay and shock on behalf of all the teachers in the country and the way we, as a Government, treat our professionals,, in particular the teachers. I am shocked to learn that we have suspended 1 500 teachers owing to the industrial action which was undertaken recently by almost all the teachers in our land. It is amazing Madam Speaker, why professionals are treated like enemies. We are talking of people who have invested years and hard earned money to get the best education available and acquire requisite skills, a mastery of their careers.
Madam Speaker, having invested so much to be able to deliver the best they have to offer, they are denied a living wage. I will tell you for a fact Madam Speaker, that throughout the country, our teachers are now going for Red Cross training to acquire a mere care certificate so that they can go overseas. Is there no better way of addressing teachers’ grievances than making this country a training ground for other progressive countries? We must do something as a Parliament to curb this brain drain. We are losing teachers; it is a fact we do not have to lie to each other.
Is it outlandish Madam Speaker, to ask for a salary that is fitting a service that is delivered? I wish to implore the Public Service Committee, I know they were talking to the Minister last week but could they take it upon themselves to also invite teachers’ unions to appear before them so that we come up with a win-win solution and restore dignity to the teaching profession. May I remind you Madam Speaker that Jesus was also a teacher? Thank you.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you Hon. Ndebele. You have raised a very valid point and I am sure the Hon. Minister of Primary and Secondary Education has taken note of that.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. TOGAREPI: Madam Speaker, I move that all Orders of the Day be stood over until Orders of the day Nos. 24, 27 and 13 have been disposed of.
HON. TEKESHE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
FIRST REPORT OF THE PORFOLIO COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC WORKS, NATIONAL HOUSING AND SOCIAL AMENITIES ON AN INQUIRY INTO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF DEVOLUTION
Twenty Fourth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Report of the Portfolio Committee on Local Government, Public Works, National Housing and Social Amenities on an Inquiry into the Implementation of Devolution in Zimbabwe.
Question again proposed.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS (HON. CHOMBO): Thank you Madam Speaker. Let me give the response to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Local Government and Public Works, National Housing and Social Amenities on the implementation of devolution funds in Zimbabwe. The Ministry concurs that there is need to relook at some of the provisions of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act Chapter 22.14 especially as they relate to procurement processes.
Councils have severally complained that processes are generally long and sometimes not necessarily bring value for money which should be one of the main aims of spending of public finances. There have also been a number of previous engagements to this effect with the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe as well as the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development. Whilst we note that the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act Chapter 22:23 needs a number of adjustments to ensure the smooth flow of the procurement process, we can only hope that such adjustments are made sooner rather than later. Councils have been encouraged as procuring entities in their own right to continue engaging on any challenges arising from these processes. As a parent Ministry, we remain keen on facilitating such dialogue where necessary.
While we also note challenges of revenue inflows, especially in the first quarter of the budget year, we also continue to lobby Treasury on behalf of local authorities for the timely release of funds so that service delivery is not negatively affected. Section 301 of the Constitution provides for allocation of revenues between provincial and local tiers of Government. The Ministry has from time to time engaged local authorities with regards to utilization of devolution funds.
A circular on their utilization was dispatched in 2021 while officials also undertook monitoring visits to the respective local authorities so as to make sure that the funds were utilised as governed by the Ministry circular.
Essentially, the circular directed local authorities to make use of devolution funds and tangible service delivery areas such as WASH infrastructure and clinics on the capital grant component while the operational grant potion would address such issues as procurement of Enterprise Resource Planning, (ERP) systems. It is also the Ministry’s expectation that local authorities consult widely when prioritising developmental projects.
As a matter of fact, one of the conditions for budget approval in terms of the Public Finance Management Act [Chapter 22:19), wherein devolution projects are a component, is proof of consultation. The budget guidelines which the Ministry dispatches before the commencement of the budget cycle for every year also underscores the need for stakeholder consultations.
The Ministry’s core department, that is the department of Rural and Urban Local Authorities, with the support of key service departments such as Finance and Administration have one of their key mandates as monitoring and facilitation of local authorities. While some councils do have the monitoring and evaluation section in their establishments, the Ministry has also been advising those that are yet to establish such units to make provisions in their next budgets, noting that this is a key function and also in sync with the Government’s thrust to strengthen monitoring and evaluation as indeed, enunciated in the monitoring and evaluation framework developed by the Office of the President and Cabinet.
It is incumbent upon the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development to look at the possibility of exempting local authorities from intermediated money transfer (IMT) tax. The Ministry may only add its voice of support to such a suggestion.
The Ministry is currently laying out the implementation of the Local Authorities Digital Systems (LADS) with a view of enhancing the operational efficiency of all local authorities. The Ministry is collaborating with the Harare Institute of Technology, (HIT) as the technical partner. The institution has developed the requisite software which will ensure the migration from manual system to an automated package. This process is in response to the National Vision 2030 of attaining an upper middle income economy.
In addition, the digitalisation of local authorities augurs very well with the National Development Strategy 1, 2021 to 2025, which promotes the use of Information Communication Technology for sustainable development. Thank you.
HON. CHIKUKWA: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. I want to thank the Hon. Minister for coming to respond to our devolution report. I am also happy that they have said that they are working with one of the universities here to make sure that all the local authorities will have the skills that we have raised that we need. I also want to thank all the Hon. Members of Parliament who debated this extensively, all of them did very well, I cannot mention one by one because I will spend the whole day. However, I want to thank them and hope that in future we will have our ministers come to respond in time. I thank you Hon. Ma’am. I therefore move for the adoption of the report;
That this House takes note of the Report of the Delegation of the Portfolio Committee on Local Government, Public Works, National Housing and Social Amenities to the Kenyan Parliament on a Benchmarking Visit on Implementation of Devolution.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
FIRST REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC WORKS, NATIONAL HOUSING AND SOCIAL AMENITIES ON THE HATCLIFFE EXTENSION RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION PETITION ON LACK OF REQUISITE INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT, MULTIPLE BILLING AND SECURITY OF TENURE
Twenty Seventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Report of the Portfolio Committee on Local Government, Public Works, National Housing and Social Amenities on an inquiry into the implementation of devolution in Zimbabwe.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Mliswa what is your point of order?
HON. T. MLISWA: It is important that it goes on record that most of these reports are really read by the ministers who sit in Cabinet. This Parliament does not know who the Minister of Local Government is anymore, is it Hon. July Moyo or Hon. Marian Chombo. He does not attend the Portfolio Committees, he does not come to Parliament for answers, he does not do anything at all. It only shows there are special ministers; it is important for us to know who the special ministers are who are untouchable so that we do not talk about them. It is a disgrace that all these issues are done, he is not here. We have had this issue several times with the Hon. Speaker but again, we do not know why action is not taken yet there is corruption in his Ministry from the Morton Jaffrey to devolution and so on.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Mliswa, are you commending the Minister for coming up to respond to the motion.
HON. T. MLISWA: No, usually it is the Minister himself, I will commend her for being present but she is a deputy Minister, unfortunately. If I was the President, I would have made her the Minister in charge but unfortunately I am not - but the truth of the matter is, there is a Minister designate who sits in Cabinet; she does not sit in Cabinet. The Minister must at least respect this House and giving a report. He is never present Madam Speaker. Is he special? Are there special Ministers who are untouchable so that we know? Where is he? But panorwiwa hondo dzekuMidlands haashaikwe.
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hon. Mliswa, in terms of the Constitution of Zimbabwe Section 107 (2), “Every Vice President, Minister and Deputy Minister must attend Parliament and parliamentary Committees in order to answer questions concerning matters for which he or she is collectively or individually responsible.” That includes the Deputy Minister. So the Deputy Minister is also responsible; she is allowed to come to this House with the response – [HON. T. MLISWA: Inaudible interjection.] – Thank you.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC WORKS, NATIONAL HOUSING AND SOCIAL AMENITIES ON THE PETITION FROM HATCLIFFE RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION ON LACK OF INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT, MULTIPLE BILLING AND SECURITY OF TENURE
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC WORKS, NATIONAL HOUSING AND SOCIAL AMENITIES (HON. CHOMBO): Thank you Madam Speaker. It is indeed true that the Hatcliffe Extension still remains an unfinished project as it does not have all the attendant off and onsite infrastructure before it can be formally handed over to the City of Harare. The Ministry shall, with reasonable despatch, assign this task to the Committee on Dysfunctional Settlements to assess the extent of the requisite infrastructure so that funding can be sourced from Treasury to conclude the long-standing project.
The Ministry, as a key stakeholder in the delimitation process, takes not and shall duly ensure that the concerns by Parliament are addressed – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – As it were, the Hon. Minister has previously presented to Parliament a paper with a number of proposals on provincial, district, ward and traditional leadership boundaries that need to be realigned as the next cycle of the delimitation exercise approaches.
Presently, Harare City Council is not offering any services such as refuse collection and water reticulation because there is no infrastructure. This can only commence when a certificate of compliance has been issued upon completion of the project. What council is only charging to Hatcliffe residents is property tax amounting to ZWL$326.80 for the 200m2 stands and the others are charged on a pro rata basis. Property tax is charged on all rateable property and exemptions are on those properties specified in terms of Section 270 of the Urban Councils Act Chapter 29:15.
The need for coordination between the Ministry and its national housing and social amenities need not be overstated in this project since both have invariably been involved in its development, having at one point been a single Ministry with the other existing as a department. We will thus be converging from time to time to ensure that whatever processes are taking place in Hatcliffe Extension are in harmony.
The Ministry concurs that allowing people to settle on unserviced land is indeed problematic. This is the background against which the Committee on Dysfunctional Settlements which the Ministry chairs was formed. While going forward such practices need to be avoided at all costs. It should be appreciated that there is a backlog of such dysfunctional settlements which Government has to redress against a backdrop of resource constraints.
HON. CHIKUKWA: Thank you Madam Speaker. I want to thank the Minister for responding to the Report on Hatcliffe. Since they said they now have a Committee which is looking into that issue, I hope they will give us some reports after three months. There are some women there who have lost their money because of these houses. I hope from what they have said, they have taken concern and they will do something about it. I also want to thank all the Hon. Members who contributed to this motion. I therefore recommend for the adoption of the report.
Motion that this House takes note of the Report of the Portfolio Committee on Local Government, Public Works, National Housing and Social Amenities on the Petition from Hatcliffe Residents Association on Lack of Infrastructural Development, Multiple Billing and Security of Tenure, put and agreed to.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE DELEGATION TO THE UNITED NATIONS CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE HELD IN GLASGOW
HON. MUSARURWA: Thank you Madam Speaker. I move the motion stating in my name that this House takes note of the Report of the Delegation that attended the United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Glasgow, Scotland from 31 October to 12 November 2021.
HON. NDUNA: I second.
HON. MUSARURWA:
- Introduction
The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Environment, Climate and Tourism Hon. W. Y. Musarurwa led a delegation that travelled to Glasgow, Scotland, to attend the 26th Session of the Conference of Parties of the United Nations Climate Change Conference that was held from the 31st of October to the 12th of November 2021. Other members of the delegation were; -
Hon. J. M. Wadyajena, the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Lands, Agriculture, Water, Fisheries and Rural Resettlement;
Hon. P. Dutiro, Member of the Portfolio Committee on Environment, Climate, and Tourism;
Mr. N. Samu, the Parliamentary Programmes Coordinator and newly appointed Member of the Consultative Group of Experts; and
Mr. J. Mazani, Principal Committee Clerk.
The broad objective of the delegation’s attendance was to enable them to appreciate the processes and procedures involved in tracking progress with respect to the implementation of the various provisions of the United Nations Climate Change Convention, Kyoto Protocol, and the Paris Agreement. The specific objective of the delegation’s attendance was to participate in Parties’ negotiations on climate change issues and enhance the oversight role of Parliament as provided for in sections 119 and 327 (2) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
- Objectives of the Conference
The annual conference brought together parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Kyoto Protocol, and the Paris Agreement to discuss matters related to the implementation of these international instruments and negotiate on their rules, modalities, procedures, methodologies, and guidelines for implementation, analysis and assessment. It also brought together regional economic commissions, United Nations agencies, academia, civil society organizations, multilateral development banks, climate change activists, and private sector representatives to discuss funding opportunities, on-going research, best practices, innovations, and the climate change society-science-policy nexus on the side-lines of the formal UNFCCC negotiations. This year special attention was given towards the conclusion of negotiations relating to article 6 of the Paris Agreement which focuses on carbon trading, and common reporting tables and formats under the Enhanced Transparency Framework. On the political front, the United Kingdom Presidency was calling on Parties to make better and more ambitious commitments in relation to emissions reductions and move towards net-zero emissions by the mid-century.
- World Leaders Summit
The Government of the United Kingdom invited Heads of States and Governments to participate in the World Leaders Summit which was held on 1 and 2 November 2021 alongside the COP26. The Summit was aimed at increasing the political ambition and action towards securing global net-zero emissions and keeping the 1.5 degrees’ temperature rise threshold in reach, adapting to protect communities and natural habitats; and mobilizing finance. Zimbabwe was represented by the Head of State and Government, Hon H. E. The President Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa who delivered a statement at the Summit. His Excellency reaffirmed Zimbabwe’s commitment to emissions reduction in line with its revised Nationally Determined Contributions and called upon the developed world to provide the required finance as envisaged under the Convention and the Paris Agreement. He emphasized that the unilateral sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe were having a negative impact on the country’s development and resilience-building initiatives and called for their unconditional removal.
- 4th High-Level Ministerial Dialogue on Long-Term Finance
A High-Level Ministerial Dialogue on Long-term Climate Finance was held on 3 November 2021. The Minister of Environment Climate Tourism and Hospitality Industry was accompanied by Ms. Veronica Gundu and Mr. Nesbert Samu the Climate Finance negotiators for the Zimbabwe delegation.
Discussions centred on issues to do with enhancing support for developing countries and realising the $100-billion-dollar goal, supporting a financial system for a net-zero future, and scaling climate finance to mobilise the trillions needed in developing countries.
Countries considered this for the first time, in a platform for the exchange of views on how much, and how developed countries intended to provide climate finance in order to assist developing countries to plan their mitigation and adaptation activities and to guide developed countries on coordination of their climate finance spending. Of interest to Zimbabwe was the announcement by the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) which indicated that it launched the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Programme to advance adaptation in Africa. AfDB also indicated that it will optimise its balance sheet for climate financing. The Bank further indicated that if African countries were to seed part of their Special Drawings Rights, the AfDB would be able to leverage that financing four times, shifting from billions to trillions that are required for climate transformation, since resources required for decarbonisation are huge.
Furthermore, the dialogue highlighted that, in terms of disaster management, governments can structure catastrophic bonds, arrange ex-ante disaster management financing, and set up National Disaster Funds. There is a need to ensure that money is going to the right places and incentives to deliver climate action are put in place. To unleash resources required for climate transformation will require de-risking the role of the private sector, structuring catalytic instruments and special emissions management vehicles, providing project viability gap funding and guarantees. Noting that climate premiums do not reflect the benefits, there is need for public and development financing to create the enabling environments for financing.
Insights on climate finance flows included that, although climate finance continues to grow, accessing funds remains a challenge and finance flowing to emissions-intensive industries remains high to the concern of developing countries.
- 1st High-level Ministerial Dialogue on Climate Finance Under the Paris Agreement
The COP Presidency convened the first biennial high-level ministerial dialogue on climate finance under the Paris Agreement. The Minister of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry was accompanied by Mr. Nesbert Samu of Parliament to this high-level dialogue. The dialogue was aimed at enhancing the predictability of climate finance, improving the scale and effectiveness of adaptation finance and future trends in climate finance mobilisations. Important points that emerged from the discussions included:
The need to find a solution to climate change-related problems, not consultancies that effectively return resources targeted for the vulnerable to the funding countries.
A need to move from a project to a programme approach where it is then possible to build resilience over time. Sustainability should then be built in the support to ensure that what is built subsists for a long time.
For those nations supporting developing countries, the financial support should be affordable, accessible, and fast deploying.
A need to unlock private sector potential for adaptation for the sector to support and grow small scale adaptation businesses
From the African Development Bank (AfDB) point of view, only 6 billion is deployed as climate finance on the African continent when the continent needs 30 billion per year as a minimum. The 30 billion should be delivered with speed, at scale, and has to be predictable. Before we start talking about new money developed countries should make good the 100-billion-dollar pledge.
AFDB has set up several initiatives which include the following:
The African Adaptation Advancement Programme – this programme will benefit all African member countries. It allows members to stretch their balance sheets with support from the AFDB.
The Youth Adapt Initiative extends 1 million grants to innovative Adaptation projects by youths.
The Africa Disaster Risk Facility – it aims at de-risking private finance with a view to benefiting member countries.
Climate change discussions should not be held outside the economic development strategy of countries and technology should be viewed as a game-changer in mitigation and adaptation and not only for transitioning but for creating new opportunities in e-transportation, Renewable energy, Agriculture and building-back-better. Future finance trends need to take into consideration just transition and the long-term strategies towards the net-zero emissions. Developed countries should demonstrate the political will to fund transition and the long-term development strategies of developing countries. Future trends should be fit for purpose to deal with just transition, greening the economies and dealing with stranded assets. The World Bank has set aside 25 billion per year over 5 years to support climate change and of this 50% will go towards adaptation. This amount will be more than 60% grants. As Zimbabwe up-scales its climate action, it is critical that the Treasury with support from the Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry engages with the World Bank and starts positioning itself towards tapping into these resources.
- Outstanding Work Related to the Paris Agreement Rule Book
The Rule Book for implementation of the Paris Agreement has provisions in which countries are given time to comply with a standard set of reporting rules rather than following their own set of rules. The set standards will enable countries to take stock of progress towards achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement. The outstanding matters under negotiations related to common timeframes, electronic reporting formats and market mechanisms that could not be finalized at COP24, and a new deadline of COP26 was set to conclude these issues.
- Common Time Frames for Nationally Determined Contributions
COP26 reached an agreement on common time frames for NDCs. The conference reaffirmed the nationally determined nature of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Parties were encouraged to communicate in 2025 a Nationally Determined Contribution with an end date of 2035, at the next submission in 2030 a Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) with an end date of 2040, and so forth every five years thereafter. This decision ensures continuous enhancement climate action and the associated means of implementation.
- Article 6 of the Paris Agreement
When countries completed the Paris Agreement’s implementation rules, modalities, procedures, and guidelines “Paris Rulebook” in Katowice in 2018, one key piece was missing. The Rulebook includes guidance and procedures to allow countries to interpret and implement the Paris Agreement in a similar way. But they could not find common ground on Article 6—a set of three issues that govern the trade in internationally transferable mitigation outcomes, a new market mechanism, and a framework for non-market-based approaches.
Progress in the negotiations has remained slow. Without formal negotiations over the past two years, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the UK Presidency convened a series of events, including technical workshops and ministerial roundtables to help negotiations move forward in Glasgow. These issues were multifaceted and complex, with widely divergent views.
- Guidance on Cooperative Approaches (Art 6.2)
The conference adopted guidance on cooperative approaches which is meant to guide the generation and acknowledgement of Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs). ITMOs are emission reductions and removals, including mitigation co-benefits resulting from adaptation actions and/or economic diversification plans or the means to achieve them. When internationally transferred from the country of implementation and accounted in another country, the funding country is likely to get into a bilateral arrangement.
- Rules, Modalities and Procedures for the Sustainable Development Mechanism (Art 6.4) The conference adopted the rules, modalities and procedures for the mechanism and designated the body that will supervise the mechanism with its membership and rules of procedure. Parties are invited to nominate members and alternate members for the Supervisory Body. At least two meetings of the Supervisory Body shall be held in 2022 and the Supervisory Body was requested to develop provisions for the development and approval of methodologies, validation, registration, monitoring, verification and certification, issuance, renewal, first transfer from the mechanism registry, voluntary cancellation and other processes. The Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SABSTA) was requested to develop, on the basis of the rules, modalities and procedures contained in the annex, recommendations for consideration and adoption by the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement at its fourth session (November 2022).
iii. Work programme under the framework for non-market approaches (Art 6.8)
Parties adopted the work programme under the framework for non-market approaches and decided that initial focus areas of the work programme activities will be the following:
Adaptation, resilience, and sustainability,
Mitigation measures to address climate change and contribute to sustainable development,
Development of clean energy sources.
The conference requested the Glasgow Committee on Non-market Approaches to develop and recommend a schedule for implementing the work programme activities which may contain the timeline and expected outcomes for each activity, including specifications for the UNFCCC web based platform such as its functions, form, target users and information to be contained thereon, with a view to supporting the effective implementation of the work programme, for consideration and adoption by the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement at its fourth session (November 2022).
- Climate Finance
- Developments Leading to COP26
Ten years ago, developed countries pledged to provide or mobilize USD 100 billion per year by 2020. The resources were earmarked to come through the Green Climate Fund (GCF) where all Parties would then apply from. The promise remains unfilled. Current estimates by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) show that USD 79.6 billion was provided or mobilized in 2019 towards climate financing, roughly similar to 2018 levels. Developing countries have linked the provision of finance to the success of COP26. At COP25 in Madrid, the African Group and the G77 + China separately stated their willingness to withhold agreement on the priorities of developed countries (especially transparency issues) until finance was adequately addressed. Signals since then remain strong—for COP26 to achieve progress on key issues, developed countries must build trust that they will meet their financial pledges. So far, the European Union has announced it would increase its contribution by EUR 4 billion and the US announced it would double its current commitment to a total of USD11.4 billion a year by 2024.
Developing countries wanted the long-term finance work programme to continue assessing the delivery of the USD 100 billion annual goal, whilst developed countries wanted the agenda item to be closed. Divergence included how to reflect language on unfulfilled commitment and how adaptation finance is to be reflected in the decision. A multilaterally agreed definition for climate finance was also requested by developing countries. This was reflected in the draft text, that is, to welcome or to take note. For adaption, the contention was on the doubling of adaptation finance including from public and grant-based resources. The developed countries did not see the need for a multilaterally agreed definition of climate finance and argued that this should be discussed/an issue under the Standing Committee on Finance (SCF). The other issue is whether resources should be new and additional.
On the new collective goal for climate finance, the main area of divergence was on how to organize the work that needed to be done in order to come to a final collective goal. There was general agreement on principles Africa Group of Negotiators (AGN), G77, and China and the Arab Union (ABU) all advocated for a transparent and inclusive process. AGN and Least Developing Countries (LDCs) advocated for a technical committee with membership from the regions organised under COP. The discussion would then be closed by 2023. Developed countries also proposed an ad-hoc committee with representation from every country and workshop with technical meetings under the CMA but there was no convergence. There were issues to do with the amount where developed countries said it needs to be incremental per year. Developing countries wanted 1.3trillion/year by 2030.
- Matters Relating to the Adaptation Fund
COP26 welcomed the decision of the Adaptation Fund Board to increase the finance access cap per country from USD 10 million to USD 20 million and the number of accredited national implementing entities per eligible developing country Party from one to two. It further welcomed the financial pledges to the Adaptation Fund made by the European Commission, the Governments of Canada, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Norway, Qatar, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America, as well as the governments of the Brussels-Capital, Flemish and Walloon Regions of Belgium and the provincial government of Quebec, equivalent to USD 356 million.
Of concern were attempts by some developed country parties to place conditions related to changes to the Adaptation Fund Board in relation to the provision of resources into the Adaptation Fund. The position for AGN is that membership to the Adaptation Fund Board should remain as is and if there are any changes in regard to membership, the developed countries can change amongst themselves as opposed to adding an extra member. There was no agreement made on this agenda item.
- Mechanism to Address Loss and Damage (WIM)
The Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage Mechanism realises the role under the Convention of promoting the implementation of approaches to address loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change in a comprehensive, integrated and coherent manner. The mechanism recognises that climate change has already and will increasingly cause loss and damage and, as temperatures rise, impacts from climate and weather extremes, as well as slow-onset events, will pose an ever-greater social, economic and environmental threat.
The negotiations recognized the negative impacts of climate change and explored coping strategies as the Paris Agreement does not make provision for compensation. However, progress was made towards the operationalisation of the Santiago Network for Loss and Damage which was established in 2019 at COP25 in Madrid.
- Impacts of Response Measures
The Forum on the Impact of the Implementation of Response Measures convened jointly under the SBSTA and the SBI. The Forum is implementing the six-year work plan of the Forum and its Katowice Committee of Experts on the Impacts of the Implementation of Response Measures (KCI) (2020– 2025). The recommendations from the Experts’ report are more on the challenges associated with the just transition to cleaner energy and its impacts on social and economic sectors and the need for adequate financial support to developing countries to transition, the role of international collaboration in the just transition, the risk of premature withdrawal of foreign investors and stranded assets and the rebalancing the portfolio of national assets and possible barriers to sustainable development and role of international collaboration to minimize the negative impacts.
There was a divergence between the developed countries and the developing countries with regards to financing the implementation of the recommendation on just transition and stranding of assets. Zimbabwe and the rest of the developing countries pushed for financing to implement the recommendations for example priority will be on an assessment of the fossil resources available in countries and cost the potential economic losses of avoiding the exploration of the existing fossil fuels.
- Matters Relating to Adaptation
The effects of climate change are clear. Developing countries have long argued that adaptation should be given the same amount of consideration and funding as mitigation. That balance is still elusive. Most climate financing, for example, goes to efforts to reduce emissions rather than to build resilience to climate change.
- Glasgow–Sharm el-Sheikh Work Programme on the Global Goal on Adaptation
In 2019, the African Group requested a new agenda item on the Global Goal on Adaptation, which is enshrined in the Paris Agreement. COP26 Decided to establish and launch a comprehensive two-year Glasgow–Sharm el-Sheikh work programme on the global goal on adaptation and that implementation of the work programme will start immediately and work should be concluded by 2023. The objectives of the work programme will be to enhance the understanding of the global goal on adaptation, including the methodologies, indicators, data and metrics, and support needed for assessing progress towards it; to contribute towards reviewing the overall progress made in achieving the global goal on adaptation as part of the global stocktake; enhance national planning and implementation of adaptation actions; and facilitate the establishment of robust, nationally appropriate systems for monitoring and evaluating adaptation actions. Parties decided that four workshops should be conducted per year, namely two virtual inter-sessional workshops and two workshops in conjunction with the sessions of the subsidiary bodies, starting at their fifty-sixth sessions.
- National Adaptation Plans (NAPs)
On NAPs, the COP decided on the following actions and steps necessary for the Subsidiary Body for Implementation to initiate the assessment progress:
- Invite Parties and relevant organisations to submit to the secretariat, by 1 February 2024, information on their progress towards the achievement of the objectives of the process to formulate and implement national adaptation plans, as well as on their experience, best practices, lessons learned, gaps and needs, and support provided and received.
- Change and Gender
On Gender and Climate change, the Subsidiary Body for Implementation crafted a decision recalling decision 3/CP 25 and the Paris Agreement. The decision recognises that the full, meaningful and equal participation and leadership of women in all aspects of the UNFCCC process and in national and local level climate policy and action were vital for achieving long-term climate goals as women are agents of change and it invites Parties to engage youths and indigenous peoples in climate actions, including consideration of inclusion in Parties’ delegations.
The decision also takes note of efforts made by Parties in integrating gender considerations into their Nationally Determined Contributions and encourages Parties to make greater efforts in integrating gender into nationally determined contributions and national climate change policies, plans, strategies and action. Zimbabwe has systematically integrated gender in its revised NDCs and a Zimbabwe
Climate Change Gender Action Plan is now in place which was also showcased at the Zimbabwe Side event held on 8 November together with the NDC and prominent interest in funding Zimbabwe has been expressed.
- Matters relating to Climate Change and Energy
The Ministry of Energy and Power Development delegation attended a number of events including the World Leaders Summit and the Energy Day events. The major highlight of the conference related to decarbonisation which includes the phasing-out of coal use, reduction in the use of petroleum products, adopting clean and renewable energies, promoting energy efficiency among others.
- Decarbonisation
Decarbonisation was one of the most topical issues discussed during Energy Day. A global Clean Power Transition Statement by COP Presidency urged countries to commit to:
End investments in coal;
Scale up the adoption of clean power (renewables);
Ensure a Just Transition;
Phase out coal by the 2030s in advanced economies, and
Phase out coal by the 2040s in developing economies.
Given that Zimbabwe has abundant Coal resources and equally huge reserves in gas (Lupane) and Oil (Muzarabani), it is critical that the phasing out of coal is done slowly and gradually in a manner that does not jeopardize our developmental priorities. A timeframe spanning to 2050/60s may be considered.
Against this background, the Government through the Ministry of Energy has to develop an elaborate “Decarbonisation strategy”. A number of partners such as the AfDB, the Clean Coal Alliance, the NDC partnership, GCF and GEF among others will be engaged to provide the appropriate Technical Assistance in developing the Decarbonisation Strategy. Preliminary discussions with respect to this were held at COP26.
The transition will be led by our NDCs, the Low Emissions Development Strategy (LEDS) and the Renewable Energy policy.
the transition will be a process not an event and it will be over years
For this to happen commitment to financing by developed countries is key with respect to common but differentiated responsibilities.
The transition has to consider respective capabilities and national circumstances
Compensation for stranded assets and job losses is key
There will be a need for retraining of people currently employed in the fossil fuel sector for them to be relevant for a green economy.
- Implementation of NDCs by the Energy Sector
Through the revised NDCs, the Government of Zimbabwe has committed to reducing its emissions by 40% per capita by 2030. The Minister responsible for Environment unveiled our new NDC commitments during one of the dedicated side events at COP26. In the same spirit, Ministry of Energy and Power Development officials managed to attend various events that were related to NDCs. The NDC Partnership did promise to help the Energy sector to implement its NDCs through technical assistance, capacity building for Government officials, policy and strategy formulation as well as facilitating linkages to investors. The UNFCCC also emphasized that high ambition implementation of NDCs may be facilitated by Article 6 of the Paris Agreement and MoEPD is looking at being capacitated to tap into the benefits that might accrue from carbon trading.
- Clean Cooking
The Global Clean Cooking Alliance pavilion hosted a number of side events. In these meetings, it was highlighted that clean cooking is a cross-cutting issue that spans the energy, environment, gender, forestry, health and other sectors. Experiences from previous clean cooking programs have shown that clean cooking programs are often tossed from one ministry or department to the other to an extent that they end up with no ownership. In our deliberations, the Alliance expressed its willingness to assist Zimbabwe to establish a Clean Cooking Hub that will coordinate all activities at the Government level. The Hub will also work with development agencies to procure funding and to make sure all activities are properly coordinated. Follow-ups will be done with respect to this matter.
- Electric Mobility
The COP26 event also witnessed the launch of a “Declaration on accelerating a transition to 100% zero-emission cars and vans” program. As part of the World Leaders Summit, 30 countries have agreed to work together to make zero-emission vehicles the new normal by making them accessible, affordable, and sustainable in all regions by 2030 or sooner. Zimbabwe will join these pacesetters as soon as the E-mobility policy is approved. A World Bank Trust Fund will be established to mobilise $200 million over the next 10 years to decarbonise road transport in emerging markets and developing economies. Against this background, and as part of the E-mobility Policy that the Government if finalizing, it is proposed that:
There be duty-free importation of E-vehicles in order to reduce cost as well as to allow the market to grow from the current infant stage,
Government offers some tax incentives and exemptions to companies that assemble and manufacture e-vehicles,
Remove or reduce VAT on e-vehicles and associated equipment such as charging station infrastructure,
Remove taxes on raw materials and components of e-vehicles,
Offer incentives to companies that manufacture batteries particularly to promote the Lithium battery value chain.
Deliberations during Transport Day were clear that by 2030/35, major car manufacturers will all stop the production of petroleum-powered vehicles in favour of electric vehicles including tricycles and motorbikes.
- Wind Power Development
Ministry of Energy officials attended sessions on wind power and also held successful meetings with the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC). The Council revealed that a recent report by IFC and the World Bank shows that Zimbabwe has huge potential in wind power at various isolated sites. The Ministry and GWEC will continue to collaborate with the aim of ensuring that Zimbabwe’s energy sector is capacitated on wind power, policy and strategies, research and development and accelerating investments in the wind power sector.
Going forward, feasibility studies at the identified sites will be conducted in partnership with GWEC, AfDB, IDBZ and the Ministry of Finance’s Project Preparatory Facility. A pipeline of projects will be established for auctioning to potential investors.
- Establishment of a Green Fund for Renewable Energy Projects
Various sessions on financing renewable energy projects were attended. Matters arising from those meetings were to do with developing bankable project proposals and access to affordable loans and grants as well as co-financing.
It is worth noting that our Renewable Energy Policy of 2019 provides for the establishment of a Green Fund whose main purpose will be for project preparation, grants, seed funding and concessionary loans to Zimbabwean companies. As part of our internal discussions, it was proposed that a Green Fund portfolio/window under the approved Climate Finance Facility be established. As such, the Green Fund portfolio will initially be hosted and managed by IDBZ. The Fund will finance renewable energy, energy efficiency and climate mitigation-related projects. Lessons from the Rwanda Green Fund, which were exhibited at COP26, will be considered.
- Other Energy Related Engagements
The MoEPD had discussions with the following:
An investor who wishes to develop a 250MW solar power plant. We agreed that the Investor will visit Zimbabwe soon to meet all stakeholders in the sector. The meeting was held at the Zimbabwe Consul offices in Scotland, Glasgow.
The Dutch Government, represented by SNV had established a $200million facility for projects in the Energy-food-water nexus. A follow-up will be done with SNV-Zimbabwe.
The International Solar Alliance (ISA) who have invited the Government of Zimbabwe to join their OSOWOG (One Grid, One Sun, One World) program and their flagship Solar parks project for ISA member states.
The main message from COP26 for the energy sector is that the country should implement its NDC energy commitments in order to reduce GHG emissions by 40% per capita by 2030. In doing so, we need to seek funding for projects and to be compensated for Decarbonisation. We reckon that the phase-out of coal and internal combustion engines is inevitable, so as a country we should be prepared.
- Side Events and Bilateral Meetings
- Zimbabwe Delegation meeting with UNFCCC Regional Collaboration Centre Kampala
The Zimbabwe delegation led by Mr Nesbert Samu from Parliament held a bilateral meeting with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s (UNFCCC) Regional Collaboration Centre – Kampala on 11 November 2021. The Regional Collaboration assists regional states in implementing or participating in the UNFCCC governed certified emissions reduction trading schemes for carbon trading. The meeting was to get updates on ongoing work by the two parties and identify areas for future collaboration. During the meeting, discussions focused on the ongoing negotiations with more focus on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement which is directly related to the work of the RCC.
The Zimbabwe delegation expressed concern about the delayed completion of the Article 6 negotiations which is expected to facilitate carbon trading under the envisaged Sustainable Development Mechanism with a proposal for mandatory levying the share of proceeds to feed into the adaptation Fund to benefit Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe expressed readiness to engage for the RCC facilitated capacity building on the modalities, procedures, and guidelines of Article 6 once agreed. A request was also made for the establishment of a national registry for carbon trading projects, trading mechanism. The RCC indicated that from experience at the national level there might be very few projects to sustain a trading system but indicated that they had initiated discussions with SADC towards setting up a regional trading platform and registry system in line with the SADC Climate Change Response Strategy (2021-2030). The RCC expressed its readiness to work with Zimbabwe on the Article 6 capacity building as well as support project development. In the end, both parties agreed to a number of action items and promised to resume the discussions and commence implementation once the Article 6 negotiations have been finalized in order to align the capacity building and projects development with the adopted modalities, procedures and guidelines.
- Measuring the Climate and Job Effects of Just Transition Plans and NDCs Side Event
Zimbabwe was featured at the side event organised by International Labour Organisation (ILO) which sought to demonstrate that climate action can be a driver for inclusive growth, job creation, rights and social justice. Hon. Members and Mr John Mazani represented Parliament. It also presented a few results from implementing the green jobs assessment model in order to understand climate investments and the link to employment creation amongst others to which Zimbabwe was one of the case countries supported on this note. Panelists discussed practical means through the NDC formulation and implementation to achieve a just transition for all and consider policy frameworks that countries can employ. Furthermore, lessons for the future implementation of NDCs and ILO offered under the Climate Action for Jobs were presented under the banner of the Climate Action for Jobs Initiative.
- Meeting between Global Environment Markets and Zimbabwe Delegation
The Zimbabwe delegation met with the Global Environment Markets. The meeting discussed the importance of establishing a carbon market registry for Zimbabwe as a basis for compliance to Article 6 of the Paris Agreement as well as positioning the country for the trading of its carbon credits in the future in-line with the Country’s NDC implementation. The Zimbabwe delegation was convinced that establishing the Carbon Registry for the Country was long overdue and a plan to establish the Registry was set as a target. It should also be noted a SADC or AU regional carbon market registry is being proposed by other countries.
- Recommendations
12.1 The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development should prioritize the enactment of laws and regulations that require public investment and incentivize private investment in green infrastructure, especially in cities and urban areas, which produce the majority of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions by December 2022.
12.2 The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development should enact legislation that contributes to creating jobs in green infrastructure and enhances green infrastructure-related business opportunities by December 2022.
12.3 The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development should also enact legislation that mainstreams sustainable consumption and production including by requiring public authorities to use green procurement practices (procuring goods and services that have a reduced environmental impact) by December 2022.
12.4 The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development in consultation with the Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry should expedite the setting up of a National Climate Change Fund that provide the co-financing resources as required by multilateral climate financing mechanisms such as the Green Climate Fund and the Adaptation Fund by August 2022.
12.5 The Ministries of Energy and Power Development, Transport and Infrastructural Development, Industry and Commerce as well as the Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry should consolidate their policies and strategies as provided for under the Paris Agreement to avoid the impending stranded assets in coal, oil and gas in view of the importance of coal extraction in our economic trajectory by August 2022.
12.6 The Ministry of Energy and Power Development should promote laws that contribute to short- and long-term renewable energy policies introducing carbon pricing measures that increase national revenues by December 2022.
12.7 The Ministry of Energy and Power Development and the Ministry of Industry and Commerce should enact legislation on low-carbon activities that promote energy efficiency, including energy efficient public infrastructure and industrial equipment, and clean technology research and development by December 2022.
12.8 Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development should introduce laws that incentivise green investment and the creation of green jobs (such as in sustainable transport and energy efficiency), and that dis-incentivise unsustainable investments by December 2022.
12.9 The Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry in collaboration with relevant Ministries should develop a watertight implementation matrix for Low Emissions Development Strategy (LEDS) and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) supported by a Climate Change Bill by October 2022.
12.10 The Ministry of Industry and Commerce and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development should adopt legislative provisions that support sustainable consumption and production (such as extending producer responsibility), and provide legislative incentives, including tax breaks or financial support, that encourage industries to adopt more sustainable production practices and increase the life cycles of their products by December 2022.
12.11 The Ministry of Industry and Commerce and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development should complement Parliament’s efforts by also giving incentives to all companies, industries, institutions and individuals, embracing green technology mechanisms to encourage renewable energy transition acceptance by August 2022. These incentives may take the form of tax exemptions for specified timeframes, reduction of registration fees for green businesses and adoption of the electric mobility.
12.12 The Ministry of Mines and Mining Development should develop policies and strategies that pave ways for the exploitation of rare earth minerals in our country and enhance the manufacture of Lithium batteries for electric vehicles in Zimbabwean industries in the wake of the just transition to the Renewable Energy era by December 2022.
12.13 The Executive should hold a summit with the other SADC Member States to exchange ideas on the phasing down of coal by October 2022 to cushion the huge initial investment costs through availing a window for multi-lateral climate finance.
12.14 Parliament should allocate budgets to oversight activities that ensure that existing environmental requirements are applied (including in the implementation of recovery measures), and encourage the adoption of innovative solutions and safeguards to enforce existing environmental laws and standards.
13 Conclusion
It is notable that Zimbabwe has done fairly well in its efforts to implement the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Kyoto Protocol, and the Paris Agreement. We commend the work done by the relevant Ministries to date. As highlighted above, there are still many outstanding issues to be concluded at the climate change negotiations. While the nation strives to transition to cleaner energy, it should be alive to the realities of the response measures and endeavour to cushion the sectors that would be affected. Finally, the country needs to position itself to benefit from any available financial window. With the above submissions, Mr. Speaker Sir, I now commend this report for consideration by this august House.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, I will endeavour to second the motion on climate change from the delegation that went to Glasgow because climate change is a broad subject. It is not only confined to Europe, Africa but all other regions in this world. Chief amongst the issues that have been brought by this report eloquently put across speak to, amongst other issues, the reduction of fossil fuel utilisation at the tail end of the recommendations, the Hon. Member spoke of the issue of optimally beneficiating our ubiquitous mineral wealth, in particular our lithium and uranium for renewable sources of energy.
Mr. Speaker Sir, as a student of law, I will endeavour to recognise content and those who have said and written articles before me. I have ten or so issues that I want to touch on that are key as to why we need to mitigate on climate related exigencies or impediments. The website that I wish to get information from is wwf.org.uk so that there is no plagiarism, no perjury or unnecessary attributing information to oneself which I have not originated. I want to recognise content from other sources. It is called either bibliography or referencing.
Having said that, there are reasons why climate change will mean big changes. The first one is for animals around the world. So if we care about incredible species, we must care about how climate change will make it harder for them to find food and decrease their habitats from the forest to see ice on the rivers. The second issue that is key when we talk about climate change is: if you are one of those who need your tea or coffee, as you get it in the morning, it may become green and you might not get it. The effects of climate change on issues like coffee are well documented and coffee producers are already seeing reduced harvests and more pests because of it. Even if you are caffeine free, you are not in the clear. Wine production may also be hit by climate change.
Thirdly, finding Nemo and Dory may become harder as their beautiful homes crumble under the stress of climate change. Warm air and ocean temperatures cause coral bleaching where corals lose their colour and may die. Ocean acidification from an increased carbon dioxide, that is CO2 in the temperature compounds the problem. Today, the ocean is 26% more acidic than it was in 1990. The Great Barrier Reef has just experienced unprecedented back-to-back bleaching events in 2016 and 2017. Climate change is very bad news for anyone hoping to see the great barrier riff one day.
The fourth issue; did you know Mr. Speaker Sir, two in every three people worldwide live in regions of severe water scarcity? Even a small increase in global temperature will destabilise the water cycle and could make water scarcity much worse. Climate change affects rainfall patterns Mr. Speaker Sir, meaning both drought and flooding will be more common and intense although it is hardly commendable with life threatening floods. Climate change may already be making you late for work. You have seen how much snow comes down in snow regions. In a square kilometer, humongous and copious amounts of snow drop in not so much time, in a little or pittance of time because of climate change.
The fifth issue relates to global temperature records – that has been broken in recent years and flooding…
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Nduna, I am very much interested in hearing what your mind is saying regarding that report, not so much about the quotations, so please if you can just reduce the number of those quotations. I know that is research which is quite fine but I think you have actually overdone it.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. There are just maybe two or so more points left before I conclude. I want to vociferously, effectively and efficiently support the report from Glasgow Mr. Speaker Sir. I want to eloquently support this report and I will not leave any stone unturned in my quest to make sure that the issue of climate change is engrained in our heart and the heart of the issues that relate to climate change.
Year after year, we have seen politicians wedding through floods, hopping into ditches yet what causes these floods is the issue of climate change and the reduction of fossil fuels and planting of more trees can reduce the issue and scourge of climate change. I believe that if we go a step further than just lamenting on the effects of climate change and go on issues to do with mitigating the same, we as politicians can do a lot better in terms of saving the global community from the hole that is created in the ozone layer, the ozone depleting substances should be themselves be depleted.
Unique irreplaceable and often described as the world’s lungs, the rain forests are some of the most precious habitants of the planet. They are really amazing and if we continue to make sure that we protect the rain forest, we will actually be mitigating on the issues of climate change. As I conclude, it is only right and just that we are fortunate to live in a beautiful, diverse, nurturing and inspiring planet. Our children and future generations deserve the same, we owe it to posterity. The climate mitigating measures that we are talking about today are supposed to make sure that there is longevity for our children. Our day has dawned, Psalms 90:10 speaks to and about that a man is appointed to live 70 years. We have children who have been born, those that are just eight years of age, these are the people whom we are trying to protect this planet for. We owe it to posterity. As we debate here, we should know that we owe it to our generation, our offspring and their offspring, zvizukuru zvevazukuru vedu. Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to thank you for giving me this opportunity to vociferously, effectively and efficiently debate on the Glasgow Report on Climate Change in the manner that the people of Chegutu West Constituency would want me to debate. I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. T. MLISWA: Mr. Speaker Sir, let me begin by saying that you hit the iron whilst it is still hot. This report has come in a bit too late. Where the President is part of the delegation, it must be given priority. There is no way it cannot be given priority. It is disappointing that the President was there, invited and it is something that caught the world and it was the first time the Second Republic has been there. So it was important that it be debated at the opportune time because the discussion was live then.
I want to thank Hon. Musarurwa for tabling the report before the House but equally to say that some of the Members who go on these delegations must be responsible enough to also second. Hon. Nduna seconded but he was not part of the delegation. You wonder what they had gone to do on those delegations. It is important that they see themselves being part of this. Mr. Speaker Sir, the world has changed and already there are issues which were critical in this agenda of the green energy. First of all, we are already suffering from a drought and we talk about cloud seeding. What did we come up with so that we mitigate the drought? This is one of the issues which I wanted to understand, how far did we go with cloud seeding and how is cloud seeding helping us?
We hear that cloud seeding was started in the country but we have not seen it. Where has it started? How is it being done and the effect of the cloud seeding that has happened? Do we understand cloud seeding and do we have what it takes to cloud seed? We do not want to be a country that attains but is not able to implement these things because of resources not being there. If cloud seeding is important, what has Government done in terms of intervention to come up with a supplementary budget? It is critical in the food security of the country. These are some of the things we believe are critical in us mitigating the drought because of the climatic change which is there.
Mr. Speaker Sir, there is the issue of the $200 million fund which should be there but this is for countries which will comply. How ready are we in complying so that we benefit from that fund as well? Are we ready and what are we doing to get ready if we are not ready? These are some of the issues which we are left behind in yet we would have attended and understood. I am glad that a number of technocrats were there and many people who went there have some experience in dealing with this. When we are represented as Parliament, we come back, the onus is on the technocrats to now craft documents which are in sync with what happened there. From there, the relevant Ministries then come with the documents and say this is what we intend to do as a result of the climatic changes which the world is facing. We are yet to see any Ministry coming through to say, because of that we are changing this. Not only that Mr. Speaker Sir, the general policy also changes for the Ministry because the Ministry could have these policies that they are following but because of the world taking a different turn, you are forced to adapt to that world policy because we do not do things in isolation.
What have we done now to be part of that world policy which we will all say this is the direction that we are going? For us to be at COP26 was the understanding that we will also be able to implement what has been agreed. What has the Minister done to ensure that we are there with what the world expects us to do in terms of the world policy? Mr. Speaker Sir, I like the issue of the engagement with the UN framework and all the Kyoto Protocols which were there. We have a tendency of attending but not reviewing what Kyoto Protocol was, what did we achieve from it, moving forward? What measures have been taken? What review did we come up with to be able to also contribute at the end of the day? When you go to these conferences, you also have to contribute from your own country’s perspective, from your region’s perspective. We are in the SADC region, the African region which at the end of the day, suffer some of these climatic conditions as much as we go into Europe.
Most of the European countries push their agenda - what are we doing to push our agenda too so that we meet half way? They have a tendency of bringing in African countries to rubber stamp what will make them better at the end of the day. They are always ahead of us and they always believe that for them to be a powerful force, Africa must always be there but as a back bencher and not as a front liner. We need to position ourselves to being a front liner because the conditions that we have in Africa are the best. Do we also need to do what they are doing? We need science and research to come in and say we are there. As far as we are concerned we are okay with our climate conditions in Zimbabwe, we are okay with our climatic conditions in Africa, we do not have to adopt their ways. That argument has got to be debated through research and institutions that we have which have got all these faculties. How far have they have gone in research?
Mr. Speaker Sir, there is also the issue of the fossil fuel. The most dangerous part which is critical for this country is that our coal deposit is estimated at $11 billion and if I heard correctly from a report, by 2022 October, we must stop using coal. Is that possible for Zimbabwe? Already, the thermal power stations are all based on coal. For us to be a beneficiary of these schemes and yet coal is supposed to turnaround our economy from an energy perspective, how are we then going to deal with it? $11 billion deposit, do we just take it away? Not only that, Australia already has come up with ways of mitigating and ways of seeing how best coal can be cleaned. They have come up with machinery, what are we doing to import machinery which will clean that coal up so that it is no longer a danger and is acceptable in turn to the green energy protocols which are expected? This is a serious issue because we might as well do away with coal but we cannot do away with it.
The issue is what Government is doing at this moment to ensure that we will now do it like the way Australia has done it, bringing in new mechanisation, clean it so that we are part of the green revolution. There is no ways we cannot be part of it but at the same time, we also must be able to say but hold on, this is where we are. They have built their cities and economies through this coal and when they do not think it is important and realise it is trying to kill their people, they now do not want it. To us, it is a resource which can turn around our economy.
The other reason is why do we delay in us not being able to dispose of the coal? How long Mr. Speaker Sir has the coal been there for? What have we done? For years we have been sitting on these resources yet our people are suffering when we are sitting on $11 billion deposits of coal in the country. We could already utilise this for the benefit of our people from an infrastructure point of view - education, health and even from employment point of view in terms of industry. We have got people exporting coal and they will tell you that Zimbabwe’s coal is the best but also cheap. Why do we have to sell our produce at very low cost and at the expense of our own people benefiting at the end of the day? Why is it that people are sitting on claims yet they are not producing anything from them. Why does Government not take those claims and give them to people who are prepared to work and generate an income? There is no point having a pantry full of food and bread yet your children cannot even have bread in the morning. That bread rots if you do not want to feed it to them. So we have a pantry full of food but you are not prepared to give the food to our children. That cannot be the answer. So this is one of the biggest issues that we need to deal with and I think Government has to respond to this. I am glad that the Chairperson for the Environmental Committee, Hon. Musarurwa is here. You have got to put Government to task pertaining to the new green energy revolution and coal being out- maneuvered. What measures has Government taken and how are they going to guarantee employment? How are they going to guarantee that this resource will help us at the end of the day?
Mr. Speaker Sir, these are some of the critical issues which I thought were very important in this report which came through. It was great that the President was there and I think it was refreshing for the nation. I also think all these sideline meetings are quite critical but many-a- times, even these Parliamentary Committees have gone to Kenya and all over to benchmark and see how much other MPs are being paid. However, they come back and do not even say it themselves that Kenya MPs are being paid $15000 a month, they have got two vehicles and three assistants. They come back and keep quiet, but I say if people are not prepared to come and report back, they should not go on these exercises because it becomes a waste of time and money because you are not changing us at all. People are suffering, Members of Parliament in this institution are known for selling the cheapest coupons ever. We are known to be like that. We are now a laughing stock to the nation because we are serving the nation honestly. I am very serious about this.
I never thought ever in my life I would go around and hear people say if you want the cheapest coupons go to Parliament, they are very poor and they sell their coupons at low price. If you want to see Mr. Speaker Sir, on a Thursday or Friday, people are out there like they are at a market place. Why are we being reduced to this as Hon. Members? Mr. Speaker Sir, you cannot allow this to happen. So, I am saying benchmarking must be improved. If the Kenyans are doing better, why can we not also do better than them? How can we represent people effectively when we are suffering? This is pathetic and sad to be part of an institution where nobody cares. Today’s headline in the news was MPs seeking CDF in US dollars. We do not put the CDF in our pockets. It is a way of devolution, helping the Government to be able to grow. None of the MPs here has ever bought anything from CDF, if anything, we always supplement from our own money. We are now given a duty free allowance for a car of $40000 yet there is no money for the $40000. Who says I want a car for $40000? What if I want a car for $120000? It is like we are in jail and we should accept whatever we are given. May this institution be respected? I say this emotionally, if this institution is not respected, then the people of this country are not being respected. The Hon. Members have done a good job coming here though they are equally incapacitated. May that benchmarking exercise and may the truth you did to COP26 show a difference that you have gone, learnt and there is change. Until the MPs benchmark is shown in changes, then can we say we are going anywhere at the end of the day. It is tiring if somebody has to think twice whether to go to Parliament or not or just stay at home. It should never be like that. We still want to serve our people. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. MUTAMBISI: Mr. Speaker Sir, thank you for allowing me to add my voice on the motion raised by Hon. Musarurwa, seconded by Hon. Nduna. I think as a country, we should start fronting new overseas fuel protests. Our people need protection from the impact of climate change. We should also get compensation from these developed countries for the damage that we are seeing in our country.
As a country, we should also adopt clean cooking as presented by Hon. Musarurwa because it lessens the effects of climate change through emissions. Last but not least, it is not too late to act on climate change issues. I thank you.
HON. BUSHU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, for allowing me to add my voice to this debate. The first thing is that I could not connect when I was sitting behind there. I think we do have an ICT problem and I think there is need for us to address that. Mr. Speaker Sir, the motion that was put across by the Environment Committee and the subsequent report was very good and I was very impressed by that. In fact, the visit to Glasgow was worth it and understandably, His Excellency the President, ensured that Zimbabwe was supporting the issue of climate change and I think Parliament must take this issue very seriously.
As I listened to the report from Glasgow, I noticed that a lot of issues were raised and we are talking about financing to ensure that climate change is successful but I am uncomfortable because the financing programmes have not been reaching the third world countries including Zimbabwe. I am wondering whether we should stop and follow this programme which seems to be half heartedly being implemented in terms of the financing programmes. We do have a lot of coal, methane gas, natural gas but the issue is whether the commitment is there from the countries that are promoting the climate change programme. Our commitment seems to be very serious particularly from the report that was given and the recommendations that were given by the committee on environment.
Mr. Speaker Sir, in our own country, this particular rain season is a true reflection of climate change. The report by our Committee is a true commitment to ensuring that issues related to climate change are looked at seriously. The thing is we cannot implement these on our own; we cannot be successful on our own. The global players because of their interests - are they prepared to pay for the opportunity cost of not using our resources? I think that given what the Environmental Committee has given to us or has presented to Parliament, I would like to implore Members of Parliament to adopt the recommendations and adopt the report in its entirety. I thank you.
HON. RAIDZA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir for giving me an opportunity to contribute to one of the topical issues in the world today that is the issue of climate change. We are today experiencing a drought in our country which is an effect of climate change.
I want to thank the Environment Committee for the report that they have tabled and the visit to Glassglow which was led by His Excellency to attend the summit on Climate change. It is true that the climate and the environment that we live in; we must be good stewards in terms of keeping and protecting the environment and the climate. Indeed, as Africa we have been good stewards. We have exemplified good stewardship for many years.
Mr. Speaker, changing technologies and adopting new technologies in order to conform to the changes in climate and environment and in order to protect the environment is a welcome move by the world as Africa and in particular as Zimbabwe we must join the world. however, here is the paradox, our very existence as a country and as a continent is premised and underpinned by exploitation of our natural resources, that is what we have as a people to survival and to progress and reach the levels that the very countries that advocate for protection of the environment today are at.
As Africa and in particular as Zimbabwe, our pollution to the world is insignificant if it can be calculated, if it is there by any chance. While we agree that we have to be part of the world and part of the ecosystem of the world in protecting the climate and the environment, it must not be done at the detriment of our own existence. It must not be done at the detriment of our own progress, it must not also be done at the detriment of our own industrial revolution which by not our own choice has been delayed but by the reasons that are well documented, that we have been colonised.
We are not backward, we are not unindustrialized because we cannot but we have lived under the shackles of the powers that be that today prescribe that coal is dirty, fossil oil is dirty, that we must go clean, indeed we must go clean.
We must not be taken in the same race and pace that our yester year oppressors used the same resources, including human capital from our own continence and countries to reach where they are and today have a prescription for protecting the world. We must be given an opportunity to progress, to develop, we must be given a fair platform, a fair premise to be able to participate and partake in the debate and the exercise of protecting the climate and the environment.
Mr. Speaker Sir, today we speak of human animal conflict where we have herds of elephants that we cannot sell the tusks because of certain agreements that we have signed. As I have said, our development is premised and underpinned by our ability to exploit our natural resources. It is the same natural resources that we are being told that we cannot exploit. It is the same natural resources that we are being told when we exploit them, it is abuse.
When we move from exploitation of natural resources, our countries and our governments are under shackles of economic sanctions premised on falsehoods and abuse of human rights.
So, how will Africa develop itself? How will a small country like Zimbabwe develop itself? You turn left there is a barrier; you turn right there is a barrier. I pray that the issues of climate change are not an entry barrier for underdeveloped countries, for developing countries, for emerging markets to participate in world economy. When we use clean energy, our cost of production is going to go up, we will not be able to export our products when our cost of production goes up that means we cannot compete.
There are already tariffs that are on our products from World Trade Organisations. We cannot compete! So as we discus there must be a model that allows products that are produced by smart technologies within the developing countries to be able to be sold and to compete to be competitive on world market.
As we speak, we are a dumping site for the developing world for products. We cannot compete, we cannot export and yet our governments are accused by the same prescribers of failing to generate jobs. How do we then generate jobs? We want our people to go and work in coal and various mines - that is how we generate jobs, yet we are saying coal is dirty and again the Government of Zimbabwe which is sitting on deposits of coal must generate jobs. As we participate and debate this, we must be alive to the fact that as a nation, we must chart our way forward, knowing that our development, our future, the prospect of our country to be part and parcel of the world economy is premised on our natural resources and it is our right to explore them. I thank you Hon. Speaker – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]
HON. RAIDZA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I rise to add my voice to the motion moved by Hon. Musarurwa, seconded by Hon. Nduna regarding the issue of COP 26 that was focusing more on climate change. When we talk about the issues of climate change, these are issues that affect all of us, the whole world over but the way it affects all of us differs from each region. If we compare the developed and the developing nations, we see that the effects of climate change differs and that is why there is a talk of climate justice like what other Hon. Members have said that all of us agree that there are effects of climate change amongst us but the way we should deal with these effects should also take cognisance of one country, as we move from one country to another.
We understand that the developed countries have developed their systems using the resources from the developing countries or the resources that they do not want the developing countries to use like the issue of coal that has been mentioned by a number of Hon. Members. As they are pushing for the ban of coal, we are also not hearing the corresponding mechanism that they are also giving to the developing nations to say instead of you using your coal, these are the funding mechanisms that we are putting in place and these are the ways that we want you to do your business in your nations.
Mr. Speaker, we are only hearing that they are saying we must move away from coal and move into clean energy but this clean energy costs us money. As a country, I think we need also to see a serious commitment from these developed nations when we talk about the issues of climate change and when we are looking at the issues of climate justice. Mr. Speaker Sir, this is putting a lot of financial burden in developing nations. It is not only Zimbabwe that is suffering from these effects of climate change that we did not also equally contribute to. Much of these issues have been caused by these developed nations. I want to touch on one issue that I also want to encourage us as Hon. Members and all of us as Zimbabweans that we need to borrow a leaf from what our First Lady Amai Mnangagwa is doing in dealing with deforestation. We are seeing her - she is moving all over the country planting trees. I want to encourage all of us to learn one or two things or for us as Members of Parliament to rally behind our First Lady and make sure that we also, once a year if possible, we plant a number of trees so that we deal with these issues of deforestation. We want to make sure that at least we play our part as individuals, to make sure that we deal with the effects of climate change because climate change is real. It is outside there, we are seeing it like in this year, of 2022, we are seeing that we are faced with a serious drought, it is because of climate change.
I want to encourage us as citizens and as leaders, as Members of Parliament, politicians, for us to be even campaigners, if possible, in these issues of climate change. Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir.
*HON. TOGAREPI: Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Hon. Musarurwa and the seconder Hon. Nduna who raised the motion on Climate Change. The weather patterns are changing everyday, thereby affecting our daily lives, including peoples’ health, crops and animals. I want to thank His Excellency, the President who saw it fit to go and attend this Conference. Climate change is causing so many problems; including floods, droughts and hailstones. In our province, in Mwenezi, it is a very hot area but we were surprised to see hailstones, this shows that things are not going on well because of climate change.
I agree with many Hon. Members who have said that as developing nations, we have done very little damage to climate change but the developed nations caused many of these issues. We can talk of minerals or whatever but what is causing climate change? I think that there should be specialists in our universities where we can make use of our graduates who can do research on more ways that can be used to mitigate the effects of climate change.
I thought that the developed countries which are advanced were using coal and natural gas which caused pollution. They should give us an opportunity to learn their new technology which is non pollutant to the ozone layer so that we stop using the energy sources which cause pollution of the environment. As a country during the beginning of the farming season, we received rains every day and the surface was very wet but our first plants failed to grow due to excessive rains. After the first three months of the rainy season, the rains stopped for good and the plants which were re-planted failed to grow due to lack of water.
It is therefore important for us as a country to come up with ways of feeding the nation and making sure that our animals get supply of water. What should we do? I think we should resort to irrigation and finding more ways of using clean sources of energy to reduce the effects of climate change. The Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement should sit down and come up with a plan on how to mitigate the effects of climate change. For the past 15 years, we have not had a stable rainy season like it used to be in the yesteryears before then. This means that the effects of climate change were minimal during that era but now the effects are huge in a very short period of time.
It is therefore important for us as a country to come up with more ways of mitigating the effects of climate change. We should come up with farming techniques that are in sync with the existing climate change. Our energy sources should be adopted from those who are already advanced in technology of clean sources like solar or water power generation. If we do not resort to clean energy sources, our people will perish of hunger. The ministers responsible for this issue should come up with strategies to correct the effects of climate change. They should come and tell us what they are doing in order to protect us from the effects of climate change.
Our people in the rural areas or in Zimbabwe in particular, are they aware of the problem which we are facing and being caused by climate change? Are we educating our people so that everything that they do, they should be wary of the danger of doing things that end up causing climate change? There is therefore need to go out there in the rural areas and educate them on the use of clean energy sources and help them generate electricity so that they stop cutting down trees. As the First Lady did, she moved around planting trees so that we can have woodlots or create forests where we plant more trees and mitigate against the effects of pollution which in turn is causing climate change. Let us give our Committee an opportunity to move around the country educating people and listening to their concerns in a bid to come up with clean energy sources and work towards rescuing our environment from the effects of climate change. The Committee will in turn educate our people on the expertise that they learnt on how this problem can be resolved. This will be helpful to every household so that they would know how to protect the ozone layer and reduce the effects of climate change. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
(v)*HON. MPAME: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. The issue of climate change is something that is before us, this is visible through the hunger within the country. Since 1972, when I was still young, I have witnessed more than 11 drought seasons, meaning that the environment is changing whilst we watch. Our elders say aive madziva ave mazambuko, in Zvishavane where I come from, indeed things have become bad.
For the Government to help people, they should construct dams on every river which receives water between the month of November to date. As individuals, we should commit ourselves to stop cutting down trees. If you move around our roads as we speak, you will observe that some of the people who were allocated land are no longer farming but they are harvesting firewood. The Environmental Management Agency (EMA) should implement the existing laws to punish the people who are continuously cutting down trees.
In addition, the Forestry Commission should prepare a lot of tree nurseries so that we can ask our people to plant trees. If we ask them to plant trees without the nurseries they will ask us where they can get the nursery to do so. I was in my rural home last week in Zvishavane and I visited EMA and Forestry Commission, they do not have the nurseries. The plants that I saw have been donated by Mimosa Mining Company. This means that in every district, there is EMA and Forestry Commission but they do not have nurseries for us to do reforestation. Therefore our Ministry responsible for the environment should make sure that their Forestry department do their work to come up with a nursery of trees and EMA should move around suing every individual who will be found cutting down trees. In the past, the chiefs used to call for a fine of a beast if one was found cutting down trees. EMA should be capacitated so that they are able to do their work while we wait for money from donations by our former colonisers to assist in reforestation – [Technical glitch] –
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Can you reconnect?
(v)*HON. MPAME: - [technical glitch] – the issue of reforestation is important. Other countries like Saudi Arabia for example, have set a target in the next five years of planting 10 billion trees. Us also as a nation should do like what others are doing so that we develop. I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
*HON. R. R. NYATHI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I would like to add my voice to this very important motion that was raised by Hon. Musarurwa, seconded by Hon. Nduna, which talks about climate change. We thank the Parliament delegation that went to Glasgow Climate Change Conference. I would also want to thank Hon. Members who debated before me. I will dwell on a few things which I think would help us as a country. I have learnt that combating climate change starts with us. That means every one of us has a role to play in conservation of our natural resources and ensuring that your surroundings are protected. We should ensure that we plant trees at our homes and in the community. We are experiencing storms that are destroying buildings and we can overcome these situations when we have trees at home. We should plant fruit trees so that when we do not have a good harvest, we can survive on fruits such as guavas, mangoes, oranges and many others depending on where you are staying. As Zimbabweans, we should desist from causing veld fires. Government is losing a lot of money in trying to cut down on veld fires.
We are asking EMA to hold awareness campaigns educating people on the effects of veld fires and the cutting down of trees. If we destroy the trees, that will contribute to the climate change. We get medicines from trees, so trees are life. We are having a challenge on the mining issue. Mr. Speaker Sir, I am a Member of Parliament for Shurugwi North Constituency where there is a lot of gold, platinum as well as chrome but we now have people mining everywhere. People are now digging on tarred roads and even in the rivers resulting in land degradation. The creatures that live in the water will be destroyed by chemicals from the illegal mining practices. We should not engage in illegal practices so that we do not destroy the our good image out there. We should leave a legacy for the coming generations.
It is important that we work towards achieving the 2030 middle income economy and we should starting educating our people on proper farming and mining systems and that they should develop their communities in rural areas. People in rural areas should start using solar energy systems because Zimbabwe has got a lot of this product. This will reduce the cutting down of trees. We should construct contour ridges in our fields as a mitigatory measure of soil erosion and contour ridges also harvest water. His Excellency, Dr. E. D. Mnangagwa is always talking of water harvesting at every ward and every community. We should construct weir dams for water harvesting so that we can start community projects.
There is also the mention of Paris Agreement in the Report which has got funds set aside to assist developing countries like Zimbabwe and others. We will see other countries benefiting from these funds whilst Zimbabwe is left out. Mr. Speaker Sir, does that mean if a country is under illegal sanctions and they are experiencing climate change, they cannot benefit from these funds. I think these funds should benefit all the nations in need. The issue of global warming begins with us. We should work together. Vakuru vanoti chara chimwe hachitswanyi inda or ndarira imwe hairiri kana kuti gomana rimwe harigone kukomba churu. We should work together so that the coming generations will appreciate us. I thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir, for the time you have afforded me to support the motion raised by Hon. Musarurwa, seconded by Hon. Nduna who always talks about how important his Chegutu Constituency is. I thank you.
*HON. SEWERA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir for affording me the opportunity to add my voice to this motion raised by Hon. Musarurwa, seconded by Hon. Nduna. A lot of countries are developing because they are using electrical vehicles, necessitated by climate change. In Zimbabwe we have lithium which is found in Goromonzi. Lithium is being used to produce batteries which are being used on electrical cars. If you go into most of the shops you will find that lithium batteries are used for solar systems. Two weeks ago, Zimbabwean citizens were complaining about fuel prices but these electric cars can be useful since we mine lithium and we will not be complaining about fuel prices. This will also help us because the funds we currently use to purchase fuel from other countries will be reduced because we will be using lithium. I am advising the Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Energy to take a close look at this issue and do something for us. If we can have a law as a country that if a person is building, it should be mandatory to have a solar system and electric system so that the electricity grid will have no pressure. Another speaker alluded to water harvesting. Where I come from in Murehwa West Constituency, along the road which takes me home there is a lot of rain coming down the mountainside and this water needs to be harvested in dams so that it is not wasted by just flowing away.
Lastly I would like to encourage people to plant trees. I wish the same committee should be given the opportunity to educate people to plant trees and all the Hon. Members will help them to educate people in their constituencies to plant trees. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
(v)*HON. KWARAMBA: Thank you Mr. Speaker for giving the opportunity to talk about the motion on climate change raised by Hon. Musarurwa and seconded by Hon. Nduna. We live in a country which was destroyed by the whites and they took our minerals which caused us to be under-developed, yet they are developed because they took our mineral resources to their countries. They must give us funds so that we can develop our country. Climate change affects us as women as we look for food for our children since it is our responsibility to look for food for our children. It becomes difficult for us to sell vegetables after experiencing cyclones like what happened in Chimanimani during Cyclone Idai. Vegetables were destroyed and that caused domestic violence in homes as there was no money in homes. Women are responsible for looking for firewood. So the country must encourage people to use bio-gas and solar so that the women will not have a lot of problems cooking for the family. It should also be mandatory to have solar in all new homes to lessen the burden on women to look for firewood. Women have a lot of responsibility where they stay and they should be encouraged to put all the fruit seeds they will have eaten in the ground because they all grow.
I would like to thank the President for the idea of growing trees. People must be taught about the importance of trees as they create a wind break. I still remember in Tanzania, President Julius Nyerere did the green revolution. He took different tree seeds and got into a plane then scattered them in different parts of Tanzania. So we should encourage each other to do the same in our county. We also urge our representatives who go abroad to come back and teach us what they will have seen and learnt. We take what they learn then develop that as a country. This will help us so that we do not have problems like people being washed away by a lot of rains. I thank you.
≤HON. DR. MURIRE: Thank you Hon. Speaker. I would like to support the motion which was raised by Hon. Musarurwa. As Hon. Members of Parliament or even those in charge of educating the public, working on the issue of climate change, when we go around the country, we are seeing heaps of firewood but nothing is being done to those perpetrators who are selling firewood. Others are also involved in the cutting down of trees and gathering the firewood for use as a source of energy.
One of the reasons we are experiencing climate change is that we no longer have the trees as compared to long back. If you look at the communities, we used to have a lot of trees around us but now it is a different situation, things have totally changed. Communities no longer have trees; people continue to cut down trees.
As Generations come and go, people leave their families to go and start a new life. We no longer have land for people to build their homes, so whoever wants to start a new home will cut down trees creating space for a homestead. Therefore, the generations to come will not have trees.
It is my thinking that the department responsible for climate change must engage the general public to educate them on these pertinent issues because the situation might be worse from what we are seeing today.
The Government must come up with stiffer penalties, a legislative framework that inhibits people from continuing to take part in deforestation and cutting down of trees. How can we have the rains and a normal environment when people continue to cut down trees? Definitely, we will not experience the rains as we anticipate them. People should be brought to book for such crimes and face stiffer penalties.
In the months of June and July, we have high incidences of veld fires. So can measures be put in place so that people are educated on the issues to do with the environment and climate change?
HON. MUSARURWA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. NDUNA: I second.
Motion put and agreed.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 16th March, 2022.
MOTION
THIRD REPORT OF THE PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMITTEE ON THE SPECIAL MAIZE PROGRAMME/COMMAND AGRICULTURE
Sixteenth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the 3rd Report of the Public Accounts Committee on the special maize programme Command Agriculture.
Question again proposed.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I want to add my voice to the report on the special maize programme by the Public Accounts Committee as a Member of the Public Accounts Committee.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I have read and understood the report that was presented in this House and I have a feeling that there are some issues that were left out of that report that are very critical most probably because there were a lot of pages.
I agree with the report as it stands, however, I want to add my voice in so far as it relates to the suppliers that were mentioned in that report. The report did not make it clear that the suppliers were not the originators of the Treasury Bills and that these suppliers did not receive the US dollars. Also, the suppliers were not contracted by the Ministry of Agriculture and that the suppliers were either supplying fertilizer or suppliers of seed. I will zero in on FSG and I will take about two minutes to run down as to what exactly occurred in so far as it relates to the supply of both fertilizer and the seed. Also the evidence that they gave to the Committee was eloquently presented and the information that was received by the same Committee Mr. Speaker Sir and that information because of the amount of space, is not inside the Report.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the Report does not show how the questions that were answered before the Committee were answered, which questions were raised too by the Committee to FSG and that FSG was a contractor to the special maize programme. In interrogating FSG the supplier in the special maize programme, we sought to get FSG to exonerate themselves in so far as it relates to the amount that they were receiving according to what had been presented before them.
Mr. Speaker, also the type of monies that were being received whether it was the US dollars or whether it was the Treasury Bills. These were the three key critical issues that the Committee sought to know. Mr. Speaker Sir, in its submission before the Committee GSG under oath, it is important to note that FSG supplier was contracted by Command Agriculture - in fact the supplier of fertilizer and seed into the Presidential Inputs Support Scheme, the supplier was never contracted by RBZ. It was contracted by the Presidential Inputs Support Scheme and it supplied fertilizer. This information is key and it is critical because it was given under oath to the Committee Mr. Speaker Sir.
Yours truly was also in that Committee. This information is being extracted from our minutes and it will be right for me to present this information. The amount almost of $400 million was to cover the supply of these inputs that were delivered in 2016, 2017 and 2018. This programme focused on small scale maize and cotton farmers and it distributed to over $1.6 million vulnerable households.
It is also my submission that the information was not prevaricated because it was under oath. If it was prevaricated, if it was any perjury, the Committee would have rebutted or would have sought clarity on that information. There was no rebutting, there was no point of clarity and it is my view that this information should be presented in the manner I am presenting it before this august House before the Minister comes to this House and responds.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the company that I speak to and about FSG never received money in US dollars but the money that was received or the payment that was received was in Treasury Bills. It is important that if there be a separation - because there is insinuation that there was foreign currency externalization, whereas FSG used what is called lines of credit through Treasury Bills and would receive the fertilizer from Mauritius or from offshore after they had been cleared. It is important to note that there was never any form of externalization in the process. Mr. Speaker Sir, it is also important to note that the company that I am talking about fully carried out its mandate of delivering what it was paid for even before full payment was received, full delivery was actually exhibited.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I will now go to the second company that is also in the table of companies in the Public Accounts report, the company is Valley Seeds and also Valley Seeds was never contracted by Command Agriculture but supplied inputs to the Presidential Inputs Support Programme. It is very important that this be clear in the manner that it is. Valley Seeds was also never paid in US dollars, it should be very clear, otherwise nothing can be further from the truth than that if at all the form of payment for Valley Seeds was RTGs.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the files that were brought to Parliament - I attended the oral evidence session that these companies came through, showed, the Committee was very happy with the information of the RTGs and the TBs that was used as a mode of payment. It will boggle one’s mind why now the Report speaks to the issue of US dollars. It would......
The Clerk-at-Table having approached the Chair.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Nduna, it would appear that you seem to be going against your Committee’s Report. You were supposed to have raised these issues during your interaction.
HON. NDUNA: I am not going against the Report.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: This is exactly what you are saying.
HON. NDUNA: I am adding into the Report.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Nduna you seem to be saying that the Report is talking about US dollars.
HON. NDUNA: This is why I said Mr. Speaker Sir you need to be very careful what you are receiving from the Assistant Clerk.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: No, no Hon. Nduna the report has been tabled and you seem to be hitting the points that are contrary to your report. You produced this report together with your other Members. So, please if you would like to continue, you are supposed to be adding some points and not contradict what was actually reported in the report.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I think there must have been typo-errors in the report because we agreed and there are a lot of Members…
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Sorry Hon. Nduna. You do not have to debate with me. I am only directing you to follow the protocols of the House.
HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. All the goods and inputs ordered for the Presidential Programme for more than 1.6 million vulnerable households; in particular from Valley Seeds were paid in RTGS. I am not going against what is written in the Report because I do not think this was mentioned in the report. I think I am just adding it. The proof of delivery of inputs to various GMB Depots was provided and the Committee was very happy. I think this is mentioned that the Committee was very happy, if it has not been mentioned, it is an omission and I am adding. There is nothing wrong in what is written in the report if the pages never went to as far as acknowledgement that the Committee was very happy.
As I conclude, Valley Seeds proved that they did not receive any other payments in the form of Treasury Bills or Bonds. I want to make it categorically clear that they received only RTGs and I do not think I am at variance with the mother-report. I want to thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, for giving me this opportunity because it is just and right for us to get through the straight and narrow both in terms of carrot and stick for those who would have been mentioned in the Auditor-General’s Report so that there is no recurrence of any delinquent behaviour if at all there was any delinquent behaviour.
It is the duty of your thematic Committee on Public Accounts to chastise and give advice to those who would have been mentioned in the Auditor-General’s Report and also to be very specific, truthful and make sure we support the suppliers, in particular the Command Agriculture under the circumstances of an acrimonious relationship with the West and their allies who have put in sanctions and where we have companies that try by all means under the circumstance, to supply the nation for the special maize programme. That should be applauded. I want to thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, for giving me this opportunity to vociferously, eloquently and effectively contribute to this report on command and special maize programme in the manner and mould that the people of Chegutu West Constituency would have me debate. I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
*HON. RAIDZA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, for giving me this opportunity to add my voice on the motion which was brought in by Hon. Dube who is the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee. I am a Member of that Committee and the work that resulted in this report took a long time to complete for us to debate about it today.
The issue before us is very important to our economy, well known as the Special Maize Programme, later known as the Command Agriculture Programme. Parliament is bestowed with the oversight role on the Executive and on public funds, that is what we did so that we ascertain the amount of money which was used from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development. We ended up probing the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement. Through the investigations that we did, we also managed to collect oral evidence from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe on how money was used on the Government Programme. We also gathered oral evidence from those who were involved through the distribution of inputs and we collected a lot of evidence.
However, the most important issue is that this Government Programme was a result of previous years of drought and hunger. As a result, the Government came up with a plan to ensure that the people of Zimbabwe are well fed. That is how the programme was started.
I would also want to say that most Zimbabweans do not know what was happening on the issue of this programme and there is a lot of misinformation. The Government’s intention is to help the poor who are unable to buy farming inputs like seed and fertilizer. So the Presidential Input Scheme was put in place and it is implemented every year. When we did our investigations, we observed that some money which was paid off by the Ministry of Finance was in support of that programme. However, when others reported on the Presidential Input Programme, they combined it with the Special Maize Programme as one programme. I believe that the explanation which was done in our report was very clear that the money used for both programmes was coming from the same budget and we do not know whether it was intentional so that Zimbabwean citizens fail to comprehend what was really taking place.
Presidential Input Scheme is a programme intended for the poor farmers and this programme has always been there. Our Government cannot watch while the people of Zimbabwe suffer when they have the strength, passion and land to do their farming. That is why this programme was implemented and supported. The Special Maize Programme, well known as Command Agriculture, is a programme which was on a larger scale and was intended to help and support commercial farmers and middle scale farmers. That is the major difference which is there on the two programmes and yet some people combined the two programmes to mean the same.
The money that was allocated to Command Agriculture was not as huge as it has been reported in the media when others said they found the documents from Parliament, the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development. Most of these stories are distorted and untruthful. We did our investigations and we saw the Treasury Bills and proof of payments from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development. Some of the monies that are being spoken about, we never witnessed it.
In the year 2017 and 2018, even though we did not have a bumper harvest, there was a rise in harvest as compared to the two or three previous years before the introduction of the Command Agriculture Programme. I would like to thank the Government for their insight on the production of maize and wheat so that as a country, we might have adequate food for our citizens and cut the bill of importing maize and wheat from other countries. I would like to thank the Government for what was done. You will realise that during the course of farming itself, some of the funds are not paid back because when the Government came up with that programme, it also came up with another fund or scheme where the supported farmer should sell their harvest and pay back through that fund which was supposed to be a revolving fund.
In our investigation, we realised that indeed, there were some challenges, some of the people who got the support did not manage to pay back that money whilst some managed to do so. As we speak, we observed that it was a lesson to the Government on how to support and perfect the programme that is meant to avert hunger and provide food security to the country. We realised that from the current situation, there are lessons leant from the 2017 programme and that is why the Government came up with the CBZ Agro-yield programme where those who get support from the Government through the Presidential Input Scheme will continue getting that support, but other commercial farmers should approach banks to get their financial assistance.
I realise that it is work in progress and it is a lesson for all of us as a nation on how best to implement national programmes so that they become successful. Through this special model, we got a lot of yield by farmers and even this year, there is potential but the problem is the shortage of rains. However, we realise that Zimbabwean citizens are very eager to produce high yields in their farms.
The land reform programme has become successful through these yields that we are getting right now. I refer to this because we had become a laughing stock in other countries. They were questioning us on what we achieved by getting back our land but right now through the President’s vision, we are realising that the farmers are increasing their yields. These programmes only need to be improved as we move forward, instead of stopping it altogether because if we stop them as a country, we will also suffer because we will need to import food. In the end we will have starvation in the country.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I would like to say that this Government programme is a very good one and we realise that it is being improved in order for it to fulfill the vision of the country’s leadership. We cannot achieve that vision if we blame the programme because it is a process. We should also not do that by spreading falsehoods about it. As Members of Parliament, we are also supposed to tell the truth and speak positively about our Government because if we mislead the nation, that does not take us anywhere, it is retrogressive.
I say these words with a heavy heart because the Zimbabwe that we have is just one country and if we develop a culture of accepting inflated figures, that can be sold out there in other countries for example, $2 billion or $3 billion. Let me give an example, if we say $20 billion or $30 billion, such issues are very retrogressive. I think that is an abuse of office because those people who come here to Parliament and give us evidence rely on us and trust us that indeed, it will be confidential information that can only be released when the right time comes. This is the issue that I would like to address that as Hon. Members of Parliament, we must be factual and speak the truth that can be relied on. Sometimes we hear of billions of monies being stolen and everyone questions in their mind as to who could have stolen it and the answer will be on names flying around. During this time of sanctions, we will have very few people willing to work with us. If people go outside spreading falsehoods, that is not good, we will be tarnishing those people who work with us as Government.
I would like to encourage the use of truth when such information is released. The report that was released by the Chairman is factual and it stated who benefitted what, how much did Valley Seeds get and how much they contributed to this programme and how much did they earn in line with their contribution? So that is in accordance with the information that we got from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development as well as the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.
The last part that I would like to talk about is our Ministry of Finance and Economic Development – the report also requested that - I would like to reiterate that, there are some funds that are paid as direct payments to suppliers. I think in between ministries, using the whole Government approach systems that they are using now, when such payments are being done, they should be done properly and in a transparent manner so that both ministries involved get to know because at the end, the Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Finance, there was a sort of conflict or misunderstanding. With these few words, I would like to add my support to the report brought by Hon. Dube to this House.
*HON. TOGAREPI: Hon. Speaker, I was listening but I am not a Member of this Committee but I was paying so much attention. I also read that report and realise that we as Parliament, do we have the power to take action on someone who peddle falsehoods using Parliament name? That person will be trusted but they tarnish the image of some companies as well as the country, what can we do? So what can we do if Hon. Members or the Chairperson of the Committee say something that is false or not correct, what can we do? If we are an Honourable Parliament, let us look at the difference of what was said and what was reported. That person who brought a false report must be charged. Secondly, all those things that are being peddled are just falsehoods about Treasury Bills and other payments. I realise that those falsehoods were targeting black people and not the whites who also received these Treasury Bills. So, is it meant to tarnish black business people by saying only whites carry out good business practices. This report has actually exposed the truth so that the whole nation knows who was misleading and lying about this report. People have to know who did what regardless of their skin colour because the blacks are being tarnished.
The Command Agriculture Programme indeed transformed the agriculture sector in this country. The black farmers were empowered just as the whites were empowered through the Agriculture Finance Corporation where they got a lot of funding and they never returned that money, yet they are regarded as good farmers while the black farmers are being bad mouthed in their quest to become successful farmers. The black farmers are doing very well and the silos are full of grain but no one acknowledges that but just look for the negatives so as to tarnish the image of the blacks. They rush to talk about the falsehoods of Treasury Bills but never stop to praise command agriculture. Why only focus on the negative issues about this country? All those who lied about this should be brought to book and should be punished by this august House. I thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. NDUNA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday 16th March 2022.
On the motion of HON. TOGAREPI seconded by HON TEKESHE, the House adjourned at Eighteen Minutes to Five o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Thursday, 10th March, 2022
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two O’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. SPEAKER in the Chair)
HON. MUCHIMWE: On a point of privilege Mr. Speaker Sir?
THE HON. SPEAKER: What is your point of privilege Hon. Muchimwe?
HON. MUCHIMWE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I am of the point that the allocation of CDF must be according to the current USD bank rate and the banks must issue out in USD because our service providers demand USD for their services. We are finding it difficult to get services using RTGS. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you. That should have been addressed to the administration of Parliament. I take note and we are going to engage the Minister of Finance and Economic Development.
*HON. NYABANI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. In this country, people are complaining. They are facing a lot of challenges because grinding mill prices and basic commodities’ prices have gone up. I was thinking that the Minister of Finance should come and give a Ministerial statement. The fuel price has gone up. What plans does he have so that at least the hardships that people are facing will be alleviated because people want to live well manageable lives? My observation is people are not at peace with the way things are. I thank you.
*THE HON. SPEAKER: Were you around yesterday? This issue was asked by Hon. Mliswa and we agreed with Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Development that he is going to table a statement which will touch on the issues that you have talked about.
*HON. NYABANI: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I hope the process will be speeded up.
*HON. SPEAKER: Next week he will bring in a statement. I hope you will be around representing your constituency and you will tell him your observations out there.
HON. TEKESHE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to compliment the Minister of Agriculture for commercializing the Command agriculture putting everything through the bank - it has saved the country a lot of money. People were just getting inputs and selling them. In Rusape, you cannot find anybody now selling the fertilisers and everything because when they go to the bank they are told you owe the bank so much, so you have to pay before you get something. Though they have not taken every precaution to stop these people from gaining from Command agricultural inputs, I want to commend the Minister in commercializing command agriculture for the steps he has taken so far. I thank you.
HON. T. MLISWA: Mr. Speaker Sir, very good afternoon. I want to alert the Hon. Members of Parliament for what is known as the BMI, Body Mass Index which is now available here in Parliament. What it is - is that you are of a certain weight and a certain height and your height must be in tandem with the weight. It is not right for you to continue not going for such a test, Parliament has that provision and I urge all parliamentarians to go through that. You will be told the right weight for your height and what you need to shed. In shedding off we invite you to the Parliamentary Sports Club for sessions in the morning, light sessions with others so that your health becomes your wealth. You do not want to be sick and you are told it is because you are overweight. Body Mass Index is now available at Parliament and all the gadgets are there. Whether you come and train or not but just know how much of the excess weight is on you. We do not want you to be sick and then you find out. It is better you find out before you are sick and you do something about it. We encourage you to go for it, it will compel you to train whether you like it or not. I thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have been and the results were disastrous, very disastrous indeed, and extremely overweight in terms of my current height. So I have started reducing my weight. It is quite good that a machine tells you all. I would like to encourage all of us to go under that machine and you will be told exactly what to do and be able to act accordingly.
(v)HON. MOKONE: I am going to be very short. I rise as a follow up to the issue I raised last week on the 3rd of March pertaining to the Gwanda water crisis and Beitbridge has the same problem. Madam Speaker has advised me to make a written question last week so that the Hon. Minister can respond but yesterday he did not come. The issue has been on the Order Paper since the 2nd of March and I actually see this issue as a serious issue that needs to be addressed with urgency. ZINWA has installed prepaid meters for both towns and the towns suffer dual ownership of water plants, as a result it is the residents who are suffocating because they are failing to pay the amount that ZINWA needs. I therefore plead with your office to make sure that this issue is solved with the urgency that it deserves. Both towns, including those in Matabeleland South cannot afford to go without water. I thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you very much Hon. Mokone, we will take the necessary steps to make sure that the Minister responsible addresses the question and it is disposed of expeditiously.
(v)HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. When you sat in that Chair last year, I requested that the Minister of Transport comes to the House and gives the House the proper progress on infrastructural development, in particular as it relates to the road and he agreed. I ask if it pleases you that he be reminded to come and explain to the House what progress we have in terms of infrastructural development in conjunction with his counterpart the Hon. Minister of Finance, if it does please you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Nduna, it does not please me because the Minister of Transport was in the House yesterday and you should have asked that question directly to the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development. He was there yesterday.
(v)HON. NDUNA: So what is your judgment Mr. Speaker Sir?
THE HON. SPEAKER: Justice Gubbay said those that do not take opportunity where the opportunity is available, it is their fate.
(v)HON. NDUNA: Meaning that this is disregarded Mr. Speaker Sir?
THE HON. SPEAKER: Yes very much sure, take advantage of the Ministers; when they are here, they are here in full force and the Hon. Minister was here as well yesterday.
MOTION
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE ZIMBABWE ANTI-CORRUPTION COMMISSION FOR THE YEAR 2020
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Mr. Speaker Sir, I move the motion standing in my name that this House takes note of the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission for the year 2030, presented to this House of Parliament in terms of Section 323 (1) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe which states that every Commission must submit to Parliament, through the appropriate Minister, an annual report on its operations by no later than the end of March in the year to which the report relates.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I rise to present before the House although a bit late, like I said yesterday, the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission Annual Report for the year 2020 and this presentation Mr. Speaker Sir is in terms of Section 323 (1) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe which states that every commission must submit to Parliament through the appropriate Minister, an annual report on its operations.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I will just give a brief summary of the report for Hon. Members consideration before they can have a look at it and debate. In summary, the 2020 operations of the Commission were as follows:
In the year under review, a National Anti-Corruption Strategy was formulated and launched on 11th July 2020 by His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, E. D. Mnagagwa. The strategy is premised on six objectives which are public awareness, enhancing the structures of deterrence, detection, adherence and enforcement, transparency and accountability and rejection of corruption in Government offices, ministries, agencies and State owned enterprises, public institutions, media houses and the private sector, protection of whistleblowers and victims of corruption, recovery of assets and proceeds from corruption crimes and increased level of political parties transparency and accountability.
In the implementation of the strategy, sub-committees aligned to the strategy objectives were established. These committees are responsible for the implementation of the six strategic objectives. The Commission convened a number of training workshops on the aspect of implementation of this strategy.
Mr. Speaker Sir, ZACC has four reporting offices in Harare and two others in Gweru and Bulawayo. For the year under review, ZACC received a total of 1 133 reports, with Harare Province receiving 1057, Bulawayo Province 59, whilst Masvingo stood at 17. By the end of December 2020, 90 dockets were referred to the National Prosecuting Authority.
Mr. Speaker Sir, for the year under review with regards to asset recovery, the Commission gave priority to conducting parallel financial investigations where it handled a total of 36 cases. Ten case files valued at US$4.8 million were referred to the National Prosecuting Authority for asset confiscation and unexplained wealth applications and by the time the 2020 report was compiled, the cases were pending at the High Court. Eight vehicles valued at US$160 00 were confiscated and forfeited to the State and ZW$8 million and US$330 000 was recovered from unpaid customs and excise duty through a joint operation with ZIMRA.
Mr. Speaker Sir, section 12 (b) and (c) of the Anti-Corruption Act mandates ZACC to enlist and foster public support in combating corruption in society and educating the public on the dangers of corruption in society. Pursuant to this provision, ZACC embarked on a massive virtual public education campaign on the digital and non-digital platforms.
In support of the thrust to protect whistleblowers and digitalisation of services, ZACC launched a whistle blower reporting application on 8th September 2020 which provides easy access to an instant anonymous and straight forward reporting tool.
Mr. Speaker Sir, ZACC again is mandated by Section 12 (a) of the Anti-Corruption Commission Act to monitor and examine practices, systems and procurement procedures in both public and private institutions. Pursuant to this provision, for the period under review, ZACC conducted spot checks on the examination of practices, systems and procurement procedures for personal protective equipment and drugs under the National COVID Response. The findings were that there was non-compliance with PRAZ Circular 1 of 2020 and other relevant provisions. The Commission recommended that the Ministry of Health and Child Care should comply with all provisions of PRAZ Circular 1 of 2020.
The Commission also did other spot checks at NatPharm, Bulawayo City Council and National Railways of Zimbabwe. Under international obligations, ZACC represented Zimbabwe in the Southern African Development Community Anti-Corruption Sub-Committee meeting held in November 2020. A comprehensive regional assessment report was submitted by the Commission covering issues of illicit financial flows, system of Government hiring and procurement services, Government revenue and control systems, whistleblowing mechanisms, money laundering, trafficking of persons and asset recovery among others.
As part of legal reforms which enhance the effectiveness, transparency and accountability of the Commissions operations, ZACC made several legislative recommendations to Government and approved several internal policies and manuals.
Mr. Speaker Sir, these are some of the highlights of the operations of the ZACC in the year 2020. The detailed activities of the Commission are in the report which I believe Members have received and will have a look at them. I therefore lay the report on the table, Mr. Speaker Sir.
Mr. Speaker, I want to give Hon. Members time to read and digest and then we dedicate a day to debate this report, so I am moving that we adjourn debate on it. I thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Minister, in terms of our procedures, as soon as you give notice, the staff of Parliament puts on line on platform parlzim to ensure that every Member of the House has sight of that report. This has been done and in all fairness, despite the fact that the Hon. Minister has given a summary of what is contained in that report, I think you need to get into the details of the report so that you debate from an informed position.
HON. T. MLISWA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir. I think the Minister is probably trying to be accommodating in terms of others who do not read. What about those who are prepared, who read? Some of us have gone through the report and we have got that ginger to deal with it. He came with this notice to say that he will be presenting the report today. So if Chief Whips have not done their part in whipping their Members and getting them to read this report, it must not prejudice those who are reading because he gave notice for it to be tabled. It has been tabled, so I do not know how much time people need with what is going on. By him giving notice, already alerts the Members that he is coming through. You do your research; you read it and all that. Some of us are quite ready for that. You were correct in saying once the procedure has been followed it becomes difficult then to stop the train from moving unless I am convinced not to debate today but the Chief Whip would have to be very nice to me on that one, then I can probably consider that.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you very much. I do not know how you had access to the report in advance. The report was put on parlzim, only today. So, the rest of the Members of Parliament might be in the process of going through it online. You may have some privilege, I do not know how, but it has nothing to do with the Chief Whips. They will start whipping them from today and lining them up for debate, first thing next week. So you are advised accordingly, Hon. Mliswa.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 14th March, 2022.
COMMITTEE STAGE
ZIMBABWE INDEPENDENT COMPLAINTS COMMISSION BILL [H. B. 5, 2020]
Second Order read: Committee Stage: Zimbabwe Independent Complaints Commission Bill [H. B. 5, 2020].
House in Committee
Clauses 1 to 5 put and agreed to.
On Clause 6:
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Hon. Chairperson. I move the amendments standing in my name that on Clause 6 (1) on page 4 of the Bill, delete paragraph (a) on lines 15, 16 and 17 and substitute:
“(a) a Chairperson, being a person who is eligible for appointment as a High Court judge or is a sitting judge or former judge, appointed by the President (after consultation with the Judicial Service Commission) from a list of not fewer than seven nominees submitted by the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders of Parliament in terms of Section 237(1) of the Constitution”. In the previous one, it did not have this provision. I thank you.
Amendment to Clause 6, put and agreed to
Clause 6 as amended, put and agreed to.
Clauses 7 to 12 put and agreed to.
On Clause 13;
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Hon. Chair. I propose amendments standing in my name as they fully appear on the Order Paper.
In Clause 13 on page 7 of the Bill, insert after line 42 the following paragraph to Sub Clause (2) (C) to read as follows:
“Where the action complained of is the subject of an internal disciplinary process by the appropriate security service at the time the complaint is received by the Commission;
Provided that if the Commission is of the view, after consulting with the appropriate security service and taking into account any of its concerns, that the internal process in question has taken too long, then the Commission may fix a reasonable period within which such processes must be concluded, in default of which the Commission may itself thereafter entertain the complaint.”
Amendment to Clause 13 put and agreed to.
Clause 13, as amended, put and agreed to.
Clauses 14 to 29 put and agreed to.
Schedule put and agreed to.
House resumed.
Bill reported with amendments.
Bill referred to the Parliamentary Legal Committee.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): I move that Orders of the Day, Numbers 3 to 9 be stood over until Order of the Day, Number 10 on today’s Order Paper has been disposed of.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
Tenth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
HON. T. MOYO: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. TEKESHE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 15th March, 2022.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. T. MOYO: I move that Order of the Day, Number 11 be stood over until Order of the Day, Number 12 on today’s Order Paper has been disposed of.
HON TEKESHE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
FIRST REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON WOMEN AFFAIRS, COMMUNITY AND SMES DEVELOPMENT ON PUBLIC HEARINGS ON MINIMUM MANDATORY SENTENCING ON RAPE AND OTHER SEXUAL OFFENCES
HON. MADIWA: I move the motion standing in my name that this House takes note of the First report of the Portfolio Committee on Women Affairs, Community and SMEs Development on Public Hearings on minimum mandatory sentencing on rape and other sexual offences.
HON. GABBUZA: I second.
(v)HON. MADIWA:
INTRODUCTION:
Mandatory sentences are typically given to people who are convicted of certain serious and violent crimes, and require a prison sentence. The primary goal is to promote uniformity in sentencing. It will not matter how strict or lenient the magistrate is, as the mandatory framework will provide a just base for the crime committed. Minimum mandatory sentences require that a convicted criminal serves a sentence for a specific length before being eligible for parole or release. Given that rape cases involving all ages are increasing at an alarming rate in the country, Musasa Project, on June 9, 2021, petitioned Parliament of Zimbabwe to enact minimum mandatory sentences for rape and other sexual offences. Pursuant to that petition, from November 15 to 18, 2021, the Committee conducted public hearings to gather public views on the need for minimum mandatory sentences.
OBJECTIVES OF THE PUBLIC HEARINGS:
The main goal of the public hearing, in line with Section 141 of the Constitution, on public access to and involvement in Parliament legislative processes, was to get the views of the members of the public on the need for minimum mandatory sentencing for rape and other sexual offences. The specific objectives include:
- To engage the public and get their input on minimum mandatory sentence for rape and other sexual offences; and
- To appreciate the challenges that communities are experiencing with regards to reporting and sentencing of rape offenders.
METHODOLOGY:
The Committee initially received submissions from Musasa Project pertaining its petition on minimum mandatory sentencing in November 2021. From 15 to 18 November 2021, the Committee conducted public hearings in the country’s 10 provinces.
BACKGROUND:
Section 51 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe provides for the right to human dignity and section 52 provides for the right to personal security which entails right of protection to bodily and psychological integrity and freedom from all forms of violence from public or private sources. Be that as it may, rape remains a current topic of concern in the country. Challenges associated with rape prosecution include underreporting, low arrest rates, high dismissal rates, and low conviction rates, varying and light sentencing. Statistics of rape cases in
the country is shocking, as shown in the graph below.
At least 21 women are raped daily in Zimbabwe, translating to one woman being sexually abused every 75 minutes, according to 2016 statistics from the Zimbabwe National Statistics Office (ZimStat). The data shows a 42% increase in rape cases over the previous six years. A total of 7 752 cases of rape were recorded in 2015 up from 7 551 cases that were reported in 2014. At least 4 450 cases were recorded in 2010 before the figure went up to 5 446 in 2011 and down to 5 412 in 2012. In 2013 a total of 5 717 were recorded. The first two months of 2019 recorded cases in January were 636 and 625 in February. Crime data from the ZimStat, compiled from police records show a 74% jump in rape cases between 2010 and 2018. Since 2010, the highest number of rape cases was reported in 2016, when 8069 cases were recorded, giving a daily average of 22.1
According to the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises, some 900 young girls below the age of 18 were raped in the last quarter of 2020 alone, compared to 836 cases reported during the same period in 2019. Statistics also reveal that 1 222 cases of rape were received in the third quarter of 2020 and 1 274 cases countrywide in the fourth quarter. The Ministry further reported that a total of 4 959 teenage pregnancies as well as 1 774 child marriages were recorded between January to 5 February 2021.
In 2017, the Government proposed a minimum mandatory 60-year jail sentence for people convicted of raping minors aged 12 years and below and the disabled, while a 40-year prison term would apply for all rape cases as deterrent measures. These drastic measures have become necessary in order to protect society against perpetrators of the inhuman crime of rape.
In addition to high number of rape cases, members of the public and concerned civil society organisations (CSOs), in particular Musasa Project, have over the years noted with dismay the irregularities and inconsistencies in the sentencing of offenders being incarcerated for over ten years to a payment of mere fine or community service. Currently, sentencing is at the discretion of the presiding judicial officer and how he/she interprets circumstances of each individual case. Among other things, courts are the custodians of the law and part of their duty is to determine the length and gravity of sentencing of perpetrators of rape and other sexual offences. Magistrates arrive at different judgments after considering factors such as mitigation and aggravation. Through minimum mandatory sentencing, regardless of magistrates’ considerations of extenuating and aggravating circumstances, the penalty will ultimately still be just and deterring.
The sentencing of offenders in cases of rape and other sexual crimes as defined in the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act [Chapter 9:23] displays a significant variation due to the leeway for each judicial officer to apply their discretion based on the circumstances of each individual case. As a result of this discretion, sentences have been irregular, inconsistent and in many instances non-deterrent as is evidenced by the rampancy of rape and sexual violence in the country. Rape sentencing has fallen short of protecting women and girls as provided for in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Protocol on Gender.
The Constitution does make provision in Section 149(1) that any individual or citizen can petition the Parliament of Zimbabwe. Therefore, Musasa Project, on June 9, 2021, petitioned Parliament of Zimbabwe to enact a law for minimum mandatory sentences for rape and other sexual offences. Given the spiking cases of rape in the country, Musasa Project, petitioned the Committee to facilitate the enactment of minimum mandatory sentence for rape to achieve uniform deterrent sentencing for rape.
FINDINGS OF THE COMMITTEE:
The Committee was dismayed to be told that few reported rape cases end in successful trial and conviction, let alone long and deterrent sentencing - a very concerning situation, especially since it is known that most victims are reluctant to go to make a report to police in the first place, due to fear of stigma and embarrassment.
The Committee was informed at all public hearing meetings that victims of rape experience lengthy delays in seeking justice and care, partly due to long distances, lack of means to timely report to police and access medical care within 72 hours, procedural processes involved, as well as victims' fear of personal and family stigma surrounding sexual crimes. Lack of resources for police, such as shortages of transport and manpower, was also mentioned as contributory factors to ineffective investigation and corrupt conduct by investigation officers and prosecutors at courts.
The Committee was further informed that police were viewed as contributing to the 'appalling' low conviction rate in the rape cases because they too often fail to take alleged victims seriously enough and lack of thoroughness in their inquiries. It was reported to the Committee that police officers often receive complainants of rape with scepticism and inertia.
The Committee was also informed that where rape cases are reported and perpetrators are arrested and awarded bail, there is often lack of a condition that prevents the interaction between perpetrators and complainants. This situation was said to be underpinning the whole legal process because the perpetrator in most cases comes from the family or community that the complainant is resident.
The Committee was deeply concerned to receive reports that the trauma of the violation and seeing the offender back in society within a short period of time has long term consequences on the victim, a situation that can only be addressed through long, deterrent and minimum mandatory sentencing.
The Committee was told at most, if not all public hearings, that raping or sodomising especially children, in particular where the rapist knows that he is HIV positive should attract life imprisonment, while 60 years would be the minimum sentence for any case of rape.
At most, if not at all public hearings conducted, the Committee received claims from both male and female attendees of how indecent dressing was contributing towards the rising rape cases and other sexual offences and assaults. The concern raised was that indecent dressing by victims of rape expose their bodies, claiming that under such circumstances, men find it difficult to control themselves.
COMMITTEE OBSERVATIONS:
The Committee made the observation that in all communities’ visited, rape is viewed as amounting to murder, heinous and a gross violation of a person's privacy and human rights.
The Committee also observed that in the majority of cases, rape and sexual assaults occur under the cover of darkness, in the residence of the victim, commercial buildings, inside a school building or and other properties and that the assailant is usually known to the victim.
It was noted that rape cases often took long to prosecute, and more often than not victims were not prepared to relive the assault over and over again, especially if they have moved on with their lives.
The Committee noted that low conviction rate and short sentencing for rape and other sexual offenses had a knock-on effect on public confidence in the criminal justice system.
The Committee observed that the under-reporting of cases of rape was mainly due to, among other things, social stigma, and prejudice with regards to chances of marriage, fear of being considered promiscuous and responsible for the rape as well as attendant humiliation and shame. In the same vein, it was further observed that victims of rape fear embarrassment caused by appearance and cross examination in court, negative publicity in the press, risk of losing the love and respect of society, friends and that of one’s husband, if married.
It was further observed that, across the provinces there is a pervasive myth that 'real rape' involves a stranger who uses physical violence or a weapon and that a 'real victim' fights back. The Committee was disturbed to note that society in general, the police and courts included, raise eyebrows and questions on the authenticity of rape claims, while the judiciary sometimes doubts the violent nature of the crime and the evidence that is submitted especially if the victim is viewed as a commercial sex worker or of a questionable social background.
Notwithstanding that mandatory sentencing imposes undesirable restriction on judiciary discretion and independence, the Committee observed during the public hearings that communities view the benefits of enacting mandatory sentencing in rape as outweighing its disadvantages. Among other things, it is viewed as the only way through which rape victims will get relief which tallies with the crime committed, will put an end to anguish and the psychological stress of the victim and is deterrent to would be offenders and also reduces the time the courts need to decide on an appropriate sentence.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
The Committee is recommending the following measures in order to deter would be rape offenders: reduce time by the courts to decide on appropriate sentences, and protect potential rape victims.
Parliament to cure the lacuna in the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform Act) Chapter 9:23 by ensuring that it provides for a minimum mandatory sentence on rape. In particular, the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs should amend the above-mentioned Act to include minimum mandatory sentencing for rape and other sexual offences during this session of Parliament.
The Committee also recommends that the amendment should also state that raping or sodomising especially children and persons living with disabilities, in particular where the rapist is aware that he is HIV positive attracts a life imprisonment, while 60 years would be the minimum sentence for any convicted case of rape.
That the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs clearly outlines the definition of 'consent' in the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act (2006) to avoid several different interpretations thereby causing challenges in respect of sentencing due to different interpretations.
That the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs aligns all relevant laws such as Marriage Laws with the Constitution especially Section 78 which provides that every person who has attained the age of 18 has the right to found a family. This will address the contention issue of age of consent to sex, which is still outstanding. On that note the Committee implores the expeditious passing of the Marriages Bill, which has been debated in the Senate for quite some time now.
That the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform Act) Chapter 9:23 be amended by the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs to ensure that it has adequate provisions detailing sentencing guidelines which take into account all relevant factors. Such guidelines may need to be statutory to ensure that they are strictly adhered with. These guidelines on sentencing are important since they would guide the courts on the type of aggravating and mitigating factors to be taken into account as well as the weight to be given to different factors. This would ensure consistency and proportionality in rape sentencing.
That the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform Act) Chapter 9:23 should be amended to ensure that it involves the victim in the sentencing process by making use of a victim impact statement in considering sentences as this would inform courts on the extent of harm suffered for purposes of imposing an appropriate sentence.
That the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development should urgently strengthen the ZRP and whole criminal justice system, through adequate provisions of financial resources, manpower and transport facilities in the 2023 National Budget, in order to improve the process of receiving, investigation, and prosecution and convictions and sentencing of rape cases.
That the Ministry of Home Affairs must improve the Victim Friendly System in the country as well as decentralize it to all provinces through training and secondment. In addition, the Ministry of Justice Legal and Parliamentary Affairs should introduce trial of rape cases in camera to protect the victim from stigma and humiliation as well as increase special jurisdiction for Regional Magistrates in respect of all sexual offences to address the challenge backlogs of rape and other sexual offences by the end of June 2022.
The Ministry of Home Affairs must conduct a feasibility study by end of July 2022 on the creation of Women Police Stations in Zimbabwe as it has been successful in other countries such as Australia, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Ghana, India, Liberia, Peru and the Philippines to increase women rape reporting rates and confidence in the force.
That the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community and SMEs Development in conjunction with Ministry of Home Affairs should with immediate effect intensify community engagement to disseminate and sensitise communities on how to handle rape and other sexual violence cases, as well as influence change of attitude in reporting rape incidences.
That the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community and SMEs Development should immediately ensure unimpeded and timely access to critical services by rape victims. For example, treatment of physical injuries, HIV prophylaxis, and emergency contraception should be accessed within 72 hours. In that regard, the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community and SMEs Development, in conjunction with other stakeholders, should expedite the construction of one stop centres (OSCs) to improve access to health facilities, counselling services, trauma treatment, legal services, and the ZRP, as well as by ensuring 24hr opening times all days of the week, since most rape victims come between evening hours and midnight.
CONCLUSION:
In light of the information gathered by your Committee it is very clear that there is urgent need for a minimum mandatory sentence for rape and other sexual offences. On the other hand, the amendment of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform Act) Chapter 9:23 cannot be overemphasised. I thank you Madam Speaker.
(v)HON. MAPHOSA: Thank you Hon. Speaker, I rise to debate on this motion that has been moved by Hon. Chido Madiwa, the Women Affairs Chairperson who was leading on the public hearings on the mandatory sentences on rape cases.
When looking at this motion, we can take it as simple because we are used to these things happening. When you go around the nation with such a topic and when you listen to people as they contribute, you then realise how we have ignored this topic as a nation and we have taken this for granted. I had the opportunity of chairing another group on behalf of my Chairperson, heading the other team that went to Mashonaland West, Bulawayo and Matebelaland North on this issue. The issues that were raised were so sad and we saw that the petitioners that came up with this petition did a lot of justice, especially to women.
We do acknowledge that some boys and some men did come across such issues but people that are affected most are women and young girls. When we went to Kariba, people lamented on the rise of rape cases, they also complained on the distances they moved to find the nearest police station. Victims have to travel far away because maybe at their nearest police station there are no victim friendly police officers. For them to go far they find problems with transport and food. The reporting itself is not conducive and friendly to rape victims. Rape victims are not happy with the way police handle them when they come to report their cases. You find the police officers judging the rape victims saying it is you who started this and it makes a lot of women not able to stand up and talk about these issues or report to the police. This cruel act of raping people made people to say that the minimum mandatory sentence for rape victims should be 30 years and above.
Someone listening from outside might think that this is too much or they may think that this is not reasonable but taking into account the things women go through after rape, to me this is very reasonable as rape cases have been happening from time immemorial. We went to Bulawayo and of course we did not want to hear stories but you cannot stop people from venting their anger. There is a woman who actually narrated how she was raped when she was only 16, not once but repeatedly for two years staying with a relative, an uncle. The son of the uncle raped her repeatedly for two years when she was 14 years old. That woman now is around 70 plus years and she broke down crying and saying even the perpetrator is now dead but that wound is still bleeding and it is painful.
Madam Speaker, it is these things that show us that at times we take for granted that being raped is just something. A girl in Kariba told us how virginity is important to a girl child because it is the only thing that they have and it is the only thing that they can actually be proud of. She said being raped is bad because somebody just comes and takes away something that you think is your pride, taking away the only thing that you have as a girl. The women were very clear that no, it has gone too long because it is also up to the magistrates and courts to decide and it can take the mood Madam Speaker, of the judge for the day. For example, a case that was cited by the petitioners that happened in Beitbridge where a businessman raped a 15-year old child but when they went to court, he argued that the girl seemed very big. The body was big enough to feel that this is a grown up woman. So with that, the judge actually believed the businessman that yes, when looking at this girl, her body can be that of a 20 something year old woman. So the matter was judged in a way that was not favourable. Imagine Madam Speaker, the judge saying that the perpetrator should marry that girl as a condition for the case to be thrown away.
Madam Speaker, it is these issues that have pushed the petitioners to say why do we not have a mandatory sentence when someone rapes a woman or a child. There should be a mandatory sentence just like what we see with possession of gold. If you are found in possession of gold and you do not have papers that show that gold is from a mine claim, you are sentenced to five years. If you are found looking for gold just panning, when the police have satisfaction that you were looking for gold without any papers, you are given two years as a mandatory sentence. So it will be up to the judge on how many to add on but the minimum Madam Speaker, would be two years just like with someone who steals cattle, they are given about 9 to 15 years, as a minimum sentence.
So in that manner, the people of Zimbabwe and the petitioners are saying why do you not have a cut off number of years as the people were very clear that at least let us have 30 years as minimum sentence going forward. So it is my plea to this House, to the Hon. Members, to go beyond being a man and being a woman, to go beyond the feelings of saying this thing has been there, to go beyond our personal thinking of this matter and to sit down and say what if it was my child, what if it is my aunt, what if it is my mother being raped by someone that just comes and meets them maybe in the bushes or wherever they would have met.
So, I second the petitioners and I second the recommendations that have been made by the Committee. I so submit Madam Speaker.
(v)HON. ZEMURA: Thank you Madam Speaker. I support the petitioners on the alleged atrocities done to these young girls impregnated by unscrupulous people. I also have an example of a child raped by a 30-year old man. The case went to court this week. Although he agreed that he is the one responsible for the pregnancy, it was said the case would be heard next on the 26th. Why are they prolonging such cases? They must just have that information and give the judgment of that person, not for him to spend days in remand. Why should he be remanded yet he knows that he is the one and he has told the court that he is responsible for the pregnancy of that 14-year old girl.
These are some of the things that make women suffer. (Technical glitch)
It is so painful to hear such things about the little girls who are being abused. Their life becomes hell and the parent’s life becomes hell because you will always be thinking about what has happened to your child. I think these people must have a period, not a long period to give judgment. I beg for the courts to give judgment because they have been handling these cases nearly every day. Thank you Mr. Speaker.
(v)HON. WATSON: Thank you Hon. Speaker for this opportunity. I would like to commend the Committee for the report and support the petitioners plea. I would also like to reinforce the points raised by the two Hon. Members and Hon. Zemura. It is not just about sentencing, it is about actual quick investigation where women and young girls particularly, are treated with much more empathy and respect when they report these things. As a society, we look to end the stigma attached to reporting these kinds of crimes that lurk in our society and hold people back, but it will help deeply if the ZRP, the courts, hospitals and clinics that deal with these cases do so with great speed, great empathy and support to the victims because sentencing alone is not sufficient. It is a means to an end but it is not sufficient in itself. Thank you Hon. Speaker.
(v)HON. MBONDIAH: I would like to add my voice Hon. Speaker, to the motion raised by Hon. Madiwa, seconded by Hon. Maphosa. I support this report that has come from the Committee and I would like to buttress the issue of rape, in particular in rural areas.
Mr. Speaker, there is serious lack of resources by the police within the rural areas. You would find that by the time the police attend to a crime scene or to a victim, the perpetrators would have fled and the wounds that stay with those victims stay for life and it destroys their morale, it destroys the victim’s confidence, hence we are breeding a very toxic society within our young girls.
I would also like to buttress on the issue of relatives who are covering up rape cases. You would find that a relative rapes a child and the mother or even the father would cover up for their family member. Whether they are getting a livelihood from that particular person or they fear that particular person, you would find that a parent is covering up issues to do with rape. I would like to encourage Mr. Speaker, parents and relatives to support victims of rape by reporting earlier on in life. Rape victims have succumbed to suicidal tendencies and drug abuse because they have no one to talk to. There is also need for counselling within police stations in our rural areas. Within the police stations in urban areas, there is an office where they get counselling; somebody to talk to but in rural areas, you do not find those offices where there are police officers who help victims with counselling.
I would also want to highlight an issue that happened in Kwekwe, where a housemaid who was helping a family looking after the children, repeatedly raped a 10-year old boy for more than a year. So, I would also want to plead with parents and guardians to be on the lookout, it is not only girls who are being raped, even young boys are being raped by people we take to our homes as house helpers. They should be on the lookout of whoever we bring into our homes. I thank you.
(v)*HON. MANGORA: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. I would also want to add my voice to this motion raised by Hon. Madiwa. As someone who was also part of the Committee that went to the rural areas, I got the opportunity to visit Midlands as well as Matebeleland Provinces. We had a good experience in Gokwe, when we spoke to the women. Their outcry was on sentences given to rapists. They were saying the minimum sentence should be pegged at 30 years. It was their idea that everything should be considered, be it incest relationships, minor or a grown up woman, those different kinds of rape and abuse should be considered when factoring the sentence for someone who has committed a crime of such a nature.
It is their view and suggestion that everyone involved in a rape case should be put to book. Even those who would have aided in trying to sweep the case under the carpet, especially crimes committed between family members, all those involved in trying to obstruct justice should be arrested. There should also be a sentence for women who are raping young boys, even if they are people of the same age, there should be a sentence suitable for them. The minimum should be 30 years. Just like cattle rustling, if you are involved in stock theft, it is clear how many years you are going to get. This should also happen to rapists. For those who would have been abused, they lose their confidence. Psychologically, they would have been disturbed in their future. Even sexually, they would have been disturbed as well. Physically and mentally, people would have their lives disturbed because of such heinous crimes, gruesome acts being done on them. Thank you.
(v)HON. MOKONE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I want to support the motion which was moved by Hon. Madiwa, seconded by Hon. Maphosa on the mandatory sentence on rapists. I would like to start by saying that rape is tantamount to murder. Why do I say so, if someone has been raped, for instance a 15-year old girl has been raped, she does not become normal at all in society? Rape actually kills the future of the child because it brings about unwanted pregnancies, a lot of diseases and the like.
When I am talking about this issue, I am not referring to the girl child alone but the boy child as well. Boys are being raped time and again at home but they choose to be silent, maybe because of cultural beliefs. Our culture says that a boy child does not actually cry out, but conceals what would have happened to him.
Let me also hasten to say that when those people are raped, when they go to the police station, the police should not judge them but accept them and hear their cases. Women are being raped across the country and some of them also choose to keep silent. This also is attributed to our culture. There are certain sections of our society that refuse to see culture as dynamic. In some societies, they still believe that if you come out and say that you have been raped, it means that you are of loose morals. They are refusing to accept that the world has changed; the world is dynamic. The girl child now has rights as well. The old system is very wrong because it actually says that the girl child is inferior to a man. As a result, we have seen some families after a girl child has been raped, sitting down and negotiate with the perpetrator on how they can settle the crime. This is very wrong.
I would also like to call upon various organisations to help both the girl and boy child, once they have been raped. If these kids are raped, they lose it in society. They also take blame from the society. It is upon the various civic society organisations that exist around the country to help these young people to gain self-esteem after rape. With these few words, I support the report and I support that there has to be mandatory sentence towards perpetrators of rape. I thank you.
HON. T. MOYO: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir for recognizing me. May I thank the mover of the motion, Hon. Madiwa and the seconder Hon. Maphosa. The discourse that we are debating here is very important and topical. Rape per se is bad and is sinful. The impact of rape on victims is highly prodigious and the consequences are grave. Their psychological, emotional, physical effects of rape to the victims are not always easy to deal with, particularly for the victims of rape. Survivors are traumatized and the effects of trauma can last for a very long time.
Mr. Speaker Sir, a girl child or a boy can be sodomised at a very early age and the consequences will affect the victim for the rest of his or her life. It has to be condemned in whatever strongest words that are found in the dictionary. Victims of rape would suffer depression, prolonged sadness, feelings of hopelessness, unexplained crying, weight loss and sometimes people would have suicidal tendencies. It is even worse for a person to be raped by someone suffering from HIV. Such culprits - whether one has contracted a disease or not – to rape another person should not be allowed to happen because that person’s rights to dignity would have been violated to a very large extent.
Mr. Speaker Sir, there are no circumstances that justify rape. Some people would rape under the pretext of “chiramu” and they end up abusing their sisters-in-law and that is very bad. Those tendencies should be condemned. When you rape a woman, it means you have destroyed that lady for her entire life; you have destroyed a boy or a man if sodomy is done on a particular individual.
Mr. Speaker Sir, there is an expression which says, justice delayed is justice denied. I want to call upon the Judicial Services Commission to change their way of doing business. Perpetrators of rape must be investigated and need to be convicted without much ado so that justice prevails. As Parliament of Zimbabwe, we need to come up with legal framework to amend our laws so that we come up with deterrent measures on would-be criminals. Whoever wants to practice rape should be afraid to do it because the conditions that we are going to put in this august House will force whoever may want to practice rape to desist from the exercise.
I think a minimum mandatory sentence of 100 years as far as I am concerned is better or life imprisonment. We need to come up with such measures in this august House. It is even worse for raping children under the age of 12. I as Hon. Torerai Moyo would recommend that whoever practices rape on young children must be castrated – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] - That is a recommendation which I am making so that it becomes a deterrent measure for whoever may want to practice rape.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the issue of information dissemination is very important, particularly to issues associated with stigma. Married women are raped and are afraid to report perpetrators of rape. Some women and girls are afraid to report because of the embarrassment that is associated with rape. Also, our courts and the police stations may not provide good ambience, the environment under which people would report discourages people from reporting. We want to encourage the Ministry of Finance to provide 4X4 vehicles to police stations so that if rape is practiced in remote areas, the police should go there without delay. Otherwise, if the police do not have good vehicles, it would take long for perpetrators of rape to be brought to book. We want to encourage the Ministry of Finance to provide resources to members of the police force.
There is also need for police officers to go for in-service training because some of these cases need someone who has gone back to college or has received in-service training. Sometimes, there is a lot of psychology that is needed for victims of rape to open up. We need to condemn all forms of abuse on women. Violence against women, rape perpetuated on women must be condemned in whatever strongest word that we can find. May I thank Hon. Madiwa and Hon. Maphosa for bringing this very important subject in this august House. Thank you.
HON. DR. MURIRE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir for giving me this opportunity. I rise to add my voice to the motion by Hon. Madiwa and seconded by Hon. Maphosa. I debate on the side of the law. Mr. Speaker Sir, recently we had a tour of prisons. What we observed is that there are number of people who are incarcerated for having committed rape. Being in prison, they also have their concerns which I rise here to present. Mr. Speaker Sir, whilst we have to condemn rape in the highest order, we also look at the circumstances where some people are committed to prison without sufficient evidence of them having committed the said offence. We also observed that we have a significant number of juveniles, some as young as 13 years, who are in prison having been convicted of rape. Their concern is that the law currently does not provide sufficient processes to establish whether truly the offence of rape would have been committed. Because of that, they are saying they are convicted unjustifiably.
Firstly, we do not have enough equipment so far in the country to obtain proper forensic evidence to establish truly whether rape has been committed. Whilst we have to condemn rape at most, we urge Government to ensure that the courts or the police are given sufficient equipment so that people are provided with sufficient proof that indeed an offence of rape was committed by that specific individual. On that same note, we have cases of people in prison who are committed to prison after a case was reported two years later and the argument is, two years later, is there enough biological evidence that can be obtained for a case of rape having been committed.
My debate is on the premise that we have to condemn rape but at the same time, we have to respect the justice system. People have to enjoy justice and they do not need to be incarcerated on the basis of evidence that would not have been sufficiently obtained. The law which provides for people to report rape after two years and on the basis of two or three people having said yes, we are the witnesses, those who are in prison are saying the law is being abused against other people to score certain differences that would be existing. For example, one 14-year old said I was working for a family and they did not pay me and when I was asking for my salary, I ended up being called to the police. The accusation was that I had raped their daughter who was 13 years old. His argument is that the basis of conviction was the witnesses, that is the mother and father.
So yes, let us condemn rape but also let us look at the law so that it provides sufficient evidence and that when we say somebody should be imprisoned for 100 years, then he should be imprisoned for 100 years for having committed an offence that has been proven beyond reasonable doubt and with sufficient evidence. That is the voice from the prisons which I thought and felt having met the prisoners, I should represent them here and air their views. I thank you.
+HON. L. SIBANDA: I want to add my voice on the motion raised by Hon. Madiwa, seconded by Hon. Maphosa. This issue of rape cases is very painful. During a rape case, it will be an activity that will not be consensual. The person who will have been raped at times will be infected with a disease and in that case, the disease is transmitted to the victim. Sometimes you will have been blessed with 40 years to live, but unfortunately one would live for two years because of rape.
The victim will be traumatised within a community because of this rape case and people will make that person a laughing stock. At times some victims would have been raped at a young age and impregnated and that person would have no option other than to abort. The victim can lose her life during abortion. I urge all the judges and magistrates to give stiffer penalties to the offenders so as to send a message to the community. At times there are other offenders who rape children who are very young and those offenders may be relatives of the victim. I urge those persons who commit such kind of offences to face life in prison. If indeed there was a death sentence, I would gladly support it.
Sometimes you find there are some cases of rape which are brought before the courts and there will be sufficient evidence to prove the matter beyond reasonable doubt. Even at hospitals, the victims are examined. It is so sad that when the matters are brought before the courts, the perpetrator is sent for remand. What exactly will have happened to prolong the case, for the matter not to kick off at once? In prison, those suspects will find so many culprits like murderers, stock theft thieves and those suspects will advise each other whilst in custody. At the end of the day, the suspect will end up denying the case. If the case takes long to go on trial, the witness might end up forgetting about the ordeal. I urge the courts that if there is a rape case reported, they should expedite the matter at once and complete it. If the offender is found guilty, he should be given a sentence of 50 years so as to send a message to would-be offenders. If a person likes me, he should approach me properly on the roads other than to commit an offence. I thank you.
(V)*HON. C. MOYO: Thank you Hon. Speaker. I rise to add my voice on the motion that was raised by Hon. Madiwa, seconded by Hon. Maphosa. Let me say that anyone who commits the crime of rape is the same as a murderer. We should see the sentence that a murderer gets and they should be treated with the same seriousness. They would have infringed on the rights of the person they would have raped, it is the same as just killing someone who used a knife. Let us just consider that this one has forced himself on someone and it is just the same as a murderer and they should be given the same sentence so that our country can be developed because maybe in 2023, we may not have floodgates of rape cases. I advocate in this august House that rapists and murderers be treated the same. Thank you Hon. Speaker.
*HON. MUCHENJE: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. I would want to thank the mover of this motion Hon. Madiwa, seconded by Hon. Maphosa. I would want to emphasise on the people that are in communal lands. Communal lands dwellers bear the brunt of rape cases. The majority of these cases are not reported to the courts of law. As a result, the victim cannot get justice. The majority of the children that are being raped in the communal lands and because of the tall grasses that we have at the moment and the flooding of rivers during this season, a lot of children that are coming from school are meeting rapists because they will be using foot paths.
Majority of school children are victims of rape. There is one dump girl that was raped and she is at a certain homestead that I know. I was hoping that courts, especially the traditional leadership such as village heads, should as quickly as possible, give assistance to their subjects once they have received such reports of rape cases as they are the custodians and leaders in communal lands. At times there are certain village heads who would want to be compensated by payment of a goat and it may take some time.
As a result, justice is being denied to the victims of rape in communal lands. I urge that the headmasters should not turn away students from schools. A girl is turned away from school for not having paid school fees and on her way home, she passes through a forest alone and she can be raped. The rapist may be unknown to her and she cannot make a report to anyone. The rapists that we have nowadays should be sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labour as a form of deterrence because if you rape a child, you have destroyed her for life. I would want to appeal to married women that men should know that there is also marital rape.
If a woman is not willing to be intimate with you and you end up raping her, she could be suffering from a disease and she may not have disclosed the ailment to you and you are forcing this disease on you. Men are also infecting their wives because of their being married. There is still this wayward behaviour in our culture which says, that a woman should not deny her husband conjugal rights. It is an issue that needs to be relooked into specifically as it refers to the dwellers in the communal lands.
It is now an offence for a husband to force himself on his wife. It is called marital rape. Once she is infected, she may want to protect the husband’s dignity by not disclosing that she has been raped. At times she feels that there might be a counter claim of her being accused of infertility. A lot of things happen in our communal lands. These are issues that my constituents come across because I reside amongst them. It is a daily occurrence. I reiterate that there is rape of school children, marital rape and rape by people who assist in crossing rivers, people who remain with children at home when the mother goes to fetch some firewood. Let this start by the village heads that they should be made aware of the sentence that should be given to rapists. Government should put up mechanisms to ensure that the rape victims are timeously attended to whilst the evidence is still there. I thank you.
(v) HON. MUNETSI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir for giving me this chance to air my views. I would like to thank Hon. Madiwa for bringing up this motion in Parliament for discussion and I would also want to thank Hon. Maphosa for seconding the motion. I want to say rape is something that is perpetrated by people who do not have a heart at all. A person must be respected. We do not want to make God’s creation victims of such diminutive way of life which is something that must be denounced to the fullest. I was looking at the effects, in one’s eyes, of a person who is raped. The pain that someone goes through, the suffering, the way one is dehumanised and the embarrassment that one faces on earth. It is inhuman to rape someone, let us not hide the fact. I feel one must face the consequences of the misdemeanor. Some people would say 10 years or so but I would prefer a conviction of not less than 60 years to a person who would have committed rape.
Let us make sure that when we put stringent laws to this case of rape, there must be no negotiations at police stations whereby parents of the victim negotiate and make an out of court settlement. Parents and relatives who try to hinder the law to take its course must also be brought to book. It is not good to rape someone, let us denounce it to the fullest. I thank you.
(v)+HON. M. MPOFU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir for giving me this opportunity to add my voice on the motion which was raised by Hon. Madiwa, seconded by Hon. Maphosa. I want those who would have committed the offence of rape to be given stiffer and rigorous penalties. That person should also be castrated or face life in prison because that person would have affected the livelihoods of innocent children.
My request is that the chiefs and village heads should not at all be allowed to try these matters of rape cases because they will start some negotiations and compensation issues and the victims are the ones who are left to suffer. I urge that such matters be brought before the courts. I thank you.
HON. S. BANDA: I want to thank Hon. Madiwa and Hon. Maphosa for bringing this report which is a response to the petition. When I look at my good sister, Hon. Mbondiah or Hon. Maphosa, you can see that around 10 years of age they may have had big bodies. Imagine somebody going to them at that tender age thinking that they are adults just because their bodies are inclined to be slightly big.
Mr. Speaker Sir, that is very unfortunate, anybody who tries to do that, what should happen to them is exactly what happened to a Zimbabwean who committed murder and rape cases in South Africa. There is a man called Wellington Kachidza and I am ashamed that he is Zimbabwean who had gone to South Africa to perpetrate wrong behaviour. Zimbabweans are known to be peace loving, good people yet some Zimbabweans are going outside to tarnish the name of the country by raping and murdering people there.
I would like to commend the Judiciary and police system in South Africa for a job well done on the matter of Wellington Kachidza. Once they discovered what Wellington had done, it did not take long before he got arrested. Once he got arrested, the speed with which he was dealt with is what I want to commend the South African justice system for.
Mr. Speaker, Wellington had six counts of murder and for that he got life sentences for each of the six murders. On top of that, he had three counts of rape, and on each of these three counts of rape herein is the same - what happened in South Africa is what the petitioners are seeking.
In South Africa, for those three rape cases, Kachidza was given 90 years which is equivalent of 30 years for each rape. That is also what we are supporting here. I put my words and support on this motion to say let 30 years be the minimum custodial sentence. They should not get out of jail before the 30 years are out. After rape, they would have destroyed the life of the key person concerned.
What is wrong with you men? There are so many ladies out there. In Zimbabwe, there are more women than men, can you not find a woman of our age or a woman who is above the age of consent whom you can fall in love with than for us to go and victimize innocent children? Therefore Mr. Speaker Sir, the custodial sentence should be minimum of 30 years. I thank you.
(v)*HON. MPAME: The biggest challenge that we are facing is that our police force is not well versed in carrying out investigations. Despite there being scientific means that use DNA to further boost investigations, I do not believe we do not have such laboratories where DNA tests can be carried out. DNA looks at evidence in the form of semen and blood.. They also look at hairs which could remain on the clothes of the victim or on the clothes of the perpetrator of this rape.
DNA by its very nature helps in ensuring that conviction is properly secured by identifying the perpetrators. Once we have the requisite equipment, less allegations or false incrimination can be obtained.
My request as I support this motion is that our Hon. Minister of Finance together with the help of this august House, should disburse funds to train specialists in the police force in terms of investigations. Let there be funds to ensure that our hospitals are able to deal with DNA cases.
A week or two weeks ago, we were talking about the same issue. In support of this motion, I am saying let us help our police officers to have the requisite tools of trade that ensure that our specialist investigators are trained in the handling of DNA. I wholly support this motion Mr. Speaker. I thank you.
(v)HON. P. ZHOU: Thank you Madam Speaker. I want to add my voice on the motion raised by Hon. Madiwa, seconded by Hon. Maphosa. I was also in that particular Committee that carried out the investigations to find out what people say. During the course of an inquiry, people were unhappy with the type of sentences that are being imposed on rapists. You find that in a case where a sentence of ten years would be expected, one is sentenced to two years. We also looked at the question of a young girl being raped by an old man and that old person is sentenced to five years. People would want deterrent sentences to be passed so that would-be offenders would not commit these offences.
During our investigations, we also observed that even the disabled are being raped. People are advocating that there should be a mandatory sentence so that the discretion is not with the magistrate in terms of sentencing as they are currently doing. Hon. Speaker, may be the complainant looked like an elderly woman because she is fat, we should have deterrent sentences as the case with stock theft. That is if you steal one beast, the sentence is known as theft of seed maize. We want heavy sentences which are mandatory, something like 30 years. A first offender in South Africa is sentenced to ten years and a second time rapist is sentenced to 15 years.
Mr. Speaker, as Zimbabwe, we are advocating that we have a mandatory sentence of 30 years for any rapist who is convicted. You find that the relatives are raping their relatives ranging from wives, sisters and grand children. I think the sentence should be from 30, 40 going up and be treated as murder; I feel 100 years will be appropriate. I thank you.
*HON. MPARIWA: I would like to thank the mover of the motion Hon. Madiwa and her seconder for such an important motion. When a Committee is going out to carry out field visits, there will be a problem that they want to investigate. Hon. Speaker, the issue of rape on women and children is prevalent and that has been upon us for a long time. It is quite sad to hear that once a child has reached ten years, or looks stout, she is now strong then she can be raped.
Madam Speaker, 52% of our population consists of women. What problem does a man have if we have 52% women?, What causes them to go and rape? There are women who are willing to have love affairs, and there are others that are also willing to engage in open relationships. May be the ones that rape would not want to be committed to a relationship; there are places out there for one night affairs with no strings attached. Even in entertainment places, such people are there offering services. In fact, they talk of sexual harassment because sexual harassment starts with people patting one another and in the process abuse women; for instance saying Jane you are very smart today. When you conduct such investigation, it helps us whether it is in communal lands and in urban centres. It touches on all these things because it helps us when we come up with recommendations so that our Executive can also come up with a position.
The Committee did well Hon. Speaker, because a lot has been said by Members who have spoken before me. I would want to believe that it is a motion that was well supported by both male and female Members of Parliament. We are in agreement that this problem should be eradicated and that even the police should professionally handle rape victims such that there will be no stigmatisation. It is stigmatisation that causes people not to report for fear that people will then label them and they cannot move freely in their areas.
Those that are in relationships, once a partner says that they are not willing to engage in sexual activity, marital rape is an offence. People might think that we are being mad because this is a new area but we want to thank Zimbabwe that we are a member of the United Nations because such issues are discussed. We would also want to be in sync with global trends. I want to thank Hon. Moyo, he actually advocated for 100 years in prison for the rapist or even castration of the rapist.
Hon. Speaker, in this country, there are many things that people can do instead of raping women. If the victims of rape have knowledge of the law that protects them, they are not prohibited from reporting their case and confiding in someone concerning the incident of rape. This will ensure transparency in terms of reporting rape cases. These cases are being concealed in the communities that we live in.
As I conclude, I want to suggest that there should be a desk at the police station for counselors who are able to counsel the rape victims so that they are not intimidated or threatened for reporting such cases. These cases should also be handled with confidentiality as some involve married women who end up being called names which you all know. The police should be able to handle that well.
In hospitals, there should also be a department which does thorough checking on alleged rape victims as sometimes people end up arguing on whether the rape victim was indeed raped or not. The last speaker alluded to the fact that they examine a lot of things for them to ascertain that rape actually took place on an alleged victim. However, there are cases where a little child is involved and does not know how to explain what would have transpired. A child cannot fight or defend herself whilst sometimes they do not even know what happened. In hospitals, the staff involved should also be able to handle such sensitive cases with the highest level of confidentiality so that the victims will be able to freely open up concerning their case and not feel unworthy and degraded.
Finally, the media should also be able to disseminate information concerning rape cases with the highest level of professionalism and ethics. We have often heard them saying, the name of the victim concerned was not revealed in order to protect them and their dignity. I request that the media should make use of journalists who are trained to deal with such sensitive matters so that the victims of rape are well protected and their names should never be published or broadcast to the public. I laughed earlier on when I heard someone saying, ‘people are raped,’ and I had to ask my Chief Whip whether men too are being raped. So there is need to protect victims so that they feel safe to go and report.
This motion has been debated by many Members and I request that the Minister concerned should come and give a reply to this motion so that we will be able to move forward and get results from the work that the Committee has done whilst there is still time. I agree with the speaker who suggested that those who commit rape should be incarcerated for many years or even be castrated. If someone is unable to take care of their part of the body; it becomes problematic, it becomes a monster which cannot be tamed. If I have livestock which is difficult to herd and keeps on straying, we end up putting a leash with a bell on and if it continues, we end up putting it down to end the problem.
I would like to thank the Committee for coming up with this report because they were there on the ground listening to the problems and taking in suggestions from the public. We look forward to a revised sentence for perpetrators of rape; the sentence should be prolonged so that these people live in their secluded areas for good. The Hon. Doctor indicated that there were also complaints from the prisons which they visited; their concerns should be addressed as they live there, that is their home and they should just be well-fed and receive vocational training so that they are restrained for good. Thank you for giving me this opportunity.
*HON. TEKESHE: Thank you for giving me this opportunity. I thank Hon. Madiwa for bringing in this motion and Hon. Maphosa for seconding. I do not have much to say because many things have already been said. I just want to refer to an incident which happened where a mother falsely accused her husband of having committed rape because she wanted to inherit their properties. The husband later died in jail and yet it was later investigated and found that the woman had given false evidence. Therefore, I think that these laws are important - yes, but there should be enough evidence beyond doubt to ascertain that the offence would have indeed been committed. Someone might be given a sentence of life in prison for an offence which they may not have committed. There are people who just throw accusations to settle personal scores and end up punishing others for an offence that was never committed. I second what Hon. Dr. Murire said that there are many people who are in jail who were accused and sentenced for having committed rape yet they are innocent and the people concerned just wanted to punish and settle personal disputes. If possible, there should be a special court with people who are skilled in dealing with such cases of rape and abuse so that they will be able to handle such cases with the expertise it deserves. An ordinary court might not be able to handle such cases because if the Magistrate looks at you and does not like you, he/she might just find you guilty of the offence and you are imprisoned. You might just have given a reply which will not be favourable to the Magistrate and he/she feels you are being arrogant and proud, gets offended and punish you for that. It might be after years of imprisonment that it will be found out that the accused will be innocent but the damage will already be done. We therefore request that thorough investigations be done so that people are convicted for offences they would have committed.
HON. MADIWA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. I want to thank all Hon. Members for their contributions to this motion, especially the contributions from…
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Member you are not connected.
HON. MADIWA: Thank you Hon. Speaker. I want to thank all Hon. Members for the contributions they have made towards this motion. I want to specially thank our male Hon. Members of Parliament because they are also against this idea of rape and sexual offences. The general sentiment is that harsh punishment should be given to perpetrators of rape and sexual offences.
I now move for the adoption of the motion that; this House takes note of the First Report of the Portfolio Committee on Women Affairs, Community and SMEs Development on Public Hearings on minimum mandatory sentencing on rape and other sexual offences.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. T. MOYO: Mr. Speaker Sir, I move that Orders of the Day, Numbers 13 to 15 be stood over until Order of the Day, Number16 has been disposed of.
HON. TEKESHE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
FIRST REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND POWER DEVELOPMENT ON THE OPERATIONS OF THE ZIMBABWE ELECTRICITY SUPPLY AUTHORITY
HON. GABBUZA: Mr. Speaker Sir, I move the motion standing in my name that this House takes note of the First Report of the Portfolio Committee on Energy and Power Development on the Operations of the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority.
HON. TEKESHE: I second.
HON. GABBUZA: Mr. Speaker Sir, let me from the onset indicate to the Hon. Members that this Report would have been presented in the last Session but because of time factor, it was prolonged by the end of the last Session. Therefore, some of the issues raised in the report might have improved but as we all know, issues about electricity have never improved. Certainly, where we note some progress, there might have been worse off situations than it was at the time of reporting. The Hon. Members must appreciate that some of the information where we say things have gone better, evidence on the ground currently might not be in agreement with what is being reported. Mr. Speaker, the Report covers period beginning around mid-2021 up to end of 2021. Therefore issues relating to energy in 2022 might remain the same or could have been some significant or slight changes.
1.0 INTRODUCTION
The power sector witnessed relative stability in the supply of electricity services from April 2020 despite the challenges induced by the COVID-19 pandemic which affected both the human and the financial resources capacity. The improved supply of power was attributed to increased water inflows into Lake Kariba as well as the availability of imports from regional power utilities. However, the thermal power plants in the country remain constrained due to age related failures and this continues to affect the capacity of the power utility to be self-sufficient in meeting the ever-increasing demand of electricity in the country. Accordingly, the Portfolio Committee on Energy and Power Development resolved to conduct an inquiry into the operations of Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority that is responsible for the generation, distribution and rehabilitation of power infrastructure in the country.
2.0 OBJECTIVES
- To enhance the understanding of the Committee on the operations of the Authority;
- To appreciate challenges being faced by the Authority in delivering services on its part; and
- To recommend strategies that may enhance productivity for the Authority.
3.0 METHODOLOGY
This report is informed by written and oral submissions from the Minister of Energy and Power Development, Board Chairman of Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) and the Executive Chairman of Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority Holdings (ZESA). The oral evidence meeting was held on the 4th of March 2021.
4.0 COMMITTEE FINDINGS
4.1The structure of the power sector
4.1.1. The sector is primarily controlled by state-owned Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) which generates, imports and distributes all electricity in the country through its subsidiary companies. ZESA was established by the Electricity Act Chapter 13:05 of 1985. The Ministry of Energy and Power Development has the overall responsibility for the energy issues in Zimbabwe and oversees the performance of the power utility and its subsidiaries. Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) is responsible for regulating the energy sector.
4.2 Overview Performance of ZESA Group in 2020
4.2.1 During the meeting held on the 4th of March 2021, the Executive Chairman of ZESA, Dr. Gata indicated that, ZESA Group managed to reduce load shedding with effect from April 2020. He reported that there was growth in the electricity distribution network such as new distribution lines (304kM) and installation of 960 units of transformers. The challenges encountered with the prepayment vending system (3E Itron), were being resolved through a modernisation and upgrade project expected to be completed in May 2021.
4.2.2 The Group repaid Electricity Supply Commission (ESKOM) about US$35 million for outstanding power import arrears and made arrangements to repay US$73 million to Hidroelectrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB) and US$35 million to Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM) in Mozambique through a bank loan facility. Meanwhile the Group imported power from ESKOM, HCB and EDM on a monthly current account payment basis. However, the improved inflow at Lake Kariba was expected to reduce more reliance on imports to augment internal power generation.
4.2.3 ZESA managed to repay US$15 million of the outstanding loan owed to China Exim Bank. As a result, there was disbursement support for Hwange Stage 3 Expansion Project. The Authority secured a loan of US$310 million from India Exim Bank and US$50 million from Standard Bank to finance the Life Extension Projects meant to restore plant dependable capacity, improve efficiency and plant availability at Hwange Power Station.
4.2.4 He again highlighted that, the Authority procured about 83 new operational vehicles and 11 pole augers in the first quarter of 2021 that were expected to improve response to system faults and support for new electrification developments. Additional 94 operational vehicles were expected to be delivered by July 2021.
4.2.5 At the time of the inquiry, it was indicated that, the Authority was in the process of finalising a Customer Contact Centre meant to respond timely to customer complaints and to provide regular information updates on the status of the system. ZESA had also promoted investment in renewable energy by signing over 50 Power Purchase Agreements with Independent Power Producers in solar power projects.
4.2.6 The Committee was also informed that, ZESA diligently implemented all the recommendations in the 2017 External Forensic Auditor Report through external hearings. As a result, there were staff dismissals, demotions and transfers that affected 22 senior staff. A Board Committee was appointed to help oversee the process and address other recommendations raised in the report.
4.3 Power Generation and Demand in the country
4.3.1 Presenting oral evidence before the Committee on the 4th of March, 2021, the Minister of Energy and Power Development, Hon. Soda stated that, the power supply balance on 03 March 2021, showed that the country’s total maximum available capacity was 1 417 Mega Watts (MW) against a maximum demand forecast of 1 445 Mega Watts (MW). It was reported that Harare and Munyati Thermal Power Stations were generating around 29MW each and Hwange Thermal Power Station around 218MW from the 2 functioning units (Unit 4 and 5). Of the licensed Independent Power Producers, Nyangani Renewable Energy Stations and Tsanga were estimated to be generating 25MW and 3MW respectively. However, there were challenges associated with the capacity of Bulawayo Thermal Station to generate power.
4.3.2 He also explained that the country augmented its internal generation capacity with imports of about 50MW to 400MW on firm basis from regional power utilities such as ESKOM of South Africa and HCB & EDM of Mozambique. Non-firm additional imports of about 250MW were sourced through the Day Ahead Market from Eskom and HCB. The country was still exporting up to 80MW to NamPower of Namibia in fulfilment with the loan financing agreement advanced towards the construction of the Kariba Power Station.
4.4 Pricing Framework of Electricity in Zimbabwe
4.4.1 In October 2020, Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) awarded Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) a tariff indexation formula meant to maintain the value of the tariff. The indexation award would be implemented based on a monthly tariff indexation formula for any changes above 10% starting 01 November 2020. The implementation of the indexation formula involved consultation with stakeholders including government as the shareholder.
4.4.2 It was stated that, any application for reviews on the indexation formula were considered by the regulator in consultation with government as provided for in the Electricity Act (Chapter 13:19). The power pricing indexing was designed to preserve the value of the tariff during the time when the tariff is denominated in ZWL and susceptible to loss of value due to movement in inflation and exchange rate. The indexation formula is constantly reviewed to ensure that it achieves the desired tariff level for the utility in local currency.
4.5 Ongoing Initiatives to Increase Internal Electricity Generation
4.5.1 The Hon. Minister Soda stated that, a number of capacity expansion projects were being undertaken at public and private sector levels to increase the internal generation capacity to meet ever-increasing demand. The ongoing initiatives sought to ensure that the country becomes self-reliant and a net exporter of electricity. They also sought to ensure there would be increase in access to modern energy services as Zimbabwe moves toward a middle-income economy by 2030. The following were highlighted as some of the ongoing power projects:
Name of project |
Total cost of each project |
Unit cost per megawatt/hour of energy produced |
Level of progress |
Hwange (Unit 7 and 8) Thermal Expansion Project-600MW |
$1.1 billion |
1.83million/MW |
-As at 11 February 2021, the progress was estimated at 59.98% against a target of 79.4%. |
Batoka Hydro Electric Project (Zimbabwe and Zambia joint operation)2400MW |
$4.5 billion. |
1.88million/MW |
-An updated feasibility study conducted by a project developer under Built Own Operate and Transfer (BOOT) arrangement was under review at the time of the inquiry. |
Zimbabwe Zhongxin Electrical Energy (Pvt) Ltd-50MW/phase |
$10 million |
0.2million/MW |
-First phase of 50 MW is at 95% completion rate -Expected to commission at the end of April 2021. -The total generating capacity of the complete project is 720MW. |
Hwange Life Extension Project |
$360 million |
0.41million/MW |
-At the time of the inquiry, procurement of a Project Management Consultant in line with Exim Bank of India guidelines was underway and was expected to pave way for an updated detailed project report and procurement of project contractor.
|
4.6 State of Electricity Infrastructure
4.6.1 According to the submissions from ZETDC in September 2020, the sector was experiencing vandalism and theft of electricity infrastructure. Vandalism was derailing progress for the Authority as it kept on restocking supplies to repair the network instead of focusing on network expansion. At that time, about US$5,405,487 was required to replace the vandalised transformers and US$4,335,162 to replace the stolen power lines.
4.6.2 According to the submissions from the Ministry of Energy and Power Development, ZESA Group was operating with aged infrastructure which required frequent maintenance. However, the current revenue base was not adequate to fund all the maintenance works. Therefore, the maintenance program was implemented with priority to key infrastructure in order to reduce outages and loss of revenue.
4.6.3 The Ministry of Energy and Power Development also indicated that there had been a decrease in cases of vandalism experienced in 2020 compared to 2019 and this was attributed to on-going strategies adopted to curb vandalism. The following were the improved cases of vandalism experienced in 2020 compared to 2019 as highlighted by the Ministry:
Infrastructure vandalised |
Year |
Number of cases |
Value stolen (USD)$ |
Value recovered (USD)$ |
Recovery rate |
Theft and vandalism of transformer |
2020
|
243
|
$2,303,592
|
$181 116
|
8%
|
2019 |
302 |
$3,472,250 |
$199 105 |
6% |
|
Theft of copper |
2020 |
374 |
$1,509,945 |
$516 055 |
34% |
2019 |
611 |
$2,516,100 |
$354 200 |
14% |
|
Theft of Aluminium |
2020 |
52 |
$132 592 |
$37 360 |
28% |
2019 |
57 |
$158 120 |
$86 580 |
55% |
4.7 Manufacturing Capacity for Electricity Infrastructure
4.7.1 According to the submissions from ZESA Enterprises (ZENT), the entity has the capacity to manufacture around 3 600 to 4 800 transformers annually which could meet national demand. However, the utilisation of this capacity has been affected by shortages of foreign currency that resulted in erratic supply of adequate raw materials over the years.
- CHALLENGES
5.1Techno-Industrial Capacity Deficit
5.1.1 It was highlighted that, ZESA was unable to attract or retain technical and managerial professionals it required due to uncompetitive remuneration. The Committee was informed that, a junior engineer at Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation (ZESCO) earned a gross salary of US$3600 per month, compared to US$832 for a ZESA junior engineer. As a result, ZESA suffered from an unsustainable high employee turnover as employees left for better conditions in power utilities in the region and beyond. In 2020, ZESA lost about 32 engineers and 41 technicians. This was after the entity suffered a loss of about 740 skilled labour between 2006 and 2009.
5.1.2 The Executive Chairman, Dr. Gata explained that, there were over 450 ex ZESA technical and engineering staff at ESKOM in South Africa, 72 staff at National Power UK and 65 staff in power utilities in Australia and New Zealand. He stressed that, failure to retain skilled staff was a threat to the electricity industry in Zimbabwe and as such it would be impossible to attain Vision 2030 with such rate of attrition. Additionally, ZESA invested in skills development and the loss of employees reduced it to a training ground for other power players in the region.
5.2 Sub-economic Tariff
5.2.1 It was indicated that, economic viability of the Electricity Supply Industry (ESI) was threatened by a grossly inadequate tariff structure and its ad hoc regulation. The current tariff levels negatively affected current operations, new investment and lending in the ESI. Government introduced a cost reflective tariff in October 2020, which operated for only 2 months before it was suspended in December 2020. It was further stated that, the reviewed tariff effected on 1 November 2020 was an average rate of 7.5cents/unit which was sub-economic in comparison to the expected average rate of 10cents/unit. As a result, ZESA was not able to respond to faults, inquiries and connect new customers with the prevailing tariff levels.
5.3 Lack of Investment Incentives and Securities
5.3.1 The Committee was informed that, there was need to increase investment incentives and securities for both investors and lenders in the ESI. The current licensed Independent Power Producers were failing to attain financial closure due to power price risk, un-bankability of the power purchase agreements and failure to provide security in the Government Implementation Agreement whereby primary infrastructure investments were not being covered by government guarantees.
5.4 Inadequate Operational Vehicles
5.4.1 At the time of the inquiry, the Authority required about 2,287 operational vehicles but had a shortfall of 1,081 vehicles. ZETDC had the bulk of the vehicle requirements because its vehicle availability was 43%. Therefore, it affected service delivery which was characterised by poor reaction time to faults and increased waiting period for new connections. Efforts by the Authority to purchase operational vehicles were affected by shortages in foreign currency as suppliers were failing to deliver the operational vehicles. As a result, most of the 74 Distribution Depots of ZETDC were operating with one or no vehicle at all.
- STRATEGIES PUT IN PLACE TO CAPACITATE ZESA
6.1 It was highlighted that, restructuring of ZESA and its subsidiaries was ongoing and a consultant was engaged to improve operational efficiencies in the sub-sector. The process was expected to take three months to develop a roadmap which could be considered by Government for implementation. The Committee was also informed that, ZESA was making use of short-term funding (borrowing) to cover working capital requirements as a short-term measure. Expenditure was on a priority basis towards maintenance, new connections and capital projects.
6.2 During the meeting held on 04 March 2021, the Board Chairman of ZERA, Dr. Madzikanda informed the Committee that, ZERA advised ZESA to recover debts from its domestic customers and private sector. At that time, ZERA was working on engaging the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development to subsidise government institutions that were not able to repay electricity debts. The Authority was also expected to reduce non-technical losses through conducting audits, installing smart meters and enforcing stiffer penalties on vandalism of ZESA properties.
6.3 It was again indicated that loss of skilled professionals was being addressed through capacity building and exchange programs. The ZESA Holdings board and management were involved in a staff remuneration benchmarking exercise with other regional power utilities and the information surveyed would be used to inform critical decisions around retention of skilled personnel. At the time of the inquiry, negotiations with workers were on a continuous basis to review the packages for remunerating employees. Government was also developing a staff remuneration framework to guide parastatals based on the capacity level of each entity.
6.4 It was highlighted that vandalism and theft of electricity infrastructure were to be addressed through replacement of copper cables with aluminium. ZETDC was implementing a programme on retrieving copper conductors from the grid network in exchange for aluminium conductors. The Committee was informed that, there was need for Parliamentarians to support the amendment of the Copper Control Act in order to reduce theft. It was stated that, ZESA Enterprises (ZENT) was working on manufacturing aluminium wound transformers and pilot units were expected to be availed during the course of 2021. The Group was also working towards utilizing advanced technologies such as drones, CCTV and GIS Surveillance to protect its infrastructure from theft and vandalism.
- COMMITTEE OBSERVATIONS
The Committee made the following observations;
There is no clarity and policy consistency in handling the structuring of ZESA by the Ministry of Energy and Power Development.
There are no alternative payment methods put in place by ZESA for payment of electricity in any preferred currency by local customers. As a result, ZESA is not able to access foreign currency from alternative sources like local customers that have the capacity to pay in foreign currency.
There is reluctance from both the Ministry of Energy and Power Development and Ministry of Finance and Economic Development to finalise a viable tariff structure for investors in the power sector to be able to repatriate their investor dividends and service their offshore loans.
There is reluctance from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development to provide security in the Government Implementation Agreement whereby primary infrastructure investments should be covered by Government guarantees.
ZESA is not utilising the manufacturing capacity of its subsidiary company, ZENT, to meet local demand on transformers. It is also under utilizing the capacity of ZENT to contribute to its foreign currency revenue base by manufacturing and exporting transformers.
There is no innovation and efficiency from ZENT to generate its own financial resources without reliance on funding from Government.
There was delay in the amendment of the Copper Control Act from the Executive which contributed to vandalism and theft of copper wires for illegal trading of copper products.
There was excess loss of skilled human resources due to uncompetitive remuneration and this affected the operations of the utility.
- COMMMITEEE RECOMMENDATIONS
In light of the above observations, the Committee recommended the following:
Ministry of Energy and Power Development should synchronize its policies to ensure clarity and consistency in handling the structuring of ZESA by December 2021.
ZESA should put in place alternative methods of paying for electricity utilised by local costumers, by September 2021, such that it expands its sources of accessing foreign currency and address some of the challenges such as procurement of vehicles that are associated with shortages of foreign currency.
The Ministry of Energy and Power Development and Ministry of Finance and Economic Development should finalise a viable tariff structure for investors in the power sector to be able to repatriate their investor dividends and service their offshore loans by December 2021.
The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development should review the Government Implementation Agreement and ensure that primary infrastructure investments are covered by Government guarantees by September 2021.
ZESA should utilise the manufacturing capacity of its subsidiary company, ZENT, to meet local demand on transformers and contribute to the foreign currency revenue base by December 2021.
ZENT should come up with innovative ways to improve its efficiency in generating foreign currency and reduce reliance on the funding from government by December 2021.
The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development should equally distribute foreign currency to all cross-cutting sectors in the economy and minimise challenges associated with inaccessibility to foreign currency.
ZESA should implement the findings of the benchmarking exercise conducted to power utilities in the region, in order to reduce skills flight and retain skilled personnel by September 2021.
Ministry of Energy and Power Development and ZESA should embrace and implement both affordable, environment friendly energy solutions and new technology in the energy sector by January 2022.
There was need for the Executive to expedite the amendment of the Copper Control Act responsible for curbing illegal possession and trading of copper products given that it had been highlighted in the inauguration speech of the Third Session of the Ninth Parliament as an urgent measure against vandalism.
- CONCLUSION
ZESA as a state-owned company, is part of the economy’s nervous system with a critical responsibility to ensure that there is adequate energy for the country. However, the power utility’s current operating environment is an impediment to the vision of the country to become a self-reliant and a net exporter of electricity as Zimbabwe moves toward a middle-income economy by 2030. In that regard, the Committee is expectant that the relevant authorities will consider the above recommendations proffered for the purposes of establishing a vibrant energy sector that responds to the growing economy and targeted vision. I thank you.
(v)HON. NDIWENI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir for according me this opportunity to second the report from our Committee, Energy and Power Development, which was presented eloquently by our Chairperson, Hon. Gabbuza. ZESA, as of 2021 had stabilised but it has stabilised whilst we appreciate the myriad of problems that ZESA faces. Everyone appreciates the problem that they face, chief amongst them is the sub-economic tariff that they are charging.
If we look at the tariff that ZESA charges and we compare it in the region, you will find that it is the lowest. It really boggles the mind because at times you will find that we import electricity from South Africa, which is so expensive and we sell it at a loss. Number one, you will realise that ZESA cannot release a big percentage of power that it is importing and then selling it at a loss. They will be kick starting off from a loss.
It has got other problems that we appreciate, like skills flight, ZESA has a huge problem of skilles flight because manpower at the moment is very fluid. You know we live in one global village, so you can only offer your staff livable wages so that they are about to move around and Zimbabwe is one of the countries with highly skilled manpower. So, our manpower is wanted everywhere. If we cannot pay them well, our engineers will obviously move. So we have got a big skills deficit. What happens at the moment is, all the experienced engineers have left ZESA. They are very scarce, if you move around the region - you go to ZESCOM, Zambia, South Africa, all the top guys there are ex-ZESA employees. So we trained for them. That is another problem that we appreciate.
The other problem that they face, which everyone appreciates and we know – but they can do something about this problem is the fact that ZESA is owed millions and millions of dollars. I am glad that I am speaking to you, and coincidentally you happen to sit in our Committee and I know you understand what I mean. ZESA is sitting on millions and millions of money that it is owed by users. Why do they not follow up all this money that they are owed, definitely they will be at another level. Definitely all the accessories, all the spares that need local currency would not be a problem. Let me take an example of coal that ZESA always cries about. There is an electricity fault and poles have fallen, it will take them weeks to purchase poles that are done locally. It gobbles the mind again why they do not have local currency to buy poles locally or even better still, ZESA should have their own plantations by now to make their own poles and not buy from anyone. They are not innovative enough. It is just one of the problems that they are facing in the rainy season, poles have been falling and you spend weeks without replacing a wooden pole. If they can recoup the debts that they are owed, it will definitely go a long way.
Whilst we are talking of debt Mr. Speaker Sir, what I always wonder and what the Committee wonders is, ZESA had a big problem over the past three years. We give ZESA some money without having used energy. Let me give an example Mr. Speaker. You pay ZESA a thousand dollars for energy which will last you ten days but every day maybe you are using $20 to $30. You have given them money, they are like a bank. Some of their problems could have been alleviated by the pre-paid meters but we do not see the advantages of pre-paid meters. Where are they putting this money? Now, we are making them a bank by pre-paying for our energy. They should be at another level but there is no difference between the time when there were no pre-paid meters and now.
The other problem that ZESA cries about is vandalism and theft. We appreciate that but they are silent on the fact that a big chunk of the vandalism and theft is done by their own employees. When they come and tell you about vandalism, they are doing something. They are doing digitalisation, they are trying to do everything to try and curb thefts but I personally feel the greatest thing they should do is to pay their workers well so that theydo not go engineering some of these thefts that we are experiencing. In some instances, you notice that the thefts are done exactly the times when ZESA switches off power. Who knows when ZESA is supposed to switch power on and off? It is people who are within the organisation. Some of the problems I would say are a bit self-inflicted.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I am now turning to self-inflicted problems which ZESA should look at in order to improve the supply of electricity. ZESA decries lack of foreign currency but the Government has been pro-active. They have allowed ZESA to sell some of its power in foreign currency. When you ask for figures, for them to be transparent about how much inflows they are getting in foreign currency, they are not very open. I wonder why they are not open. We have tried several times to say come clean, tell us what percentage you are getting in foreign currency so that when we are engaging the Reserve Bank Governor, we go fully well with all the information in our heads to say, these guys are getting 5% in foreign currency, you should allocate them so much. I think these are some of the problems that maybe the Reserve Bank Governor is also facing. When you ask them, are you paying your employees in foreign currency, they would tell you they do not, they just peg allowances in foreign currency and pay in RTGs. I am not sure whether this is what is happening. Why are they not transparent when we ask for proper figures when it comes to their foreign currency inflows and outflow?
The other thing that I see that ZESA could do that they are not doing is, they have got a subsidiary called ZENT. We have visited this subsidiary of theirs and that company is capable of manufacturing world standard transformers. All that the company needs is the foreign currency. Mr. Speaker Sir, if we take the foreign currency that we are giving to South Africa and Mozambique buying electricity and transformers and capacitate ZENT, they can produce transformers. They are even sitting on orders. There are companies in Mozambique that have placed orders because they realised that ZENT is producing world class transformers. However, we are not capacitating them. If we capacitate ZENT, we are going to produce transformers for ourselves, for export, create foreign currency and employment. There are plenty of side industries that are going to benefit but unfortunately, ZESA would rather import transformers. Then you wonder at times whether it is somebody just getting cut somewhere by importing these transformers instead of us making them.
As it is now in 2022, they are expecting a large number, I think over 9000 transformers they are expecting around July this year. You can imagine if we were to capacitate ZENT to produce 9000 transformers, how much employment would we create? How much foreign currency would we save? If you put $1 at ZENT, you create $4 but if you put $1 in SA to import the transformer or electricity, you end up with 20 cents, so we will be losing out Mr. Speaker Sir.
We appreciate the problems that ZESA has. The President has a vision for rural electrification. What ZESA is doing, it is not doing a service to REA. REA benefits when ZESA is doing very well. What we are seeing now is that electricity expansion to the rural areas is suffering even worse because of ZESA’s inefficiency. It is not only inefficiency but some of the money that they charge. When you are paying for electricity, there is a percentage that is supposed to go to REA. When they get that money, they take their time before they transmit it to REA. Therefore, you find that REA has got plenty of projects that lie idle for years without being completed because they have no resources.
The other thing that we realise Mr. Speaker Sir, is the 6% that is supposed to go to REA from ZESA which would really promote the spread of electricity provision in the rural areas, they restrict it to RTGs but they are receiving foreign currency as well. We queried why they are not passing the 6% if somebody pays in foreign currency. If you ask REA whether they get an allocation from ZESA in foreign currency, there is nothing that they get. That is something that Parliament has to really probe further in order to assist rural areas and promotethe President’s Vision for 2030, which one of them is complete or maximum electrification for the rural areas. Mr. Speaker Sir, with those few remarks, I thank you for giving me this opportunity and I submit in support of the report presented by Hon. Gabbuza. Thank you.
HON. T. MOYO: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. TEKESHE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Tuesday, 15th March 2022.
On the motion of HON. T. MOYO, seconded by HON TEKESHE, the House adjourned at Four Minutes to Six o’clock p.m. until Tuesday, 15th March 2022.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Thursday, 10th March, 2022
The Senate met at Half-past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE
APPOINTMENT TO THE CHAIRPERSON’S PANEL
THE HON PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Standing Order No. 11 (1) provides that as soon as practicable after the commencement of every session or as occasion may require thereafter, the Senate shall appoint two Members who, with the Chairperson of Committee of the Whole House and the Deputy Chairperson of Committee, shall constitute the Chairperson’s Panel. Such Members shall be entitled to exercise the powers of the Deputy Chairperson save in regard to the acceptance of a Motion for the closure.
Following the death of Hon. Sen. Khaya Moyo on Sunday 14th November 2021, I now therefore appoint Hon. Sen Kambizi to serve on the Chairperson’s Panel. - [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
APOLOGIES RECEIVED FROM MINISTERS
THE HON PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Before we get to Questions Without Notice, I have a list of apologies from Ministers who could not attend. Hon. O.C.Z Muchinguri-Kashiri, Minister of Defence and War Veterans; Hon. Dr. Masuka, Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Fisheries and Rural Resettlement; Hon. Chitando, Minister of Mines and Mining Development; Hon. Prof. Murwira, Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education Innovation, Science and Technology Development; Hon. Dr. Shava, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade; Hon. Garwe, Minister of National Housing and Social Amenities.
With us here present we have Hon. Mhona, Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development; Hon. Chiduwa, Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Development; Hon. Machingura, Deputy Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education and Hon. Mudyiwa, Deputy Minister of Energy and Power Development.
HON. SEN. MWONZORA: Thank you very much Madam President. My question goes to the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education. For a long time, the Government has had a stand-off with the teachers regarding conditions of service and objectively speaking, these conditions of service are poor. What is the Ministry doing to redress that specific problem?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY EDUCATION, INNOVATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT (HON. MACHINGURA): Thank you Hon. Sen. Mwonzora for your question which carries with it the concerns of our teaching community. Most of the teachers that are trained under Higher and Tertiary Education Institutions are employed by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education. I therefore think the question should be better answered by the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education. Let me however, just go a little further and talk about teachers in our colleges as Higher and Tertiary Education. We do have lecturers in universities, in teachers’ colleges and polytechnics. Maybe if his question was also extending to those, we can say we have done quite a lot. The recently enacted Manpower Development Act established within it the Tertiary Education Council for those teachers. They now have a structure for the board and the board is working on how they are now being moved from the Public Service to the Council itself where their conditions of service will be discussed and determined. That is something that is in progress Madam President. Thank you very much.
HON. SEN. CHINAKE: My question is directed to the Minister of Energy and Power Development. Why has the fuel prices gone up so suddenly?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER DEVELOPMENT (HON. MUDYIWA): I would like to thank the Hon. Senator for such a pertinent question at a time like this. I am sure everybody is aware of the conflict in Ukraine and Russia. Both countries supply petroleum products. Now following the sanctions imposed on Russia, that crisis has affected the whole world. This has resulted in the increase of international price of oil.
Through ZERA, we review the price of fuel on the 5th of every month and this was done on the 5th March but within a day or two, the FOB landing price at Beira where the ships dock, went very high. Therefore, it affected us by increasing the price of fuel in order that oil companies will be able to replenish their stocks. During crises like these, if we maintain our prices, the oil companies will not be able to replenish their stocks.
HON. SEN. KHUMALO: My question is directed to the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development. What is the Ministry doing to redress the terrible state of our roads in urban areas? I know that the local councils should be taking care of that but it is very obvious that they have since failed. So, as a Government, the Ministry has to shoulder that. What then is the Ministry doing about it?
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. MHONA): Thank you Madam President. Let me also thank Hon. Sen. Khumalo for that very important question that will also afford me to address to the august House the process flow when it comes to rehabilitation of roads.
It is true that local authorities have failed to demonstrate that they have the capacity to rehabilitate our roads and let it be known by this august House that all roads fall under the Ministry of Transport. The Ministry then delegates to road authorities. In that case, we would then say local authorities, rural district councils, Department of Roads and apparently we have seen that local authorities were not performing.
I want to thank the Second Republic, in particular His Excellency the President, who then said we cannot continue in this sorry state where we have been rehabilitating our trunk roads but alas, this is not happening to our local authorities.
So, he has then directed that this year, we need to go down to the grassroots, into the locations which is under the purview of the local authorities but we now need to take over, hence the Ministry of Transport.
My engineers are seizes with the matter now in trying to scope those roads to make sure that we bring dignity to the people of Zimbabwe. The sorry state of our roads is not something that we can ignore.
The Second Republic is saying we now need to go to the local authorities, declare and invoke Section 18 of the Roads Act which talks of the powers vested in the Minister of Transport to take over roads that are neglected.
Precisely, this is what we are now doing and I want to assure the august House that we are moving with speed so that we rehabilitate and bring glory to the cities that we used to know. I thank you.
HON. SEN. KHUMALO: May the Minister give us timeframes because even our cars are getting damaged. You drive and the car goes into potholes damaging our shocks.
HON. MHONA: The country is under sanctions lest we forget and whatever we are doing, we are using our own resources. We are funding from the domestic purse. I want to applaud the Government that has gone this far in trying to rehabilitate using available resources. We are talking of a 98 000 km stretch of our roads in this country where 95% are in a sorry state. So, I would also humbly appeal to the citizenry to bear with the Government that the resources are scarce but we are not leaving any location behind. However, the tremendous speed that we would desire might not be achieved given the fact that we are using our own resources and at times the fiscus has its own challenges.
As we speak, we are busy scoping the roads and you will see my team descending; we are in some of these roads that I am talking about but you will see an accelerated pace going forward. I thank you.
HON. SEN. KHUMALO: Yes, the Minister is saying we are using our own resources to refurbish the roads but what is the use of the tollgates? We are getting a lot of money from the tollgates, where is that money going to? How is it being used because I would have thought that it would be going into the roads?
HON. MHONA: It is true the funds from the tollgates are administered under ZINARA and precisely that is what we have been using as a nation to rehabilitate our roads but at the end of the day, it is not much that would come through those tollgates.
What have been given to local authorities was coming from ZINARA and we have been broadcasting figures coming from ZINARA every quarter. We will continue doing that so that we bring the element of transparency and accountability. However, I want to assure you that what has been coming from ZINARA has been declared but it is not enough. As the Second Republic, we are going to have a transport infrastructure indaba where we are going to invite other investors so that they come and partake in the exercise of rehabilitating our roads. This means we cannot do it alone but the pace that we are moving with is in accordance to the available funds that we have.
*HON. SEN. TSOMONDO: Thank you Madam President. When students lose their results they have to go to ZIMSEC to get their results but they are required to pay 85 USD. However, these are students who are not working who do not have that amount. What should be done so that they get their certificates? I thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY EDUCATION, INNOVATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT (HON. MACHINGURA): Thank you Madam President., I want to thank the Hon. Senator for the question. I think the question should actually be directed to the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education or the Leader of the House.
*THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Hon. Minister, may I request that you respond in the language that the Hon. Member used. Are you saying those from colleges do not lose certificates?
*HON. MACHINGURA: Thank you Madam President, those who are in tertiary education do not go to ZIMSEC.
HON. SEN. CHIEF MAKUMBE: Thank you Madam President for giving me this opportunity. My question is directed to the Deputy Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development. What is Government policy with regards to setting up training facilities by private players in the medical field? Are private players allowed to train our people to augment Government, what does the policy say? Thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF HIGHER AND TERTIARY EDUCATION, INNOVATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT (HON. MACHINGURA): I want to thank the Hon. Sen. Chief for the question. Before I actually answer that question, Government is trying by all means to set institutions that will answer every aspect of social economic development issues. The private sector can also be a player on the field, for example you can talk about State universities, those universities that belong to Government and non- State universities, for example Africa University, it is a private university which belongs predominantly to the Methodist Church. They write to the Secretary of the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development indicating the area they want to cover. Once the Secretary is satisfied, he is allowed to licence them and they can operate. Thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF CHUNDU: I would like to direct my question to the Minister of Transport. Considering that we have a lot of places which have rail infrastructure yet there are no trains which are using the infrastructure, what is the plan regarding the refurbishment of locomotives as an alternative to trucks that are being used for transportation?
*THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. MHONA): Thank you Madam President. I also want to thank Hon. Sen. Chief Chundu for the pertinent question on a very critical issue which is being looked into by His Excellency, Hon. Mnangagwa. This is quite a critical issue which speaks to rail infrastructure which is not being used at the moment. This is damaging our roads because most of the loads are being ferried by large haulage trucks. Let me say that we are in engagement with different partners. As I am speaking, we have a number of employees of my Ministry who are in such engagements to determine the bilateral agreements that can be held between our country and other countries so that we refurbish our railway lines. So I appreciate the question, very soon we are going to restore the glory of our rail system. I believe this will be done through the National Development Strategy 1 so that we refurbish our railway lines. I believe that shortly you will hear our colleagues who will be coming to support us in the refurbishment of locomotives and railway lines.
*HON. SEN. MABIKA: Thank you Madam President. I direct my question to the Minister of Transport. I do not know what the law says, whether it allows that when someone is given a rehabilitation contract then they end up not meeting timelines, for instance from Coca Cola to Maruta, the road was done very well and then from Maruta to Chitungwiza the quality of the road is poor. This implies that these are different companies that are rehabilitating the road. Is it not possible that those who do a good job should be given so that they complete the project? I thank you.
*THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. MHONA): Thank you Hon. Senator for the pertinent question. Indeed Madam President, everyone loves good things. I would also appreciate that the question gives me the opportunity to explain to this august House that road rehabilitation programmes, I believe we have engineers in this House, for instance Hon. Sen. Eng. Mudzuri who knows the process of road rehabilitation. I believe that when we will be refurbishing our roads, for instance the Hon. Senator alluded to Seke road indeed, from Harare, the road is done well. When you reach Maruta Shopping Centre, the road is not pleasing. This does not imply that money was not used properly but it means that there is an asphalt overlay. An overlay which is different from the chip and spray model which was used from Maruta. So the qualities are different but the other one is cheaper. This also means that there is a difference in the quality of roads because of a number of reasons. This results in people observing and commenting about the status of the road and because of financial issues, we believe that if we had enough finances, then we could do the same until we reach Makoni Shopping Centre. For that reason, we look at the job that was done and we believe that we can engage those who have done a good job so that they continue doing the job.
We believe that in what we are doing right now, the contractor who will do a good job will be given the job so that they complete using the same standards. I thank you and I believe that you will discover that very soon, Chitungwiza Road will be re-furbished. This coming week, we believe that areas like Chinhamo, Manyame, St. Marys and other areas, there will be road works. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. MABIKA: I want to ask that, for those who underperformed, despite being paid, is there anything that is going to be done to them because they were paid for that job and now the job is going to be redone.
*HON. MHONA: Thank you Hon. Senator. Those who did their job did what was expected of them. However, what I was explaining is that they were given different tasks, it is different from those who started from Harare to Maruta. Let me say that those who do not do their job properly will not be paid. Please do not be concerned that the Government will pay underperforming people, no, that will not happen. With the Second Republic that is being led by His Excellency, Hon. E. D. Mnangagwa, this does not happen. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF MAKUMBE: Thank you Madam President. My question is directed to the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development. It buttresses the Hon. Senator’s question. We have Julie White to Ardbenie Road, which is a good road and was done properly. We see that His Excellency is concerned about motorists and the people of Zimbabwe. However, we have noted that some contractors who are given the work for road refurbishment are not doing their jobs properly. You find potholes, hardly a year after refurbishment of roads. What does Government plan to do regarding those who are empowered by the Government through the Second Republic but end up disempowering the State by doing shoddy jobs? I thank you.
* HON. MHONA: Thank you Hon. Sen. Chief Makumbe. This also gives me the opportunity to explain the process of refurbishment of our roads. For example, he referred to Boshof Road from Julie White which branches from Seke Road to Simon Mazorodze. I believe that a lot of people were discussing and some saying that the company which did the road did not do well.
Let me also explain that our roads have not been refurbished in a long time. I remember a question that was raised by Hon. Sen. Khumalo and we explained that the roads were beyond repair and no one was maintaining the road so that it could be in a good state. This culminated in the road being in a total state of disrepair. You find that the roads have potholes and this company which was given the task of refurbishing the road did not refurbish the entire road. I will give an example of fourth to first, the road should be refurbished totally. This is what happened on Boshof Road, only parts of the road were mended or refurbished and at the end of the day, people do not know where refurbishments were done. When the rains came, you discover that there were potholes. Some of these cannot be seen by the naked eye because when you have fixed the road, you do not leave the road without being resurfaced. So, resurfacing is done even after patching of potholes yet the road looks new but some potholes maybe covered. However, where the potholes are not covered, when the rains fall, you will discover that there will be new potholes.
Now we have leant that we do not have to do patches but we have to do a complete refurbishment of the roads. Even this coming year, this is something which is going to happen. For instance, Beitbridge Road, when you check what is happening on the Beitbridge Road, the road is being refurbished properly. However, the roads that are being resurfaced are different from what is happening there. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI: Thank you Madam President for giving me this opportunity to ask my question to the Deputy Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Hon. Minister Matuke. Madam President, what are the Government plans regarding food security around the country because a lot of areas are facing drought because of the erratic rains? We might be facing drought. I thank you.
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE, LABOUR AND SOCIAL WELFARE (HON. MATUKE): Thank you Madam President. I appreciate the question that was asked by the Hon. Senator. Government is aware that we are faced with imminent drought. As the Ministry, we have taken strides after being given the task by His Excellency the President who told us that drought is looming. Probably by the end of this month, we would be distributing food aid after being given this opportunity by His Excellency that we should distribute food. From the beginning of April, we would be distributing food. This window gives us the opportunity to create our database because you have to be on the ground collecting data regarding needy households or those who are in need of food. We will then engage the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development so that we fund the food distribution programme. My explanation is that we are continuously giving out food to those who need it. In the past month, we distributed more than four thousand tonnes. However, from the 1st of April, we are going to come up with registers and databases so that we identify all those who need food aid from now and into the future for their sustained livelihoods. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. KAMBIZI: Thank you Madam President. We heard the Hon. Minister saying that they have been distributing food and they are continuing with the distribution. However, the distribution criteria should be clear whether there are some provinces which should be benefiting and some who are not going to be benefiting. We also have climate variations because of climate change. What is the plan for those who have not been receiving food? I would like to implore the Ministry to consider distributing to the whole country. I thank you.
*HON. MATUKE: Thank you Madam President. I believe the Hon. Senator who posed the question did not understand my explanation. I explained that the law determines and requires that we stop the food distribution programme if we had good rains but because we are faced with drought, we will not stop distribution of food at the end of March. We will continue distributing until the end of April. That window we have opened allows us to move around the country to reach all peripheral areas so that we identify those in need of food. This will assist us in creating a database of those who need and might not have a good harvest. We will not stop distributing food but because His Excellency directed us to continue with the distribution, we have extended the period so that we have our registers. My plea to all the leadership in this august House and those who are responsible for different areas is, if they have information regarding the needy in their districts, they should approach the districts and give us the information. They can also come to the Ministry offices and give us information because there is food for distribution. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. CHISOROCHENGWE: Thank you Madam President. My supplementary question to the Hon. Minister is that, we understand the issue of creating the database of those who are in need, what else should be done so that every needy person is identified and included? I thank you.
*HON. MATUKE: Thank you for such a pertinent question which was asked by the Hon. Senator that when creating the database, everyone should be included, no one should be left out. The Government desires that food be given to all people without discrimination on religious affiliation, political affiliation or tribe. The President said that everyone who needs food should be given after investigations have been carried out that indeed that person needs food aid. If there are people capturing data leaving out other people, that information should be relayed to the Ministry’s offices so that action is taken to ensure everyone is treated the same under the law by the Ministry.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF MAKUMBE: Thank you Madam President. The question of food aid has been bothering me. Tomorrow we will be in a tight situation. People who need food will be waiting for us. Hon. Minister, what should be done and what can the Ministry do so that those in need of food aid are given? We know that you have been distributing but what is the policy that can be put so that everyone benefits? Hunger does not select people. The chief’s silo/dura ramambo does not have enough. I am happy that Hon. Minister you explained that food distribution is going to continue.
*HON. MATUKE: Thank you Madam President. The question that was asked by Hon. Sen. Chief is pertinent, I agree totally with you. We have a lot of needy areas but I would like to point out that there are some areas which might have a bumper harvest. Government policy is that we do not just distribute but we have to gather information and create a database for those who need food. We allocate food using a certain criteria. We do not just park a truck and distribute food. We must have a record of those who are supposed to receive and their household. This means that when grain is distributed to the people, there must be reconciliation of the database of those who would have benefited.
This information will be used by Ministry officials who would have a complete record of beneficiaries. This issue speaks to the issue of completion of the database as soon as possible. I believe that 30% of our people are going to harvest, but 70% would be facing drought because of certain reasons. Some regions in the country will harvest and others will not. Government has not stopped distributing grain but it is going to distribute to more people this year because of the prevailing situation. The Hon. Sen. should understand that we will be having teams who will be creating registers of those who are in need around the country. However, if there is an emergency, the information should be relayed to our offices and we will respond accordingly. We will distribute the grain whilst waiting for the completion of the papers.
*HON. SEN. CHIEF MAKUMBE: My question is directed to the Minister of Agriculture. During his absence, I will direct the question to the Leader of the House.
Government gazetted pre-planting prices but when we look at the economic environment, fertilisers were around US$60.00 per bag. This means that in a hectare, one would need eight bags of compound D and six bags of Ammonium Nitrate. However, the harvest might be two tonnes or less per hectare. What is Government going to do regarding the pricing that was done comparing it to the economic situation?
*THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI):At the beginning of every year, Government convenes a meeting where pricing of grain is done, whether it is cotton or whichever crop. After planting, our extension workers move around the country looking at the crops and observing what is happening on the ground and then give feedback to Government. Towards harvesting period, the agricultural extension workers give feedback again regarding the pricing of different crops. This is the information that our extension workers gather to determine this year’s farming season and the harvest that is being anticipated.
Please bear with us, Government is carrying out investigations so that prices will be determined.
*HON. SEN. MUPFUMIRA: I would like to know the current status of the nation’s silos because the Minister mentioned that there was an assessment that was done, which explains what the situation is. Do we have enough grain in our silos? If not, what are the plans that we have as Government regarding the importation of grain? We know that this is a long process.
*HON. ZIYAMBI: Indeed, we know the current position of our silos and we are aware that in the past year we had a bountiful harvest. Our silos are full - not only with maize but with a strategic reserve of different crops which include sorghum, millet and maize which is around 1.5 metric tonnes.
The Minister of Agriculture explained that the reserves have not been tapped into. We have been looking into this issue so that we determine the next course of action. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. KOMICHI: My question is directed to the Leader of Government Business that in the past two weeks, Zimbabwe was blessed with a baby girl, Kudakwashe in WBC, who excelled the world over. This is a good thing, and we are pleased with Kudakwashe’s performance. The explanation is that she has been through a lot of sporting activities like boxing until she excelled in her sporting discipline. I believe that everyone is happy with that. What pains me is that we saw a story on ZTV where she explained the value of her belt which is worth US$1 000.00. At one point we had a man who received a similar belt which was worth around US$10 000.00 but now because this is a woman, she receives a belt worth US$1 000.00. This is painful but I decided to come and speak on her behalf in this august House. As Government, it is our plea, may we please give her some money because she is talented. May we assist her? If possible, please take this plea to the Executive. Is there a policy which speaks to that? Thank you.
*THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): I would like to thank Hon. Komichi for his contribution regarding this young lady who excelled in Zambia. However, there is no Government policy which says that anyone who excels in sports should be given money. If you look at sporting activities, different sport associations do not want Government interference. However, the request that she excelled is a good request but it is not policy. So if the responsible offices write to Government requesting for assistance, then something could be done but there is no policy - the world bodies specify that governments must not be seen interfering in sporting activities. I thank you.
Questions without Notice were interrupted by the HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE in terms of Standing Order No. 67.
*HON. SEN. SPANI-HUNGWE: I move that we extend Question Time by 10 minutes.
HON. SEN. KOMICHI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
*HON. SEN SIPANI-HUNGWE: My question is directed to the Minister of Energy and Power Development. In the past few days or a week ago, we have seen prices of fuel, whether it is petrol or diesel soaring. May we have an explanation of what is happening and why the prices are changing? Sometimes in the morning or afternoon, we are having increases in fuel prices. I believe a lot of people would like to understand what is happening and how these increases are coming. I thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER DEVELOPMENT (HON. MUDYIWA): I would like to thank Hon. Hungwe for asking such a pertinent question but I believe that this question was asked when we started this session and it was asked in English. However, it has been asked again in Shona.
*THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I am sorry Hon. Member, maybe you were not in when it was asked but you can go and read the Hansard.
HON. SEN. D. M. NDLOVU: My question is directed to the Leader of Government Business in the absence of the Minister of Local Government. What is the Government policy in connection with sale of stands? If a person buys a stand today, it takes almost seven years before that person is shown the stand and when the beneficiaries want to know what is happening, there is a delay, arbitration and all sorts of answers. Can the Minister explain to me since I am a person who is representing other people, they always ask that question from me and I promised to ask the question?
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Residential stands or commercial stands in urban areas are sold either by private individuals, municipalities or in certain instances local government. So, it will depend on who sold the stand and if it is the municipality, it is responsible for processing the relevant papers so that the beneficiaries get title to it. If it is sold by a private individual, the individual is responsible for ensuring that the land is serviced, the relevant papers are approved and the stands get the relevant title deeds. Local government again does the same. The Hon. Member needs to go and ascertain who serviced and sold those stands so that relevant help can be given to her.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: If I can help the Hon. Senator; if it is a particular stand, I think you need to put your question in writing so that you can get a researched answer.
HON. SEN. D. M. NDLOVU: Thank you Madam President. It is the Ministry of Local Government, so I will write to them.
*HON. SEN. CHIRONGOMA: Thank you Madam President for giving me the opportunity to ask my question to the Minister. As you have heard Hon. Minister, we are facing a drought and the road networks to our people are not in a good state because of the rains. What is being done so that we can access our constituents?
*THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. MHONA): Thank you Hon. Sen. Chirongoma for such a pertinent question. I believe that this question has been asked before but let me just emphasise that after receiving goods rains, our roads were damaged and they are in a bad state. This has resulted in some areas being inaccessible. Let me explain that some roads fall under DDF, some under local authorities and others under council, though my Ministry has the overall responsibility for all roads. Our listening President, His Excellency President E. D. Mnangwagwa said we should all come together and work on our roads so that they are accessible. No-one should be left behind when food aid is brought from Government. It is Government policy to ensure that all roads are rehabilitated and made accessible to everyone.
Questions Without Notice were interrupted by THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT (HON. SEN KAMBIZI) in terms of Standing Order No 67.
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Order, unfortunately all the ministers who were supposed to respond to these questions are not present, therefore we will defer the questions.
On the motion of THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI), the Senate adjourned at Forty-eight minutes to Four o’clock p.m. until Tuesday 15th March, 2022.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday, 9th March, 2022
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two O’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. SPEAKER in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. SPEAKER
APOLOGIES RECEIVED FROM MINISTERS
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have received the following correspondence on leave of absence by members of the Executive:
Hon. Dr. C. D. G. N. Chiwenga, Vice President and Minister of Health and Child Care;
Hon. Prof. P. Mavima, Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare;
Hon. Sen. M. Mutsvangwa, Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services;
Hon. O. Muchinguri-Kashiri, Minister of Defence and War Veterans Affairs;
Hon. J. G. Moyo, Minister of Local Government and Public Works;
Hon. D. Karoro, Deputy Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement;
Hon. V. Haritatos, Deputy Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement;
Hon. Dr. A. J. Masuka, Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement; and
Hon. W. Chitando; Minister of Mines and Mining Development.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
*HON. NYABANI: My question is directed to the Minister of Finance and Economic Development. When he talked about the Pfumvudza/Intwasa programme he said he was going to pay transporters. We want to find out the plans he has because since then transporters have not been paid. We want to know what are the challenges being faced? Is it that people do not have account numbers or that there is no money?
*THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHIDUWA): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. We are aware of the late disbursement of funds, we only release funds when the concerned Ministry requests for it. If they request for the funds, that is when we do the budget release and we forward to the requesting Ministry, they then do the pay run and forward to us and we release the funds. This process was however delayed but as I speak right now, we disbursed funds to the tune of 124 million for transporters, therefore the problem has been solved.
*HON. DUTIRO: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is directed to the Minister of Energy and in his absence...
*THE HON. SPEAKER: That is for me to decide, you can now ask.
*HON. DUTIRO: I thank you Hon. Speaker. How prepared is the Ministry, noting the war situation in Ukraine to make fuel available at reasonable prices? I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Government is fully aware of what is happening in Ukraine and Russia, there are certain circumstances that are beyond our control. We are all aware that after the outbreak of the war, the fuel prices increased and that is a global occurrence that affects everyone, not just Zimbabwe. So we will do everything within our power to ensure that we will not have shortages. In terms of the global prices; there is nothing that we can do, we just have to wait and see what happens in the global fuel market. I thank you.
(v)HON. MUSHORIWA: Mr. Speaker Sir, my supplementary to the Hon. Minister is that whilst we agree that concerning the international price; there is nothing that we can do, what is the Government doing in terms of reviewing some of the taxes that build up along with the cost of fuel? We have got the strategic reserve levy, debt redemption levy, carbon tax levy, ZINARA road levy- what is Government doing to make sure that the price of fuel does not continuously go up resulting in pushing other costs of production in the economy? I thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: That is a separate question altogether. It has nothing to do with the Ukraine crisis.
HON. T. MLISWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, with your indulgence, I think the Ukraine/Russia impact has a lot of farreaching consequences for Zimbabweans. We get our wheat from Ukraine and I think it will be proper for the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade to come and issue a statement pertaining to the effect and the mitigating measures that they intend to take in terms of the commodities that we tend to benefit from this country. With your indulgence, it is quite important for people to be prepared and to know.
THE HON. SPEAKER: The administration; the Clerk of Parliament will take care of that and once the Hon. Minister is back in the country, he will give us a detailed statement on the impact of international trade.
Hon. Markham having stood to speak.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon Markham, the Chair was still speaking and suddenly you are on your feet, why? - [AN HON. MEMBER: Adya sadza uyu.] -
HON. MARKHAM: Good afternoon Hon. Speaker, I am just following up on what the previous member said on...
THE HON. SPEAKER: Can you ensure that the microphone is close to you a bit.
HON. MARKHAM: Just to make sure that the Ministerial Statement on this issue does cover one aspect on fuel but also on agricultural inputs like fertiliser. We have an issue where we are totally uncompetitive with our neighbours, for example diesel and petrol is 30% more expensive than Zambia and that gives us a very bad starti - anything from agriculture, mining and whatever. Could the Minister actually indulge us on why we get to be 30% more expensive on fuel products? I thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: You are complicating matters. Hon. T. Mliswa’s request related to international trade between Ukraine and Zimbabwe. Now if you bring in the question of energy, then that is outside international trade. Perhaps you can ask that question next week to the Hon. Minister of Energy or during this session you can ask the question. I think the Hon. Deputy Minister is here. You are on the list of those who are going to ask questions, so wait for your turn. I thank you.
(v)HON. SARUWAKA: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. I wanted to find out from the Leader of the House; when fuel prices rise globally, Zimbabwe immediately increases fuel price but when it falls we do not see a corresponding drop in prices in Zimbabwe. Can he explain that phenomenon?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER DEVELOPMENT (HON. MUDYIWA): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, I would like to thank the Hon. Member for the question. If I got him right, he is asking about the increase in prices of fuel and when the international prices go down, they do not see us implementing the same measures to go down in prices.
I think if it is in reference to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, well prices may increase and that is because of the economic impact that they have on the world market since most of our oil and natural gas imports were in one way or the other, connected to Russia and Ukraine, but if the prices of oil go down, what happens is, when we determine the price of our fuel products in the country, we have what we call the FOB which is the landing price at the Beira Port and this determines how the prices in Zimbabwe will be for the oil products as well. So if the FOB goes down, it is obvious that we should also go down in the prices, but our prices at times go up because of the taxes and duties and whatever other charges that are there, but the FOB is the determinant factor in the oil prices in the country. I think that is all I can say at the moment.
HON. T. MLISWA: Supplementary question Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is; as a Ministry, what are you doing to ensure that fuel is available and affordable despite the increments knowing that the disposable income for Zimbabweans is already not enough?
HON. MUDYIWA: As the Ministry of Energy and Power Development, we have always been proactive in terms of ensuring that the country has got enough diesel and blend for our needs.
As a Ministry, we have our strategic resources as well where we will resort to in terms of crisis. So we are monitoring the situation at the moment. Once there is need that we resort to our strategic reserves, then we can do that, but at the moment, the situation is still manageable. It is only when it comes to levels where we cannot manage through the imports, that is if the worst comes to the worst. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. T. MLISWA: My question was not about whether we have enough or not. How can they make it affordable to the people knowing very well the disposable income of the people is not enough and I was probably hoping that she would talk to other line ministries in terms of the taxes we contribute to be taken out so that people afford because the taxation is too much? The fuel has gone up and how can it be affordable to the people.
HON. MUDYIWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I think the follow up question is a bit tricky for us as a Ministry to say we will do this and that. Like I said, the price is determined by various factors and as a Ministry, our aim is that we have the product at affordable prices to our people. The only affordable price that we can talk about at the moment is maybe to have the RTGS fuel in abundance because most of the people in Zimbabwe earn in Zimbabwean dollars and not in United States dollars.
So our aim is to make sure that we have the RTGS fuel in abundance in most of our service stations. Like I said before, we have come up with a system between NOIC and ZERA and the RBZ where the RTGS fuel is made available to a number of identified service stations which meet the criteria that has been set by ZERA so that they sell that fuel in RTGS. These companies would have accessed their forex through the RBZ and the lines of credit. So those service stations are supposed to sell that fuel in RTGS, but the matter of affordability is determined by what has been happening internationally and maybe within the country, but our aim is that we make sure that we have affordable fuel prices.
Other measures that are in the making, we cannot preempt at the moment. We have got other measures that we are trying to work on but once we are done with the consultations, then maybe if that is implemented we say we can have the fuel that is affordable. However, the word affordable is difficult really to say because it is not specific. What is affordable in terms of what? Is it in terms of the prices in Zimbabwean dollars or United States dollars? There are a lot of determinant factors to the price of fuel and the affordability that is being referred to. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
(v)HON. MUDARIKWA: We were made to understand that there were some service stations that sell fuel in RTGS. Which are the service stations and how do we communicate to our people in the constituency to tell them to go to such service stations? What time and when are they selling fuel in RTGS because I have travelled and I have never come across fuel being sold in RTGS?
THE HON. SPEAKER: That is a specific question. You must put it in writing so that the Hon. Minister can give you a detailed response. What we are looking at now is general policy directives and not specific situations.
HON. DR. MURIRE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is directed to the Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Culture. What programmes are in place to finance, promote and support traditional dance groups in rural areas? I thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Again, you are asking a question that is specific and it will require the Hon. Minister to come up with a list of programmes where the programmes are directed and so on. Please stick to policy issues.
HON. DR. MURIRE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. What policy is in place to support, finance and promote traditional dance groups especially the Ndau groups? Thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: I am going to indulge you because the policy must relate to the Ndau’s and others.
HON. DR. MURIRE: Thank you for the advice Mr. Speaker Sir - the Ndau groups and others.
THE MINISTER OF YOUTH, SPORTS, ARTS AND CULTURE (HON. COVENTRY): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I would like to thank the Hon. Member for such a great question. As you know, we are in the midst of putting together our arts policy and goal, but for the Ministry, the policy right now through the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe, is to ensure that all our traditional dance groups are supported through the re-establishment of an Arts Fund, which is what we got budget for from Treasury for this year. It was not functioning very viably before that.
So, the Ministry this year has been working to ensure that our dance groups across the country are adequately funded to guarantee the promotion as well as the opportunities for our dance groups to go and share our heritage with other cultures. Today, I was at the Egyptian Embassy where one of our troupes has just got back and they have been received by the Egyptian Ambassador with an award, celebrating the dance groups. These are the policies that we are ensuring will be in place if Arts Fund is now functioning. We will ensure that we will continue to provide these opportunities for our dance groups and traditional dances. Thank you.
HON. CHINYANGANYA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I want to thank the Hon. Minister for her response. My supplementary question is; I do not think that the majority of the cultural groups are aware of the Fund that the Hon. Minister is talking about. So, what measures are being put in place by the Ministry so that these cultural groups are aware of the existence of the Fund in question? Thank you.
HON. COVENTRY: Thank you Hon. Speaker. I would like to thank the Hon. Member for that question. The way we are creating awareness of the Fund has been through all our offices. The Ministry has offices in Sport, Arts and Youth across the country and all our provinces and districts. They have been asked to go and do that as well as through the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe. They have also done an awareness campaign of how cultural and dance groups can write and send applications to us to ask for funding and support. Thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Perhaps Hon. Minister, the import of the question is that the said officials must explain the policies to the public, especially through Members of Parliament in their areas. The Members of Parliament will assist in disseminating such policy and information accordingly.
(v) HON. B. DUBE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is directed to the Minister of Finance. What is the current political economic ideology that Zimbabwe is pursuing in terms of trying to avert the contemporary challenges faced by Zimbabweans, especially in the current crisis relating to the global fuel challenges?
THE HON. SPEAKER: It is either you ask the Minister of Energy or the Minister of Finance - be decided to whom you want to question.
(v)HON. B. DUBE: The question is directed to the Minister of Finance because I believe the policy relating to whether we are pro-poor, pro-workers, socialists or capitalists will determine also how the other Ministries will respond to issues.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHIDUWA): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. The policy ideology we have as a country is clearly laid out in the Vision 2030. Our Vision 2030 clearly specifies that in terms of the development of the country, we are private sector led but we also have got cases or situations where when we say we are private sector led, it means we are looking at the operations of the markets. Now, when the market fails, this is where we have got robust intervention strategies in the form of social interventions.
So with regards to the movements in fuel prices, at the moment we do not have huge movements to warrant some social interventions. We are still having prices that are stable but whenever there is a change, that will warrant the Government to intervene in the cases of market failure, then we are going to have those interventions. At the moment, the policy stands as is. The price of fuel is determined by the market within the bands that are set by ZERA and that is what is obtaining at the moment and it is still in force. I thank you.
(v)HON. B. DUBE: So if we are following the market process as the basis, what cautionary measures have been put by Government to mitigate already high transport cost and the high cost of bread that are as a result of the fuel as well as the scarcity of wheat, considering that the prices have already been effected from $1.30 + to $1.60/70 fuel. Bread moved from about 80 cents to $1?
HON. CHIDUWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. In terms of the movement in the price of bread, at the moment we need to do some calculations to see if that increase is attributable to the movement in the fuel prices. If my statistics serve me well, the price of diesel moved from $1.48 to $1.51 and it is only a movement of 3 cents. I do not think if there is movement in the price of bread, it can be attributed to the three cents. I submit.
HON. MUSHORIWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My supplementary question to the Hon. Minister is: on the market right now, the fuel price has gone to around $1,60 and $1,70. Do you not think as a Ministry and as Government, there is now need to possibly review the various levies that are there on fuel, given that they consist almost 30% to the cost of fuel in Zimbabwe, for example taxes like duty, ZINARA, carbon tax, debt redemption and strategic reserve levy?
THE HON. SPEAKER: What has that to do with economic policy? Can you zero in your question please?
HON. MUSHORIWA: Mr. Speaker Sir, the Minister has said that it is private led and the supplementary question is on the taxation method. The Minister has indicated that when market fails, the Government then comes up with intervention. My question is; given that our cost of fuel in Zimbabwe has got a component of close to about 30% in taxes and levies, what is the Government doing in terms of looking into that issue to alleviate the problems affecting Zimbabweans?
HON. CHIDUWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I think I understood the question to say, given the various charges and levies that we are charging on fuel, why can we not look at reviewing some of these charges to ensure that fuel is affordable? I think this is a noble submission but we will use the whole of Government approach to look at all the issues that are part of the pricing model for fuel. There are a number of charges and they are coming from different ministries. We would want to look at it from the whole of Government approach to see if there is need for us to review them downwards. At the moment, given the involvement of many ministries and Government agencies, I may not be in a position to pin-point a specific levy to say we are going to relook at this. However, using the Government approach, I think it is something that we are going to look at to see if we can come up with a presentation again. Thank you.
Hon. T. Mliswa having stood to pose a supplementary question.
THE HON. SPEAKER: I reject the supplementary question because the Hon. Minister indicated that this is a cross-cutting question involving several ministries and he will have to look into the matter. That is how I understood the Hon. Minister.
HON. T. MLISWA: Hon. Speaker Sir, if you can allow me to make a recommendation.
THE HON. SPEAKER: You want to suggest a recommendation but this is Question Time.
HON. T. MLISWA: I do not know how I can put it across but it is quite an important question.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Why can you not ask a rhetorical question that will carry your recommendation? I am advising you to ask a rhetorical question which carries a suggestion.
HON. T. MLISWA: Mr. Speaker Sir, from $1,39 in the last two weeks …
THE HON. SPEAKER: You are not connected Hon. Mliswa.
HON. T. MLISWA: I hope when I give this brief, it would produce a question and a suggestion. From $1,39 within the last two weeks, it went up to $1,41. From $1,41 it went up to $1,51. From $1,51 it has gone up to $1,68.
THE HON. SPEAKER: What is your rhetorical question please?
HON. T. MLISWA: Certainly, it is an economic driver, it is a game changer economically. What is the Ministry of Finance doing to adjust? They have got to adjust because transport cost will go up, price of agriculture where we are using diesel goes up. What are they doing so that at least we can live and we do not die?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. CHIDUWA): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. The easiest approach that we can take is to say we are going to come up with a raft measure of subsidies. If we look at the budget that we approved here in Parliament, it is programme based budgeting where every item, programme, project and every budget activity was approved by Parliament. There was no provision for subsidies. If there is any change in terms of policy direction, it is something that has to go through Government, it comes here and maybe we relook and say let us virement the budget and take these items from here to there so that we can protect our people as part of our social development measures.
As I speak, there is no room to maneuver the budget. We cannot subsidise and it is something that we need to relook at given the situation that is on the ground, what is it that we can do to cushion our people? However, in terms of subsidies, the policy trajectory is, we are moving away from subsidies because of their nature and how they have been managed before. Any social intervention that we do has to be targeted. I am not sure how we will manage it because if you remember, there was a time when we wanted to control fuel prices and we lost control. We then allowed the market to determine. The reality on the ground is, fuel is moving in tandem with what is happening in the global market and we cannot move against that. If that is the reality that is there, any intervention has to be targeted. As I said, we need to look at all the stakeholders involved and see how best we can move forward as a country. Thank you.
HON. T. MLISWA: I have a point of order Hon. Speaker Sir. Mr. Speaker Sir, I must thank you for indulging Members on this important issue for the country. The Minister of Finance is responsible for a lot of things. You cannot have different strokes for different folks. When it is the currency, you want to control. We just heard the Minister saying they did not want to control but the currency they are controlling and they have not allowed it to flow. That is where the problem is. We need a Ministerial Statement on their way forward in terms of stabilisation so that we can deal with this issue conclusively. It is so important because that is really where it is Mr. Speaker Sir or else we would not have done our work as Members of Parliament in representing people. This is what is affecting the economy from growing. They control what they want and do not control what they do not want. They said they did not want to control the fuel pricing but they are controlling the currency, which is the biggest problem. We have constantly said it in Parliament. Allow it to flow. To me, it is quite confusing as the most important aspect of the economy, the currency they are happy to control. They want to play the US dollar taxation and promote the Zimbabwe dollar but they are busy taxing in US dollars again. So it confuses the entire nation and the monetary policy at the end of the day. A Ministerial Statement is imperative for us to interrogate further.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Minister, did you get the request?
HON. CHIDUWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Maybe if he can say it again.
THE HON. SPEAKER: No, no. no, the question of requesting a Ministerial Statement to do with these inflationary pressures vis-à-vis the exchange rate regime and other expenses.
HON. CHIDUWA: So the Ministerial Statement now is on overall macro-economic stability.
THE HON. SPEAKER: That is correct. Are you agreeable?
HON. CHIDUWA: Yes, I got it.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Do you think we can have that by next week?
HON. CHIDUWA: Thank you very much.
HON. CHINYANGANYA: My question is directed to the Minister of Sport. What is the Ministry doing to address the chaos that is at ZIFA that has led to our national soccer teams being banned from participating in international competitions? I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF YOUTH, SPORT, ARTS AND RECREATION (HON. DR. COVENTRY): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir and the Hon. Member. I have two points and the first one is; we are not yet banned. We are suspended. The second point is that there is really not much for me to comment at this point as they are still being under investigation and in court cases. Legally, there is not much I can say in terms of that.
I can add that we are in continuous contact with CAF at the highest level with FIFA and COSAFA and we will continue to do so as we lead on as well as saying that the chaos that has occurred is absolutely and entirely disgraceful to the country. The reports that continuously come through on sexual harassment and abuse of power cannot be taken any longer. We hope after reading some of the reports specifically from the CAF President yesterday on his praise of women within sport, we hope they will stand by those sentiments. I thank you.
HON. MAVETERA: In terms of women’s football, I think it was quite clear that most of the allegations were to do with women. My question now is; what is Government’s policy, especially to the Ministry of Youth in terms of them being very much proactive when it comes to standing for women’s rights and making sure that women will actually effectively contribute when it comes to football or any other sport? What policy do they have and what measures are they taking so that it can be effective enough to make sure that women will be adequately represented? I thank you.
HON. DR. COVENTRY: Thank you Hon. Member for that pertinent question. As you know, we do not have any legislation specific in sport to really uphold women’s rights as well as equality across all men and women and treat everyone equally. That is why we are coming up with the Zimbabwe Sport Integrity Bill. It is in the process of being put together and it is about to go to the Attorney-General’s Office before it comes out for consultation. Within that Bill, it will uphold equality for all as well as good governance areas and ensuring the safeguarding of equal opportunities for all and also address the inequalities towards female or male athletes and safeguarding them in terms of match fixing, corruption, abuse and anti-doping.
HON. T. MLISWA: May I commend the SRC for suspending ZIFA but more importantly, what is the SRC doing to ensure that the affiliates have got a strong code of conduct as sports administrators and what criteria are you coming with so that sport can be properly administered? Most of the people administering sport have no understanding of sport and there needs to be that criteria that is in place so that we become professional in what we do.
If you remember, Cuba trained a lot of physical education teachers from here. You do not see them involved in sport. The hyenas have come in to steal from the sports administrators who are qualified.
HON. DR. COVENTRY: These concerns and criteria will all be a part of this Sport Integrity Bill where there will be specific codes of conduct criteria that federations will have to abide by. This will then be emphasised by the amended Sport and Recreation Commission Act, in terms of specific criteria that federations will then have to implement. Within the repeal of the SRC Act, the SRC are redefining their roles and responsibilities and one of those roles and responsibilities is ensuring that these codes of conduct are followed as well as ensuring that national sport associations are implementing specific trainings, safeguarding and promoting development of sport.
HON. SVUURE: My question is directed to the Minister of Information, Communication Technology, Courier and Postal Services. Acknowledging that ICT is the way that the world has taken to spanning across governance and education included, what is the Ministry’s plan with regards to schools, acknowledging that e-learning has become the major means of accessing education for our children and also knowing that in most of the schools, especially in rural areas, there is no network connectivity?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY, POSTAL AND COURIER SERVICES (HON. PHUTI): Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. The Ministry of Information, Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services, jointly with the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, presented a Cabinet paper that was approved to the effect that there be a roll-out of an e-learning strategy which has seen the distribution of ICT gadgets to various schools across the country to date and which has seen the resuscitation of ZARNET which had many years before been mandated to ensure that there is connectivity for research and development.
It also brought in other players and MNOs to provide connectivity and we have connected a number of schools that we have been given by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education. I agree with the Hon. Member that ICT is at the centre of especially e-learning amongst other responsibilities to enable growth. I also want to assure the Hon. Member that if there can be adequate support from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development through a realisation that ICT is indeed that central, the Ministry is committed to do as expected and as per the Cabinet position. I thank you.
HON. RTD. BRIG. GEN. MAYIHLOME: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I would like to thank the Hon. Minister for that clear answer on school connectivity. May I point out to the Hon. Minister that connectivity is not just about schools but it is also about education? There are health facilities out there where people fall sick and fail to call for ambulances and where people will not transact any business. So, it is connectivity right across all the structures of community life. What measures are they putting in place to address those others? When can we expect a roll-out to address those other sectors of communal life? Thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: I am sorry your supplementary question should have dwelt on e-learning. The first substantive question was on e-learning and the Hon. Deputy Minister indicated that a complete roll-out of the application of ICT in the Government set up is being worked on and a paper has been presented to Cabinet. I believe that will cover part of your concerns but the accent of the question has been e-learning. Thank you.
HON. T. MLISWA: My supplementary will help Hon. Mayihlome and it is digitisation. How far have you gone? What percentage because we had 40%. We cannot talk about ICT e-learning without digitisation. Thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: That is a separate question altogether. Our emphasis is on e-learning.
(v)HON. MOKONE: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir. My supplementary question is what measures is the Ministry taking to address the cost of data, taking into cognisance that most of the activities are now done on line, especially e-learning in schools?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY, POSTAL AND COURIER SERVICES (HON. PHUTI): Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. Let me thank the Hon. Member for the question. It is true that data is not within the reach of many but let me assure the Hon. Member that the Ministry is working with a lot of private sector players who have brought in a lot of solutions and innovations which have made them partner through our enabling environment mobile network operators to negotiate bundles that are specific for education and those that may be specific for other purposes. That will see data being affordable for purposes of e-learning because at the moment, it is just general.
Let me hasten to say that issues of data and expense are pretty much a resolve and responsibility of the regulator who looks at the bottom and the ceiling in which mobile network operators and other providers of that commodity will operate within. In this case when they operate within, it is the operator who would have benchmarked and seen that it is appropriate that they operate within.. I want to remind the nation that it has become so important that we acknowledge the importance of data since the beginning of COVID-19 problems that we were faced with. I call upon everyone to continue assisting that there be very fast embracing of the culture of ICT in general so that these and other issues related to ICT and consumption of data will not be caught unaware as we have been before COVID-19. I thank you.
(v)HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. As the latest recipient of the e-learning facility in my constituency from the Minister of ICT, my supplementary question is, would it please the Minister and if it does, can he expand the issue of Wi-Fi coverage by establishing transmitters, boosters and routers where he has installed gadgets for e-learning so that the children can access the facility either when they are in the grounds or in the peripheral of the schools in question? Thank you.
HON. PHUTI: Thank you once again Mr. Speaker Sir. Let me thank Hon. Nduna for acknowledging the presence of the Ministry in rolling out the e-learning strategy. Late last year, His Excellency, the President launched what is called mobile broadband phase 3 which is supposed to see a deployment of about 345 base stations across the country by Net One and the partnership with Huawei which was facilitated by Government. Let me also mention that there is the process of redeployment of base stations that have been replicated in various points. This is going to see us managing to catch up with the demand of base stations across the country and obviously that answers Hon. Nduna’s concerns. I thank you Hon. Speaker.
HON. T. MLISWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, my question is directed to the Minister of Local Government. The Uchena Commission Report is still pending, when is it going to come to this august House?
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS (HON. CHOMBO): Thank you Hon. Speaker, I thank Hon. T. Mliswa for that question. I think that question has come through Parliament many times and I still repeat the answer that the Uchena Commission was set up by the President and not by the Ministry of Local Government, although some of the issues that we are raising and covered have a direct link with the Ministry of Local Government. So it is not the prerogative of the Ministry of Local Government to table that report in Parliament. I thank you.
HON. T. MLISWA: My supplementary is: I think the President is the number one citizen and the Government is subject to be accountable for public funds. The China Report was public funds, our role is to supervise public funds and the Ministry in question has the right to go and say to the President and Cabinet that Parliament wants this report tabled. I think that is the message she must take to the President because it is public funds. It must be accounted for without fear and favour and by bringing the President’s name, means we do not respect his office. He is the very same person who wants us to account, so may you take this message to the President and Cabinet that Parliament requires that report because it is public funds and we want to know.
HON. CHOMBO: Thank you very much Mr. Speaker, I thank Hon. T. Mliswa for the follow up question. I think Parliament is the best to do that – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: You are passing the buck. We will request His Excellency the President for that report because members want to debate, if it is possible. I thank you.
HON. MARKHAM: Thank you Hon. Speaker. My question is in regards to what I asked earlier to the Minister of Energy. To what extent and what policy has the Ministry put in place to level us up with our competitors next door because all our fuel prices are at least 30% more than our competitors, yet some of them are close to the coast. Let us compare ourselves to countries like Zambia; it is unfathomable that there is a 30% difference in fuel prices because the knock on effect on agriculture, mining, farming, transport and manufacturing are absolutely shocking. I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF ENERGY AND POWER DEVELOPMENT (HON. SODA): I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, and I thank Hon. Markham for asking the question. I think this question is related to the questions that have been asked to the Minister of Finance but I will favour the Hon. Member with a response as to why there has been some difference in the prices that are obtaining in other countries, like he has just indicated that our 30% is above what is obtaining in other countries.
Mr. Speaker, our prices have been affected especially recently because of what is obtaining in Eastern Europe where there is a war between Russia and Ukraine and given that Russia is the second largest producer of petroleum products in the world, obviously when they are in a war situation and the delivery or production of the petroleum products is constrained by the war situation, there is going to be a decrease in the supply of the petroleum products. It is not only Zimbabwe that has been affected; almost all countries in the world are getting affected by what is happening in Eastern Europe.
Mr. Speaker, the issue of levies or taxes, I think that has been debated and there has been a request that the Minister of Finance will come up with a statement which he will present to this august House indicating the mechanisms or means by which finance would have determined as to how they will cushion the economy especially with regards to taxes and levies. So, I think that has been attended to if it was pointing to the issue of levies and taxes, but what is currently obtaining is the FOB prices which continue to spike up. As a way to ensure that the market continues to be well provided in terms of the fuel and also given that the market is private sector led, we are mandated to ensure that the prices are reviewed and they are able to recoup the cost that the market is incurring in procuring the products into the country. What has been happening especially yesterday, I acknowledge that we had a review of prices on the 5th which was a Saturday but only a day in-between on Monday, prices had shot up and diesel had gone up by 11% and petrol had also gone up by 10%. There is no way we could have been silent, we then through ZERA had to ensure that prices are reviewed in line with what is also obtaining on the international market. So that is what I can say Mr. Speaker Sir, but also to indicate that the request which was made by this august House through the Ministry of Finance, I think will indicate as to how the market will be cushioned. I thank you.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Minister, whilst you are up standing, the accent of the question is price differential between our price structure here and our neighbouring countries to the extent of indicating some 30% differential, that is the import of the question.
HON. MARKHAM: Thank you Mr. Speaker.
HON. SODA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I think I had also indicated in our pricing model that what is implemented are levies, taxes and the FOB prices. What we have seen even beginning the time when the budget was passed, taxes and levies did not move or did not increase. What has just increased was the FOB price for the product to be imported into the country. So that one, we have no control over it. All we just have to do is to implement. Whenever there are some increases occasioned by the increases also obtaining on the international market, what we just have to do is to implement the FOB movements, then we also factor in the taxes and the levies. Unless there is some other clarity that might be required but the mechanism as to how we come up with the prices for our petroleum products is the implementation of the taxes, the levies and the FOB price that will be obtaining. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. MARKHAM: Mr. Speaker, I do not believe my question has been answered. The 30%, we are talking about FOB prices should be the same. FOB, whether it is going to Zambia or here, it should be the same. Are we saying that our taxes, you add another 30% on top of the fuel? If we are bringing in our local ethanol, why is our fuel so much more expensive than our neighbours? That is my question and this is a carry on from before the Russian-Ukrainian war. We were still 30% more expensive. With that and the advantage of ethanol, we should be the same if not cheaper, but we are not. So there is no explanation. What is Government’s policy, where is it wrong that we are 30% more expensive than our neighbours? Thank you.
HON. SODA: Mr. Speaker Sir, I think I will repeat this. The mechanism by which we come up with prices for petroleum products is the implementation of predetermined formulas. We have the levies, we have the taxes and we also have the FOB prices. One good thing Mr. Speaker Sir, is taxes are approved by this august House which I am saying at a time when the budget was approved, the taxes were indicated. It is the august House that approved those taxes and I am happy that those taxes and levies have not moved. What has just moved is the FOB price. I will indicate Mr. Speaker Sir, between January and where we are today, there has been a movement from US$85 per barrel of the crude oil moving to US$136 per barrel. That has been the movement that occurred between January and where we are today.
So all that has caused the prices to go up and I do not think you can have any further explanation above that, but the price of our petroleum products is a build-up of predetermined taxes, levies and the movement that would be happening on the international market through FOB pricing. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. T. MLISWA: My supplementary to the Minister is, this is where the issue of ethanol comes in where at this point in time, we should not be suffering. The price should be low and Government has monopolised the ethanol producer. Green Fuels is the only one that produces ethanol. There is no other player, yet they do not have the capacity to produce for the whole nation. You have the Chiredzi sugar company, Tongaat Hulett yet they have given just one company Green Fuelwhen it can be open. Why has Government not opened the ethanol to everyone else and not only one person Billy Rautenbach and Green Fuels? He has failed. He is not able to do it. The prices, as Hon. Markham said, are too high. Why do you not open up for everyone so that we have enough and it helps us in terms of the price?
HON. SODA: Mr. Speaker, let me acknowledge that the policy to do with import substitution in this country is the way to go. It is true that we at times blend our unleaded petrol with ethanol which is a local product and ordinarily, that was supposed to contain prices. Mr. Speaker Sir, let me also indicate that the industry is not monopolised, it has been liberalised. Apart from Green Fuels, there is also supply that comes from FECZ and anyone who wants to participate can participate in that industry.
What we are experiencing Mr. Speaker Sir, is that there is seasonal production of ethanol because of the supply which is inadequate to provide for blending throughout the whole year. Like right now as we speak, blending was suspended in January when we had reached 10% and there has been unprecedented demand for ethanol when it was also being required for the purposes of manufacturing sanitisers. We then had to suspend to allow for the production of sanitisers which had become so urgent and a necessity for the whole nation.
So we suspended blending of our unleaded petrol with ethanol, but I agree with the Hon. Member that there is need for the nation to increase on import substitution especially through the production of bio-energy. We also have a whole policy that speaks to the promotion of bio-energy in the country as a way of trying to contain prices for our petroleum products and also as a way of even creating employment for our people. I want to thank the Hon. Member and you Mr. Speaker Sir.
(v)HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. As a student of law, I have a question that is directed to the Hon. Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development premised on the enabling Act, Chapter 13.11 of the Roads Act and also tuition which is sui generis in a class of its own, Section 13 (4) of the Constitution and my question is informed by the Government approach on the Plumtree-Mutare and also on the Beitbridge-Masvingo-Harare Highway, Chirundu Highway and also on the Victoria Falls Airport which was done using the US$115 million Chinese Eximbank loan finance and also the 831km Plumtree-Mutare Highway of the US$206 million DBSA loan finance. What is Government policy in so far as it relates to the Beitbridge-Gwanda-Bulawayo-Victoria Falls Highway in the same manner that it has approached roads and the infrastructure that are still in tandem with the enabling Act and the Constitution. Thank you.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. MHONA): Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. I was trying to follow up the question of my good Hon. Member, Hon. Nduna. He is a student of law and I am a learned lawyer, so I was trying to actually deduce from what my student is trying to say. With your indulgence, if I can get the question again so that I can address it. I thank you.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MUTOMBA): Hon. Nduna, may you please try to simplify your question so much that it can be understood?
(v)HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. My question is in relation to the construction, rehabilitation, routine and periodic maintenance of the Plumtree-Mutare Highway. Also the expansion of the Chirundu-Beitbridge-Masvingo-Harare Highway, what is Government policy in as far as it relates to the Gwanda-Beitbridge-Bulawayo-Victoria Falls Highway, premised on the enabling Act Chapter 13:11 of the Roads Act and the Constitution Section 13:4, what is Government policy …
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Nduna, I have actually requested you to simplify, there seems to be quite a lot of other things that seem not to relate to your question. I do not know Minister, have you understood the question?
HON. MHONA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Let me also help my student of law. Hon. Nduna is trying to address the question that he has posed pertaining to a sui generis contract that he cited, in particular the one that we have involving Beitbridge-Harare-Chirundu Highway. That is the normal way of doing business as we are addressing domestically in terms of rehabilitating our infrastructure, which is also a noble cause that has been demonstrated on the Bulawayo-Plumtree highway.
Hon. Nduna is asking whether we have got a similar arrangement that also addresses the plight of those from Matebeleland, especially the Beitbridge-Bulawayo-Victoria Falls Highway. I want to assert and confirm to Hon. Nduna that yes, we have been pursuing a similar structure where we wanted someone to take over on a build-operate-transfer arrangement. Apparently the contractor has struggled to run the project and as we are speaking, the Government is taking over that project so that we rehabilitate in a similar structure that we have also adopted along the Beitbridge-Harare-Chirundu Road.
I want to affirm to the Hon. Member that as we are under sanctions, we can only do our roads on our own, involving the people of Zimbabwe. It is also a humble plea to say those construction companies that can actually partake into this exercise, it is a welcome idea. In the near future, we are having a transport infrastructure Indaba where we are also trying to solicit for investors so that they come and partake in this infrastructure development. I thank you.
HON. T. MLISWA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker. I am glad that the Leader of Government Business is here. My point of order is the way Ministers disrespect this House. I do not know whether when they attend Cabinet, it is the President who arrives first or them? When they come here when they are late, they do not even approach the Chair, to say sorry, I am late. I was doing a, b, c, d. When they are leaving, they also leave without doing that. They treat this House like a public toilet, where you go in and out as and when you feel like. It is bad manners It is sad that the world is looking; our children are looking at you not respecting this august House.
The Hon. Leader of Government Business, I saw him excusing himself to the Speaker, leaving. Hon. Mhona is here paying attention, he sits throughout. Hon. Paradza, also sits throughout and I see that the Deputy Ministers are here and the rest have gone. When the Speaker has gone, they are like little kids who are going out to play on the swings and so forth. When are we going to respect this House? When are they going to respect that seat there? I wonder whether in Cabinet they are always late. I have never been to Cabinet before, maybe Hon. Ziyambi may tell us why they do that here. Is it them sitting and then the President arrives or the President sits and they arrive? I do not know because these are ways of showing us what you do in Cabinet. If you do not want to respect this House, you do not respect us.
They are fellow Members of Parliament too. They do not respect us in our own constituencies. They come in without even telling us. They come without telling us but when we visit their constituencies, they also panic. Why do we not respect each other’s offices?
Finally, the Leader of Government Business is here. The Minister of Agriculture excused himself and two deputies are here. May we have a Ministerial Statement pertaining to the 2022 harvest in terms of maize? A lot of rainfall causes hunger too. Most of the crops were damaged due to rainfall. Now there is also no rain. The cloud seeding you are talking about - is it going to happen or it is not going to happen? May we have a report on the state of 2021/22 agricultural season on these factors, which I have brought to your attention, without any further delay? Thank you.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. I apologise, I excused myself and went to the Senate and I am advised that Ministers left without seeking leave from you. I think that will be corrected. I thank you.
(v) HON. NDUNA: Mr. Speaker Sir, what I want to know from the Hon. Minister is the scope of works on the Beitbridge-Gwanda-Bulawayo-Victoria Falls Highway, is it the same as that which obtains on the Beitbridge-Chirundu-Masvingo-Harare Highway, in terms of scope? Also what are the timelines for implementation?
I also want to applaud His Excellency the President and the Minister of Transport on 100% participation of local contractors on the Beitbridge-Chirundu-Masvingo-Harare Highway.
HON. MHONA: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. Let me also thank Hon. Nduna for that very pertinent question. The scope of works is precisely the same as what we are doing along Beitbridge-Chirundu-Masvingo-Harare Highway. We are going to widen the road and reconstruct it from scratch, not like what has been done considering the Plumtree Road where we actually focused on certain stretches. On this particular road, as directed by His Excellency, Cde, Dr. Emerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa that we have to move with speed, my Engineers are seized in trying to scope and also flight the tender which should be seen in the shortest period of time, inviting bidders. Thank you.
(v) HON. GABBUZA: Thank you Mr. Speaker. My question goes to the Minister of Local Government and Public Works. Mr. Speaker, we have seen chiefs all over the country when there is a bereavement of the chiefs, the Government comes in to assist. However, we have not seen much evidence on Government assisting when they are sick. Many of us come across these problems to assist chiefs here and there. Is there no policy to assist chiefs with maybe a medical assurance so that they are treated properly when they are still sick? Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS (HON. CHOMBO): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, and thank you Hon. Gabbuza for that very important question. There is some information that I cannot divulge right now but you can see that we have done a lot for the chiefs although it is not enough yet.
HON. T. MLISWA: Mr. Speaker Sir, the Minister is out of order to say there is certain information that cannot be divulged. This is Parliament and we have oversight. She cannot say that.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Mliswa, I did not recognise you.
HON. T. MLISWA: I am sorry Hon. Speaker Sir.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: You can go ahead.
HON. T. MLISWA: I have just spoken about how this House must be respected. This House’s role is oversight and she cannot say she cannot divulge information. This Parliament if it is in camera, it shall be divulged, so I think it is important that the Minister answers and does not say there is information that cannot be divulged in this Parliament. Even the Director General of CIO appeared before this House and gave the information that we wanted. You are not part of State security.
HON. CHOMBO: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir, and thank you Hon. Mliswa for the correction. The issue of the welfare of chiefs is an issue that my Ministry is addressing. We have had a number of meetings of late to try as much as we can to address their welfare. You can see we started with the vehicles, which we are saying right now we are considering servicing. We are considering giving them fuel, airtime and also medical aid. There is a raft of measures that we are trying to put in place to make sure that we make their livelihood comfortable. We have done a lot to make sure that when they pass on; we try as much as possible to make the mourning period not that hard for the family. I hear you Hon. Gabbuza. We have done a lot and we are still going to do more. We are holding a series of meetings with the chiefs across the country. If you talk to them, they will tell you. Right now, we have gone out of our way, we are constructing boreholes for the chiefs in Binga and I think you are aware. The rigs are almost complete. Of course we are going to do more. I thank you.
HON. GABBUZA: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. I really appreciate what the Ministry is trying to do. However, what the Minister has just indicated, if I remember in the Budget that we passed, all those raft measures and efforts were not there. So from which sub-head are they getting the money to build the rigs and all these new proposals if the Budget did not cater for that? Thank you.
HON. CHOMBO: Thank you Hon. Speaker. Thank you for the follow up question Hon. Gabbuza. I hear you that it is not in the Budget but you are equally concerned about the welfare of the chiefs. It is one of the areas that we go through Finance Ministry to make sure that we request an emergency funding because their welfare is so important to you and to me. Thank you.
(v)HON. NDEBELE: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. I would like to thank the Hon. Deputy Minister for sharing with the House as well as the nation what they are doing in terms of improving the welfare of our chiefs. My quick question to her is, is there a consideration in any way to extend the same benefits to headmen, particularly those who are working in an acting capacity as well as village heads who are doing amazing work out there?
HON. CHOMBO: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. I am sorry I missed some parts of the question. May I humbly request that he repeats the question? Thank you.
(v)HON. NDEBELE: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. I just wanted to check quickly with the Hon. Deputy Minister if the same welfare issues are going to be extended to headmen, particularly those working in an acting capacity as well as village heads who are doing amazing work in the rural areas? Is Government considering any benefits for these traditional leaders who work hand in glove with our chiefs?
HON. CHOMBO: Thank you very much Hon. Speaker. Thank you Hon. Ndebele. We are reviewing the welfare of all the traditional leadership. That cascades from the chief, headmen and also the village heads. If you talk to them, they will tell you that something is being done about their welfare. We cannot do everything in one day but we are doing it bit by bit. Thank you.
(v)HON. MUSHORIWA: Mr. Speaker Sir, I just wanted to raise a point of order in respect to the response by the Hon. Minister. Hon. Gabbuza asked in terms of the Budget that there was no provision and the Hon. Minister said they are actually requesting the Ministry of Finance to submit. Hon. Speaker, we are in March and the Ministry of Local Government has not actually exhausted its budget because one thing that would have been effected was that she was going to say that they are virementing from other Votes. Now that she has said that they have written to the Ministry of Finance, would it be prudent Mr. Speaker Sir, if the Hon. Minister would submit to us copies of that letter so that the chiefs and the traditional leadership know that something is happening in reality rather than clandestinely?
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON MUTOMBA): This point of order that you have raised, it would appear it is not actually emanating from the response that has been given by the Deputy Minister. It is completely new.
(v)HON. MUSHORIWA: I thought when Hon. Gabbuza raised his supplementary question to say there was nothing in the Budget, she then responded to say that she had gotten that response from the Ministry of Finance. That is where it is coming from Mr. Speaker. It is coming from the response of the Hon. Minister.
HON. CHOMBO: Thank you Hon. Member for raising that question. Those are specifics, I will look into that and provide Parliament with an answer.
HON. T. MLISWA: My supplementary question to the Hon. Minister is, there are allegations that you are interfering with the chieftainship of many of these by ignoring the family trees. As a result, you have a lot of pending court cases because of you now thinking that you are superior in choosing instead of following the family trees. How far true is that?
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: It would appear that it is a new question, it is not emanating from the first question that was raised by Hon Gabbuza.
HON. T. MLISWA: My coming in with that is that it is taxpayers’ money that is supporting these chiefs as you heard. When they are being handpicked by the Minister, yet not following the family tree, why should we use tax payers’ money then? They have too many cases before the courts where most chiefs are saying the family tree was not followed. There is a concern that tax payers money is going to personal issues and not that of the chiefs. Should we continue giving money to the chiefs when they are being handpicked instead of following a family tree?
HON. CHOMBO: Thank you Mr. Speaker and thank you very much Hon. Mliswa for that one which is not a follow up question. It is a completely new question.
HON. T. MLISWA: On a point of order. It is not the Minister’s place to say that I am out of order. It is the place of the Chair and she must respect this House. She cannot say you asked me and I said it again. Now she is saying it is not my place. Minister, this is not you running the show. The Speaker is there.
HON. CHOMBO: Thank you Mr. Speaker and thank you very much Hon. Mliswa. We have a process to a point where we install a chief. What we do is that, for example if a chief dies; we say the first born holds the chieftainship for a maximum of about two years allowing the family to settle the debts and also the mourning. Within that period, we hold a selection of the new chief. All we do is that we facilitate the selection process which is done by the families involved in the chieftainship and they present to us the selected chief whom we present through the Attorney-General’s Office to the President after all the formalities are done. If they choose the wrong chief, what my Ministry only does is to process once it has been given the candidate to recommend to the President.
It is not true that the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works is hand-picking the chiefs because we go through the selection process. Right now we have capacitated our Research Department to make sure that the chiefs that go down to attend to the selection process are well equipped with the information of how that chieftainship selects the next chief. Some of the chieftainships, they select the first born, some select the eldest in the family and some are chosen by mhondoro spirit mediums. We have to follow all that. All we do is to facilitate but we do not do the actual selection. I want to reiterate that my Ministry does not choose the chief but we are given by the family. I thank you.
HON. T. MLISWA: Thank you very much for that explanation Hon. Minister. The Mashayamombe issue that you know of, you are pinpointed as the person that chose somebody who the family did not want. Chief Chivero’s chieftainship is before the courts again because somebody else was picked by the Ministry and not the family. So can you just look into those issues?
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Mliswa, this period is for policy questions. You seem to be asking specific questions. I am sorry I cannot accommodate that one.
HON. BRIG. GEN. RTD. MAYIHLOME: My question is directed to the Minister of Mines and Mining Development. In light of Vision 2030, what policy measures are in place to remove or reduce barriers to entry by locals in the mining sector because the charges of US$3000 to register a claim are just too prohibitive for many of our local youths? I thank you.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF MINES AND MINING DEVELOPMENT (HON. KAMBAMURA): I would like to thank the Hon. Member for the question. I do not think that the fees being charged by the Ministry are exorbitant. A mining title should be something of value and to say Z$3000 is not affordable, it could not be correct because it is not US$3000. Maybe the Hon. Member can clarify which currency is the fees that he is referring to and the kind of mining title that he is referring to because there are a lot of mining titles with different fees. Thank you.
HON. BRIG. GEN. RTD. MAYIHLOME: The registering of a mining claim – we are being charged or youths are being asked to pay up to US$3000 and these people are saying they are working with the Ministry of Mines. They are offering blocks to local youths and they are saying each youth should contribute US$500 and if they come together, the ten of them, it comes to about US$5000. We are saying this is too prohibitive to register a claim. What measures are there to review this variance to entry to make it much cheaper or even to have them register or pay over a period of time instead of a once off payment? Thank you.
HON. KAMBAMURA: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. I would like to thank the Hon. Member for the clarity. I think he did not clarify the type of mining title he is referring to because for an ordinary claim for small scale mining, it is not charged in US$. The prospecting and registration fees are much less than US$3000. So he should clarify which mining title he is referring to. Is it an ordinary mining claim for gold, special block or mining lease for mining operations? I think he can write to the Ministry or see me after this so that we can discuss this. Thank you.
Questions without Notice were interrupted by THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER in terms of Standing Order No. 68
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE
PLANS FOR COMPLETION OF CONSTRUCTION OF THE GWANDA PROVINCIAL HIGH COURT
1. HON. MOKONE asked the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs to inform the House on the immediate plans that the Ministry has put in place to complete the construction of the Gwanda Provincial High Court which has been outstanding for almost a decade.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. We now have a new contractor who is going to complete the Gwanda High Court this year. The Ministry of Finance last week released funding to ensure that the court is completed. So very soon, the Hon. Member will notice that activity will be commencing at Gwanda Court. I thank you.
HON. T. MLISWA: My supplementary to the Minister is, we have got Public Works which is a Government arm which is responsible for the construction of Government infrastructure. Is it lack of confidence in their work now that they have found another contractor?
HON. ZIYAMBI: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. Public Works supervises construction of the majority of public buildings that will be under construction. They do not have the capacity to be constructing all the buildings and Hon. Mliswa is also aware that the Chinhoyi Court was constructed by a private contractor. In fact, the company that constructed Chinhoyi Court is the one that is going to complete the Gwanda Court. So it is not lack of confidence in Public Works. They will be involved during the day to day construction of the court and they are part of it but because of the capacity to do all the Government projects at once, we end up having certain entities subcontracting and that would be done with the approval of the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works. Thank you.
(v)HON. MOKONE: Thank you Mr. Speaker. Let me start by correcting my surname. I am not Makoni, I am Mokone. If it pleases the Minister, would it not be prudent that he gives us the timeline when the construction will resume because the building has been lying idle for more than a decade? Thank you.
HON. ZIYAMBI: Thank you. My apologies, the Order Paper was wrong. In my earlier response I said everything is now set. The Ministry of Finance has released the funding and the contractor is there. We are hoping that immediately within the foreseeable future, if the Hon. Member goes to Gwanda, she will start seeing some activity happening. Our target is to ensure that the court is completed and commissioned before the end of this year. I thank you.
AGREEMENTS PERTAINING TO THE GLOBAL SETTLEMENT DEED
- HON. MARKHAM asked the Minister of Finance and Economic Development to –
a) bring to the House all agreements pertaining to the Global Settlement Deed (Trust), including the initial agreement signed by the parties, ancillary agreements, addendums and annexures, and those pertaining to funding.
b) cover in detail how the Ministry intends to raise the money and when payments will be due?
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. M. NCUBE): The first part of the question refers to agreements on the Global Settlement Deed with farmers and his request that I bring the document to Parliament with all the addendums and so forth. I want to say I will do so Mr. Speaker. The second part of the question is asking how we will raise funding to pay off this debt. As I have explained before, we have hired a firm of advisors, a new state based in the UK who are currently beavering away, coming up with solutions and instruments through which we can then be able to raise relevant resources through the issuance of a corporate instrument. We are working on it.
I cannot at this stage reveal some of the details but we are beavering away at it and in the fullness of time we will be able to announce progress. In many cases, we have to announce this by June because that is the halfway point and we will have to have secured half the amount of the US$3.5 billion.
HON. MARKHAM: Could the Minister acknowledge whether he will be able to pay the first payment in June as per the agreement?
HON. PROF. M. NCUBE: I thank Hon. Markham for the follow up question. Our ability to pay that amount he refers to depends on the success of the instrument and the fundraising strategies that the advisors are putting on the table and proposing. So I can only say once we are in agreement with the advisors whether these are viable instruments or not. I cannot give a definite answer at this stage. We still have a few weeks to go, so we are busy evaluating these instruments to see if indeed we can raise the funding to clear this amount by the middle of the year.
HON. GABBUZA: Now, since the Government entered into an agreement with the relevant people, would it mean that if we do not pay by end of June we are in breach of the agreement and are there any penalties to this Government?
HON. PROF. M. NCUBE: While I really appreciate the Hon. Member’s concern as to what would happen if we were in breach, we are not yet in breach, so it is still speculation but I do appreciate his forward thinking on this but we are not in breach. Besides, we are dealing with a group of farmers, 4 000 of them, very reasonable men and women who are Zimbabweans and are always ready to engage constructively with Government. I do not think we should be too worried about breaches and other legal issues. I thank you.
APPROVAL OF 38 MILLION DOLLAR DUTCH LOAN FOR DUTCH FARMERS BY PARLIAMENT
HON. MARKHAM asked the Minister of Finance and Economic Development to explain –
a) why the 38-million dollar Dutch Loan for Dutch farmers received in 2016 has not been
brought to Parliament for approval;
b) why the Ministry did not seek appropriate Parliamentary approval for the loan and allocation as compensation to Dutch farmers.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. M. NCUBE): This would do with the compensation of the Dutch farmers. These amounts are recorded in our normal debt report which is presented to Parliament but are also recorded in the National Budget Statement and we have been doing so consistently. So I do not think this has been hidden from Parliament, neither has it been hidden from the public but of course, should Hon. Members feel that we need to do more to show transparency or whatever is implied by the question, we are happy to do so. I can assure the Hon. Member that there is no strange behaviour here. We have been reporting these and so forth, and we went further to report even the blocked funds. We have really opened the books for all to see and for this House to mull over.
There is a second part and I think I have covered it in a way in my first response, that we have always brought this before Parliament through the normal reporting process in terms of Public Debt and there is nothing hidden here. I thank you.
HON. MARKHAM: Hon. Speaker, I request that the loan be brought to Parliament so I could get sight of it. I thank you.
LAYING OF DOCUMENTS BEFORE THE HOUSE
- HON. MARKHAM asked the Minister of Finance and
Economic Development to lay relevant documents before the House as a way of complying with the ruling in court (international or local) precipitated by this.
THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. M. NCUBE): Mr. Speaker, I thank Hon. Markham for being persistent and insistent that we bring some of these important issues to Parliament but I just want to say to him that we amended the Constitution as he will recall. So, we really do not have to bring specific loans and so forth for direct approval by Parliament. We merely publish these as we should and again, we remain open to him. He says he wanted to see a copy; we have no difficulty in sharing a copy as this is as good as a public document.
EXPROPRIATION OF AGRICULTURAL LAND IN URBAN AREAS
- HON. MARKHAM asked the Minister of Local Government
and Public Works to explain in detail to the House how the expropriation of agricultural land in urban areas was done and to further state the legal instrument and authority used to do this.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT
AND PUBLIC WORKS (HON. CHOMBO): The Land Acquisition Act [28:1] Section 3 empowers the President through the Minister of Lands to:
- compulsorily acquire any land where the acquisition is reasonably necessary in the interest of defence, public safety, public order, public morality, public health, town and country planning or the utilisation of that or any other property for a purpose beneficial to the public generally or to any section of the public.
- An Act to empower the President and other authorities to acquire land and other immovable property compulsorily in certain circumstances.
- To make special provision for the compensation payable for agriculture land required for resettlement purposes.
- To provide for the establishment of the derelict land bought.
- To provide for the declaration and acquisition of derelict land;
- To provide for matters connected with or incidental to the foregoing.
State land specified in the Third Schedule to the Agricultural and
Rural Development Authority Act [Chapter 18:01], specially gazetted land means agricultural land referred to in Section 16 (b) (1) (a) (ii) or (iii) of the Constitution and the term “specially gazetted shall be construed accordingly; [definition inserted by Section 7 of Act 8 of 2006] structure” includes any wall, fence, dam, earthwork, well, borehole or other permanent improvement on or to land.
Acquisition of land by President:-
- Subject to this Act, the President, or any Minister duly authorised by the President for that purpose may compulsorily acquire -
- any land, where the acquisition is reasonably necessary in the interests of defence, public safety, public order, public morality, public health, town and country planning or the utilisation of that or any other property for a purpose beneficial to the public generality or to any section of the public.
- any rural land, where the acquisition is reasonably necessary for the utilisation of that or any other land.
- For settlement of agricultural or other purposes; or
- For purposes of land re-organisation, forestry, environment conservation or the utilisation of wildlife or other natural resources; or
- For the relocation of persons dispossessed in consequence of the utilisation of wildlife or other natural resources or
- For the relocation of persons dispossessed in consequence of the utilisation of land for a purpose referred to in subparagraph (i) or (ii).
HON. MARKHAM: Thank you Mr. Speaker. Local authorities gave planning permission for this agricultural land to be developed into housing estates. It is then taken over and acquired once the developing permit has been given; the land is then taken and given to someone else. It does not make sense to me.
There is a waiver of compensation that is actually due to this urban land. I am not worried about land outside the urban areas. There is land that has been acquired and 20 years later, there is no compensation and there is no facility or discussion on compensation on these agricultural lands within the city limits. Could the Minister give us a direction on how this compensation is going to assist and be evaluated because all this land was taken just for residential housing? I thank you.
HON. CHOMBO: Thank you very much Hon. Speaker and thank you Hon. Markham for that follow up question. All the land that we acquire in the urban areas mostly, we send our Evaluation Department to do the evaluation and then we agree with the owner if it is titled land and we do compensation. The negotiations might take long but it is within our powers and we try by all means to make sure that we do compensation.
If there are any specifics, I would appreciate if you can provide them to me and I will look into that.
HON. MARKHAM: I just want to point out that there have been no evaluations in seven of the seven cases I have looked at. There has been no talk of compensation in seven of the seven, they are now billing big residential areas and I would love to see the Minister and discuss the issue, bringing it to her attention because I have got 147 property titles with the same problem.
HON. CHOMBO: Point taken and I would be expecting you Hon. Markham anytime next week.
(v)HON. NDUNA: when the Minister touches on the Acts of Parliament, sections that empower His Excellency to carry out his duty, I get excited. So, my supplementary question is on the urban expansion, in so far as it relates to approval of urban councils’ master plans. Is this the Act that empowers the Minster of Local Government through the Act that empowers His Excellency to get the land for urban expansion? Also, attached to the Constitution of our land, Section 72 (vii) (c), which I ask during the Question Time to be transplanted from the Constitution into the Hansard, I request that it be transcribed into the Hansard. It states that “the people of Zimbabwe should be enabled to assert their right to land”.
So the question is that, is this the same Act that empowers His Excellency through the Local Government Minister to take the land to urban expansion in so far as it relates to approval of the master plans?
HON. CHOMBO: If you look at the acquisition of land by the President, it says subject to this Act, the President or any Minister duly authorised, in this case it means the Minister of Local Government and Public Works.
RESUMPTION OF CONSTRUCTION OF KWEKWE-NKAYI-LUPANE ROAD
- HON M. MPOFU asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to inform the House when construction on the Kwekwe – Nkayi – Lupane Road will resume in view of the fact that it was last done in the middle of 2021, a situation which has led to the deplorable state that is currently obtaining.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. MHONA): Hon. Speaker Sir, I want to advise Hon. Mpofu that construction of the five-kilometers of Kwekwe-Nkayi-Lupane stretch will commence in three weeks time from now. Works will start from Lupane site in Matebeleland North and it is the desire of the Second Republic to rehabilitate this road with speed.
(v)HON. NDUNA: Mr. Speaker Sir, I am alive to the fact that Hwange Colliery during 100 years subsistence has established 100 kilometers of tarred road in its area. Are any of the mines within the Kwekwe-Nkayi Highway part of the construction of the said road by the Minister so that we can adhere to the ethos, values, principles and the dictates of the Constitution, Section 13:4?
HON. MHONA: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. Let me also thank Hon. Nduna who has quoted a section in our Supreme Constitution 13:4 which states that the communities must benefit from the resources within their communities. It is true and at the same time issues to do with mining companies partaking in the rehabilitation of our roads involves a moral suasion where we are not mandating the companies to actually do the roads but in the event that mining companies are willing, which is a welcome development, we would be interested as Government to have such mines, especially when it comes to issues to do with corporate social responsibilities and also partaking the rehabilitation of our roads.
I want to thank the Hon. Member that at this juncture we do not have specific mining companies that are also rehabilitating the same road.
HON. GABBUZA: I heard as if the Hon. Minister said the rehabilitation of the Nkayi-Kwekwe Road will start next week with only five kilometres. That stretch of the road is 127 kilometres, what is the strategy to see its completion because if it is five kilometres per year or per duration into 127 kilometres, can the Hon. Minister clarify this.
HON. MHONA: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. Let me also thank Hon. Gabbuza for his pertinent question. Hon. Speaker Sir, the way we are rehabilitating our roads, unlike in the First Republic where we would touch certain stretches and leave and start another project, we have actually earmarked our stretches pertaining to the availability of funding. The best way to rehabilitate such roads is to have players also partaking in the same infrastructure development but at this moment, I have just mentioned the five kilometers. That is what we are starting with but it is not that we rehabilitate then we abandon - we want to do and complete the five kilometres then also do another portion progressing in that manner and also taking cognisance of the available resources. I want to assure the Hon. Member that it is not the desire to just do the five kilometres but we want to do what we can finish in the near time while we will be sourcing additional resources to continue with the stretch. Thank you.
(v)HON. M. M. MPOFU: Thank you Hon. Speaker. I wanted to find out from the Minister, I heard as if the five kilometers will start from the Lupane side but already on this other side of Gweru River he did about four kilometres the previous year. So, now he is going back to Lupane, he is going to proceed towards Kwekwe, I wanted to find out exactly what he is going to do.
HON. MHONA: Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. I also want to thank Hon. Mpofu and to assure the Hon. Member that we can indulge after this debate where we can also do another five kilometres from the direction that he wants us to start from and at the same time we will also be doing five kilometres from Lupane. So I am amenable to his suggestion so that we work accordingly.
SECURITY CHECK-UPS AT JOSHUA MQABUKO AIRPORT
- (v)HON. M. M. MPOFU asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development on whether the Minister is aware of the practice at Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport in Bulawayo where both locals and visitors are subjected to stringent security check- ups where they are required to remove their shoes and walk on dirty floors owing to the fact that the airport does not have a functional body scanner to conduct such searches.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. MHONA): Thank you Hon. Speaker Sir. I also want to thank the Hon. Member for the question. The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) sets standards and recommended practices for Civil Aviation Security. This is to ensure the safety and security of both on board and off board travelers.
The Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport currently uses walk through metal detectors that are used to scan travelers for any metallic objects. The airport also uses hand held metal detectors to pin point the location of metals on the person. In terms of baggage security checks, conventional X-ray machines are used. However, in the event that technology fails, ICAO permits physical searches and it is these that involve the removal of shoes.
Through the Airports Company of Zimbabwe, the Ministry is currently on a drive to procure more modern scanners which do not require the removal of shoes. I want to concur with the Hon. Member that at times it takes away the dignity of our travelers where you are forced to remove shoes but internationally this is a practice that is being undertaken because of other hidden items that have been discovered especially on a number of shoes. Even the advent of body scanners will also have issues to do with the laws of this country whereby some canners might then take away the dignity of travelers so this is something that we are also working on to see how best we can balance but at the same time promote and maintain the dignity of our travelers and also mitigate the issue of risks that are associated with failure to scan properly. I want to thank the Hon. Member and assure him that we are in the process of procuring modern scanners so that we are up to standard in terms of aviation practice. Thank you.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. NGULUVHE: Thank you Mr. Speaker, I move that Orders of the Day, Numbers 1 to 3 be stood over until Order of the Day Number 4 has been disposed of.
HON. TEKESHE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
RESTORATION OF THE MOTION ON THE REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND POWER DEVELOPMENT ON OPERATIONS OF ZIMBABWE ELECTRICITY SUPPLY COMMISSION ON THE ORDER PAPER
HON. GABBUZA: I move the motion standing in my name that the Report of the Portfolio Committee on Energy and Power Development on operations of the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply which was superseded by end of the Third Session of the 9th Parliament be restored on the Order Paper in terms of Standing Order No. 77.
HON. MARKHAM: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
On the motion of THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. MHONA), the House adjourned at a Minute to Five o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday, 9th March, 2022
The Senate met at Half-past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE PRESIDENT OF SENATE in the Chair)
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. SEN. MUZENDA: I move that Orders of the Day, Numbers 1 and 2 be stood over until all the Orders of the Day have been disposed of.
HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
ABUSE OF DRUGS BY YOUTHS COUNTRYWIDE
HON. SEN. A DUBE: I move the motion standing in my name that:
DISTURBED by the excessive and prevalent abuse of drugs by youths countrywide;
NOTING the situation is exacerbated by the unemployment rate among youths who consequently end up spending most of their time idle and end up resorting to taking all sorts of drugs;
CONCERNED that such abuse of drugs has devastating consequences on our future generations and the nation as a whole;
NOW, THEREFORE, calls upon the government to:
- put in place measures that will curb the abuse of drugs by youths through self-help projects so as to keep our youths fully occupied all the time;
- set up rehabilitation centers and hospitals to assist our youths who are addicted to drugs to the extent of treating such abuse as a way of life;
- legislate for stiffer penalties for the importation of those substances that give rise to incidents of drug abuse in the country.
HON. SEN. MKHWEBU: I second.
+HON. SEN. A DUBE: Thank you Madam President for
Affording me the opportunity to debate my motion that is looking at how the youths are suffering because of drugs. The youths spend most of the time in groups and if you go around the locations, you will find them in groups of tens seated by the road side and they will be talking about drugs. The way they will be talking is disrespectful because of the drugs. The experts have said about 57% of the children are now affected by drugs. Our children’s future has been spoilt as drugs are affecting them mentally. Some of the children come from broken families while some children get everything but they are absconding from school just to take drugs. They now want to spend most of their time under the influence of drugs and they are now taking it as if it is something good.
There are a lot of drugs such as marijuana, cough mixtures, alcohol and many different types of drugs. Looking at the youth’s future, those are the people we expect to be future leaders. They just think of drinking and getting high and have lost respect even for the elderly. As an elderly person, I have noticed that tables have turned; it is now the other way. It is us the elderly who are now supposed to show respect to them. If you ask them why they are abusing drugs, you may end up being harmed.
It is a very sad situation that these children are now attacking and harassing the elderly. We are now very much afraid of them especially the 12 year olds going upwards. They are the most dangerous ones and they are raping even the elderly people.
There is now chaos in the homes because parents and guardians can no longer reprimand these children. In Tsholotsho, a 21-year old assaulted his mother and nearly plucked off her eyes. That same child went on to attack his father and these parents could not do anything to him because they were afraid of him.
There are a lot of problems in the homes and communities because of children who are taking drugs. A lot of parents are now worried because the expectation was that the children are the ones who will be looking after us when we grow old, but they are becoming monsters and bullies.
The Government has put in place measures to assist the youths but they are resisting. All they want is to be drunk and be high all the time. They get up early in the morning as if they are going to work. By the time we wake up; they would have long gone to meet up with their friends to do mischief.
These drugs are now found everywhere, especially in the urban areas whereby you will see these youngsters seated by the roadsides and bridges getting under the influence of drugs, laughing and mocking the elderly passing by.
The sad part of this issue of drug abuse is that there are people selling these drugs in their homes. You find a little child aged five or more years being sent to buy these drugs at a certain house in the neighbourhood. It is quite disturbing that they are selling these drugs to other people’s children, which I feel is also abuse.
Parents are now disgruntled; they do not know how to handle these youngsters; they are now calling us names. If you try to rebuke them, they will call you names. All the efforts and measures that the Government is trying to put in place are to no avail. They do not want to work, they abscond from school and this is disastrous for their future.
Madam President, we were hoping that these children be engaged in activities and projects where they will be will be kept busy. It is our wish that they not be idle so that they abstain from drugs.
Furthermore, if these youngsters commit an offence and it is reported to the police, there should be a certain section of the law to cover that offence rather than dismissing them saying they are under age. Again, as parents, we are also contributing because we cry foul that my child is under age and should not be taken to the police yet they would have broken the laws of the land. Parents should let the law take its course on these children.
If only we could have places where the children are taught on the effects of abusing drugs because at the end of the day, we are having a lot of mentally challenged people in the country. If you take note of these mental institutions, you will notice that there are many youths at places like Ingutsheni and so forth.
On the other hand, there should be rehabilitation centres to take care of the youths who would have abused drugs. At these centres, there should be doctors and counsellors to assist them to recover from the addictions.
We are more worried about our children who are taking drugs because they are now in a bad state. They do not think of anything else but all they care for is food and drugs. If they get home and find no food, the parent or guardian will be assaulted for not cooking for them.
The Government should put measures to prohibit drug trafficking from nearby countries. These dangerous drugs should be banned from entering our nation. Surprising enough, if we are to move in the urban suburbs, residents are fully aware of the households which sell dangerous drugs but they are afraid to whistle blow.
Government should enact a law that a person who sells drugs to under aged children should be sentenced with a stiffer penalty. We want parents who are responsible who can take care of the children. Some of us are now old, we now look upon our children to take care of us in the future. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. MKHWEBU: Thank you Madam President for affording me this opportunity to second the motion that was brought by Sen. Dube. This is a very touching motion about our children who are abusing drugs in the whole nation. Children are abusing drugs throughout the country of Zimbabwe.
Madam President, we are expecting the Government to look into all hospitals in the country where these children who are abusing drugs can be treated.
We are hoping that Government can employ them because they do not have a bright future, they are always talking about using drugs. Most of them are now sick, they do not even know what they are talking about. They cannot speak properly, these children who are abusing drugs are suffering because you see them shaking early in the morning and you wonder why they will be shacking. You will be wondering if they have been drinking beer or what. These children cannot do anything now.
We want Government to impose stiff penalties for those who are bringing drugs into the country in order to protect these young people. We want children who have a bright future and children who are respectful. These children need to be assisted and this has been said for a long time, especially with jobs. They are always talking about drugs. The President saw it fit that a board be set up to look into drug abuse by these youths. There should be a board responsible for monitoring transmission of drugs and bringing down cases of drug abuse.
The other thing Madam President is that these youths should work in mines but most of them are lazy and cannot do anything but the President has been trying to get them into mining where they can work for themselves. Madam President, I say drug abuse should come to an end in Zimbabwe. People who are bringing in drugs should be given stiffer penalties. I thank you.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Madam President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 10th March, 2022.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Madam President, I move that we revert to Order of the Day, Number 1 on today’s Order Paper.
Motion put and agreed to.
SECOND READING
GUARDIANSHIP OF MINORS AMENDMENT BILL [H. B. 7A, 2019]
First Order read: Second Reading: Guardianship of Minors Amendment Bill [H B. 7A, 2019].
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): I rise to give the second reading of the Guardianship of Minors Amendment Bill. As you are all aware, this week we are celebrating International Women’s Day. It is very appropriate that I should bring before you this Bill, which is not only a Constitution alignment measure, but also an important measure for the advancement of women’s equality.
Madam President, this Bill was crafted with Section 80 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe. This is the section that speaks of the rights of women;
-“Every woman has full and equal dignity of the person with men and this includes equal opportunities in political, economic and social activities.
-Women have the same rights as men regarding the custody and guardianship of children, but an Act of Parliament may regulate how those rights are to be exercised.
All laws, customs, traditions and cultural practices that infringe the rights of women conferred by this Constitution are void to the extent of the infringement.”
Unlike Customary Law, our Roman Dutch Common Law makes a sharp distinction between the custody and the guardianship of the minor children of a marriage. Custody of a child is the direct personal supervision and care of a child by its parent in the same household. Guardianship is the legal right of the parents to have control over and make decisions about the child’s health, religious upbringing, education, financial security and welfare needs. If the parents split by separation or divorce, the general principle of the Common Law is that the mother retains the custody of the child while the father keeps the guardianship.
Before the new Constitution, this splitting of custody and guardianship caused many problems, especially for the divorced or separated woman custodial parent. For example Madam President, the woman needed the permission of the father as the guardian before obtaining travel documents for the child but the father would not always be available or cooperative. Even where the child needed to undergo surgery for potentially life-threatening conditions, the mother either had to seek the leave of the father or because of the urgency of the case, she might allow the medial procedure to proceed without the leave of the father. In the latter case Madam President, she could in principle be legally liable to the father for not getting his permission, especially if the operation did not go well. Under the Bill, it is now proposed that during the subsistence of a marriage, there must be equality of rights between the parents with respect to the custody or guardianship of the children. If the marriage fails, the custodial parent (who can either be the mother or the father, but is usually the mother) also has the guardianship of the child. It is only fair, after all, that the parent who must daily supervise the child personally, should also have charge of the guardianship rights over it.
However, the Bill does not deprive the non-custodial parents entirely of his or her guardianship rights, if he or she can persuade a court of law that he or she must have some superintendence over the child’s educational, health or other needs. The advantage of the approach is that a court of law will not in general be sympathetic to such a petition unless the non-custodial parent can demonstrate some material participation in the child’s life, such as providing sustenance and support for the child by way of maintenance order.
Let me conclude by adding that the Common Law position that the mother of a child born out of wedlock has both the custody and guardianship of a child is unchanged. However, here again, if the biological father of the child can demonstrate that he is contributing to the child’s welfare in a practical way, the principle of equality enshrined by Section 80 of the Constitution and this Bill may permit a court of law to give him some share in the child’s guardianship.
In conclusion, I urge you Hon. Members to pass this law and in doing so, contribute to equalising the rights of women and men, which is a thing long overdue.
HON. SEN. CHIEF CHARUMBIRA: Thank you Madam President. I want to thank the Hon. Minister for the Bill. I rise to say, it is an obvious Bill seeking to achieve the obvious and agreed…
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF SENATE: You are not connected Hon. Chief.
HON. SEN. CHIEF CHARUMBIRA: Thank you Madam President, thank you Hon. Minister. I rise to say the Bill is seeking us to pass a law whose spirit all of us will agree, is very much agreeable to all of us. I do not see us differing with his views. So, I just rose to say, Hon. Senators, this is a good law, let us pass it, thank you.
*HON. SEN. KOMICHI: Thank you Madam President. I would also like to thank the Hon. Minister. Like what Hon. Sen. Chief Charumbira said, this Bill speaks to what is supposed to be done regarding people’s livelihoods. A mother is responsible for giving life to a child and from the point of conception to the time of birth, after nine months to the time when that child becomes an adult; it is the mother’s responsibility.
When we look at what happens in life like getting employed, putting on good clothes and all the things that form a person, the mother is responsible for all that. When we look at life in general, you discover that a woman or the mother is responsible for feeding a child. Even for me to be who I am today, if I am a good person, it is because of my mother and if I am a bad person in society, it is also because of the socialisation that I got from the mother. The father is not there most of the times, he goes to the beer hall or to work, comes back late at night but the mother is responsible for the upbringing of their child.
You will discover that when a person is growing up, even from a tender age, a child has a very close relationship with his/her mother. Every child is more comfortable with their mother than with the father. When a child finds the father and the mother having differences, this affects the child. Of course the father is responsible for procreation but let us not forget the process of conception, pregnancy and child birth. We hear that the worst pain that a person can face is giving birth to a child. The bond that is formed between the mother and a child at birth is a serious bond, that is why you discover that it is difficult for a woman to dissociate from their child because there is such a divine bond.
The behaviour we see in mothers, whether it is in animals like livestock, elephants, any other animal or human being, the way we treat our children is the same. There is no male animal which takes their offspring with them. You will discover that whether it is a human or an animal, the relationship between the offspring and their mother is the same. So, Hon. Minister, this law speaks to extreme situations where a mother does not keep or look after their children unless there is a mental illness. It is not because there is no food but if that is the case, then as a man, you have to provide. Poverty is not an issue; it cannot separate the mother and a child. There is no poverty between them but there is a bond that was formed at birth. There is this common adage which says that ‘you can judge by the pain that a mother experienced at child birth.’ No matter how much pain they go through, at child birth, they do not shed tears. So, we need to respect that.
However, I see a lot of men, arguing with their wives. We do not have to accept such a situation; may we allow the mothers to bring up their children. Every child belongs to the mother. There is need for a DNA but the mother does not need it but a man needs it unless if there is swapping of babies at the hospital. However, the reality in society, in our community is that the mother owns or is responsible for their children. The disputed identity is on the mother, so a child should be given their mothers’ surname. There is no doubt in that. So I support this Bill Hon. Minister. We can debate, we can say a lot but I support the Bill Hon. Minister so that our children grow up properly. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. RWAMBIWA: Thank you Madam President. I do not have much to say but I would like to thank and appreciate my fellow senators who supported this Bill and understand the importance of a mother. Indeed, it is important to understand that because a mother is very important. It is definite that as a woman, I am the mother. Hon. Minister, we support this Bill. I thank you.
+HON. SEN. A. DUBE: Thank you Madam President for affording me this opportunity. I would like to thank the Minister for bringing this Bill. No one can challenge or dispute this Bill. As Zimbabwe, we are now at a certain level. We know that a woman is important. In the past, a woman used to be just a slave but now, things have changed. A country that respects women is also respected in heaven. As women, we support this Bill and we receive it with both hands. We say women build homes and this is what we want. In the past, we used to be treated like slaves. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. DR. PARIRENYATWA: I would like to thank the Hon. Minister for bringing this Bill to the august House, which I believe is a good Bill which speaks to the development of women. The Bill talks about guardianship and custody. Looking at these two words, they look similar but I believe the Hon. Minister, upon summarising, will clarify the difference between the two but it is important that we understand that these were brought together because this should be done in the best interest of the child. He also said that it might be he/she but women and everyone else understand that the woman is better placed to look after children but guardianship and custodianship are a bit similar. You can be a guardian without being the parent but I believe that custodianship should be given to biological children. It is my plea that the Hon. Minister clarifies the difference so that when we leave this House, we are clear and understand the difference. With these few words Madam President, I thank you very much.
+HON. SEN. M. MPOFU: Thank you Madam President for affording me this opportunity. I would like to thank the Minister for bringing this Bill and for recognising how important a woman is in the country of Zimbabwe. A child is a mother’s child because a mother is the one who knows the real father of the child. If a child is a Phiri, it is the mother who knows that the child is a Phiri not a Ndlovu. I would like to thank the Minister for recognising us as women and how important women are in the country of Zimbabwe. I would like to thank you for allowing women to sign the papers if a child is not well instead of waiting for the father who is in the bar or bottle store. This is not a small issue because a woman is the one who gives birth. The father of the child only comes to congratulate the birth of the child. Thank you for respecting and keep respecting us even in future.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you Madam President. I want to thank the Hon. Senators for the support they have given to the Bill. I concur with what Hon. Senators have said.
*May you please allow me Madam President to respond to what has been raised by Hon. Sen. Dr. Parirenyatwa that this Bill came in such a way that when I started speaking, I said that yesterday we were commemorating the International Women’s Day.
Indeed, what Hon. Sen. Chief Charumbira and Hon. Sen. Komichi said that a woman is very important is because they play a crucial role in the raising of children. When children are sick, they are with them. However, within the confines of the law in a nuclear family, there were rights which were ascribed to the father. I remember when my child wanted to take a passport, the mother was told that if they did not go to the Passport Office then the child was not going to get a passport. This is the difference in custody. Custody means the one who lives with children whilst guardianship speaks to the right to make decisions which determine where the child would get treatment, whether they will cross the borders, or whether they will get passports. When women want to take passports or cross the borders, they are told to get affidavits from their husbands or the father of the children yet some men might not be interested in that child.
When I started speaking I said that you will discover that at times when a child wants to be operated on and the man is not there, at the end of the day the mother signs that the child be operated. You will be surprised when the man comes to say that she gave consent so that the child dies. That is why we are saying that the rights between the men and women should be equal. If the mother has custody, when I decide to go to court as a man – I need to stand up for what I am doing for that child so that we have equal rights with the person who has custody.
I would like to thank Hon. Senators for the support that you have given to this Bill because it will ensure that our children grow up in a conducive environment. This is what we are trying to fix through 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
GUARDIANSHIP OF MINORS AMENDMENT BILL [H.B.7A, 2019]
House in Committee.
Clauses 1 to 3 put and agreed to.
House resumed.
Bill reported without amendments.
Third Reading: With leave, forthwith.
THIRD READING
GUARDIANSHIP OF MINORS AMENDMENT BILL [H.B.7A, 2019]
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Mr. Speaker Sir, I now move that the Bill be read the third time.
Motion put and agreed to.
Bill read the third time.
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI):I would like to thank Hon. Senators for passing such a progressive Bill, especially this week where we are celebrating our mothers. It is a milestone that we have managed to do a progressive thing.
On the motion of THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI), the House adjourned at Half past Three o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 8th March, 2022
The National Assembly met at a Quarter-past Two O’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. SPEAKER in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. SPEAKER
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
THE HON. SPEAKER: I have this statement to make. Parliament of Zimbabwe joins the rest of the world in commemorating the International Women’s Day – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – held every year on the 8th of March. The day is set aside to celebrate – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.] – Can we have some order please? The Whips there, can you listen to the statement. The Hon. Minister, you will do your consultation after my statement. Please if you can take your seat – held every year on the 8th of March. The day is set aside to celebrate women kind and to give impetus to the struggle for women so that they get equal treatment as their male counterparts in all aspects of life.
As Parliament of Zimbabwe, through the Women’s Caucus and the Committee on Women’s Affairs, Parliament will continue to consolidate on the gains that the country has made in so far as championing women’s rights, which are human rights, in all spheres of human endeavor. In executing its Constitutional mandate, Parliament commits itself to embracing issues of gender parity and equity as informed by our Constitution unequivocally.
To that end, we celebrate with you our mothers, sisters and daughters, who are the anchor of our socio-economic development in Zimbabwe and globally. Happy Women’s Day and be blessed always.
(v)HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir for recognizing me. On a point of national importance and interest, I recognize that on the 3rd of March, the Minister of Transport, Hon. Mhona presented a Bi-Lateral Service Agreement. Mr. Speaker Sir, I just want to applaud his action as I was not in Parliament on the day. I also say he should add impetuous to the agreement that was presented after your report on the Qatar visit, on the Qatar Airlines Agreement that was also pushed by Zimbabwe after your visit to Qatar.
Mr. Speaker Sir, what also needs to happen is to take advantage of the more than 3500 airports and a thousand air flights Mr. Speaker – [HON. MEMBERS ON VIRTUAL: Inaudible interjections.] - I am getting feedback from the other members that have not been muted. THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Members, can you be muted please.
(v)HON. NDUNA: Mr. Speaker Sir, as I conclude, I just want to applaud the Minister for concluding that Bi-Lateral Air Service Agreement also as you said that there is need for airlines such as Emirates, Japan Airlines that are aligned with Emirates, to also refuel in Zimbabwe as we also go into partnership with them either on all the freedom rights and also on the cabotage rights. I thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
THE HON. SPEAKER: On a point of correction, that Air Services Agreement is in response to the Air Services Agreement ratified by the UA in February 2012 and that was after a delegation had visited Abu Dhabi where there was an air show and the Zimbabwean delegation did invite the Emirates Airline to land in Zimbabwe - it did so within a few months and we were actually outstanding in so far as ratification of that Agreement is concerned. Once more, thank you very much Hon. Nduna for your suggestions as well.
(v)HON. NDUNA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.
HON. MPARIWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, a very good afternoon to you. Let me begin by acknowledging and thanking you for the message on the International Women’s Day to all women in Zimbabwe, all women in this Parliament and to all the women in the world. I know that you are a HeForShe champion; you have stood with us as women, as part of us, accommodating the work of the Parliamentary Caucus and the work of every woman in this Parliament. I want to thank you. Even the delegation of the Speaker’s Panel, there is gender balance and we want to acknowledge and thank you for that. Hon. Speaker Sir, as a country, we have done a lot in terms of actually accommodating women. Alas to say Hon. Speaker Sir, questions have been raised, motions have been raised in relation to the International Women’s Day to be declared a public holiday in Zimbabwe. I think we have had 10 years of questions, motions and reports in this Parliament where women have bemoaned the absence of the 52%, which is the majority of the population to have a holiday just to celebrate International Women’s Day. How good would it have been for you Hon. Speaker to be behind the kitchen in an apron, cooking for Mhamha Amai Mudenda today as it is International Women’s Day. How good would it have been for all the men in here to be behind the kitchens or just seated with their mamazala at home just relaxing. How good would it have been for all the widows just to be with their grandchildren and their children just to commemorate or celebrate the work that they have done.
Hon. Speaker Sir, I know it will be a tired speech and a tired appeal, Parliament has played its part, you have played your part. The part that is left now as we have to pass on the baton is for the Executive to implement the recommendations of the previous report of 2021 where we moved the motion (and I was the seconder) that was moved by the Chairperson of the Gender Committee where it was adopted by Parliament, to actually declare the 8th of March, International Women’s Day as a holiday.
As I conclude, I want to wish all the women, a happy International Women’s Day. I want to wish the women in this Parliament and everywhere else, including our own grandmothers in the rural areas, those women with disabilities, those women in the streets, the destitutes and women that do not have anyone who claim to say this is my relative, I want to wish them a happy Women’s International Day as we enter this month which is called the Women’s month. It is my fervent hope and trust that you also carry this message to the Executive quietly behind the scenes to say it has been a long battle and we are hoping to see results. I thank you for affording me this opportunity – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear] –
THE HON. SPEAKER: Thank you for your observations Hon. Mpariwa. I think all men here in this august House and anywhere else have been asked to do some cooking today – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear] – I think that is possible because each one of them has been a bachelor and bachelors do cook for themselves, so they have some degree of experience to just make that different on this particular day. Others like me will not be able since I will be here, you have got to prepare muriwo and so on and so on, could be on a weekend, it is possible. On a more serious matter or observation which I will kindly ask the Leader of Government Business to please elicit some response from the Executive, there was a request that 8th March be declared a public holiday. So you may want to take it up with His Excellency, the President in Cabinet and get the response, but other countries have declared 8th March a public holiday in recognition of the role of women in our society. Thank you Hon. Minister.
HON. T. MLISWA: On a point of privilege Mr. Speaker Sir. I will start by Abraham Lincoln’s quote, ‘For what I am and hope to be, I owe it to my mother.’ my mother being a woman and I think it sums it up and for that, the Women’s Day must be declared a public holiday without any debate. I think His Excellency would certainly support that because that is why we are here today.
Mr. Speaker Sir, I want to equally say to you; of national interest, your Members of Parliament must be commended for attending Parliament when they are incapacitated. It is something that we all know the economy has not been good and some have gone on strike in different sectors and all that, but your Members of Parliament have been committed and dedicated to serving this nation. We get lambasted a lot of times for many things which we are not really linked to, but for the first time, I want to say this Parliament has shown its commitment to serving these people. They are incapacitated and they are not even talking about striking or not coming. They have been doing their work diligently despite the hardships.
Mr. Speaker Sir, while it is Women’s Day today, some of them do not even have money to go and buy perfume for themselves.
THE HON. SPEAKER: They do not have money to do what?
HON. T. MLISWA: Buy perfume for themselves, which is important for a woman on a day like this. The smell of a woman means a lot to a woman and to many people around. I do not know what sort of perfume they are using because they keep smelling good despite being incapacitated.
Mr. Speaker Sir, the welfare has been an issue which you have also tackled in many ways and the Standing Rules Committee and the Chief Whips…
THE HON. SPEAKER: Did you say the smell of a woman?
HON. T. MLISWA: Is important.
THE HON. SPEAKER: It is odor or scent.
HON. T. MLISWA: Scent is the word. Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir, I was being misled by others. The scent of a woman is important.
Mr. Speaker Sir, going to the point, we hear that through the negotiations held, there is a duty free of US$40 000 for a vehicle. It is not official to us and we do not know if it is true or not. We have not received any communication pertaining to that. For me, being an independent and not being part of these political parties where they have caucuses, maybe I missed out something.
In terms of the stands, I do not know where we are again, including information centres and allowances in the constituencies. You could see the Deputy Minister of Health and Child Care talking about us doing awareness campaigns on national programmes like COVID, but because we are incapacitated, we do not have money, we cannot and everybody looks at us to carry the message. We have been doing it with our own resources but it gets to a point where you have no resources anymore and what do you do when things are so important?
It is important Mr. Speaker Sir, that this august House encourages the Minister of Finance and Economic Development and other ministries to come for supplementary budgets. The reason why I am saying that is, these Ministers tend to get away with murder saying we have no money, but they have never come to this House for a supplementary budget. A supplementary budget is then able to cover for whatever needs to be done and in this inflationary environment, it is important that it becomes the order of the day because all they say on Wednesday question time is, we do not have money, but have you spoken to the Minister of Finance and Economic Development in terms of more money you need? He comes here and the supplementary budget is passed.
Since I have been in this Parliament, hardly have I seen a Minister of Finance and Economic Development coming with a supplementary budget for other ministries. So it is important that they exercise that because if there is…
THE HON. SPEAKER: Your point of privilege is elongated please.
HON. T. MLISWA: So it is important Mr. Speaker Sir, that the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, through the other ministries, comes here with a supplementary budget which we can pass in no time so that all these problems, the incapacitation of the MPs and civil servants is dealt with at the end of the day. What are they doing by not giving the figures that they want so that this House can discharge its duties? So with your guidance and your indulgence Mr. Speaker Sir, when is the supplementary budget coming to deal with inflation that we are facing?
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Mliswa, can you ask that question tomorrow to the rightful Hon. Minister of Finance and Economic Development on the supplementary budget.
On the issue of constituency offices, I have approved the proposal from our senior management led by the Clerk and we should start any time now to build those offices. On the duty free certificate for the vehicles, we are likely to conclude positively on that issue with the Hon. Minister of Finance and Economic Development. So keep your fingers crossed accordingly.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Mr. Speaker, I move that Orders of the Day, Numbers 1 to7 be stood over until Order Number 8 on today’s Order Paper has been disposed of. I thank you.
Motion put and agreed to.
THE HON. SPEAKER: Hon. Members, can you be muted please otherwise we are going to mute you from here and you will not be able to join us on line. Please be muted.
RECOMMITTAL TO COMMITTEE STAGE
MARRIAGES BILL [H. B. 7B, 2019]
Eighth Order read: Recommittal to Committee Stage: Marriages Bill [H.B. 7B, 2019].
House in Committee
Clauses 9, 16. 41, 43 and 45 as amended by the Senate, put and
agreed to.
House Resumed.
Bill as amended, adopted.
Third Reading: with leave, forthwith.
THIRD READING
MARRIAGES BILL [H. B. 7B 2019]
THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE, LEGAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (HON. ZIYAMBI): Thank you
Mr. Speaker Sir. I now move that the Bill be read the third time.
Motion put and agreed to.
Bill read the third time.
HON. T. MLISWA: On a point of order. Hon. Speaker Sir, when
you asked ‘is there any debate? I said yes’. What power do you have to override that, within the Standing Orders?
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MUTOMBA): I did not hear you Hon. Mliswa.
HON. T. MLISWA: Most Members made noise for me not to, but I said yes, meaning that I needed to debate on it. Notwithstanding that, I will feel I need to let it go. There are certain fights you just allow to pass. I will allow this one to pass.
My point of order is, today is International Women’s Day and women in this House did not say anything about this Bill. They are always complaining about being ill treated and they all said yes. It must be recorded that they did not represent themselves. I thought today they will be standing up and representing their own. We have Proportional Representation in Parliament. You wonder what they are doing and yet you want more seats while you cannot debate on issues which touch you and other women.
I say this because as a male, I am a HeForShe champion and it is important that next time they have caucuses to do these issues. You blame the law; you blame the Minister but you would not have caucused. I want to know from the Chief Whips, was there a caucus amongst women to talk about this. If the answer is no, if I am not mistaken; then it is very sad, women must be represented honestly and if women are not having caucuses – the only caucuses they have are caucuses when they want to travel, when they want this to happen but they never have caucuses to debate on laws which affect women; which affect the girl child. So, I am very disappointed that the women’s caucuses were sleeping on duty and now they blame the law and they blame everybody.
May the nation know that the women in Parliament did absolutely nothing to represent them on this issue. It must be on record, they must vote wisely next time and find women who will stand for them. Do not expect us men to be doing it when the law has given 76 seats to women to stand for women. We are going to the last leg of our tenure and you are still quiet.
The other issue I wanted to say, I would have liked to see the traditional leaders being involved too in this – [AN HON. MEMBER: They were.] – Thank you very much. So, my point of order is done. I am disappointed with women only saying yes, yes, yes.
HON. MAVETERA: On a point of order Mr. Speaker Sir.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MUTOMBA): What is your point of order?
HON. MAVETERA: Thank you very much Hon. Speaker Sir. I do not want to seem as if I am debating.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: You are not connected Hon. Mavetera.
HON. MAVETERA: Thank you very much Hon. Speaker Sir for the opportunity. I do not want to seem as if I am debating but it is quite important for us to be able to set the record straight on what Hon. Mliswa has just said. Hon. Mliswa mentioned that we did not make any noise as female parliamentarians, especially the Proportional Representation MPs concerning the issues of the Marriages Bill.
Hon. Speaker Sir, I think it is quite on record that we finished with the Marriages Bill in the National Assembly. It went to the Senate and that is where it had a challenge. When the Bill came to the House, we debated enough and raised all our concerns. The only reason why it is back today is because there are amendments which were made in the Senate. What we now need to do is to assent to what the Senate did. When it comes to the Marriages Bill, I think we made enough noise even through the Parliamentary Women’s Caucus whereby we had our own concerns. We sat down and spoke about this. So for Hon. Mliswa to come and misrepresent and misinform us is not fair. Truly speaking, we made enough noise when it comes to the Marriages Bill. Hon. Speaker Sir, he has to retract what he said because he is misinforming the House and is not speaking in earnest truth. As female parliamentarians, we stood very much and spoke about the Marriages Bill – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] –
Hon. Speaker Sir, it is not fair for Hon. Mliswa to be victimizing women. Truly speaking, he has to say the truth. He does not have to come here and misinform the House. We expect Hon. Mliswa to withdraw the statement that female parliamentarians did not say anything about the Marriages Bill. We made enough noise about the Bill. It is just that it has come today and Hon. Mliswa has to withdraw.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Thank you very much. Hon. Mliswa, please can you withdraw. These are the women that you are saying did not make noise. One of them is saying they made enough noise in the House. Besides that, the Bill was actually in the Committee Stage. You were supposed to have raised your issues during the Committee Stage, not after the Bill has been passed. Hon. Mliswa, can you withdraw please.
HON. T. MLISWA: Mr. Speaker Sir, I earlier on said there are certain little battles you must allow to pass. This is one such battle.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Mliswa, I do not want to rule you out of order. You just have to withdraw the statement.
HON. T. MLISWA: Mr. Speaker Sir, to be honest …
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: I did not give you the floor to debate Hon. Mliswa.
HON. T. MLISWA: Mr. Speaker Sir, we must look at the Hansard to see how many contributed from a percentage point of view, because the Hansard is the only record of truth.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Mliswa, you are out of order.
HON. T. MLISWA: Mr. Speaker Sir, the Hansard is the record of truth. Can it be analysed and if they did debate, I will apologize. It is the Hansard which is a record for the truth.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Mliswa, I have just given you the floor to withdraw the statement and now you seem to be setting some conditions.
HON. T. MLISWA: Mr. Speaker Sir, she is not the head of the Women’s Caucus. Hon. Kwaramba is the head of the Women’s Caucus and Hon. Bhuda on this side. On what authority is she speaking on behalf of women?
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Hon. Mliswa, I am the Speaker. I am directing you to withdraw your statement.
HON. T. MLISWA: Hon. Speaker, I will do as what pleases you and for that I will withdraw the statement and urge them to debate next time. Thank you.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. TOGAREPI: Mr. Speaker Sir, I move that Orders of the Day, Numbers 1 to 15 on today’s Order Paper be stood over until Order of the Day, Number 16 has been disposed of.
HON. TEKESHE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
(v)HON. MUSHORIWA: Mr. Speaker Sir, I am not objecting per se but could we be advised because apparently we do not seem to have a track of the business of the House. There is no longer a formula that a Member can actually prepare in terms of debates and other stuff. More often than not, since Parliament resumed, we have never had a proper system in place to the extent that sometimes we are actually …
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Go ahead Hon. Member.
(v)HON. MUSHORIWA: Mr. Speaker Sir, sorry I have been muted. I was saying my point of order is in respect of the Business of the House Committee and whether it is still in place. What we now have is a situation where as Hon. Members of Parliament, we are no longer in a position to prepare our line of debate. More often than not, orders of the day are always jumped, there is no system in place and sometimes we are ambushed. Just like now, the Marriages Bill, we were just ambushed. When we prepare, we will want to find whether your Chairperson could ensure that the Business of the House Committee sits …
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER: Order Hon. Member. What you are saying now has got nothing to do with what we are doing at the moment.
(v)HON. MUSHORIWA: It was when we were asking whether there was any objection and I wanted to highlight the frustration that we are now feeling in terms of following the Orders of the Day.
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON MUTOMBA): Thank you.
MOTION
SECOND REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON INFORMATION, MEDIA AND BROADCASTING SERVICES ON THE STATE OF THE MEDIA IN ZIMBABWE
HON. MOKONE: I move the motion standing in my name that this House takes note of the Second Report of the Portfolio Committee on Information, Media and Broadcasting Services on the state of media and broadcasting services in Zimbabwe.
HON NGULUVHE: I second.
HON. MOKONE:
1.0 Introduction
1.1. The Coronavirus pandemic has brought about change in the way the business world operates in terms of handling their daily affairs, engagement with its stakeholders and management of resources. The Media industry has also transformed and this has seen the need for companies to downscale their operations and adjusting from analogue broadcast to digital broadcasts as a means of minimising exposure of staff to the virus at the workplace and operating environment. The Committee conducted an enquiry into the state of the Media so as to appreciate the operations of Media practitioners in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. To that end, this report provides highlights of the Committee’s findings, observations and recommendations with respect to the state of the Media in Zimbabwe.
2.0 Objectives
2.1 To ascertain the operations of media practitioners in view of the COVID-19 pandemic;
2.2 To appreciate the measures being taken by the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services on ensuring a conducive environment for media practitioners;
2.3 To have an understanding of the challenges being faced by medical practitioners; and
2.4 To come up with recommendations for an improved environment for Media practitioners.
3.0 Methodology
3.1 The Committee held oral evidence sessions on the state of the Media with the following institutions:
- Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services;
- Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ);
iii. National Association of Freelance Journalists (NAFJ);
- Zimpapers;
- Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation;
- Advertising Media Association; and
vii. MISA Zimbabwe.
3.2 The Committee also conducted verification visits to Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation at Pockets Hill and Montrose in Harare and Bulawayo respectively, Zimpapers, Diamond FM, Manica Post in Mutare, Hevoi FM in Masvingo and Breeze FM in Victoria Falls.
4.0 Committee Findings
4.1 Policies and Legislation Governing the operating Environment for Media Practitioners in Zimbabwe
4.1.1 The Permanent Secretary highlighted that the Ministry superintends pieces of legislation governing the operations of Media practitioners namely: Freedom of Information Act, 2020; Zimbabwe Media Commission Act (2021); Broadcasting Services Act [Chapter 12:06] Act No. 4 of 2001); Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (Commercialization) Act, 2001 (Act No. 26 of 2001); and Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (Debt Assumption) Act, 2004 (Act No. 11 of 2004). These Acts protect the rights to the freedom of expression and the freedom of the media granted under section 61 of the Constitution.
4.2 ZBC Pockets Hill and Montrose
4.2.1 An overview and operation of the ZBC
4.2.1.1 The Committee gathered that the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation is a State-controlled broadcaster in Zimbabwe which was established in terms of Section 3 of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (Commercialisation) Act, 2001. ZBC is responsible for bringing news, entertainment, education and information to people in Zimbabwe and beyond. The Committee was informed that the ZBC operates six radio stations and one television station, providing a mix of news, current affairs, educational programming and music in English, Shona and Ndebele, with National FM covering all the 16 languages stated in the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
4.2.2 Staff Complement
4.2.2.1 The CEO highlighted that ZBC has a staff complement of 734 employees countrywide, stationed at Pockets Hill, Mbare, Montrose and Gweru. In addition to the main site locations, the Committee gathered that ZBC has news gathering and licencing offices that were located in major towns in Zimbabwe’s ten provinces. The Corporation informed the Committee that of the 734 employees, 650 were on a permanent contract, with the remainder on part-time contracts.
4.2.3 State of Equipment
4.2.3.1 During the tour of ZBC Pockets Hill and Montrose studios, the Committee noted that ZBC had two High-definition studios and two makeshift studios, although other television studios did not have equipment and were not functional. The head of engineering highlighted that there were outside broadcast systems that were currently being used for outside broadcasting operations. However, the main broadcast van and uplink systems were more than 10 years old and critical systems were not operating normally. The Committee gathered that ZBC had electronic news gathering and electronic field productions equipment which required Ultra High-Definition cameras, more lighting systems and microphones. The Corporation highlighted that the radio studios and radio master control system required total upgrade to get rid of ageing equipment. The Committee was apprised that the Corporation was upgrading systems using a piece-meal approach due to financial constraints and it was also digitalizing most of the critical systems with modern, automated systems to improve performance.
4.2.4 Financing of ZBC
4.2.4.1 The Corporation submitted to the Committee that they received a grant from the fiscus and they also get indirect public revenue through licence fees payments. The Committee was informed that to date, the Corporation had generated ZWL$325.9 million through licencing and advertising, with licencing contributing 43% whilst advertising contributed 57% of the total revenue. Further, it was highlighted that a grant of ZWL$33 million was released from the Treasury in June and another ZWL$10 million was provided in July. Despite the steady improvement in revenues, the Corporation had recorded a cumulative loss of ZWL$6, 9 million for the period up to June 2021.The generated revenue was inadequate to cover the operational expenditure indicating the partial funding gap from operations outside the legacy debts. The CEO informed the Committee that they successfully engaged respective stakeholders on payment plans and barter deal arrangements which the Corporation aims to adhere to without compromise to reduce pressure from legacy creditors; namely Telone, Liquid Telecoms, Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ), Transmedia, NSSA and others.
4.2.5 Adaptation to COVID 19 Pandemic
4.2.5.1 In an oral evidence session held with the ZBC management, it was highlighted that the COVID-19 pandemic had negatively impacted on their operations as they lost some of the dedicated journalists and at one time 30 employees tested positive to the COVID-19. However, to promote a safe environment for its staff during the COVID-19 period, preventive measures were taken to ensure that minimal cases were recorded. These included decongestion of the workplace by fifty percent, suspension of late night news bulletins, limitation of live studio interviews opting for digital information through Zoom and Skype interviews, and pre-recorded interviews as well as telephone interviews. Further, the Committee was informed that for ease of doing business, ZBC launched an online payment platform for its radio and television licences which eases the discomfort people might feel when going outside their homes.
4.2.5.2 During the visit, the broadcaster highlighted that they had facilitated Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and Rapid COVID-19 testing for all its staff and the Management revealed that fifty percent of its employees had been vaccinated. ZBC supplied hand sanitizer, branded masks to all its staff and wearing of masks and temperature checks for every staff and visitors at ZBC facilities was made a policy which was enforced by security officers. The Management at ZBC reassured the Committee that its COVID-19 protocol measures had so far proven to be robust and effective as fewer infection cases and only one casualty was recorded at its facilities, and that it will continue to prioritize the safety of its employees and visitors.
4.3 Challenges being Faced at ZBC
4.3.1 The Committee was informed that ZBC had depleted vehicle fleet which no longer provided adequate cover for its operations. Presently, Pockets Hill had one staff bus and 12 vehicles which were meant to provide transportation services to staff to work and also for media coverage. The CEO highlighted that there was no staff bus at Montrose studios and there were 25 vehicles operating, but these were not in good condition. The transport situation at ZBC affected news coverage, hence affecting the fulfillment of their mandate. In total, ZBC studios required 60 new vehicles to augment its coverage and transportation services.
4.3.2 The Corporation submitted that they had poor remuneration and service packages for its staff such as medical aid, funeral and pension polices in place, which had exposed the broadcaster to competitors who attract its experienced workforce. The Committee heard that ZBC did not have a pension policy in place and that it had been suspended many years ago. The new board at ZBC had however, revived its medical aid policy by re-engaging PSMAS to provide cover for ZBC employees to the tune of ZWL$3,5 million for medical care.
4.3.3 The Committee was informed that ZBC was riddled with debts amounting to over ZWL$200 million dating back as far back as 2005. In this context, it owed parastatals such as ZESA, ZIMRA, Largadere sports, among others. ZESA had resorted to switching off power on Mondays at Montrose Studios, whilst ZIMRA was garnishing ZBC’s revenue streams.
4.3.4 It was highlighted that delays in payment of royalties to local content producers during the lockdown period had affected ZBC/TV programming. In this context, production costs increased for local producers who now expected ZBC to pay upfront for their content. However, due to funding constraints, ZTV programming material ended up being repeated as new content producers held on to their production.
4.4 ZIMPAPERS
4.4.1 An overview and operations of ZimPapers
4.4.1.1 The Committee toured Zimpapers Offices and ZTN Studios in Harare, and then visited Manica Post and Diamond FM in Mutare. Zimpapers is the biggest State-controlled Zimbabwean mass media company whose operations originally started off as a newspaper publishing company called Zimbabwe Newspapers Limited. It later diversified its operations to include commercial printing, radio and television programming. The company's portfolio includes over a dozen magazines and newspapers which include, The Herald, The Chronicle, Kwayedza H-Metro, B-Metro, The Sunday Mail, The Manica Post and several radio stations such as Star Fm and Capitalk 100.4 FM in Harare, Diamond FM in Mutare, Nyami Nyami FM in Kariba, and a television network, Zimbabwe Television Network (ZTN). ZTN was now more involved in the screening of local soccer matches, talk shows and debates which were broadcasted digitally.
4.4.2 Staff Complement
4.4.2.1 The CEO highlighted that Zimpapers has a staff complement of 1 300 employees countrywide. The Committee was informed that of the 1 300 employees, 807 employees were on a permanent contract whilst 493 were on part-time contracts.
4.4.3 State of Equipment
4.4.3.1 The CEO highlighted that under the radio and broadcasting division’, the institution had transmission and production studios, a master control room, outside broadcast and news booths. It was highlighted that the axia mixer, engine and telephone hybrids used in the studios needed upgrading. The Committee was informed that under the Zimpapers television network (ZTN), there were production studios with functional four-camera production studio in place, currently using one standard broadcast camera and awaiting delivery of the three outstanding. Additionally, he highlighted that ZTN has a master control room, play-out and transmission and an electronic field productions and outside broadcast production.
4.4.4 Financing of Zimpapers
4.4.4.1 The Committee was informed that Zimbabwe Newspapers (1980) Limited was listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) and release of financial information was guided by the listing rules. The Management at Zimpapers revealed that whilst 82 percent of its revenue comes from print publishing, going digital was the only way to go as people now favour the digital platform in terms of convenience and accessibility. Further, Zimpapers undertook reform processes and a new press printing facility was set up in Bulawayo where progress was reported to be 90 percent complete. This initiative was done to supplement printing of The Chronicles and to improve speed of delivery of the printed materials in the Matabeleland Province.
4.4.5 Adaptation to COVID-19 Pandemic
4.4.5.1 During the tour, the Management of Zimpapers stated that it had scaled down its hands on workers to 40 percent and 60 % were making online submissions of news articles and digital content. The Management at Zimpapers indicated that social welfare for staff was a priority and that workers had received the 13th and 14th cheque in December 2020 and April 2021 respectively. An ongoing process of fumigation was professionally done and all staff were provided with Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) which were supplied by Nyaradzo Funeral Services for all Zimpapers employees. Social distancing was being implemented and transport was being provided for employees to and from work. Additionally, it was highlighted that 51 percent of Zimpapers staff had been vaccinated.
4.4.5.2 As a major publishing company, Zimpapers has been pushing Coronavirus awareness campaigns through its newspapers, radio, television programming and through digital online platform. The Committee was informed that Zimpapers was still to receive COVID-19 relief stimulus package from Government. The Government, however had been bringing business through Coronavirus adverts that it sent through Zimpapers media platforms.
4.5 Diamond FM and Manica Post
4.5.1 An Overview of the Diamond FM and Manica Post
4.5.1.1The Committee was informed that Diamond FM and Manica Post were housed in the same building and usually shared staff who worked in radio and print media departments, and both were owned by Zimpapers. It was submitted to the Committee that Diamond FM is one of Zimpapers’ regional commercial radio stations which was launched in 2016 at Manica Post offices in Mutare. The Chief Executive Officer, informed the Committee that the launch of the radio station was in line with the company’s five-year plan to extend its dominance as a content factory. Radio coverage for the station services an 80km radius from Mutare urban and extends as far as Buhera, Makoni, Chipinge, Nyanga, Chimanimani, parts of Honde and also Mozambique using the other transmission sites.
4.5.2 The Committee was informed that revenue for the station was mostly from airtime, live broadcasts, roadshows and radio adverts. Broadcasts were conveyed in English, Tindwi, Manyika and Ndau with staff being mostly locals who were given tries and successfully fitted with the job requirements. It was highlighted that the Station had 50 percent listenership in Manicaland and the other 50 was covered by National FM. The performance of the Station was deemed impressive as it managed to break even within five years since it operationalised. The proximity of Mutare to Mozambique benefits the radio station as it is sometimes engaged by the Mozambique authorities to pass important information to its citizens.
4.5.3 The Committee was informed that the Manica Post produces newsprint on a weekly basis and news coverage was for activities in the Manicaland Province and also on matters of national importance. Improvements in the media industry had seen the newspaper competing for headline stories with personal bloggers and online journalists who had been keeping the newspaper on its toes with news breaking out as it happens. This has resulted in the newspaper establishing an online daily news platform which keeps its viewers up to date whilst waiting for the weekly newsprint.
4.5.4 The Committee was informed that 87.5% of workers were vaccinated at Manica Post and 54 % at Diamond FM. The Zimpapers Management in Mutare highlighted that transport arrangements were in place for workers coming to work and it was operating at 40 percent capacity to decongest the work place whilst the others were working offsite. In addition, Diamond FM and Manica Post had reduced live interviews and were now relying on telephone interviews.
4.6 Challenges being Faced at ZIMPAPERS
4.6.1 The Committee was informed that the costs involved in using Transmedia services were not feasible as it required US$11 000 for digital broadcasts.
4.6.2 It was highlighted that the weekly magazines were now being forced to compete with online bloggers and journalists who publish news and stories without verification or censorship which affected the relevance of weekly newspapers.
4.6.3 The CEO submitted that there were too many red tapes around COVID-19 information as media practitioners had no access to information of statistics for areas they provided media coverage, as information was centralised and came from Harare.
4.6.4 Another challenge highlighted was that female sources were hesitant to partake in news coverage. Further, he highlighted that there were dangers which existed when one attempts to cover stories that involve politically exposed persons (PEPs) on issues such as corruption, abuse of power and smuggling.
4.7 Hevoi FM
4.7.1 An Overview of the Hevoi FM
4.7.1.1 The Committee visited Hevoi FM, which is one of the radio stations owned by AB communications broadcasting on the 100.2 frequency. The Committee was informed that the commercial radio station was launched in July 2017 as part of Government’s commitment to opening up the airwaves to create a platform for people to tell their own stories, aspirations, successes and also struggles. The station broadcasts music and news bulletin and the radio signal for Hevoi FM was accessible in the following areas, Mberengwa, Rutenga, Chatsworth, Mvuma, Gutu and Chilonga and broadcasts in Chitsonga, Karanga and English.
4.7.1.2 The Committee was informed that the station has a radio listenership of five percent in the Masvingo Province whilst National FM enjoys both great coverage and listenership in the country. Management at the station indicated that they had plans to set up transmission sites at Rutenga and Chatsworth, and also planned to lower the frequency of the station to below 90 which was easily accessible in motor vehicles. The Committee also heard that the station had taken advantage of COVID-19 to move towards digitalization which provided 15 percent of its total listeners.
4.7.2 FINANCING OF HEVOI FM
4.7.2.1 The Station Manager submitted that the revenue of the station was from airtime and was used to cover the operating expenses and highly prioritized payment of its staff. During the COVID-19 period, the station had been relying on donors who used the coverage of the radio station for awareness campaigns. Retailers and local businesses in Masvingo also form part of the stakeholders whom the radio relies on for revenue through adverts, however due to lockdown measures that were introduced, the suspension of live broadcasts and road shows when the economy slowed down negatively affected revenue generation for the station.
4.7.3 Adaptation to COVID-19 Pandemic
4.6.3.1 The Management at the station indicated that they had been receiving help from Nyaradzo which donated PPEs and sanitizers for its employees, and also ZIMRA chipped in by setting up temperature testing equipment for visitors at the entrance of the building which houses the station.
4.8 CHALLENGES BEING FACED AT HEVOI FM
4.8.1 The Station Manger highlighted that there was erratic power supply from ZESA which affected airwave coverage and currently the station had no alternatives for power supply. The Committee was apprised that ZESA was switching off power between 5am and 11pm at Devure transmission site which affected radio coverage to areas far from Masvingo.
4.8.2 The Committee was informed that the station was technically understaffed and requires more people to fill in all positions at the station. Transport costs were taking a toll on the operations of the station. On a weekly basis, the station required 400 litres of diesel which was used for transportation of workers to and from work, and also hired vehicles to access the transmission site out of town.
4.8.3 The Station Manager submitted that revenue from donor agencies provided means of revenue income for the station. However, donor funded programmes were not all year round and had an operation timeframe such that the station was mostly financial stranded and required assistance from sponsors and Government. Government had promised to provide funding through the Ministry and a budget of US$15 000 was submitted by the station, but no funds had been availed to date.
4.9The Breeze FM (Victoria Falls)
4.9.1 An Overview of the Breeze Fm
4.9.1.1 The Committee was informed that the Breeze FM was a commercial radio station owned by Kaito Media which also owns Skyz FM and broadcasts in Bulawayo. Broadcast for the Breeze FM extensively covers a 160km radius in the Matabeleland North region covering areas such as Victoria Falls, Kazungula, Livingstone and Hwange. Due to its extensive coverage, it broadcasted in seven languages, that is Ndebele, Shona, English, Tonga, Nambya, Dombwe and Nyanja. It was highlighted that the radio station had a staff complement of 13 and due to COVID-19, it was operating at 50 percent whilst the others were working from home.
4.9.2 State of Equipment
4.9.2.1 During the visit, the Committee was informed that Breeze FM had dual core computers, they were currently using a stand-by mixer model (Hybrid sc6215p) and they had one condenser mic and three standard microphones which were working. Further, the Station Manager highlighted that they had a control room with encoder and the station had a well-functioning backup solar system that keeps the station powered up during times of electricity power cuts.
4.9.3. Financing of the Station
4.9.3.1 The Committee gathered that revenue streams of the station include radio airtime, jingles, live shows advertising, live broadcasts, sponsored shows, live reads, infomercials, product endorsement, brand Ambassadors and talent fees. However, the station management informed the Committee that they sometimes do community service by disseminating COVID-19 related information whenever they can so as to keep the public aware of the risk posed by the pandemic, how to prevent exposure and what to do when they test positive.
4.9.4 Adaptation to COVID-19
4.9.4.1 Management at the station revealed that it was providing PPEs such as masks and hand sanitisers to staff, professionally disinfecting studios in-between shifts, and was also providing transport for its workers to and from work using the station’s vehicle. It was submitted that stakeholders such as Nyaradzo, MISA and International Media Support (IMS) had chipped in to support the station by providing PPEs for all of the staff at the station. The Committee was informed that all the staff at the station were vaccinated voluntarily. The Media company acknowledged the role that has been played by the Ministry of recognizing media practitioners as essential services which helped them access areas for news coverage as well as getting vaccinated.
4.10 Challenges being Faced at Breeze FM
4.10.1 The Management briefed the Committee that heavy taxation on the station’s operations was extensively affecting the profit margin for private Media companies in the country. In this context, the licence fees were pegged at ZWL$500 000 per month for each radio station, BAZ and ZIMURA were collecting five percent and one percent respectively of the station’s gross revenue, and in addition ZIMRA was also colleting its share. More-so, commercial radios were required to pay radio licence fees to ZBC which is also a competitor on the media market and the current set up does not promote new players to join the industry as they end up being suffocated by the operating environment.
4.10.2 The Committee was informed that the lockdown measures that were put in place by the Government affected revenue streams for the commercial radio station with the suspension of live broadcasts and road shows. In this regard, the Media Company used to get revenue from promoting local tourism and other commercial businesses, however the closure of shops and movement restrictions for people meant that businesses had to withdraw and look for alternative means to showcase their businesses.
4.10.3 The Station Manager highlighted that transportation of journalists to source areas was proving expensive under the current conditions where no public transport was being availed to media practitioners in the province and countrywide. The Media company bemoaned the lack of subsidies in this sector as it had greatly affected their finances as the Government directed all public operators to join the ZUPCO brand or park their vehicles and their withdrawal was significantly felt in Victoria Falls.
4.10.4 Management at the station revealed that high pricing of accommodation in Victoria Falls proved to be expensive and demotivated experienced media practitioners from other towns to be attracted to the station. The Media Company therefore made a request for the Committee to plead on behalf of media practitioners operating in Victoria Falls to be given land to build accommodation facilities they can all use like what other institutions such as ZESA, the Department of Immigration services did in the city.
4.10.5 The Media Company stressed that COVID-19 relief packages were not being extended to media practitioners by the Government despite having been recognized as essential services and also frontline workers who disseminate Coronavirus information and coverage to the public. Further, the Management of the station stressed that media practitioners were not being provided with information/statistics on time relating to COVID-19 as well as where vaccines were being accessed in Victoria Falls and its surroundings. To this end, it was delaying the dissemination of information to the public who needed the necessary updates on the pandemic.
4.10.6 It was highlighted that decentralisation of services was taking long to be implemented for services to reach people who live far away from bigger cities. In this context, it was submitted that Zimbabwe Media cards which were renewed annually were taking long to reach media practitioners in Victoria Falls as they would get them in August whilst expiring in December. The time taken between the application and issuing period was long and it affected media coverage as media practitioners will not be allowed to practice without up-to-date media cards.
4.10.8 The Committee gathered that the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) has been delaying the movement of media practitioners as they go about their work despite the latter having being declared part of the essential services and with supporting documentation attesting to that. There was need for synergy and effective communication between the ZRP and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services on the status of media practitioners during the Coronavirus period.
4.10.9 There was lack of foreign currency to fund for the setting up of a transmission site at the tune of US$11 000, and buying a transmitter which costs US$8 000. The Committee was apprised that access to this money was difficult as the station charged its services in ZWL currency.
4.11 Challenges in General Affecting the Operations of Media Practitioners
4.11.1 In an oral evidence held with MISA Zimbabwe, it was highlighted that safety and security of the media was a problem in Zimbabwe. The Committee was apprised that 52 cases of violations against journalists and media workers were recorded in the year 2020 and a report was provided with regards to the state of media in 2020. However, the Permanent Secretary highlighted that these were only allegations as journalists may have encountered some inconveniences as they were asked to wait for some few hours during COVID-19 lockdown restrictions and they might have considered it as harassment.
4.11.2 It was further highlighted that laws such as Interception of Communications Act; Censorship and Entertainment Controls Act; Official Secrets Act; Criminal Law (Codification and Reforms) Act; and a horde of statutory instruments, among others violate Sections 57, 61 and 62 of the Constitution which provides for rights to privacy, expression and media freedom and the right to access to information.
4.11.3 The President of Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) during an oral evidence meeting apprised the Committee that there was a discrepancy in the working conditions of journalists as employers had their own conditions which were not favourable for journalists. In this regard, journalists requested for an establishment National Employment Council that will deal with the issues of these discrepancies and better remuneration among others.
4.11.4 The Committee was informed by the ZUJ official that that there were multiple accreditations of journalists, for instance when covering Parliament, they have to be accredited by Parliament. He further highlighted that the requirement that a journalist who was already accredited with ZMC needed further accreditation was time consuming.
4.11.5 The Permanent Secretary highlighted that Zimbabwe’s media sector was taking too long to adapt and evolve in line with new technologies in the industry. This affected the quantity, quality and uptake of media products/content such as print publications, news, music, drama, documentaries and films.
4.11.6 The Committee was informed by the Permanent Secretary that the media environment continues to exhibit certain elements of polarisation resulting from possibly anti-Government editorial policies as reflected in conflicting news reports that make it difficult for news writers and consumers (readers, listeners and viewers) to obtain a true picture of developments. It was highlighted that the polarisation continues despite Government’s national image building efforts.
4.11.7 The Permanent Secretary informed the Committee that concerns were brought to their attention on issues relating to the professional conduct of media practitioners such as khaki envelope journalism and undue influence by influential people which sometimes leads to self-censorship. This was exacerbated by poor remuneration, for instance at ZBC where the least employee gets a salary of ZWL 16 000.
4.11.8 During the oral evidence meeting, the Advertising Media Association (ADMA) official highlighted that there were billboards clutter especially in Harare due to lack of regulation on the allocation spacing of billboards.
4.11.9 The Committee was informed that there were high levels of vandalism and theft of billboard structure.
4.11.10 The Committee was informed that the advertising industry was affected by high inflation and escalating operating costs amid constrained revenues and for start-ups the entry costs were too high.
4.12. Measures being Taken by the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services in Ensuring a Conducive Environment for Media Practitioners.
4.12.1 The Committee had a meeting with the Permanent Secretary and visited a number of media houses. During the meeting and visits, it was highlighted that the Ministry played an important role in ensuring a conducive environment for Media practitioners through classification of Media practitioners as essential services since the outbreak of the Coronavirus and prioritization for COVID-19 vaccination which they acquired without challenges. It was further highlighted that the Ministry facilitated for COVID-19 testing of Media practitioners at different occasions and it encouraged decongestion in the workplaces. Additionally, the Ministry encouraged virtual conferences and the harnessing of technologies in news gathering and dissemination, reducing contact between media practitioners and news sources.
4.12.2 The Permanent Secretary highlighted that they issued clearances for foreign journalists to enable them to obtain visas for entering the country, get accredited by the Zimbabwe Media Commission and to work on their assignments in Zimbabwe.
4.12.3 The Permanent Secretary pointed out that some journalists find it difficult to pay the Zimbabwe Media Commission registration fees at once, thus the Ministry through the Commission in the interim made a decision to accept installments from journalists who were unable to make a once-off payment in order to address the challenge.
5.0 Committee Observations
5.1 The Committee noted that transport was essential and media practitioners’ work involved moving from one place to another using vehicles, thus management of different stations should provide decent transport.
5.2 The Committee observed that ZBC needed to be capacitated with microphones that can be used individually so as to reduce the spread of Coronavirus.
5.3 The Committee noted that bandwidth above 90MHz cannot be accessed by ex-Japanese cars which were owned by most of the stations’ listeners. The listeners will have to buy bandwidth extenders, hence increasing cost in order to access information.
5.4 The Committee expressed great concern over the idea that Breeze Fm was paying licences to ZBC who was also their competitor. Additionally, it was noted that some commercial radio station such as Breeze FM and Freelance journalists were not provided with PPEs by Government.
5.5 The Committee concurs with the idea of establishing a National Employment Council that will deal with the welfare of journalists. The Committee observed that several witnesses were pushing for a clause on establishment of a media council that was included in the proposed Media Practitioner’s Bill.
5.6 It was observed that the accreditation of journalists by the Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) was recognised as legal in Zimbabwe as stated in the Constitution. The Committee noted that for security reasons, there was need for journalists to be accredited with different institutions when covering events. However, the Committee highlighted that multiple accreditation should not be used as a method of denying or blocking other journalists in covering other events.
5.7 The Committee commended media houses for adhering to COVID-19 regulations set by World Health Organisation and Government of Zimbabwe in fighting against Coronavirus despite the economic challenges faced.
6.0 Recommendations
6.1The Committee recommends the following:
6.1.1 That the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development should warehouse ZBC’s legacy debt by March 2022;
6.1.2 Transmedia Corporation should facilitate a conducive environment through infrastructural investments by setting up transmitters all over the country by August 2022;
6.1.3 Zimbabwe Media Commission should speed up the accreditation and registration process of journalists and media companies and cards should reach journalists in areas such as Victoria Falls by January 2022;
6.1.4 The Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services should assist ZBC by increasing its collection points for revenue through mandating other parastatals such as ZESA and Telone to collect licence fees on behalf of the corporation by March 2022;
6.1.5 BAZ should reduce the radio bandwidth to less than 90km so that it can be accessed by several listeners by May 2022;
6.1.6 The Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services should establish a National Employment Council that will deal with the welfare of Media practitioners by March 2022;
6.1.7 The Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services should by March 2022, review and align laws that regulate the Media environment with the Constitution such as the Censorship and Entertainment Controls Act, Official Secrets Act, sections of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, Interception of Communications Act;
6.1.8 The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development and the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services should assist media houses in accessing foreign currency to acquire equipment by February 2022; and
6.1.9 Media houses should continue adhering to the set regulations and encourage regular testing and vaccination of its staff members.
7.0 Conclusion
7.1 Media plays a vital role in enhancing development in the country through dissemination of information on government policies to the general public. It was noted that the media houses in Zimbabwe have done creditable work in ensuring accessibility of information despite the challenges faced. It is therefore critical that the media industry be promoted through a legislative framework that allows for freedom of expression and access to information as enshrined in sections 61 and 62 of the Constitution.
HON. NGULUVHE: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I just want to buttress some few points which have been raised by my Chairperson. I want first to say, maybe because of my background, where I used to work, I believe that information is very important and necessary for it to be passed to the people so that they understand and appreciate what the Government is doing or what Government is trying to do and besides Government, what is happening around them be it worldwide or countrywide.
I want to buttress what she said, however, I will go to the point which I feel I should add because the report is very detailed. I will start with the issue of Pockets Hill. It is well known that Zimbabwe was one of the first countries in Africa to have a television station in the 1960s. It is so embarrassing that up to now, other countries have gone to have over 20 stations but we still have one station. One wonders what is happening. Where are we going? Are we failing to move forward like other countries? That is a concern which I observed when we went to Pockets Hill that we are lagging behind and as such, it is very difficult to disseminate this information through the television, more-so, when we cannot reach all corners of our country. So, I would like to call upon the authorities that be, so that we try and improve the situation in terms of the number of television stations and also where it can reach all corners of the country. If you look at the equipment being used, it is outdated. I think it is high time that we improve the equipment to be used at this stage.
I want to go straight to the issue of challenges being faced by ZBC, especially transport. I think in almost all the districts, although the Government is trying through the Ministry to buy some vehicles for these reporters who cover the districts, three quarters of our districts in the country have no vehicles to be used by officers who cover functions which take place. Most of the time, Members of Parliament carry journalists to cover some of these Government programmes and that normally brings some bit of corruption. Obviously, when you carry that journalist, you will always want him/her to give you a favourable report. So, I call upon the authorities to try and capacitate the journalists who work in the districts. I have seen a lot of these journalists, especially under the Ministry of Information; they do not have vehicles at all. If they have, the vehicles are very old.
I also want to touch on Zimpapers. It is very unfortunate that according to the Constitution, all languages must be recognised but these Zimpapers’ reporters, I have never seen a paper in my local language, that is Venda, nor have I seen any written in Sotho. So I implore Zimpapers to cover all the languages like what is stated in the Constitution so that we disseminate information countrywide.
I want to also look at the issue of the challenges faced by journalists. I do not condone the harassment of journalists by security forces. Mr. Speaker, like what the Permanent Secretary said, these are just allegations, as your Committee we have never seen a report written by journalists , specifically giving details, time and places where they were harassed by security forces. I think that the journalists, if they want assistance from this Committee, they must bring us factual dates, V11s, to say we were harassed at such a place by such police, otherwise we will always rely on hearsay. I thank you.
HON. T. MLISWA: Thank you Mr. Speaker for giving me this opportunity. Kudzidza hakuperi, I saw how much of a gentleman you are today. Women are always respected, I have learnt, they are never wrong, they are right. So, I respect that.
The motion moved by Hon. Mokone, seconded by Hon. Nguluvhe is very important. It provokes a debate of why parastatals rely on the Treasury all the time when they have an opportunity to make money. The whole point about media and television is advertising. I did not hear in this report where they touched on how much money they are making from advertising. There was none at all. Why are they not making money from advertising? It is because you want to politicise State-owned media. That is it. You will bury yourself as no one will put in money. There is need for a professional approach on how media is run today. There must be transformation because they are now competing with social media, which is fast, more effective and entertaining.
If I have to ask Hon. Members here, unless you have been at a rally and ZBC has been in your constituency – how many watch ZBC? It is polarized. I am a Member of Parliament in this House representing national interest but before they come, they must seek authority from the Board Chairperson that we are going to Temba Mliswa who is an independent MP, must we go. It must not be the question. How many Members of Parliament from the opposition are covered? I am probably one of the most effective MPs in this country, working every day. I am coming from my constituency now. Thank God there is social media. Today I was in my constituency with the Permanent Secretary for Education. There was a donation from a Chinese company of online gadgets to Dudley Hall Primary School and Nyabira Primary School and they were not there. Anything to do with Norton, they are not there or he is independent and not ZANU PF. MDC, we cannot go. When they report on PPPs, it is lies again.
Hon. Nguluvhe said that it is important that there must be facts. State-owned media means that it belongs to the State and everyone. Astronomical figures with social media today. We are talking about full time workers of 734. What rubbish is that? We have people on the pension scheme when they are not supposed to. These are pensioners. What are they doing when today I am able to get what has happened real time in my constituency on social media. Instead of you finding young boys and girls in the constituencies to be giving you pictures and you write a story, what do you need a journalist for? What do they need that office for, with social media and virtual that is going on. They are wasting electricity there. Everything is being wasted. If the offices are turned into public toilets, they will serve better because there are not enough public toilets in Harare. What are they doing with offices today when things can happen when you are not in the office? They still believe the Editor and the Chief Reporter must have offices. Not only that, it comes with a package.
We have 734 workers. How many TV stations do we have for ZBC to have that? Why are we killing the nation with our eyes open? This is treason and you remain in permanent employment because you are loyal to the ruling party. To me, for as long as you have this concept, no one will give you money. You will blame the Government because you have not departed from a political polarization position where big companies want to put in money and advertise in a professional way on a professional entity.
You look at the TV station, why are you not opening it up to everyone. Why ZBC every day? Some call it ZANU PF Broadcasting Corporation. Why are you not giving licences to others? Decentralisation and devolution is there. Why is it not applying as well? Why are you not having a TV station in Tsholotsho and Binga so that the Binga people are there? Not only that, there is the aspect of languages. There are 16 languages in the Constitution.
Madam Speaker, let me say this without fear or favour. When Prof. Jonathan Moyo and George Charamba were running the media, they came up with home grown solutions, “rambayi makashinga,” you all remember. Today what do we have? We had our own home grown solutions and we were tied to that TV. We knew “rambayi makashinga” will be there. We were all singing it because it drives a narrative of nationalism, patriotism and defines you as a sovereign nation. That is the power of information. It is not there. The actors that we had like Mukadota are no longer there. Where are the dramas in Ndebele, Ndau, et cetera? Where are these languages being accommodated because we have diverse languages? The State-owned media must represent the people.
Mr. Speaker Sir, Can I propose something? Can every journalist who is appearing on TV wear the national dress for pride of our country? They are busy wearing suits like they are on BBC and CNN. Why are we not wearing our own Zimbabwe material which we know is available? Why are they not doing that? How can people put in money when you do not even have pride of your country at the end of the day? It becomes very difficult for them.
They talk about licence payment and they had a figure for it. What percentage are the people with licences paying to generate income? I am glad the Minister of Finance is here. Do not give them money. Ask them how much they are earning from the licences. If they are not getting more than 70%, do not give them. Let them go and work. Let them go and stand in the roads and collect money. They think money will come to the office. What are they doing at the offices? They are like the police force. Why can they not stand with the police at road blocks to collect money and yet they want to cry that there is no money. This is how they generate income from TV licences and radio licences. How many people have got that? They are not at all doing anything about that. It is piece meal. When things are tough, they go to the roads. They make some money, come back and chew it. When it finishes they go back. You cannot run a business like that. There has got to be sustainability on how your revenue comes in. The licence is a good opportunity.
I am coming in to say there are many opportunities there but there is absolutely nothing that they are doing. All they are doing is begging from the Minister of Finance for money and resources. Not this time around. We want to know how much they are generating from advertising and licences. We want to know why there are 734 workers. The Hon. Minister of Finance must demand a skills audit of each worker in the parastatals. IMF has been talking about us cutting down and you have to bite the bullet. In biting the bullet, we are able to manage the economy because we are not overspending in manpower or human resource. If you go to the rural areas, “kune matongo akawanda.” Let them go and be part of it. We are not short of land. What are they doing in Harare? Crime goes up and not only that, there is the aspect of corruption at the end of the day. For you to appear on news, you must pay something to a journalist. What if you do not have money because information is for everyone? We need to be very clear on how we deal with this. The issue of Government parastatals owing money to the other must stop. I am glad the Minister of Finance is here. Let each parastatal give Caesar what belongs to Caesar. This is what has incapacitated most parastatals. You are borrowing money and you are not paying. Where is the pride? How does the other parastatal take off when you are not paying? Chikwereti cheZBC havadi kubhadhara mafuta kuMinistry of Energy. How do they survive? Government is the biggest business. They are given money by Treasury. Let them go and ask for money from the Treasury and they are given. These are the bills that we have. When they get their money, they will offset the bills and there is balance and we are able to move forward. This is not helping at all because we have one Government and we have got the same mother and father, it does not mean that we must borrow from each other and not give back. This is a bad culture. Because of that, it becomes a problem at the end of the day.
Janet Munyaka, may her soul rest in peace, she died on duty serving this country. That is the most painful part. She was loyal, patriotic and most of them were not protected while they were working there. That is the truth. You want them to work for you but there is no protection for the journalists. The media is the fourth estate as we all know. In terms of us ensuring that they are covered, what provisions were taken to ensure that they protect people’s lives? You cannot be excited about getting a report. All this equipment that they have, there is the Iran equipment and I do not know whether the Chairperson of the Committee got into the Iranian equipment. Where did it go? Who has got it? This Iranian equipment is from 20 years ago and it is outdated right now but equipment was donated from Iran. Where did it go?
In receiving that equipment, is it linked to our system? We have a tendency of receiving donations which are not receptive to our system. We have a tendency of bringing some graders which are for snow and we take them to rural areas yet we do not have snow in this country. Whilst this equipment is a good gesture, where did it go? Why did it take time for it to be distributed? All these are questions that we need to understand.
The Minister of Finance has been talking about PPPs. Where are the PPPs? You just want to say ndechedu asi pasina chinhu. Bhazi ririkufamba risina vanhu but you are saying iri ibhazi rangu mafuta achingopera. Driver anoda kuita conductor futi. That is not how you run business. Are there no partners who are prepared to be with us? The critical issue about the PPPs is management. If I am not mistaken, Anglo American Corporation is controlled by the Oppenheimers. They used to have a lot of shareholding but right now I am told that they have 10% and they control management, which is key in decision making. Within the clauses of the contract, you have got clauses that protect your interests but you would have brought in a partner. I do not know why they think that if you have a PPP in a State owned enterprise you have sold out. Things are fast changing and the amount of money that they require, you might as well build another ZBC. At this stage, the money that ZBC requires, should you not just have another one?
We need to do an assessment on some of these parastatals that, are they worth being there? Time has moved and a lot has happened. Technology – and as a result, you end up spending good money on bad projects at the end of the day. That analysis must come through. The Ministry of Finance must be very clear that we cannot give you money before you dispose some of these old cars. What are they needed for? From these old cars buy three new ones. You have cars parked and the only thing that is not there is a filter. People are stealing while they are parked there. You want to open the engine and the engine is not there. The day they want to sell the car, the engine is not there and yet it has been parked there. Now you are wondering who stole the engine at the end of the day.
Zimpapers has 1300 workers. Is that a National Youth Service Centre? It is like you are recruiting youth for national service. One thousand journalists writing stories and 800 of those are permanent. The rest are temporary. What do you need temporary workers for when you have got such a bloated workforce? Where are we going? Not only that, Zimpapers has also created ZTV again. You have ZBC which is State owned. In what sense? Why do they not use ZBC to do television but now they have said Zimpapers must have its own TV station. You have got two State owned TV stations. ZBC might as well have print media, The Herald 2, Sunday Mail 2 and Chronicle 2. That is what it means. Who comes up with these decisions from a strategic point of view? What is the role of the board in this? They do this with the motive of being corrupt. This is where corruption is borne. You have a TV station which at the end of the day is not getting enough information and you go and create another one. Why are you not prepared to give other people licences who have capability to do it because what we want is money? What this country needs is revenue. We do not care about the colour of the skin but what we want is good money coming in and all that.
If I heard correctly, 40% were laid off and 60% are still there. How long has it taken the organisation to lay off 40%? I am going back to my point that there are too many workers not doing anything and this proves it. For those being laid off, how much have you given them? Those who are permanent again, you have left 60%. The drive in terms of the awareness, let me give credit to the State owned media. If there is anything that you did well which, if I was a lecturer, I would give you 110% out of 100%, is information on COVID. There are three things that they did. They informed us that there was COVID, they did well. They informed us the number of people infected and lastly and sadly, they informed us how many died. They did very well there. I must give them credit. They were very consistent in ensuring that they reported on COVID issues and because of that, it helped the nation in many ways and so forth.
The khakhi envelope thing was discussed. At the end of the day, what is needed is to have the Media Commission as well. We have to get to a point as a nation, where we say Zimbabwe is important for everyone. We are all Zimbabweans. The idea of thinking that somebody is against Zimbabwe, hatingaite hondo mupfungwa all the time. We are one, be it Ndebele or Karanga, we want one thing. Togetherness is critical and is whatever we have to achieve, the world is watching how united you are. Look at Israel, the strength of Israel is the Jews who are outside Israel. That is their power. Their power is not the people in Israel, it is the Jews who have made money and pumping money into Israel. Their diasporans are prepared to invest into all these these projects. As long as the environment is conducive, it must not be politicised. We must stop this whole aspect of politicising everything. The liberators of this country, the late Joshua Nkomo, Nikita Mangena, Robert Mugabe, Solomon Mujuru, Josiah Tongogara, Hebert Chitepo, Maurice Nyagumbo and those surviving today; His Excellency Cde. E. D. Mnangagwa, Cde. Didymus Mutasa, Cde. Rugare Gumbo; when they went to the struggle, the founding principle was to be one. They won the struggle together and the common agenda was this country must be liberated.
We cannot be divided again after the struggle. In terms of information, there cannot be marginalisation of information. When you starve people of information, it shows that you do not like them. Digitalisation is there and if I am not mistaken, we are 40% out. I have not heard in this report where we are in terms of digitalisation, where the kids in the rural areas are getting the same information with the kids in the urban areas. Today there is a difference between the kids in the rural areas and the kids in urban areas because of information gap. There cannot be information gap if we are saying we have the same nation.
The same news that the people in Harare get is the same news the children in Binga, Tsholotsholo, Silobela, and Buhera must hear - but when you leave Harare and as soon as you are out of network, it is a different world yet the news was the same. They get the information late. Even during the Rhodesian era, that telegram which used to be there was more effective than what we have today. I remember my grandmother in Nkayi would go to the Post Office and get a message that there is money, but today the telegram is not there. Should we revisit some of the things that made Rhodesia successful? Maybe we should remove the word ‘Rhodesia’ and replace it with ‘Zimbabwe’ and follow the model of Rhodesia. We must not be shy and we must not have pride to a point that our egos are bigger than us. It must never be like that. The Ministry of Information needs to embrace everyone and when they do that, people will start paying for their licences. Without that, we have a problem – it cannot be an institution that divides. It must be an institution that unites people at the end of the day.
I want to conclude by saying for a very long time, we were quiet and we could not speak. The heart speaks and you do not see it. May the leaders of this country be warned that people are speaking in their hearts and that is a dangerous way to speak? Freedom of expression is critical as long as it is constructive. At times I tweet on the Government not doing well and somebody says but you are against the President and I say it is you who lie, who are against the President. I am telling the President the truth because I want him to do well. I worked hard for him to be in power. I worked hard to see this country where it is. When you have worked hard for something, you will talk about it.
In your home, the wife and the husband will talk about key issues. I will end by saying that it is important that we use the media to make us a better people, to get us education and get us the information which is critical but like Hon. Nguluvhe said, it has got to be factual at the end of the day. You cannot suppress the media because suppressing the media is suppressing the people. Suppressing the people is suppressing their rights and the only form that they have. You were in the struggle and communication was vital. So, why do you think today it is not vital? May we remain a united nation and not be politicised and be divided through State institutions which are used for personal gain. May violence stop and may it be reported when there is violence.
If ZANU PF youth have been violent, let it be reported and if it is CCC, MDC or any other party that has been violent, let it be reported. It takes two to tango. I wonder when I see just a CCC violent and yet the others are not. The death of the young man Ncube must leave us with a scar and say do we want a nation where we differ and we kill each other or where we differ and we move forward? God is watching. Thank you.
(v)HON. MUDARIKWA: I want to thank you for affording me this opportunity to debate on this critical debate. The development of Zimbabwe is based on the media. Many points have been raised by different speakers but I want to start off by saluting our journalists. I want to thank them very much because we had COVID-19 but they put up an excellent fight – job well-done to our frontline soldiers, the journalists of Zimbabwe. The success in combating COVID-19 cannot go through without mentioning the quality of the messages journalists designed in their offices to emphasise the dangers of COVID-19. We must salute them as well as Nyaradzo for a job well-done in assisting the combating of COVID-19.
When somebody has done something very well, you also need to reward that particular person and the first thing that I recommend is the reward for our journalists. All journalists’ accreditation must be done on line. We have a department of Government, full department of ICT and everybody is computer literate. They are not BBC and when I say BBC, I mean ‘Born before Computers’. These are the people who remain there but our journalists have embraced the computers. So Government departments that are in charge of accrediting journalists, it must all be done on line. Hon. Speaker Sir, imagine a journalist travelling to Victoria Falls to come to Harare and Bulawayo just for accreditation. We must revisit this to see if the people manning these offices are qualified.
The other issue is provincial studios where people can broadcast from different provinces so that we reduce this element of movement so that we create a conducive environment for our journalists. My province is Mashonaland East. We have got Safa there who calls himself ZBC media chief for the province because he is alone. We want to create a situation where the broadcasting situation remains in a modern way, where it is modernised, but how do we modernise the broadcasting of journalists? How do we modernise the transmission of information and all the media institutions?
The most critical component in everything is to create a conducive environment. I understand the Ministry of Finance is there – we must have duty free vehicles for all journalists. Every practicing journalists must get a duty free vehicle. When they get duty free vehicles, they would put broadcasting equipment in their vehicles at that time but not a situation where we have an old vehicle. Some of the journalists move around with friends when they want to go out for meetings, they say chimbondipushawo.
Zimbabwe’s economy moved ahead because the journalists are contributing and we must also move together. The economy yes, was hit hard by COVID-19. It is coming out but our journalists were also affected by COVID-19. It is critical that we realise that some COVID-19 allowance be also made available direct to the journalists, not to the media house.
This must be separated. From the discussions we had with the different employers, they do not have a National Employment Council of journalism industry and that is a very big disadvantage for the young journalists. I mentioning these points Hon. Speaker because when you do not have NEC, it means journalists are poor and what does poverty means. Poverty is the inability to utilise resources around you for your benefit and they are subject to abuse. So, we need our journalists to be well resourced.
There must be a new syllabus for our journalists. All the schools that train journalism must have a new syllabus which should have an emphasis on patriotism where there is an emphasis of commercialisation of your activities and modernisation which I have been talking about. Our radio equipment even our digital system is going through a third party. I was involved at one time in setting up a radio station for Uzumba Constituency.
All the radio equipment is manufactured in Germany and the cost is reasonable but our equipment for digitalisation is going through a third party. The third party goes to Germany and buys the equipment, multiplies that by 100 and then invoices Zimbabwe. That is why the digitalisation programmes is almost at a standstill. Our digitalisation programme must involve the private sector. It is not the responsibility of the Government to say we want to put this antenna here facing this side, no.
The private sector must be involved and once the private sector is involved, they then recover their money out of what is happening. It is critical that whatever we do, the PPPs take precedence in whatever we do. We do not need to overload the Minister of Finance about financing ZBC and antennas for our different telephones, no. This must be done by the private sector. Hon. Speaker, I need to bring in something about the safety of our journalists. Journalists in Zimbabwe are very safe but there are some people who just want to over-emphasise that it is not safe. There has never been a journalist who has been killed in Zimbabwe but in other countries it happens every year. Journalists are shot and killed but in Zimbabwe, in their journalism training they lacked patriotism, they over-emphasise on something that is not there.
Mr. Speaker, I know the Minister of Finance is there. All the radio stations and media houses that have been established, it is my humble plea and submission to the Hon. Minister of Finance that all these must be given a tax holiday for 10 years to establish and set up. An informed nation is a nation that is ready to develop. There are a lot of other activities that we will benefit from because our nation is informed. So Hon. Minister of Finance, please give 10-year tax holidays for all the new radio and television stations that have been established. What I am saying is no VAT, tax, duty or anything. The equipment must come because information is critical and serves our people.
The issue of roaming is critical because every cell phone is a radio station. Once you have a cell phone you can use it as a radio but in Zimbabwe Mr. Speaker Sir, it is my humble submission to you that in Zimbabwe we have no local roaming but we have international roaming. I flew to Johannesburg last week and within an hour I was roaming, communicating using the equipment that is provided by the different network suppliers in Johannesburg. In Zimbabwe, you need to move around with three cell phones; one for Netone, the other for Telcel and the third for Econet.
Why do we make life difficult for our people? Somebody has been captured. It is a total sign of the capture of certain State institutions that are not allowing local roaming. Why do we have such a difficult situation? We now have online learning in different schools. Today there is one network available, so people in the rural areas are buying three cell phones so that when there is no power, you go on Econet. When there is no signal on Econet you go on Telecel. Why do we not allow local roaming?
People must also understand the bandwidth where these cell phone providers are using is a national asset. It belongs to the people of Zimbabwe. They cannot try to play politics that I have established, I have done these inspections or done this, and some of them even cause radiation but the community is not claiming the dangers of radiation. We continue to have a difficult situation in our communication systems. This must be rectified. The Minister of ICT must come to the august House and present a report on why we do not have national roaming in Zimbabwe, yet we have international roaming.
Let me conclude by thanking our Hon. Chair for a job well done presenting the report under very difficult situations and also taking the risk travelling under COVID-19 conditions but Hon. Speaker, the mothers of our revolution are there. They are our mothers. There was an incident today where there was some confrontation with our mothers. I want to salute the mothers of Zimbabwe, including my mother who is late but wherever she is, she is hearing what I am saying. Mothers of Zimbabwe must be saluted. They gave birth to heroes of the struggle. They gave birth to us who are contributing to the economic development of Zimbabwe. We need to salute them for a job well done.
My last request is Hon. Minister of Finance, duty free vehicles for every reporter in Zimbabwe because he is a frontline soldier of distributing information. Information is an economic enabler, meaning that when you are informed you are able to make an informed decision. I want to thank you very much Hon. Speaker and wish you a Happy Women’s Day. We will be celebrating Women’s Day in our different provinces and it is my humble invitation that when the heroines of Uzumba Constituency celebrate their Women’s Day, we want you to be the guest of honour. I thank you.
(v)HON. SHAMU: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir. I would like to join colleague Hon. Members of Parliament who have contributed to this very important debate that has been provoked by the Second Report of the Portfolio Committee on Information, Media and Broadcasting Services dealing with the state of media in Zimbabwe. May I thank Hon. Mokone and Hon. Nguluvhe for having moved and seconded the report respectively; they have done a fantastic job.
In debating, we need to put things into context understanding what it is that we are talking about when we talk of the state of the media. The media itself is a term which means the main means of mass communication that is broadcasting, publishing and internet, regarded collectively. It is a very wide subject and I would like to thank the Committee for focusing on areas of importance to Zimbabwe as of today. However, some might feel that certain areas have not been covered; this was obviously deliberate because of the prevailing circumstances. The contribution might seem as if it is directed specifically at the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation which is really not the case. Given our circumstances, we have but one national television network. ZBC owns a number of radio stations. Some radio stations that have come up now belong to Zimpapers. There are also other private players. A number of companies have been licenced but most of them have not yet taken off.
Therefore, when looking at the state of the media, we are obviously guided by those who are in practice and whatever recommendations we make must be interpreted in a manner that embraces every player within the media. As I stated earlier on, in terms of the definition of media itself, it is indeed a very wide subject covering broadcasting, publishing and internet.
Madam Speaker, I would like to zero in on the first recommendation made by the Portfolio Committee. The Committee is calling on the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development to have cleared the ZBC legacy debt by March 2022.
This is a very important recommendation which should be looked at seriously by the Ministry of Finance.
When we talk of a legacy debt, it means that a parastatal or even a company is reeling under a legacy debt. It will face a number of problems. It is difficult to reform or implement effective restructuring, in other words, even when you want to turn around, you find it impossible. Even if you have very good management, it cannot come out of an endless pit. In other words, the legacy debt needs to be removed and I know that the Minister of Finance will take this issue with the seriousness it deserves.
We have a number of new players who are coming in, in need of financial support. We have other players who would like to invite investors into this industry but if the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation seems to be facing difficulties, it sends a wrong signal. If its contribution on the market itself is negative, it therefore means whoever wants to come into the industry, will lose interests on seeing the difficulties that the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation is going through. They will view this industry which has so much potential as unattractive.
Therefore, the importance of ensuring that the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation is a success story goes beyond the simple term of success for ZBC. It is a national issue that we will be looking at attracting investors into the industry by showcasing to them our work at the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation. I hope that, the recommendation will be taken very seriously by the Ministry of Finance so that we can be able to ensure that we have a vibrant, productive, lucrative and successful media environment.
Madam Speaker, I would like to turn to Transmedia Corporation that has been asked by the Committee to ensure that they facilitate a conducive environment for infrastructural investment that would see transmission covering the whole country.
This investment is a game changer. If we compliment this proposal with a situation whereby the legacy debt is taken over by the Ministry of Finance, we would have created a good environment, not only for ZBC but for the whole media industry.
I am saying so because most of the players will depend on this very same infrastructure. Radio and Television will be greaching more viewers, more listeners and that in itself attracts advertising as a result of wide coverage. Wide coverage, guarantees a market. Therefore, to those looking for profits, they will see an opportunity for increased business. The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation will not only be able to earn more money but more revenue that will enable it to meet some of its own expenses internally. This will benefit all other players who will come on board. Let me hasten to add that managers must make sure that presenters, producers and news writers do not defeat this cause by behaving in an unprofessional manner.
Madam Speaker Ma’am no one on radio and television in Zimbabwe should be found advertising the name of a brand of a company when that company has not paid for that advertisement. They must not be found trying to push a product which has not come through the normal channels of seeking advertising space and paying for it. They must uphold rules that govern and regulate the professional ethics of producers, presenters and reporters. They need to adhere to advertising standards that ensure that there is no deviation from the process of ensuring that whoever wants to advertise they pay for it. There must be no place for unprofessional behaviour. To me Madam Speaker Ma’am, this behaviour whereby a reporter or presenter surreptitiously announces the name of a company that should have actually paid for advertisement is corrupt. That kind of corruption must be nipped in the bud.
Madam Speaker Ma’am, let me conclude by not only thanking our Chairperson and mover of this motion for a job well done. Madam Speaker, I want to believe that in future we will ensure that whatever is done in the media fraternity covers everybody and leaves no one behind as His Excellency has said in his announcement in terms of what it is that we should do in order for us to achieve the goals of Vision 2030.
Madam Speaker, in the report presented by our Chairperson, she emphasised the fact that the Committee does concur with the idea of establishing a Media Council that will deal with the welfare of all journalists. This will bring everybody on board Madam Speaker Ma’am. In the report concern was expressed on why Breeze FM was paying licence fees to ZBC and yet ZBC are their competitors. This should not be the case. In other words we would like to see a fair level playing field for everybody including provision of PPEs by Government without discrimination. In other words, the report is taking everybody on board.
I would like to thank the Chairperson once again and you Madam Speaker Ma’am for giving me this opportunity to add my voice to this very important report. I thank you.
HON. MOKONE: Madam Speaker, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 9th March, 2022.
TABLING OF REPORT
THE HON. MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (HON. PROF. M. NCUBE): Madam Speaker, I seek leave of the House to table the Report of the Auditor General for the year ended 31st December, 2020. Section 10, paragraph 1 of the Audit Office Act provides that the Auditor General after examining the accounts transmitted to him or her in terms of Section 35:6 and Section 7 of the Public Finance Management Act and the accounts of any public entity designated on board of Statutory Fund and after signing a certificate recording the result of his or her examination shall prepare and submit to the Minister not later than 30th June in each year a report on the outcome of his or her examination; an audit of the accounts referred to him or her in terms of Section 6:1.
The Auditor Officer further provides in Section 12 that any report transmitted in terms of Section 10 shall be laid by the Minister before this august House on one of the seven days in which the House sits next after he or she has received such a report.
Madam Speaker Ma’am, in line with the aforementioned provisions of our law, now lay the report of the Auditor General for the year ended 31st December2020, before this august House for consideration.
I must hasten to add that for the benefit of the august House, this report basically encompasses the appropriation accounts, finance and revenue statements and fund account that is one and two, is basically the Report on State Enterprises and Parastatals. I noticed that the previous debate was focusing on ZBC so there will be more in the Auditor General’s report to chew over.
Finally, there is an Audit Report on Local Authorities. I thank you.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. MUTAMBISI: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. I move that the rest of the Orders of the Day be stood over until Order Number 17 has been disposed of.
HON. TEKESHE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE BENCHMARKING VISITS BY THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON BUDGET, FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TO THE PARLIAMENTS OF RWANDA AND GHANA
HON. NYASHANU: I move the motion standing in my name;
That this House takes note of the Report on the Benchmarking visits by the Portfolio Committee on Budget Finance and Economic Development to the Parliaments of Rwanda 17th -22nd October 2021 and Ghana 13th to 17th November 2021.
HON. MUSHORIWA: I second.
HON. NYASHANU: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. I rise to submit a report on a visit by the Committee on Budget, Finance and Economic Development to Rwanda and Ghana respectively.
- INTRODUCTION
- The Portfolio Committee on Budget, Finance and Economic Development (Herein after referred to as the Committee) conducted Bench-marking visits to the Chamber of Deputies of Rwanda from the 17th to 22ndof October 2021 and to Parliament of Ghana from the 7th to 13th of November 2021. The benchmarking visits were fully funded by Parliament of Zimbabwe.
- The delegation to Rwanda comprised eight Members and two staff members namely; Hon. Dr. M. Nyashanu, Hon. Dr. Khupe, Hon. Dr. Mutodi, Hon. Prof. Mashakada, Hon. Musakwa, Hon Gandawa, Hon. Priscilla Moyo, Hon Mushoriwa, Mrs. Chiwoneso Mataruka (Committee Clerk) and Mrs. Precious Mtetwa (Committee Researcher).
- The delegation to Ghana comprised of eight Members and two staff members namely; Hon. Dr. M. Nyashanu, Hon. Mkaratigwa, Hon. T. Zhou, Hon. Sansole, Hon. M. Dube, Hon. Nkani, Hon. Watson, Hon. Banda, Mr. Pepukai Chivore (Director Budget Office) and Mrs. Chiwoneso Mataruka (Committee Clerk).
- The Committee during the week visit to Rwanda held meetings with Rwanda Parliamentarians, Private Sector, Rwanda Development Board, Rwanda Revenue Authority and the Auditor General in addition to touring the Museum for the Campaign Against Genocide and the Kigali Genocide Memorial Park. In Ghana, the Committee held meetings with the Parliamentarians, Ghana Revenue Authority as well as Ghana Investment Promotion Centre. The delegation also toured the Parliamentary Training Institute and visited Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park.
- OBJECTIVES OF THE VISITS
- To learn how the Parliaments of Rwanda and Ghana deal with issues relating to budget, finance and economic development;
- To share information and experiences on any challenges encountered in the execution of the oversight function; and
- To learn how Institutions in Ghana and Rwanda are supporting investment and economic development objectives, as well as how they are overcoming the challenges related to the same.
RWANDA STUDY VISIT
- Bilateral Relations between Rwanda and Zimbabwe
- Rwanda and Zimbabwe enjoy cordial relations cemented by the presence of embassies in the two countries. These relations have been further strengthened in the Second Republic. The two countries have been collaborating in a wide range of programmes that are mutually beneficial for both countries. These include collaborations in trade and investments, infrastructure development, energy, civil aviation, environment and climate change among others. The recent Rwanda Zimbabwe Trade Conference involving both countries’ public and private sectors held in September 2021saw several agreements being signed between the two countries. The cooperation agreements were in ICT and e-governance, environment and climate change, agriculture and livestock, tourism and business events. The conference aimed at exploring and consolidating areas of collaboration and partnerships. The relationship has been further cemented by the Rwanda Air which flies to Zimbabwe twice a week thus further enhancing cooperation between the two countries.
- Courtesy Call to the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies: Rt Hon. Mukabalisa Donatille
The Committee was welcomed to Rwanda Parliament by the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies together with his deputies, Hon. Harerimana Mussa Fazil, responsible for Finance and Administration and Hon. Mukabagwiza Edda, responsible for Parliamentary Affairs. Rtd. Hon. Donatille commended the bilateral relationship that already exists between Zimbabwe and Rwanda, which forms the basis for learning and exchange visits.
- History of Genocide
Hon. Mukabalisa gave a brief history of the Rwanda Genocide of 1994, where members of the Hutu ethnic majority murdered close to a million people, mostly of the Tutsi minority within 100days. She noted that the history of the country has contributed immensely on how the country has developed and united over the years. She concluded by pointing out that if it has been possible for Rwanda to become a destination for all to learn, it is also possible for other countries to develop.
- Meeting with the Committee on National Budget and Patrimony and the Committee on Economy and Trade Committee business
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- Committee business is guided by the Constitution of the Republic of Rwanda. It was highlighted that the Chamber of Deputies is composed of 9 Standing Committees, namely; Committee on Political Affairs and Gender, Committee on Economy and Trade, Committee on Education, Technology, Culture and Youth, Committee on Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Security, Committee on Social Affairs, Committee on Unity, Human Rights and Fight Against Genocide, Committee on National Budget and Patrimony, Committee on Land, Agriculture, Livestock and Environment and Public Accounts Committee. The Committees comprises of an average of 9 members each since there are about 90MPs in the Chamber of Deputies. Committee business is taken seriously and it is mandatory for members of the committee to attend and participate in it. Punitive action is taken for any member who misses committee business for 3 consecutive days without leave. Generally, the two committees noted similarities in the challenges they face while conducting Committee work, particularly, poor quality of reporting by government agencies and non-submission of quarterly reports.
- National Budget Process
- The national budget process in Rwanda is more decentralised with districts being allocated more resources compared to the Ministry of Local Government. The budget process for the national government and that of counties are synchronised allowing the budget processes to feed into each other. Each district has its development plan which is extracted from the consolidated provincial and national level strategic plans.
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- The Ministry of Finance spearheads the budget process. Line Ministries are mainly involved in policy making and monitoring while Parliament exercise oversight on the work of the Ministries. Implementation of government projects is done both at a national level as well as at county levels. The Budget Framework Paper (BFP), an equivalent of our own Budget Strategy Paper is tabled before the Chamber of Deputies and Senate not later than 30 April each financial year. The Committees of Parliament then call for public consultations to gather the views of the people on whether the budget allocations are adequate and also to comment on the proposed expenditures. The Committee on National Budget and Patrimony calls the Minister to explain certain proposals and some of the projections where necessary. Consultations are done with all Budget agencies, i.e. Central and Local government, private sector, media and civil society according to the 3 Clusters (Economic, Social and Governance Cluster). A document prepared by clusters is submitted to the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies who in turn submits it to the bureau of the Committee on Budget and National Patrimony for consideration during Budget Hearing. A report on the BFP is then tabled in Parliament and the Prime Minister is expected to submit the comments to the Cabinet not later than 30th of May of the current fiscal year.
- During the course of the year, the Committee on National Budget and Patrimony ensures that they exercise their oversight on the following: current fiscal year’s budget implementation; the extent of revenue collection as per Finance law; expenditure on programs (Central and Local Government) as per Finance law (for example: Annual Planning, Annual Procurement Plan, Performance Contract, slow project implementation, etcetera); Gender Responsive Budget (GRB); National Debt sustainability; social and economic statistical data; and on economic development and poverty reduction programs.
- The Minister is expected to table the Draft Finance Bill before Parliament not later than 15th June of each year for approval after cross checking if all submitted comments were considered or verify why some comments were not considered. The Senate submits to the Chamber of Deputies its opinion on the Draft Finance Law and the Chamber of deputies adopts the Finance Law before 30th June of each year. The exercise of passing the National Budget is done the same day in all East African Community Member States and gazetted for effective use by the 1st of July each year.
- Analysis of the national budget by the Committee is based on the following; Vision 2050, Sustainable Development Goals, MTEF, National Statistics and on other decisions from National Forums such as National Leadership Retreat, National Dialogue and Presidential pledges among others. The OAG’s report for the previous year, budget execution report of the first 6 months of the current year, reports from various field visits done by Committees, Senate opinion on BFP, consultation with budget agencies, private sector and Civil Society during Budget Hearing and any other information received from the public is also used in recommending for line Ministries and government agencies to get financial resources. Budget execution is done as per vote allocation and no ministry is underfunded in any way. In cases where a Ministry fails to utilise all its funds at the end of the year, the balance is brought forward to the following year. However, it was noted that ministries face challenges of implementation and not of funding.
- Gender Mainstreaming and Special Groups
The budget must satisfy the needs and welfare of the women, men, boys and girls (gender budgeting). The process is guided by an organic law enacted in 2014 to ensure all gender issues are addressed in the budget, which calls for all government agencies to submit disaggregated data on how funds received shall be utilised. The budget must also provide information on other special groups such as the youth, persons with Disability and other vulnerable groups. Parliament of Rwanda has a gender monitoring office which monitors gender issues during budget execution and reports to Parliament. It is important to note that 61% of Parliamentarians are women.
- Government Loans
It was noted that all loan agreements in Rwanda must be ratified by Parliament before implementation. The approval process is guided by the information that the Parliament of Rwanda has in terms of ensuring national debt sustainability. Therefore, there is a good working relationship between the Ministry of Finance and Parliament in terms of access to information. It is also the responsibility of the Public Investment Committee to monitor all investment plans and implementation of projects in Rwanda.
- Parliament Budget Office
Rwanda Parliament is at an advanced stage of establishing a parliament budget office (PBO). It was noted that the PBO will be critical in assisting Parliament in analysing the budget as well as in critiquing predictions on inflation and other internal and external shocks that might affect the budget. This will be critical in enabling the Committee to effectively monitor the budget execution.
- Meetings with the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning in Rwanda
- The Committee noted that the Ministry relies on the national priorities as identified in the national vision 2050 and the National Strategic Transformation agenda for the budget preparation each year. Preparation of the macroeconomic forecasts is done to feed into the budget formulation before involving the stakeholders. The Committee also noted that Stakeholders are involved at the national planning level and at decentralised levels through citizens’ forums where they are involved in the planning process. Community working group do monitoring of selected programmes and give feedback during the budget formulation stage. The Ministry then engages the councils to discuss their priorities.
- The Committee noted the following key reforms that were undertaken;
- Creation of the public investment committee composed of the different stakeholders and a public investment department where every project has to be scrutinised and recommendation are made;
- Strong gender responsive budgeting incorporated in institutional plans and development plans;
- Special division for M & E; and
- Transitioning from program based budgeting to performance based budgeting.
- The major challenges the Ministry encounters includes among others, unreliable external resources, costing of the budget which still pose some challenges due to the absence of standardized process and the implementation of International Public Sector Accounting System(IPSAS) accounting system. IPSAS is still in its infancy stage and government has hired Price Waterhouse Coopers to undertake the project and have done an assessment to check the advantages and disadvantaged of the current cash system. Rwanda is targeting to complete the reforms by June 2024 as stipulated in the blueprint on how to transition to IPSAS.
- The Ministry benefits a lot from working with the IMF in monitoring economic performance, fiscal policy and the monetary policy. The sector working groups which meet every quarter over a two or three-days conference has been a platform for engagement and exchanging ideas.
- It was established that in Rwanda, no Minister is allowed to meet a development partner other than the Minister of Finance, which has the sole mandate of resource mobilisation together with the Rwanda Development Board. This brings a bit of sanity in managing the funds of Government. The Committee also noted that the decentralised Government system has empowered the districts to run their own budgets and to be self-reliant. This has been an advantage as it contributed significantly to economic growth and development of Rwanda.
- The Government has fully embraced ICT as a key enabler in planning process and this has played a significant role in budget reforms, particularly boosting revenue collections. The Ministry noted with concern how other countries views the ICT sector as a cash cow in terms of taxes, but pointed out that it’s not the case for Rwanda. The ICT sector is viewed as a developmental enabler and hence is not taxed. Most ICT gadgets are zero rated to enhance access to the gadgets by its citizens. Today, Rwanda boasts of telephone penetration of about 90%. This then would have trickle down effects as the country moves towards a cashless economy by 2024. It was noted that the ICT sector can be an advantage in transforming the economy of Rwanda.
- It was pointed out that the main sources of government funding are domestic taxes which contributes about 16% of tax to GDP and finances 75% of the budget while about 20% comes from external grants and donation. Every quarter, the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank meets to discuss how monetary and fiscal policies can and are complimenting each other.
- Meeting with the Rwanda Development Board Chief Negotiator of Government
Investment Projects
Rwanda Development Board (RDB) was created to accelerate development in Rwanda, hence very critical to the transformation of the country’s development agenda. RDB acts as the chief negotiator of government and all line Ministries collaborate with it for any developmental projects. Planning is done by the Board together with key ministries to avoid duplication of work. For example, investment in the energy sector involves collaborative work with the Ministry responsible while the Board is the Chief Negotiator. At the conclusion of the agreement, the Board hands over the agreement to the Ministry for implementation. The operations of the RDB are guided by national strategic plans, such as the National Strategy for Transformation 2020/2050. Of importance to note is that the CEO of the Board is a cabinet member and reports directly to the Prime Minister.
- Corporate Social Responsibility
The Committee noted that 10% of the revenue collected by the board is given back to the communities, especially to support school construction, roads, hospitals, bridges and etcetera.
- One Stop Centre
The RDB operates as a one stop centre whereby all business inquiries and registration takes place. RDB was formed in 2008 through an amalgamation of 8 government entities, primarily to create a One Stop Shop for business and investment. Some of the entities are the Rwanda Investment and Export Promotion, Rwanda Tourism Board, Rwanda Privatisation Board, ICT and Business Registration, to name just a few. Business registration is done on line and only takes 6 hours. This is possible because Rwanda is highly digitalised making it possible to synchronise all the key registration processes. The Board currently provide the following key services; investment promotion, export and special economic zone development, investment deals negotiation, tourism and conservation, skills development and one stop centre services (for business and investment registration, visa facilitation, tax incentives, etc). RDB system is interlinked with other key institutions namely Rwanda Revenue Authority, Rwanda Social Security Board, National Identity Agency which makes it easy to register a company and also to deregister unscrupulous business operators.
- Meeting with the Private Sector Federation in Rwanda
- Reforms and Establishment of the PSP
The PSF was established in 1999 through merging of the Chamber of Commerce and Employers Organisations. The core mandate of the organisation is advocacy to ensure a profitable and prosperous business environment in Rwanda. The organisation is purely a private entity without any government funding. The reforms were aimed at strengthening the bargaining power of the private sector through the various clusters which originates from the grassroots to the national level.
- Private Sector Federation Structure
The Private Sector Federation is the apex board housing all the business associations across the various sectors of the economy. The PSF is designed in such a way that they include all Rwanda businesses with over 30 offices in the country with at least 1 office per district or per Province.
The PSF adopted a bottom up approach were operations are decentralised to committees or cell level where a leader is elected to represent the committee at a district or provincial sector level. At the district level, leaders are also selected who then form the General Assembly at national level. All leadership selected at district level automatically becomes part of the council that governs the district and the national level. The Chairperson at the provincial level automatically becomes a member of the private sector federation board of directors.
- PSF Mandate
PSF mandate is mainly advocacy, capacity building of members, ensuring access to markets for goods and services, study tours to assist and identify areas of improvement, networking platform to meet counterparts to exchange ideas. One of the major achievements of the PSF is the ability to host international trade fairs which attracts more than 800 exhibitors and over 40 000 participants. The private sector has played a huge role in driving economic growth and development while the government has continuously undertaken reforms to create an enabling environment for business growth. The organisation has in place a call centre which allows its members to reach out to the PSF for any inquiries and disputes. The social media is also very central in terms of communication and information dissemination to the people of Rwanda and its members.
- Public-Private Dialogue Summit (PPDS)
This is the highest level of intervention where the president is involved in addressing the private sector business community. This is a national leadership retreat which is hosted by the President and all Ministers and private sector leaders attend. This dialogue session seeks to boost cooperation between government and the private sector. At this level, the Rwanda Development Board and the Private Sector Federation provides secretariat services so that they keep track of implementation of all resolutions adopted at the summit. Prior to the PPDS, the PSF plays a pivotal role in engaging the executive pre-cabinet and also Parliament plays a pivotal role in assisting the PSF in advocating for the right laws to support the network.
- PSF Imanzi Business Institute
The PSF has in place an institute which seeks to support entrepreneurship capacity development for its members. The Rwanda National Strategic Transformation (NST1) calls for competitive knowledge-based economy and supports for economic transformation. Thus, the institute was established to respond to some of the gaps in the sector. The chamber of women entrepreneurs and chamber of youth gets support from the institute to support business start-up for these groups of people and 30 were in Ghana attending a youth conference.
- Platforms for Engagement with Government
PSF has 9 essential platforms for engagement, namely; (i) Tax platform for business competitiveness, (ii) Standards Issues Forum, (iii) Exporters Forum, (iv) Environmental Issues Platform, (v) Professional Services Platform, (vi) Utilities Platform, (vii) Rwanda Women in Business Platform, (viii) Rwanda Logistics Forum; and (ix) Kigali Investor Forum. As an organisation, they have managed to lobby with the executive for legislative reforms aimed at supporting business growth in Rwanda. Some laws and policies were reviewed while access to finances have been accelerated, which has managed to improve the ease of doing business in Rwanda.
- Tour of the Special Economic Zone
The Committee toured the Kigali Special Economic Zone (Phase 1 & 2), which is complete. The Government is currently working of establishing phase 3 and 4. The Government plays a central role in the development of the SEZ, particularly, providing and servicing the land, which in turn attracts investors. In the SEZ, companies have invested in the following; construction material, textiles, ICTs, etcetera. The SEZ in Rwanda has a VW car assembly, Maraphone plant and an agro-processing factory which exports to World Food Programme. The Committee toured a joint venture company between a Rwandese and a Taiwanese who partnered to enter the clothing manufacturing sector. The clothes are manufactured for export to USA and Europe with the label, ‘made in Rwanda’.
- Meeting with the National Bank of Rwanda
- Role of the Central Bank
The central bank seeks to ensure macroeconomic stability, adequate finance of the economy and regulate inflation. The bank has gone beyond the traditional role and is now promoting financial sector development through promoting financial sector inclusion. The bank has been successful in managing the exchange rate, which is currently stable. By law, the bank is not allowed to lend to the government, i.e. to operate as the lender of last resort to government. The government only access funding through an overdraft that must be liquidated by the end of each financial year. The bank can also issue treasury bills for a maximum of 1 year. The bank can also trade treasury bills on the stock exchange ranging between 3 years and 20 years. All government accounts are kept at the central bank. There are currently 16 banks in Rwanda distributed as follows; 10 commercial banks, one women’s bank, four microfinance banks, one cooperative bank.
- Mobile Money
Mobile money has played a pivotal role in ensuring financial inclusion and has in turn managed to reduce the cash in circulation. The sector has embraced ICT which makes it easy for the bank to easily trace all transactions in the economy. The bank targets to go cashless by 2024 as it seeks to promote the use of bank cards, mobile banking and internet banking.
- Monetary Policy Committee
The Monetary Policy Committee comprises of 2 external members while the rest are internal. By law, the Committee must have 9 members. The Governor of the bank was the chairperson of the Committee. However, with the reforms that have been undertaken, it will not be the case that the Governor of the bank will be the Board Chair. The appointing authority will have to decide the board chairperson.
- Meeting with Rwanda Revenue Authority
Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) was established through the amalgamation of two departments which were under the Ministry of Finance, namely Customs and Domestic Taxes. RRA is manned by several Commissioner Generals in charge of the following departments: ICT, in charge of the digitalisation of the institutions, Strategy, planning and research, Risk department, Investigations and Tax payer services (awareness campaign). Over the years, RRA has undertaken reforms which have remodeled its organisational structure and several one stop border posts across the country. Currently, there are several on-going new operating models to ensure effective and efficient revenue collection.
RRA has adopted ISO quality management system and security management system. The Authority has completely digitalised to support e-correspondence and e-tax under one single entry point called the My RRA to create one platform for all services. RRA has managed to embrace the small business which also pays tax, for example, the motor cycles industry is registered and no one in Rwanda can operate in the transport sector without being registered. It was highlighted that there are incentives aimed at targeting to bring the informal sector into the mainline economy. In terms of border security, the Authority has invested in drones to ensure security along all the ports of entry and borderlines of the country.
The meeting established that the main tax head contributing to revenue in Rwanda is VAT (34%) followed by income tax, a trend which is almost similar to Zimbabwe. The institution is allowed to retain 3% of collected revenues although they still feel it is too high and is currently striving to reduce the cost of collecting taxes to between 1 & 2%. In addition to the 3%, the Authority is also allowed to retain 22% of any surplus on revenues collected, of which 10% is awarded to staff as cash, 10% retention fund (awarded to staff who have served RRA for a certain period of time while the 2% is set aside for knowledge management, i.e. staff training.
- Meeting with the Office of the Auditor-General in Rwanda
The Committee noted that the Rwandan Auditor General is an independent public institution responsible for auditing state finances and assets. Also carry out forensic audit or special audit of all public organs if the Office deems it to be in the public interest or requested to do it. The independence of the institution is guaranteed by the notion that the AG tables his/her findings before the Chamber of Deputies as compared to the Zimbabwean case whereby the Minister of Finance does that on their behalf. The tabling of OAG report is an event on the Parliament Calendar. The OAG tables and present the reports in the two chambers and this is a special day broadcasted live on radio and TV.
Section 166 of the constitution is very clear on the requirements of the report which includes; budget execution, unnecessary or unlawful expenditure or whether there was embezzlement of funds. All qualified reports are tabled before Parliament. The office is adequately funded to enable it to perform its function and never underfunded in any way for it to always able to perform its mandate. They conduct audit of the East Africana Community (EAC) and do financial and compliance audits, performance and environmental audits, IT audits. Special Audits and forensic audit are underway for 2022. The appointment of the OAG is done by the cabinet and approved by the senate for five years and renewable once.
GHANA STUDY VISIT
- Ghana-Zimbabwe Relations
Ghana and Zimbabwe share a long history of collaboration that emanated from the call by the then Ghanaian President H. E Kwame Nkrumah inaugural Organisation of African Unity (OAU) (now African Union) Speech when he implored African Leaders to help fight colonialism in the then Southern Africa to liberate Zimbabwe at a time white rule had become entrenched and arrogant in Rhodesia. When Ian Smith announced his unilateral declaration of independence in Rhodesia in November 1965 and Britain refused to do anything to reverse it, Nkrumah led Ghana to break diplomatic relations with Britain in protest, at great cost to Ghana whose umbilical cord was still attached to the British colonial master.
Nkrumah further invited many Zimbabwean cadres to study in Ghanaian educational institutions, at government expense, and provided other forms of material assistance to the Zimbabwean struggle, including military training and arms. This was what impressed former President Robert Mugabe, as a youth, to migrate to Ghana where he met his first wife, Sally Mugabe (nee Hayfron). That union has today led to many such political, economic and social ties between the two countries. The countries have an existing joint permanent Commission
Courtesy Call to the Second Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana: Right Hon. Andrew Asiamah Amoako (Independent Member of Parliament)
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- The Speaker was pleased to receive the delegation and gave a brief background of the Parliament of Ghana. He pointed out that Ghanaian Parliament consists of 275 seats, with 137 belonging to the majority party and 137 belonging to the minority resulting from the 2019 election. The Speaker, who came in Parliament as an independent candidate stands in between the ruling party and the minority, and is therefore the king maker in terms of decisions in Parliament. The use of the fused Presidential and Parliamentary arrangement seeks to provide a better governance structure for the country. The Main or First Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana comes from the minority party. The President maintains his Executive powers and more than fifty percent of Ministers are drawn from Parliament. The Speaker noted that Ghana has accredited a number of media houses and allowed them to freely operate despite some reporting negatively. He urged fellow Parliamentarians to note that “Leaders should not be indispensable.”
- The Speaker noted that the national budget presentation is a special day in Ghana. It is a platform where the majority presents its own budget whilst the minority also does the same, giving equal strength in the process.
- The Committee was afforded an opportunity to observe a Parliamentary Session which starts from ten o’clock in the morning to three o’clock in the afternoon. The Speaker may with leave ask for extension if there is business which exceeds the meeting time. Committee business and constituency visits are slated for Mondays and weekends respectively.
Tour of the Parliamentary Training Institute (PTI) in Ghana
The Committee toured the Parliamentary Training Institute and observed newly recruited Hansard Reporters undergoing training. The institute trains MPs and staff from Ghana and from the region as well as officials from Ministries, government departments, public and private sectors. The training courses are as per request or drafted in work plans. The institute also offers online training courses and under construction is an extension of the current institute. The Committee observed, during the tour, that All MPs have offices and a secretary.
Visit to the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park
The Committee visited the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park were the brief history of the socialist and revolutionary Kwame Nkrumah was shared with the Committee. The Committee visited the mausoleum burial site to observe a moment of silence in honour of the Pan-Africanist.
Meeting with the Finance Committee Parliament of Ghana
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- The Committee is chaired by the Majority in Parliament and has a Deputy Chairperson, the Committee has a Ranking Leader from the minority who also has the Deputy. The four enjoy a healthy working relationship and the arrangement facilitates the balancing of perspectives of both the majority and the minority. The Committee comprises of 25 Members of Parliament. The Constitution gives the Committee power to subpoena non-compliant entities.
- The Committee noted that the Public Finance Management Act of Ghana, which is admired by most progressive jurisdictions and has gone through a serious overhaul but still gives too much power to the Minister of Finance according to the Committee. This applies to issues of loans, debt strategy and Medium Term Expenditure Reviews. The committee was also informed that the Ghanaian Budget Committee faces challenges of getting timely and comprehensive reports on debt, debt servicing and repayments from the Executive.
- The Parliament of Ghana is in the process of establishing a Parliamentary Budget Office and is currently undertaking benchmarking studies. The Committee highlighted that it anticipates a Budget Office which will provide requisite technical skills advise and does its work without fear or favour. Like the Portfolio Committee on Budget in Zimbabwe, the counterpart Committee in Ghana is of the opinion that the Debt Management Office should be separate entity to be able to provide checks and balances.
- The Committee also noted that the Ministry of Finance develops a Fiscal Strategy Document by end of May. The Ghanaian PFMA has rules on management of debt, rules providing for capital expenditure within the budget year and not spill into the other year.
- Cancelled Meeting with the Director Responsible for Budgets in Ghana
The Committee unfortunately failed to meet the Director responsible for Budgets from the Parliament of Ghana as they were busy with preparations for the 2022 National Budget. The Ministry had a deadline for 15 November 2021 as required by the law.
Meeting with Ghana Investment Promotion Centre
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- The Committee noted that Ghana is ranked best place for doing business in West Africa (Ease of Doing Report 2019) and best destination for investment in West Africa & 5th on the continent. The country enjoys 89% internet penetration ratio and has a competitive and educated labour force and strong resource pool. Ghana has a growing middle class and is ranked highly in terms of the Global peace index because of its stable political environment.
- The Committee learnt that Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) is a government agency established under Act 865 to promote, coordinate, and facilitate investment in the Ghanaian economy. It provides investment advisory services, registration of new projects, processing of quota and exemption application, joint venture facilitation, renewal of registered projects, identification of specific projects for investment promotion, monitoring of enterprises to ensure compliance with GIPC Act 865 and Grant of investment incentives and provision of investor support services. The GIPC works with other collaborating institutions such as Minerals Commission, Petroleum Commission, Bank of Ghana, registrar general’s department, immigration services. Ghana Chamber of Mines, Industry and Commerce to mention a few.
- The Committee also noted that Ghana’s key investment sectors are tourism, infrastructure, manufacturing and agro- That total investment target in the key sectors is between US$3.3 billion to US$4.7 billion. It takes about 5 days to register a business in Ghana but the delay has been caused by the digitalization process the country is embarking on. Incentives are offered for key development projects and these are mostly enjoyed by the locals. Exemptions are on offer as long as the business exists.
Meeting with Ghana Revenue Authority
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- The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) was established in 2009 as a merger of the three revenue agencies, the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Value Added Tax Service (VATS) and the Revenue Agencies Governing Board (RAGB) in accordance with the Ghana Revenue Authority Act 2009, (Act 791). GRA’s core mandate is to ensure maximum compliance with all relevant laws in order to ensure a sustainable revenue stream for government, trade facilitation and a controlled and safe flow of goods across the country’s borders. The Authority is headed by the Commissioner-General, with support from three (3) Commissioners in charge of the following three divisions namely Domestic Tax Revenue Division (DTRD), Customs Division (CD) and Support Services Division (SSD). Under the support services division is the Strategy/Research, Policy and programmes Department which assists in coming up with revenue targets. The Department works closely with the Tax Policy Department in the Ministry of Finance.
- The Committee noted that revenue collection in Ghana stands at 12.2% of GDP (2020) with direct taxes contributing 73% while indirect taxes constitute 27%. Of this, VAT contributes 12.5% while revenue from extractive sectors (Mining and oil) constitutes 35%. Ghana has a dual VAT regime wherein retailers are charged a flat rate while other entities are charged a standard rate of 12.5%. The 2018 Mid-Year budget amended the VAT rate from 15% to 12.5% and delinked the National Health Insurance Levy (NHIL) and Ghana Education Trust Fund (GET Fund) from VAT by removing their input tax deductibility. The Committee also noted that Ghana enacted the COVID-19 Health Recovery Levy Act, 2021 (Act 1068) which imposes a special levy on the supply of goods and services, and the Import of goods and services into Ghana. The levy is chargeable at a rate of 1% calculated on the value of taxable supply in respect of the Supply of goods and services made in Ghana, but excluding exempt goods or services; and import of goods and services into Ghana.
- The Committee also noted that, just like Zimbabwe, Ghana has a huge informal sector and is therefore is a predominantly cash economy. As such, GRA is investing heavily in digitalisation with a view to harness revenue from the sector which employs majority of the working population. Moreover, Government is proposing to introduce an electronic transaction levy (e-levy) in the 2022 budget to widen the tax net and rope in the informal sector. The proposed levy, which will come into effect on 1 February 2022, is a charge of 1.75% of the value of electronic transactions covering mobile money payments, bank transfers, merchant payments, and inward remittances. The Committee also noted that Ghana has a punitive legislative regime for non-compliance. The offences are categorised into two: offences which attract pecuniary penalties (monetary fines) and offences which attract imprisonments or both imprisonment and pecuniary penalties.GRA retains 3% of gross collections.
KEY OBSERVATIONS
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- That the private sector in Rwanda is very active and plays a pivotal role in economic development.
- That trust building is essential in business. The perception of the government towards the private sector. Should be that of partners in economic development and not see them as cash cows.
- That private sector in Rwanda took the lead and contributed 23billion Rwandan francs to support the government in covid-19 mitigation. Private sector assisted government with funds towards purchase of PPEs and consumables during the pandemic. Moreover, government uses the Rwanda Investor Forum to understand problems faced by Investors and addresses them timeously and effectively.
- That Rwanda’s arrangement of having three Ministers responsible for finance, economic development and investment is commendable as it assists in creating a balance in the financing, investment and stabilisation roles that the Ministry of Finance plays in order to achieve economic growth.
- That Rwanda prioritises reforming the investment climate and almost every year there are amendments to support the ease of doing business to create a friendly environment. Currently, within 6 hours one can register a company and applications can be made online.
- That it took seven institutions to form one organisation as a result of political will and Rwanda now ranked number 2 on the ease of doing business in Africa and in top 50 globally.
- That there is a women’s fund through the central bank to support women in business and corporate banks also support women empowerment.
- That although the ease of doing business in Rwanda is good, the private sector continues pushing for more reforms to make Rwanda a best destination for doing business. The private sector contributes about 19% of GDP in the manufacturing sector.
- That the Public Finance Management Act of Ghana, although well commendable still needs to be analysed closely to strengthen Parliamentary oversight and limit powers of the Minister of Finance.
- That the working relationship of MPs from different political parties in Ghana is strengthened by the observation that they complement each other rather than oppose for the sake of it. This is reflected in the nomenclature (Majority and minority parties, as opposed to ruling Party and Opposition party in Zimbabwe)
- That the capacity of members of parliament in Ghana has been strengthened by a fully functional and well-funded Training Institute and a fully established secretariat (Each MP has an office manned by a secretary)
RECOMMENDATIONS
- Parliament should ensure that the PFMA provides for the synchronisation of the national and Local Authority Budgets so that the National Budget feeds into the Local Authority Budgets. Currently, Local Authority budgets are approved well before the national budget and hence are not informed by the national economic developments and projections, as well as anticipated devolution funds by December 2023.
- The Budget Strategy Paper should be subjected to scrutiny and debate in Parliament before approval and such scrutiny should be informed by public consultations. This will minimise the huge forecasting errors (Unreconciled forecasts between the BSP and the Budget Statement). The Ministry of Finance should amend the PFMA Regulations by December 2022 to provide for this.
- Parliament of Zimbabwe should provide for the strengthening of Gender Budget Monitoring through amendment of its Standing Orders.
- Government should direct that all policy pronouncements be handled by the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting. Lessons can be learnt from Rwanda where no Minister is allowed to meet a development partner other than the three Ministers of Finance, Minister of the concerned project and or any relevant Minister involved or concerned.
- The Ministry of Finance, through a Statutory Instrument, should provide for ZIMRA to retain at most 3% of the net revenue collected for its operations beginning 2022 fiscal year. This will ensure that the authority is adequately capacitated to pursue revenue enhancement measures and plug revenue leakages.
- The ICT sector should be viewed as a business enabler and therefore ICT gadgets should be zero rated to enhance access to the gadgets by its citizens. The Mid-term Fiscal Policy Review should provide for such.
- Government must complete the implementation of policy measures to address structural reforms that relate to the ease and cost of doing business, fiscal consolidation, state owned enterprises and incentives to expand output and productivity. Addressing the structural reforms would therefore enhance business confidence and attract investment, both domestic and foreign. As such, there is need for reconstitution of the Easy of Doing Business Task Force under the auspices of the OPC to complete all outstanding issues by December 2022.
- There is need to secure the independence of the Central Bank by amending the RBZ Act to allow for an independent person to chair the Monetary Policy Committee by December 2023, as is the case in Rwanda.
- Parliament should invest in a state of the of the art printing press by December 2022 so as to save on printing costs. In the same vein, Parliament should speed up the establishment of the Training Academy which should begin by capacitating Members after the 2023 Harmonised Elections. I thank you.
(v)HON. MUSHORIWA: Thank you Madam Speaker for affording me the opportunity to second the report as presented by the Chairperson of the Budget, Finance and Economic Development, Hon. Dr. Nyashanu. I just want to premise my debate on the fact that Zimbabwe is generally on the top tier or we have been on the top tier in terms of developing nation in Africa. Unfortunately, Madam Speaker, it appears as though we have in the past years been moving backwards or at most stagnant whilst other countries have actually been moving forward and overtaking us in some way. An example is a country like Rwanda, a country that came through genocide and saw thousands of people being killed in the tribal fights that happened in Rwanda.
The other issue is that one of the things that we also noted in this country is that they are not re-inventing the wheel but they just look and get the literature that is available and implement it. We were so saddened to learn that most of the things that Rwandans are implementing are things or papers that were done by the Government of Zimbabwe, by quasi Government departments here in Zimbabwe but were never implemented and were just put on the shelves and were gathering dust whilst on the shelves. We had a meeting with one of the Ministers of Finance who actually told us that their road map like for instance - we were talking about their programme on EPSUS, they are basically copying what Zimbabwe has actually written and the unfortunate part is that we, as Zimbabwe are not doing what we would have wasted resources on.
To me it is a tragedy; we are a country with the capacity to move ahead of these other countries, if only we could actually put our resources in terms of implementing the things that we would have actually thought of. Our report contains several recommendations as read out by the Chairperson. These recommendations in our view Madam Speaker will enhance the capacity of Parliament, the question of investing sufficient resources in terms of a proper printing system that could allow Parliament to be flexible and to save even in terms of cost. It will also help as Parliament and as a nation if we could actually implement some of these recommendations so that at least we continue as Zimbabwe to be a competitive state in terms of development within Africa.
If you recall that we used be at the same level with Kenya in terms of development but we are now lagging behind and I think as a nation we need to take steps to make sure that we do the best that we can. One of the fundamental things that we discovered in Rwanda is the level of discipline and their fight against corruption. The situation in Rwanda is that you find that everybody who is occupying a position of influence or authority is supposed to adhere to certain rules in terms of their public finance management authority. It helps the country to develop, everybody in Rwanda, it does not matter how informal, you can call them they actually pay tax to the Government.
You know those motor bikes, in Rwanda they are not regarded as informal they are regarded as formal, they have got a tax number and they pay tax. Imagine if all these people that we say are in informal business, all the people in Siyaso, everybody in Mbare had a tax number and contribute tax to the fiscus as a country, we would actually have financial resources. The other thing that I also believe is also fundamental which we also learned is power that is given to the Auditor General. Their Auditor General, after she had finished auditing, she is given a day to come before Parliament with the report. Today, you saw the Minister of Finance tabling the report of the Auditor General, in Rwanda; it is a different set up. Instead of the Minister of Finance coming and laying the reports on the table, Rwanda Auditor General will come and do a three hour presentation so that people that did miscellaneous misconduct - that abused state funds are exposed. It becomes very important that many people be it in parastatals, in quasi government and government ministries will be afraid to be exposed and because of that they make sure that they do the right thing. As a country we must copy such provisions.
Madam Speaker, even if you check in terms of the things that were gathered by the Committee in Ghana, you will find that all we need to do as a nation is to ensure that we instill discipline amongst the State actors, especially people that work in ministries, parastatals and local authorities. Secondly, we put resource in terms of fighting corruption, we also need to remove this appetite and greediness amongst our people but most importantly, we need to ensure that we have got discipline within ourselves if we are to move forward. If we go to Rwanda the level of Kigali today you cannot compare it with Harare, not because Kigali is better than Harare but it is the manner, the order in which they are going. Their rate is 1:1000 to the United States dollar, but what we learnt which is fundamental, it is not where the rate is but it is the stability of the rate which makes people make decisions and investors plan accordingly. Those are the things that we as a country need to move to.
Madam Speaker, I am not going to say much, suffice to say that we fully support the recommendations and we ask all Members of Parliament to support these recommendations for we believe if we do that we, as a nation, will be in a position to fly and take the position that we are supposed to take as a country in this continent and world as a whole.
(v)HON. MUTODI: To add to what the Chairperson of the Committee and also what Hon. Mushoriwa has said, what we have noted in Rwanda basically is that it is really difficult for a country to appreciate and market its micro-economic environment if the Ministry is too broad. We have noticed that the Rwandese President Kagami has appointed three individuals to manage finance of the country under the Ministries of Finance, Ministry of State for Economic Planning and Minister of State for Investment. This kind of situation has allowed the President to have a view from three different personnel who feed him on areas of specialization. You find that in our current economic drive to ensure that we get a better performing economy by 2030, we really need to focus not only on accounting of funds that we collect through revenue collection boards like ZIMRA, but we need to ensure that we promote investment in such a way that our economic development is at a faster pace as compared to the need to draw-down on those resources while we ensure we have appropriate social security nets and we are also on track in terms of employment creation.
So Zimbabwe really needs to take seriously the need to unbundle its ministries which are too broad. It cannot only be the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, but I know that I can assure you that it is also various other ministries that are too broad such that a single Minister cannot really be able to give any value to the country’s economy if he is occupied with such a vast portfolio that needs at least two or more personnel.
What we have also realised Madam Speaker, is that there is need for new approaches in our public finance management to focus on accounting, investment, planning and on audit. Those approaches are evolving over time. We seem to be focusing on old, very primitive approaches that were used long back by the colonial government systems but in our current situation, there are now complicated systems that actually need more robust measures in order to deal with corruption, tax evasion and other issues that are affecting the growth of our economies.
What we actually noted in Rwanda Madam Speaker, is an eye opener for Zimbabwe to ensure that going forward, we need to really copy from that economy and be able to leverage on whatever our advantages we have here better than Rwanda, leveraging on those advantages like the abundance of resources, skilled personnel and institutions that are actually manned by professionals to ensure that we take a leading role, not only in the implementation of policy, but also in the practical implementation or in the practical achievement of whatever we would have planned, otherwise we would be one of the worst countries going forward and we will continue to have economic problems that are countless and that cannot be solved in the near future. That is my observation Madam Speaker. I thank you.
(v)HON. S. BANDA: Thank you Madam Speaker for giving me this opportunity to also contribute to this debate. Madam Speaker, allow me to first of all thank the mover of the motion, Hon. Dr. Nyashanu and Hon. Mushoriwa for seconding. Madam Speaker, indeed I support all the recommendations. I happened to be also among the delegation that visited Ghana.
We learnt that in Ghana, firstly the minority finance guru present their own Budget Statement on the very same day that the Minister of Finance presents his Budget Statement for the nation. That would be lovely if we were to copy such a situation so that we can compare between the two budget statements and then we can move along with policies that develop the nation.
Madam Speaker, the issue of business registration in Zimbabwe, we do not even know how long it takes to register a business but if you go to Ghana they have got a policy which they follow. So in Zimbabwe, we have got policies but we do not follow them. I am begging you Madam Speaker, that we should also be like the Ghana one-stop-business centre which ensures that businesses start running. They certify them, they give them everything and they are on the ground within the first five days of application. That is what we want Madam Speaker.
I was also very impressed by the Ghana one-stop-investment centre. The CEO of that organisation is a young woman. When I saw her, I was reminded of you Madam Speaker. She is very young, beautiful and knowledgeable like you and she has run that organisation with excellence. So that is what we want our one-stop-investment centre to be like.
Furthermore Madam Speaker, the independence of the Reserve Bank of Ghana was not questionable. That is something we should also adopt so that the Reserve Bank stops all quasi fiscal issues and they just concentrate on their job, on their role rather than to want to do everything, thereby disturbing the independence of their role. Madam Speaker, Ghana took from our plans. Actually they were saying they sent a team to Zimbabwe to study our informal economy and the studies that they made are what are making them to introduce policies that ensure that they have got a good system whereby they get revenue.
Our systems are very good; our policies are very good and other nations are using them. We used to have a better economy than Ghana but now our economy is worse off than Ghana. What went wrong, we fight a lot internally. I am asking the people of Zimbabwe; let us focus on the economy. Let us stop these fights, they will never benefit anyone. We need to move together as one nation.
I also want to say that there was a training college that we saw at the Parliament of Ghana. In the new Parliament that we are going to have, if we are going to have such kind of a training college, then I am sure Parliament will reach the level that it was meant to reach.
Lastly, if you are born on Tuesday like me, in Ghana you automatically adopt the name Kwabeme. So from Kwabeme and I support all the recommendations that have been made by the previous speakers. I thank you.
(v)HON. NDUNA: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. I want to add my voice to the report by Hon. Chief Dr. Nyashanu, seconded by Hon. Mushoriwa on their benchmark visit. First and foremost, I want to encourage Parliament to release funds for benchmark visits. They do quite a lot, not only for a select few Committees but for all the Committees, including Transport and Infrastructural Development, Justice Portfolio Committee and the Committee that I am in, the Public Accounts Committee. So this is what I would encourage Parliament to do. We have our budget and budgeted support finances released by the Ministry of Finance, there is no reason why all Portfolio Committees should not go for benchmark visits.
We see what the benchmark visit by the Public Accounts Committee, the exchange that happened in Zambia. It actually resulted in the disintegration of the Public Accounts Committee into three sub-committees of which I chair one of them, which is the sub-committee on Local Government, Public Accounts Committee. Hon. Mushoriwa chairs the other one State Owned Enterprises.
So, such visits should not be undermined. They should definitely be taken on board to mean that we can improve our systems using those. Having said that, what I did not hear in the report is the reason why we are not able to be at the same level with the countries such as Ghana and Rwanda, irrespective of that Rwanda has gone through an acrimonious season or period where they had a lot of people who were massacred along tribal lines in their country. I strongly believe that Zimbabwe can be in another space or at another level, had we been fighting in the same way like all other countries, without the impediment of sanctions. Also with the budgetary support that we could be getting from multi-lenders, World Bank and IMF, which budgetary support, we are not getting not only for our financial department but also for our health department and such like. We are not getting our standees that we were supposed to be getting like the United Nations board of countries.
However, there is need to have a robust resilient, effective and efficient Parliamentary system that is going to not seek to govern but to interrogate the manner the Executive carries out its mandate and how we do that Madam Speaker Ma’am. The Portfolio Committees that we have, there are about 26 of them and you can easily just pick out one or two that are carrying out their mandate with effectiveness. The rest have gone to sleep and you wonder why they are there in the very first place. So there is need to speak vociferously about what Rwanda does in terms of the implementation of reports in Parliament and how they conduct their business as it relates to carrying their oversight role on the Executive. I did not hear that come out.
However, it is my thinking, the Portfolio Committees and the Thematic Committees as in the case of Zimbabwe in the Senate and Portfolio Committees in the National Assembly, those definitely can avert and avoid the whipping system because they cut across the political divide. It is my thinking that they can take advantage of that to be robust, effective, and efficient. However, a lot of them still leave a lot to be desired.
Madam Speaker Ma’am, when the fish rots, it starts with the head, there is need to interrogate the chairpersons of these Committees, some of them definitely, according to Section 18:02 of the Standing Rules and Orders, the Chair of those Committees is supposed to be first and foremost by expertise. Secondly by interest, a lot of these chairpersons have been forced to chair these Committees and they have no interest whatsoever. To say the very least, they do not have expertise and they have no depth in the knowledge of chairing those Committees.
I think our Parliament needs to review the way they have been selecting those chairpersons so that we can be at the same level with countries that have been mentioned by Hon. Dr. Nyashanu, Dr. Mutodi, Hon. S. Banda and Hon. Mushoriwa. It takes will power, it takes resilience, it does not come cheap. There is need also for the international community to immediately, without any reservations, revoke the illegal sanctions because that is why there is circumvention of the right systems and that will be called corruption. That will cause illicit outflows. It causes the hemorrhage of the right system. For us in order to follow the right channels and not to operate nocturnally and for the Reserve Bank not to engage in passing fiscal operations, there is need for them to operate on a level playing field like the other financial institutions and central banks of other nations.
Currently, we have to make do with what we have. To can what we get and get what we can and use what we have to get what we want. Sometimes this is why there is quasi-fiscal modus operandi Madam Speaker Ma’am, which in my view I do not condone but the playfield is not right. In as much as we would want to implement what is in other countries, we definitely do not have the same playfield as they have. Whatever it is that we can implement, we will. I have already alluded to the benchmark visit to Zambia, we have implemented the disintegration of the Public Accounts Committee and that is applaudable.
Madam Speaker Ma’am, the other issue that I think we need to also do is claim for services. I am hoping the Minister of Finance is listening and if he is not, he needs to read the Hansard. The Auditor General and the officers in the Auditor General’s office need to be paid in commensurate with their expertise. This is to ensure that the Auditor General’s office and the Accountant General’s office in the Ministry of Finance are not used as training grounds so that they then elope thereafter to other countries where they are paid handsomely. We need to keep our first, second, third and fourth generation of workers in the same way. I talk of generation of workers because I am alive to the fact that in the aviation sector we have lost a lot of pilots to other nations like Qatar Airways, Emirates Airways, British Airways and South African Airways. We have lost our first, second and third generation pilots because we are unable to pay them the same salaries that they could otherwise be earning in this global community.
The second issue is that of governance which needs to be taken on board. I am alive to the issue of Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency. There is need to engage in what is called main machine interaction so that there is no corruption in that area where we definitely can say to our people, there is no longer any reason for us to be archaic, moribund, rudimental and antiquated and maybe medieval in conducting business. Registration of our businesses should be put in that manner then we take about two days a week to be precise as long as we engage in computerization of our systems.
Madam Speaker Ma’am, I speak like that because I am alive to the issue of the Special Economic Zones - geographical locations that should be established deliberately to make sure that we conduct business effectively and efficiently in those zones and woo investment so that Vision 2030 can come in line with that of an Upper – Middle Income economy. That is our local agenda. First and foremost, before we even look at what other countries are doing, we need to make sure that there is a robust local agenda, the SADC industrial agenda, continental agenda and ultimately, the Sustainable Development Goals. I applaud the Committee for bringing in this report.
Hon. Mushoriwa and Hon. Banda spoke about the issue of our resource mobilization so that they empower our economy. There is need as we woo in investors, both in mining and otherwise, to have a clear cut plan in beneficiating and value adding our resources so that we are not left begging with yawning and gaping holes due to open cast mining. Having said that Madam Speaker Ma’am, I want to thank you for giving me this opportunity to resiliently, robustly, effectively and vociferously present the issues of the people of Chegutu West Constituency in so far as it relates to the benchmark visit by Dr. Nyashanu and his entourage to Ghana and Rwanda. I can only say, the future is bright for Zimbabwe as long as the impediment is removed, that of the albatross of the sanctions around our neck and the complete alleviation of the same. Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am.
HON. DR. NYASHANU: Thank you Madam Speaker. Let me take this opportunity to thank Hon. Mushoriwa, Hon. Dr. Mutodi, Hon. Dr. Banda and Hon. Nduna. Indeed, our country can do a lot in terms of developing …
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER (HON. MAVETERA): May you please connect Hon. Dr. Nyashanu.
HON. DR. NYASHANU: Thank you Madam Speaker Ma’am. Let me take this opportunity to thank my colleagues who have debated on this motion; Hon. Mushoriwa, Hon. Dr. Mutodi, Hon. Dr. Banda and Hon. Nduna. Indeed, our economy can also grow. We can do a lot as a people, like what is happening in Rwanda and Ghana. I think it takes a lot of discipline and commitment on our part as a people to be able to do what is happening in Rwanda in particular. Discipline is at the centre of everything when one looks at what is happening in our economy in terms of what I want to call greed and how people in Ghana and Rwanda are managing to control greed, which then brings about issues of corruption.
I want to admire the people of Ghana and Rwanda for their discipline in Public Finance Management. So, I agree with my colleagues. Let me take this opportunity to say we have come to agree all of us that our economy can move in the right direction if we all get committed to what we should be committed to. I therefore move that this motion be adopted.
Motion put and agreed to.
On the motion of HON. MUTAMBISI, seconded by HON. TEKESHE, the House adjourned at Four Minutes past Six o’clock p.m.
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 8th March, 2022
The Senate met at Half-past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF SENATE in the Chair)
HON. SEN. CHIEF NDLOVU: Thank you Mr. President for giving me this opportunity to rise on a point of privilege. Today the 8th March, we are commemorating the International Women’s Day. During this day, the globe and everyone else in the world is observing this day. The struggle to achieve social-economic, cultural and political equality for women rages on. As gender champions, let us be reminded that the fight for raising awareness of the importance of women equality is a continuous journey. Our theme for this year reminds us of the climatic and environmental challenges and disasters affecting women globally in the 21st century. According to UN 2022, women and girls constitute the majority of the world’s poor and are dependent on natural resources which climate change threatens most. Let us stand up and claim gender equality today for a better tomorrow and let us stand up and claim gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow. I thank you Mr. President.
THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF SENATE (HON. SEN. CHIEF CHARUMBIRA): Thank you Hon. Sen. Chief Ndlovu. You rose on a point of privilege - for the benefit of all Senators, I want to draw your attention to the fact that a point of privilege relates to matters that affect you as senators. If you feel this House is too hot or too cold and you cannot survive or there is no water – that is a point of privilege because it affects you as a Member. The nature of what you have raised comes as a one-minute point of national importance and once you raise it, the Chair has the discretion to say it is accepted and it can be graduated into a proper motion so that Members can also react to it. Since you took more than one minute – just to be technical, I will read from our Standing Rules and Orders, Order No. 61, which states that “A Senator who is not a Minister may make a statement for one minute on a matter of public importance. (2) One-minute statements shall be made until – (a) Twenty minutes to three o’clock p.m. on a Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday; and (b) Twenty minutes to ten o’clock on a Friday.” It has already been done but listening to the substance of the matter, you are welcome to bring a motion for the benefit of Members to debate or give their input.
HON. SEN. CHIEF NDLOVU: Thank you Mr. President, do I now read this as a motion?
THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF SENATE: It may not graduate into a motion immediately because the motion has its own procedures. Your issue has to go through the Clerk’s office then it comes back as a motion.
MOTION
RATIFICATION OF THE BILATERAL AIR SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. MHONA): I move the motion standing in my name;
THAT WHEREAS, Subsection 327 (2) (a) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe provides that any Convention, Treaty or Agreement acceded to, concluded or executed by or under the authority of the President with one or more foreign states or governments or International Organisations shall be subject to approval by Parliament;
WHEREAS the Republic of Zimbabwe, through the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development concluded a Bi-Lateral Air Services Agreement with the United Arab Emirates;
WHEREAS the entry into force of this agreement is subject to the respective State parties notifying each other through diplomatic channels that their respective internal legal requirements for entry into force of the agreement have been fulfilled;
AND WHEREAS the Republic of Zimbabwe is desirous to ratify the said agreement;
NOW THEREFORE, in terms of Section 327 (2) (a) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, this House resolves that the aforesaid Bi – Lateral Air Services Agreement is hereby approved for ratification.
The Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development, as the aeronautical authority, is responsible for the negotiation and conclusion of Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) with the United Arab Emirates. The entry into force of this agreement is subject to the parties notifying each other through diplomatic channels that their respective internal legal requirements for entry into force of the agreement have been fulfilled.
As such, the Constitution of Zimbabwe provides for ratification of international agreements through the approval by both Houses of Parliament in terms of Section 327 (2).
Furthermore, the Ministry has received communication from the United Arab Emirates requesting the status of ratification, particularly the BASA between Zimbabwe and UAE, so as to ensure the entry into force of the agreement. The ratification of the BASA before a scheduled visit to the UAE by His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Dr. E.D Mnangagwa between the 13th to the 16th of March 2022, is therefore of paramount importance.
The Republic of Zimbabwe and the UAE are parties to the convention on International Civil Aviation of 1944 (The Chicago Convention).
As such, the UAE concluded the BASA with the Republic of Zimbabwe in conformity with the Chicago Convention, for the purpose of establishing and operating air services between and beyond their respective territories. The major goal of the agreement in air transportation is to create and foster friendship, understanding and cooperation as well as enhance the expansion of international air transport opportunities.
General Provisions – the preamble and article 1 outline the major objectives of the agreement and lists key definitions of terms stated within the agreement. The parties acknowledge the importance of air transportation as a means of fostering cooperation and thus conclude an agreement which is in line with the letter and spirit of the Convention on International Civil Aviation of 1944 (Chicago Convention). This agreement will go towards facilitating cooperation and coordination between the two States and towards the development of an integrated and sustainable air transport system consistent with the best international practices in civil aviation.
Grant of rights – Article 2, states that each of the designated airlines of the parties shall enjoy certain rights which include flying across the territory of the other contracting party and making stops in the territory of the other party for the purposes of discharging or taking international traffic in passengers, baggage or cargo.
Designation, authorisation, revocation and limitation of operating authorisation – Article 3 gives the aeronautical authority of each party the right to designate one or more airlines for the purpose of operating the agreed services and to withdraw or alter the designation of any such airline for one previously designated.
Article 4 then gives each aeronautical authority the right to revoke or suspend an authorisation as it may deem necessary in certain circumstances.
Principles governing operation of agreed services – article 5 lays out five principles and these include:-
- Allowing the designated airlines to compete freely in providing air transportation;
- Taking appropriate measures to eliminate all forms of discrimination and anti-competitiveness practices;
- No restrictions on the capacity and number of frequencies or types of aircraft to be operated by each designated airline;
- No limitations by either party on the volume of traffic, frequencies and regularity of service or aircraft types by the designated airline;
- No imposition of a first refusal requirement, uplift ratio, no objection fee or any other requirement with respect to capacity frequencies or traffic which would be inconsistent with the purposes of this agreement.
Customs and duties - Article 6 provides for exemptions on customs duties, other charges and taxes for designated airlines while operating in the respective territories.
Application of national laws and regulations – article 7 emphases on the compliance to the national laws of the respective territories while operating.
Code sharing – article 8 provides that the designated airlines of each party may freely enter into cooperative marketing arrangements which include blocked space or code share arrangements with any other airline or airlines. Liability of each party is to be specifically stated in this case.
Certificates of air worthiness and competence – article 9 provides that such certificates issued shall be recognised as valid by the other contracting party, however each party reserves the right to refuse such certifications granted to its own national by the other contracting party.
Safety, user charges and aviation security - article 10 gives each party the right to request consultations at any time on the safety standards in any area relating to airline operations used by the other party.
Article 11 provides that user charges imposed by either party ought to be just and reasonable.
Article 12 states that each party ought to reaffirm that their obligation to each other protects the security of civil aviation against acts of unlawful interference forms an integral part of the agreement.
Commercial activities – article 13 gives each party the right to establish in the territory of the other party offices for the purposes of promoting air transportation and/or other products and services offered in accordance with the laws of that territory.
Transfer of funds – article 14 provides that the parties shall grant the respective designated airlines the rights to transfer freely excess expenditure earned by such airlines within its territory in connection with the services offered.
Approval of timetables – article 15 provides that each party shall submit for approval to the aeronautical authority of the other party prior to its inauguration or service - the timetable of intended services, with specifications on the type of aircraft, frequency and period of validity.
TARIFFS
Article 16 provides that each party shall allow tariffs to be established by each designated airline based on commercial considerations in the market.
EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION, CONSULTATION AND AMENDMENT OF THE AGREEMENT
Articles 17 and 18 respectively provide for the prompt exchange of information relating to their operation within the territories of the other party and consultation on implementation, application or amendment of the agreement.
Article 20 provides for the circumstances under which this agreement may be amended and the procedures that ought to be followed.
SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTES
Article 19 provides for the procedures to be followed for prompt and effective settlement of disputes and for alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.
REGISTRATION AND TERMINATION
Article 21 provides for the submission of this agreement, together with any amendments and annexures to the International Civil Aviation Organisation for registration.
Article 22 then provides for the procedures to be followed where either party wishes to terminate the agreement in compliance with administrative procedure.
ENTRY INTO FORCE
Article 23 provides that this agreement shall enter into force on the day that the last written notification is received through diplomatic channels, confirming that the parties have fulfilled all the respective internal procedures required for the entry into force of this agreement. Such internal procedures in case of Zimbabwe involve the ratification of this agreement in terms of Section 327 if the Constitution.
RECOMMENDATION
The above BASA between the Republic of Zimbabwe and the UAE is hereby tabled for ratification.
*HON. SEN. KOMICHI: Thank you Mr. President Sir, I would also like to thank the Hon. Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development. I am happy with the issue brought by the Hon. Minister regarding the development in Zimbabwe which is something that I feel touched me when looking at the current prevailing economic situation in the country. As Zimbabweans, we should desire development. I believe that every leader desires to represent people who are progressive and who have decent lives. So we will be blessed by God if all of us from different political parties desire to develop the nation so that people have sustainable livelihoods.
The agreement that was brought to this august House by the Hon. Minister speaks to that. The Arab country that was mentioned is one of the rich countries the world-over. You discover that there are a lot of meetings that are happening in that country pertaining to developmental issues. As Zimbabweans, this is our opportunity to partner with such countries so that our country and economy progresses. If we continue with the arrangements of exchanging the different ideas, this will transform our lives. We will be given opportunities to meet different people and at the same time, having exchange programmes which will benefit projects in our country. So because of that, I believe that this agreement should be supported. It must be signed and implemented so that it bears fruit and that Zimbabwe will be seen to be developing, at the same time improving the people’s livelihoods. I support the Hon. Minister and this should be done forthwith. I thank you.
+HON. SEN. MKHWEBU: Thank you Mr. President for affording me this opportunity to also add my voice to what the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development has said. The Minister has brought something that we were looking forward to as a country, that earoplanes when flying within the country or if they are communicating with other countries, they should communicate and that there should be good relations with other countries. We support the Minister. Since this has been brought before this Senate, we agree that this is something that will develop our country. This is a development insofar as planes are concerned and we are also going to benefit from the good relations.
We would like to thank the Hon. Minister and we would like to say we are behind you. Thank you
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. MHONA): Thank you Mr. President. I move that Order of the Day Number 2 be stood over until the other Orders of the Day have been disposed of. I thank you Mr. President.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
Third Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. MHONA): I move that the debate do now adjourn.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 9th March, 2022.
MOTION
CONDOLENCES ON THE DEATH OF HON. SEN. SIMON KHAYA MOYO
Fourth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the untimely passing on of the late Senator for Matebeleland South, Hon. Sen. Simon Khaya Moyo.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. SEKERAMAYI: Mr. President Sir and all the Hon. Senators who are present here; I stand to make some few remarks about our late Comrade, S. K. Moyo. Mr. President, on the 1st of October, 1945, the Almighty God gave Zimbabwe a baby boy who came to be called Simon Khaya Moyo. This baby boy grew up like most of his generation and attended school at Fletcher High School in 1965 and worked as a Research Assistant at Mpilo Hospital from 1966 to 1967. At that time, it became very clear to young boys and girls and some of our parents that the whites who were in charge of Government in this country were not going to hand over power to the black people, the owners of the country.
It became obvious that we had to resort to an armed struggle to liberate Zimbabwe and the late S. K. Moyo left the country in 1968 via Botswana on his way to Zambia. In Zambia, there was already the leadership of ZAPU and Cde. S. K. Moyo was very well received as one of the young cadres. When he was in Zambia, he also had a stint at the University of Zambia in 1969, where he graduated with a diploma in Social Sciences. He also studied outside Zambia, in Uganda at Makerere University.
In 1975, he returned to Zambia to join the other Comrades in the liberation struggle. He was a special assistant to our late Vice President, Hon. Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo. Discussions about the future of the country started and there was a conference in Geneva in 1976 to which Cde. S. K. Moyo attended. In 1978, he went to the Germany Democratic Republic for a military intelligence course. When he returned back to Zambia, he became a member of the Revolutionary Council and Central Committee. We know that he also attended the Lancaster House Conference.
Mr. President, after independence, Cde. S. K. Moyo was appointed Assistant Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs. The same year in 1980, he was promoted to Under-Secretary in the Ministry of Justice and later the Ministry of Health where he got promoted to the post of the Deputy Permanent Secretary. I just want to say to Hon. Senators, I also had, when I was the Minister of Health, the opportunity and privilege to work with him when he was an Under-Secretary. Cde. Moyo, like most of his generation that went for the armed struggle, was at independence, awarded the Liberation Decoration medals.
In 1989, he became a member of the ZANU PF Central Committee and in March, 1990, he was elected to Parliament. In 1992 to 1994, he became the Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce. In 1995, he was appointed Minister of Transport and Energy and in 1997, he was appointed the Minister of Mines, Environment and Tourism.
Mr. President, in January, 2001, he was appointed High Commissioner to South Africa, Lesotho and Mauritius where he was appointed as Ambassador potentially. In 2009, he was appointed the National Chairman of ZANU PF and in 2014, at the ZANU PF National People’s Congress; he was appointed Secretary for Information and Publicity. Most of us who followed him admired his capacity to work for the party and the Government. In 2017, Cde. Moyo was appointed the Minister of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services. It was always a pleasure and many of us will miss listening to the late Cde, S. K. Moyo when he was on television or being interviewed for various things.
Yes, God gave us S. K. Moyo on the 1st of October, 1945 and God took him away from us on the 14th of November 2021. Mr. President, I just want to say, we have comrades like the late Cde. Moyo who dedicated his whole life for the development of Zimbabwe. It is necessary for us here in the Senate and in Parliament to vigorously pursue the developmental effort that he was doing. Nobody will come and develop Zimbabwe for us; it is us who must develop this country. We should be able to look back and say, well, this is where S. K. Moyo left and this is where we continued from and be proud of our achievements. Mr. President, I just wanted to say, with these few words, those of us who are still in the Senate, it is incumbent upon us to work as diligently as we can so that, that which he stood for is not betrayed but fulfilled. Thank you Mr. President.
+HON. A. SEN. DUBE: Thank you Mr. President for affording me this opportunity to add a few words about our late hero Hon. Sen. Simon Khaya Moyo who died on the 14th November 2021, when we felt this dark cloud. The last Hon. Senator has spoken about what Hon. Sen. Moyo stood for. He put his life on the block for us. He went to fight for the liberation of this country and for us Africans so that we can now send our children to former white schools. Now we have become senators, which is something that never used to happen. We have to remember Hon. Sen. Khaya Moyo.
We heard that in 1968, he went to the University of Zambia after they realised that he was intelligent and he wanted to advance in life. After that, he went to Makerere University in Uganda. He also went to several universities because he was intelligent. Khaya Moyo was someone who would not just get angry with anyone. We know that each time we used to come to the Senate, we would find him seated where his other colleagues are seated and he would want to greet and talk to everyone and find out what would be happening to everyone. He loved people. I treated him as a brother since the 1980s. He was someone who was always jovial. He used to exclaim a lot. He used to say aah! How are you my sister? That is how he used to talk. We miss him a lot.
He also worked closely with the late Vice President Joshua Nkomo. He used to trust him and I am sure he learnt a lot from him. He was someone who wanted to bring people together. He also worked in several Government departments and led several ministries. Mr. President, in 1987 when there was discord or conflict amongst people who had fought for the same thing, he worked very hard for the success of the Unity Accord. Our oppressors were now dividing us. He was given the great task within the Task Force to unite people so that there was unity amongst people. That is one of the biggest achievements that he did.
It is always said ‘whatever one does will always follow him/her’. He used to be a member of the Politburo. We could see that he was not well but he would just force himself to come because he had agreed that he would work for this country until he dies. He was working for this country. There is never a day when he decided to retire but he continued and soldiered on. We saw that he was suffering but all the time, he would come to the Senate and participate in all the events of the nation. He would always speak about unity and that people should work for their achievements.
There was a song he used to sing and it goes like; “Simon kaJonah uyangithandana?” Which means Simon, do you love me? He knew that he loved people. Each time he sang that song, you could tell that he knew where he was going and he knew where he wanted to take the people to.
Mr. President, Hon. Sen. Khaya Moyo died on the 14th November, 2021 and was accorded the honour of a hero. As senators, we respect what he did.
The Senator who spoke before me narrated what Hon. Sen. Moyo did from 1968 when he went to war until 14 November, 2021, he never rested. He was always working for the development of Zimbabwe. He also wanted to see Zimbabweans working together.
I do not have much to say. Hon. Sen. Ambassador S. K. Moyo taught us a lot. We used to have some good time with him and we learnt a lot from him. We learnt how to behave. We learnt ubuntu from him and learnt respect through him. May the soul of our great hero rest in peace. He was my brother, he has done his part and may his soul rest in peace. Thank you.
HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. KAMBIZI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 9th March, 2022.
MOTION
CURBING GENDER BASED VIOLENCE AMONG COMMUNITIES
Fifth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the increase of gender-based violence since the outbreak of COVID 19.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MUZENDA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. CHIRONGOMA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 9th March, 2022.
MOTION
CONSTRUCTION, UPGRADING AND REHABILITATION OF THE ROAD NETWORK IN THE COUNTRY
Sixth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the importance of a sound road network.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MUZENDA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. A. DUBE: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 9th March, 2022.
MOTION
ENACTMENT OF LAWS THAT CULMINATE IN DETERRENT SENTENCES BEING METED OUT TO CULPRITS FOUND COMMITTING CRIMES THAT DAMAGE THE ENVIRONMENT
Seventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on grave and rapid environmental damage.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. CHIRONGOMA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MKWEBU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 9th March, 2022.
MOTION
ENACTMENT OF LEGISLATION THAT UPHOLDS THE RIGHTS AND WELFARE OF CHILDREN ACCOMPANYING INCARCERATED MOTHERS IN PRISON
Question again proposed
Eight Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on Challenges faced by Children with incarcerated mothers.
+HON. SEN. A. DUBE: Thank you Mr. President for giving me this time to debate on this motion raised by Hon. Sen. Chirongoma and seconded by....
THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I am being advised that you have debated on this motion. Is that correct?
+HON. SEN. A. DUBE: I had forgotten.
THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF SENATE: It is recorded here that you have debated before but thank you for your enthusiasm and energy to be back on the floor.
HON. SEN. CHIRONGOMA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MATHUTHU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 9th March, 2022.
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF SENATE
BILL RECEIVED FROM THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I have received the Guardianship of Minors Amendment Bill, [H. B. 7, 2021] from the National Assembly.
On the motion of HON. SEN. MUZENDA, seconded by HON. SEN. MATHUTHU the House adjourned at Twenty-Nine Minutes past Three o’clock p.m.